I think 2 nights in a ryokan is a perfect amount of time to relax and forget about the world outside you. We started packing up because the morning tends to be a little rushed with breakfast at 8 and check out at 10. The nakai san knocked on our door to let us know that breakfast was ready for us.

Breakfast today was a small salad with onsen egg which I put on top of my rice, poached fish with mushrooms and tofu, assorted veggies and noodles, miso soup with egg, fried tofu in soy sauce, rice congee with salt, fruit cocktail in jelly. My favorites were the fried tofu and the jelly dessert. Joanna and I agreed that we were onsen-ed out at this point and we’d finish breakfast and just head to the train station. Theeeen we realized we were done with breakfast and it was only 8:45. Maybe there was time to do one more soak.

Hachisuka san was in the lobby talking with his wife who ran the front desk. I presented him with a small bottle of our honey as a thank you for welcoming us into his home and doing such a phenomenal job taking care of us. He was very appreciative of the gift, his mother was just walking by and he showed her the honey telling us that she uses honey every day in her tea. She was happy to see it, thanked and bowed to us for the gift. He also said that his family name Hachisuka uses the same character for bee 蜂 [hachi].

We checked out and he was very generous in offering us a ride in his car to the train station when we were ready to walk there ourselves with our bags. In the car, he was pointing out the schools that his kids go to and that his daughter plays baseball. He asked if we have heard of Osaka’s baseball team the Hanshin Tigers because they’re number one. I said we’re Hiroshima Carp fans and he thought it was the greatest thing.

There was over an hour to kill at the train station so he insisted on taking pictures of us and that we try the hot springs water. I took a sip and made a face, he laughed and said “hahha yes it is very salty”. I think he was just messing with us.

We said our good byes and I expressed my appreciation to him again of how amazing our stay was. If you’re ever coming to Japan and are looking for somewhere to stay, definitely check out Morizuya because if it’s good enough for Mr. Bean, it should be good enough for you.

The train was 2 hours back to Kyoto and then 25 min to Osaka. I wanted to write this blog on the train but I felt like I missed out on a photo opportunity every time I’d look at my phone or the laptop screen. There was a farmer just waiving at the train going by. I also saw several people riding tractors that were planting rice seedlings row by row. I put my stuff away and just enjoyed the view with my camera on ready to grab some shots.

Minnesota is just so flat. When you do a road trip, all you see is a few lakes and farmland. It’s pretty boring. I love just sitting and watching the landscape change here.

We got to Osaka station on time as always and went in search for food. I wanted to check off Osaka style okonomiyaki so Joanna could compare between this and the Hiroshima style which was had 2 weeks ago. Found a restaurant called okonomiyaki CHIBO on google maps with better reviews than the others in the area. We got there and it felt fancier than the other restaurants we’ve been to.

While we were in Hiroshima, Joanna said she preferred the kind that I made at home which is Osaka style because I’m too lazy to layer it like they do in Hiroshima. I was expecting them to let us make it ourselves but they did it for us and brought it to our table. Joanna asked “where are the yakisoba noodles?” I had to remind her that’s Hiroshima style and she was kind of disappointed. So now I guess she’s a fan of that kind.

We got to our hotel and it looked like happy hour already started. As there was free all you can drink sake, whiskey, plum wine, and beer. The beer machine was super cool where it filled the glass from the top. I’m going to have to get more beer later, you know, for blogging purposes.

We headed out to see the hype around Dotonbori, one of the main tourist streets in Osaka. I wouldn’t say it was a mistake but holy crap there were more people here than we’ve run into all trip. I think we just got used to the quiet and solitude from Yakushima and Kinosaki that this was a bit much. Joanna said this was the first time she felt kind of unsafe in Japan due to how many people were crowded together that she was worried about pick pocketers. Every restaurant we walked past had a line, just craziness. As we were walking, I noticed our okonomiyaki restaurant Chibo had a location here and it also had a long line which told me that we picked a good one to go to over at the train station.

We got some takoyaki which originated from Osaka from a street food vendor for $3.50. It was hot and had large pieces of octopus inside, way cheaper than what we get at home which is about $8 for an order of 6. Joanna tried to do some shopping but it was just so crowded. We decided to leave the shopping for one of the 2 days we had left here and went to find some dinner.

My friend Adrian recommended a ramen shop to me when we were visiting Hong Kong in November. It was probably the best bowls of ramen I ever had. He let me know that their original location was in Osaka. I looked it up and they were only a 10 minute walk from where we were. We headed over and thankfully got there just as they were taking last orders.

When we were the next in line to enter the restaurant, I noticed a cockroach come around the corner and start heading towards the crack in the door. Kind of rude of it skipping the line as we were waiting over 20 minutes. I tried kicking it aside but I just made it scatter even faster. It ended up going into the restaurant without anyone else noticing….oops

I got a dipping ramen where the noodles are served cold and mixed with a bit of vinegar. Ugh so good. I prefer the HK version because it has a ramen egg but it costs $22 there vs $7 in Osaka. Maybe I’ll just bring my own eggs from the convenience store next time.