We woke up a bit lazy today, planning to visit a temple before checking out. The temple we chose was Todai-ji. After breakfast, we took a bus that dropped us off there around 9:30 AM—cutting it close. On top of that, the free pass I bought online through Klook didn’t include this temple, so we just saw it from the outside before heading back.
We strolled through downtown Nara on our way back to the hotel to pick up our luggage. Along the way, we bought some mochi from the famous Nakatanidou. Unfortunately, since it was still early, we didn’t get to see the masters making them. A shame, but at least the mochi were delicious, filled with sweet red bean paste.
On our way back, we stopped at an arcade to try our luck with the claw machines. We almost won a Kirby, but at the last second—no luck! Then, we returned to the hotel, grabbed our luggage, and checked out.
We hopped on a train to Osaka, a smooth 50-minute ride with about 15 stations in between. Once there, we took the metro to our hotel. Check-in wasn’t available until 3 PM, but we left our luggage at the hotel. Great news—our forwarded suitcase had arrived! With everything sorted, we decided to have lunch at the hotel restaurant.
I ordered udon with beef (medium spice, thick noodles, large portion), which turned out to be so massive it was impossible for one person to finish. I think even the chefs came out to see who had dared to order such a huge dish! How was I supposed to know it was meant for an army?
It was absolutely delicious, though. The heat from the broth and spice had me sweating, but it was worth it. The girls had fried chicken and beef with rice, which they really enjoyed.
After lunch, to kill some time, we walked around Den Den Town, which is basically a mini Akihabara. I kept searching for retro hardware without success. I’m starting to regret not buying that computer I saw in Tokyo. I found some MSX games, but none that caught my interest. We checked out several stores—Super Potato, Mandarake, A-Too, Retro TV Game Shop—but still nothing. A shame.
We finally headed back to the hotel to check in and rest for a bit. I took the opportunity to do some laundry in the hotel’s coin-operated machines. The clothes came out dry, so that was perfect.
At 7 PM, we took a walk around the Namba district and were amazed at the sheer number of people. Since it was dinner time, we picked a place that looked decent, located on the third floor of a building. The food was good, but we definitely paid the tourist price. It wasn’t outrageously expensive, but it cost us 10,000 yen—almost twice what we usually spend, around 60 euros. Oh well, just this once. The important thing was that the meal was great.
After dinner, we wandered around the area, which, with all its lights, felt like a mix of Shinjuku but with a canal and boats. The number of neon lights and giant screens was mind-blowing. Of course, we had to take photos with the famous Glico Man, so now we can officially say we’ve checked that off the list.
And with that, we wrapped up our day. Off to bed early because tomorrow, we have another early start!