Osaka!!!!!  We made it to Japan!!!!!

Osaka was our first city in Japan.  We were wrestling with where to stay in Osaka.  We ended up cashing in our Westin hotel points, and enjoyed 3 beautiful days here.  We stayed on the club level, and enjoyed complimentary happy hours at night and tea in the afternoon.  It was silly how nice everything was.  The city though...

Our first walk through the city, I'm blown away at the sights.  Every little street was cute, and the larger streets were well put together (if that makes sense).  

We were reading about these octopus balls you can buy on the street.  Five blocks in to our first block we found a stand.  Normally these stands are 15 people deep, and you have to wait in line.  It was around 2PM when we spotted this one, and only one person in line.  I had no idea how to order, and he didn't speak any English.  But clearly he saw how excited I was, and I requested two with my fingers holding up.  Delicious.  Fried octopus with a nice breading, and a sweet/spicy mayo sauce on top.  Delicious.  

We walked to look for a sushi place.  Hello!!!!  We're in Japan!!!!!!

The one we walked to had at least an hour wait, so we walked further down and found a coffee shop.  Really great coffee, and cool interior.  I asked the barista if he'd ever heard of Hiroshi Sawada.  He said, sure! He's really famous in Japan.  I was like, no way!  He trained me how to put latte art.  So that was pretty darn cool. 

We walked back over to the sushi shop, and the line dropped considerably.  We ordered a few items, and YEP.  BEST SUSHI EVER.  Unreal.  

Later in the night I had to see the city.  It was our first night, we were tired, but hey, I need to see Japanese architecture at night.  Blew me away.  

We first stopped at an arcade bar, that we found out was run by expats.  I small little hole in the wall.  Super great, but didn't have time to wait to play.  I need to see this city!

Walked further down, and came across the famous, "Running Man."  I don't know.  But it's cool.  We walked further along, and found an outside ramen place.  Line was really long, so yep, got right in line.  Delicious ramen.  Tonkotsu.  You order from vending machines, and then hand your receipt to the waiter before you sit down.  Super fun.  You don't always know what you're ordering, but for the most part you do.  It's always f'ing delicious.  ALWAYS

Views from The Westin

Enjoyed a walk down to the Aquarium, and ferris wheel you can see from our hotel room.