I was debating between Kyoto or Osaka as my next destination after I left Takayama. At this point I was getting tired of exploring and I wanted to go to a place where I wouldn’t feel the need to be out all the time doing something or seeing something. So I decided that Osaka was the place I needed to go, whereas in Kyoto I would feel the need to go out and explore, which I didn’t have the energy anymore to do.
Looking back, it was the right choice, and just what I needed. I didn’t do anything special in Osaka, yet it was still so memorable. I’m writing this post a year later and I still remember many of the little things I did like:
- Walking around the local grocery store, getting snacks and food. I remember the music playing in the store was awesome so I looked it up with Shazam and added it to my playlist for that month.
- Making udon in the hostel and chatting with other travelers.
- Walking around the local mall and getting a haircut in a random alley.
I also ended up doing some exploring through the city but I didn’t bring my camera along and took no photos because I wanted to be completely present. I remember finding a street music performer, a cool night market, and got myself some takoyaki.
On one of the days I took a day trip out to Nara, it was a short train ride away and I went to see the deer park that I had heard about. I had a wonderful and relaxing time strolling through the park, watching the deer casually walking around the place, occasionally headbutting to get some food.
I was in Osaka, Japan between January 14th - January 18th, 2019. From here I left Japan and flew over to China. It’s been a goal of my to publish all the photo journals for every city I visited. I’m nearly there!