Osaka, Japan

Hi everyone! This is the third post from my travel blog series about my solo trip to Japan during my winter vacation. If you missed my posts about Tokyo and Kyoto, check those out first! This post will focus on my last leg of the trip - my wonderful experiences in Osaka.

Osaka's landscape

Pokemon Center!

Unfortunately, I only had about a day and a half to spend on this part of the trip, but I made the most of it. I arrived in Osaka in the early morning via a short train ride from Kyoto, so I decided to head to a landmark with a good view of Osaka's landscape, and after that I headed to an official Pokemon Center (aka a place with an insane amount of Pokemon merchandise). Because it was such a short trip, I wanted to get most of the famous sites out of the way during the first day so that I could enjoy my last day at Universal Studios Japan.

Osaka Castle

In front of Osaka Castle

I headed straight for Osaka Castle, one of the most famous landmarks throughout Japan. It was extremely large and beautiful, both outside and inside. I didn't have much time as I would liked to have had there, though. I'll just have to go back one day! In the evening, I walked around a few night markets, ate traditional Japanese foods, did some souvenir shopping, and went back to the hostel to prep for my big day at Universal!

Takoyaki

Glico man 

Okonomiyaki and beer

Universal was an absolute blast! I was a bit worried about going to a theme park alone, but my fear faded quickly. In fact, I enjoyed going to the theme park alone more than I might have with other people. I got to move faster through waiting lines as a single rider, and I could go to different attractions at my own convenience.

Universal Studios!

Making hearts with Charlie Brown

I ended up meeting a fellow solo traveler, although he didn't travel as far as me. His name is Mohammed, and he is a graduate student in Japan! He has a season pass to Universal and was just hanging out for the day. I met him while waiting in line for the Jurassic Park ride, and we hit it off quickly. I was actually somewhat relieved because I thought I was the only non-Asian in the park that day, haha (no offense meant by any means in that statement, just an observation). We decided to hang out the rest of the day and rode rides together.

My new friend Mohammed and I enjoying butterbeer

We ended up at Harry Potter world where we spent a huge chunk of time exploring. We had butterbeer, which tastes FANTASTIC by the way, took a tour of Hogwarts castle, snuck in line for the Harry Potter virtual ride (didn't want to wait 3 hours), and watched a magic wands performance. During the performance, I was selected as the chosen wand-bearer. I failed miserably. BUT the good part was that I was offered a discount on any of the wands in the shop, so I took that offer up and decided to buy one. The cool thing is that with my wand I could maneuver around the park, cast different spells from the series, and different things would happen! For example, I made some kind of object levitate, lit a chimney, and make clocks turn. So fun! I'll have to try it again at the Universal in Florida.

Testing out the wands

Hogwarts Express!

After a loooooong day at the park, Mohammed and I headed back towards the center of Osaka, ate some Turkish food, and called it a day. I was so happy to meet a new friend in my travels - thanks for a great day, Mohammed!

The next morning was time to go back to Korea, but of course, not without some unexpected events taking place. I woke up early and realized that my bunkmate (whose name I later found out is Mai) was also heading towards the airport. We didn't speak because she is Japanese and doesn't know English, and I am American and don't know Japanese. Mai's bag was huge, so I offered to help her carry it down the stairs through gesturing. She agreed and immediately a bond was formed. Upon completing our task, she offered up a ton of her Japanese snacks and goodies, at which I reluctantly accepted (but was secretly excited about). We headed to the airport together, and I figured out that she was traveling to Okinawa in order to move and start a new job! No wonder she had such a large suitcase. We communicated along our journey via Google Translator, which up until that point I had not been very fond of. My opinion has changed since then! We connected quickly, snapped a selfie, exchanged contact information, and before I knew it, we were departing separate ways. I felt a pang in my stomach because of how quickly we had shared personal information about ourselves, and just as quickly it was gone and the possibility of never meeting again was right in front of us. Travel is an amazing thing, but bittersweet. I made a pact that I would return to Japan again and brush up on my basic Japanese conversation skills until then.

My new friend Mai and I

I said a momentary goodbye to Japan, but made a promise both to myself and to my new friends that I would be back again.