Today was dedicated solely to Universal Studios Japan. There's not too much to say because it was pretty much like Universal Studios in Florida except, naturally, everything was in Japanese. It was pretty funny on the ET ride to hear 'ET Phone Home' in Japanese. We all just started laughing. 
We were pretty tired from walking around all day and being in the park from open to close, so we just relaxed in the hotel at night after getting a snack at McDonalds and some Takoyaki on the way back. The great thing about the trip is that we ate a LOT. Most of the time we would just walk by a place and say 'Hey that looks good!', eat a little bit, and keep moving until we found something else. We mostly ate several small meals instead of a couple big ones, which is more my style.
Tuesday
Today we went to Osaka Castle. It is definitely bigger and cooler-looking than Nagoya Castle.
It was a slightly rainy day, but we managed to make it up to the top before it really started raining. By the end of today we were beginning to run out of things to do. We had already gone through the main shopping areas and seen the major sites, so we kind of just wandered around and ate food. We got some Okonomiyaki from a street vendor that was really good. Okonomiyaki looks kind of like a pancake but really isn't the same at all. It's made out of the same batter as Takoyaki, which is kind of doughy with some lettucy vegetables in it. The batter is stacked up through a mold and fried on a big grill with a strip of bacon on top. When you place your order they put tons of sauce and mayo on the top.
*Random fun thing we did today- we found Forrest Gump playing in English with Japanese subtitles. We muted it and just read the subtitles, which was a little bit tricky, but we all knew the English words well enough to make our way through the Japanese*
Wednesday
In the end, we decided to split up and meet back at the station half an hour before the train left because we all wanted to look in different stores, and frankly after 4 nights of being together ALL THE TIME we all needed a little alone time. I wandered down the busiest street and window shopped a little bit. I found a really big department store with Dolce & Gabana clothes and the fanciest bathroom I have EVER seen. So many buttons!
By the time we got on the train I was dead tired and ready to be home. The train ride only took 2 hours but it took me an hour to get home after that so I was pretty sleepy by the time I got back! Great trip though :)
After Osaka
On Thursday I did nothing but sleep and enjoy having time to myself. Pretty much the same for Friday, except I went out at night to meet friends in Sakae, where we rode a Ferris Wheel and sat in the park since it was so nice out. Today was another beautiful springy day, so I went to the zoo for a little bit. They had a lot of animals, but not much space for them. The coolest thing was a glass chamber where you could actually walk 'in' to the lion's cage and get really close.
For dinner tonight we had Nabe style food. Nabe means pot- basically you have a big pot and boil tons of vegetables and meat in it, then take them out and enjoy! Our Nabe meal tonight was Kimochi flavored. I'm not really sure what that is, but it's from Korea. It was very very good, and I ate waaaay too much.
Anyway, I think we're all caught up now. I probably won't post tomorrow because I'm not planning on doing anything besides sleeping and doing homework!
Meg
Fact of the Day - In case you were wondering before when I mentioned the tradmark foods of Osaka, the well knows foods from NAGOYA are: Miso Tonkatsu, Kishimen, and Chicken Wings (don't remember the Japanese word). Kishimen are a type of flat wide noodle, and tonkatsu is basically battered and fried pork- in this case covered in miso sauce. Miso is very commonly used in Nagoya, and there are some Miso sauces that you can only get here.
We were pretty tired from walking around all day and being in the park from open to close, so we just relaxed in the hotel at night after getting a snack at McDonalds and some Takoyaki on the way back. The great thing about the trip is that we ate a LOT. Most of the time we would just walk by a place and say 'Hey that looks good!', eat a little bit, and keep moving until we found something else. We mostly ate several small meals instead of a couple big ones, which is more my style.Tuesday
Today we went to Osaka Castle. It is definitely bigger and cooler-looking than Nagoya Castle.
It was a slightly rainy day, but we managed to make it up to the top before it really started raining. By the end of today we were beginning to run out of things to do. We had already gone through the main shopping areas and seen the major sites, so we kind of just wandered around and ate food. We got some Okonomiyaki from a street vendor that was really good. Okonomiyaki looks kind of like a pancake but really isn't the same at all. It's made out of the same batter as Takoyaki, which is kind of doughy with some lettucy vegetables in it. The batter is stacked up through a mold and fried on a big grill with a strip of bacon on top. When you place your order they put tons of sauce and mayo on the top.
*Random fun thing we did today- we found Forrest Gump playing in English with Japanese subtitles. We muted it and just read the subtitles, which was a little bit tricky, but we all knew the English words well enough to make our way through the Japanese*Wednesday
Our final day in Osaka! Our train didn't leave until 9pm and we were planning on going to the Aquarium in the morning/afternoon, then heading back towards the station, getting dinner, and getting on the train. However, the aquarium, while interesting, only took us about an hour and a half to get through so once again we found ourselves with a little too much time on our hands. Backtracking to the aquarium- it was really neat because they had a huge tank with whale sharks and huge stingrays. 
There were a couple other huge tanks too, but we soon found out that most of the aquarium was just a spiral path down the sides of these tanks looking at the same exhibit from different depths. It was fun, but also kind of a nightmare for me because it was insanely crowded. I don't really do well with huge crowds in enclosed spaces. It got a little roomier as we went along though. We watched a musician in the harbor area by the aquarium for a little bit and then headed back downtown by the train station. 
(View from the Harbor Area)
There were a couple other huge tanks too, but we soon found out that most of the aquarium was just a spiral path down the sides of these tanks looking at the same exhibit from different depths. It was fun, but also kind of a nightmare for me because it was insanely crowded. I don't really do well with huge crowds in enclosed spaces. It got a little roomier as we went along though. We watched a musician in the harbor area by the aquarium for a little bit and then headed back downtown by the train station. 
(View from the Harbor Area)By the time we got on the train I was dead tired and ready to be home. The train ride only took 2 hours but it took me an hour to get home after that so I was pretty sleepy by the time I got back! Great trip though :)
After Osaka
On Thursday I did nothing but sleep and enjoy having time to myself. Pretty much the same for Friday, except I went out at night to meet friends in Sakae, where we rode a Ferris Wheel and sat in the park since it was so nice out. Today was another beautiful springy day, so I went to the zoo for a little bit. They had a lot of animals, but not much space for them. The coolest thing was a glass chamber where you could actually walk 'in' to the lion's cage and get really close.
For dinner tonight we had Nabe style food. Nabe means pot- basically you have a big pot and boil tons of vegetables and meat in it, then take them out and enjoy! Our Nabe meal tonight was Kimochi flavored. I'm not really sure what that is, but it's from Korea. It was very very good, and I ate waaaay too much.
Anyway, I think we're all caught up now. I probably won't post tomorrow because I'm not planning on doing anything besides sleeping and doing homework!
Meg
Fact of the Day - In case you were wondering before when I mentioned the tradmark foods of Osaka, the well knows foods from NAGOYA are: Miso Tonkatsu, Kishimen, and Chicken Wings (don't remember the Japanese word). Kishimen are a type of flat wide noodle, and tonkatsu is basically battered and fried pork- in this case covered in miso sauce. Miso is very commonly used in Nagoya, and there are some Miso sauces that you can only get here.
I enjoy stalking your blog meg, it gives me something to do while avoiding homework haha. I miss you I'm glad your having fun.
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