Fall, in love with Japan 2013 - Part 1

So I've decided to write up a series of posts for my trip to Japan in October 2013.

Not entirely sure how many parts there will be (nor how long it will take), but I'm determined to finish blogging about the entire journey... LET'S DO THIS!

The entire trip was about three weeks. 10 of those days were spent with KK in four cities - Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, Tokyo - and then the rest of the time spent either meeting up with my Japanese friends or by myself in Tokyo. I've also made a weekend trip to Hiroshima to meet up with someone special to me after KK left Japan.

So the trip started when I flew to Osaka (KIX airport) after midnight of the 9th. KK and I made separate ways to Japan because we had different flight conditions and we each tried to find the cheapest way for us to travel.

I flew into the country by Peach, a low-cost carrier. This explains why I had to fly at such awkward timing. It was really early in the morning when I arrived KIX. Coincidentally, Bella (and family) was flying out of the country from the same airport on the same morning, so I just waited around until she showed up at the check-in counters. It was nice seeing her there since I wouldn't be able to see her in HK before her flight back to Toronto. It was our last chance to meet until I visit Toronto or she visits HK again. T___T"

started the trip right by seeing this lovely face <3

Saw some of EXILE while waiting for B. ^^

After Bella left, it was still really early. I just roamed around the airport and texted my oniichan, whom called me stupid because I didn't let him know I was coming to Kansai until then, and it was too late for him to come to Osaka to meet me (he lived an hour away but I assumed he had work). Then I found a locker to keep my luggage because I planned to go to my favourite outlet mall, Rinku Premium Outlet (which was close to the airport), to shop before heading into the city.

always bad weather whenever I go there...

I spent about 2 hours there and already did a bigger damage to my wallet than I had anticipated. No regrets though... hehe! Afterwards, I went back to the airport to pick up my luggage and headed to Namba. I dropped my luggage off at the inn that I would be staying at, but it wasn't time for check-in yet, so I went out and poked around Shinsaibashi.

EXILE's TV show ended so the ad got taken down....but at least Nino was there to greet me!

my favourite Osaka spot.

Glad to see a familiar face - the lovely Glico man

I've bought some little things like accessories, and also two chip n' dale unibearsity keychains (same style as the stuffed toys below) from the disney store.


Would've bought them too if I didn't have to worry about luggage space.

After that nice afternoon stroll, I decided to head back to the hotel to check-in, and to have a short nap before my evening plans. Before KK arrived (she flew in from Tokyo and took the Shinkansen to Osaka), I planned to go to the Exile Tribe Station and 24 karats shop and then have a short meet-up with Hiromi, whom messaged me that morning when she found out I was in Kansai.

So being the direction dummy that I am, I managed to get myself lost on the way to the Exile shops even though I've been there at least twice before. That also made me late for my meet-up with Hiromi but luckily she was understanding and we managed to have coffee before I had to find KK. It was nice seeing Hiromi again two years after I first met her in Toronto. It was also kind of amazing how we were able to meet up in two different countries.

Thanks for treating me to coffee, we will def. meet again!

Hiromi took me to the train station where KK was arriving at. There was a little glitch when we were trying to meet up but in the end we successfully found each other. We decided to go back to Namba first and eat our dinner there. We just randomly went into a ramen shop and ordered their house special. Unfortunately for us, it was not that good because it was very oily.

first night's dinner - ramen and gyoza

tiring day for the both of us but yay we're in Japan!

After dinner we headed straight to our inn since we were both really tired. We decided to have an early night in so we would be well rested for our adventures ahead!

The next day we went to Nara, which will be Part 2 of this series. ^^ v