Goodbye Tokyo, Hello Osaka!

Our Last Few Days in Tokyo Japan

For our last couple days in Japan we decided to slow down the pace a bit.  We took it easy during the afternoon one day and then headed to the Roppongi district for dinner.  We stumbled across a place that had a lot of photo’s on the menu and a little English so that seemed like a winner.

They head a featured menu item that looked pretty good in the picture so we decided to try it.  They mentioned it was for two and we told them that was perfect.   We also ordered some “Ray Fins” as an appetizer to try something a little different.  They actually turned out to be pretty decent!

Upon receiving our dinner it turns out you cook it yourself at the table.  The poor girl helping us had to give a little sign language demonstration of what we were supposed to do.   In the end the meal turned out perfectly!

Fun Fact: In Japan there is no tipping at all!  However, it’s not uncommon for them to add a “Table charge” for taking a seat at their place.  Note the “Salad” they provided as part of the table charge which costs $7.    This isn’t a charge you can decline and it’s not really indicated up front whether they do or don’t charge the fee.

Pro Tip:  The super cheap beer mentioned out front of most places is usually a trick.  You’ll get a table charge for coming in and having drinks so it’s not actually cheap.

On our last day in Tokyo before departing we decided to hit the local science museum and the zoo.  Both were very close to our hostel which made it easy.  The Tokyo science museum was very impressive though and we would definitely recommend it.   We entered the zoo a bit late so we didn’t get to see all the exhibits but the weather was perfect that day so it was nice to be outside.   It had been overcast or raining most of the time we were in Tokyo so it was nice to get decent weather!

As we wrapped up our last couple days in Tokyo, we couldn’t help but feel we missed something.  We saw all the biggest sites but never really connected with the city.   Perhaps it was the language barrier or the jet lag.  Regardless, we really enjoyed our time in Tokyo and it was definitely worth the visit.

Moving on to Osaka Japan

We took a bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka that was going about 165MPH.  We managed to fly by Mt. Fuji without noticing so we missed that one!  We got to Osaka and our next place to stay was an Airbnb.  After a short walk we found the place and got settled in.    It was cozy but we were excited to have a place to ourselves after the hostel in Tokyo.

We set out to find some food close by as we were both starving.  We came across a place that serves Takoyaki.  This is an extremely popular food in Japan and you can find it on nearly every street.  We were excited to try it because we heard about it even in the United States.   Our ordered was delivered and it looked delicious!

Let me tell you friends, this food is TERRIBLE.  Probably one of the worst foods Ashley and I have tasted in our entire lives.  Upon biting into this terrible ball of food, you’ll realize you’ve made a mistake.  It’s filled with uncooked squid tentacle and various slimy gooey unknown terrible substances.   We came to refer to these as “terrible balls”  “goo balls” and “yaki balls”.   Do yourself a favor and skip this one if you’re ever in Japan.

For dinner, we decided to go a different route.  We ended up hitting the local super market and picking up some food to cook ourselves.  It turned out excellent which was great because we were both starving after our lunch experience!