We left Kei's house first thing in the morning, and immediately Sophie made friends with yet another small kid who ended up giving her one of his toys as a present, a finger puppet from a famous cartoon in Japan, Anpanman.
We had a 3-hour train ride to Okayama, most of which we all spent sleeping (score!) We had been to the famous Okayama gardens on our last trip, and it was beautiful, but we knew it would be stunning this time because of the sakura, which it was.
We walked back to the train station, because we just love walking through Japan! There are very few days that we don't express (to each other) how much we love this country. We took a direct train to Osaka and located our hostel, J-Hoppers, in the Fukushima area (not where the tsunami hit, it's a neighborhood in Osaka).
The area is GORGEOUS, a narrow street with a bunch of restaurants and, apparently, this is the "hip place for young people" - or that's what was written on a local map. :-)
The hostel itself is great - the staff is awesome and the room is really big for a hostel - no small thing when you are traveling with a baby. There is even a bathtub here (score!) though Sophie keeps crying in it. The bed is comfortable, and Sophie still subscribes to the 80-20 rule: She gets 80% of the bed, and we get 20%.
She kicks us a lot at night, but we don't mind - we just turn our backs AND PRETEND IT IS A FREE THAI MASSAGE. Are you jealous yet?
By the time we got in, it was time for dinner and sleep (for Sophie), and we got ourselves some delicious food for a stupid price at the 7-Eleven 2 buildings down.
The next morning, we started our day at the Osaka aquarium since it was raining, though we had planned it anyway. Sophie LOVES animals (and, really, any nature), and the Osaka aquarium is apparently #2 in the world - and we can see why!
Even though it was drizzling, there was an AMAZING street show going on outside. While we don't generally stop to watch people juggling, this guy was HILARIOUS. We didn't understand a single word he was saying, but we couldn't stop laughing - it was like watching a dubbed samurai movie! You can watch the video here: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rRbi75-0P0I.
The aquarium itself was spectacular - they built it in a way that you don't feel like you are watching fish in a tank, but in their natural habitat.
And Sophie went BALLISTIC. She wouldn't stop laughing and shrieking with joy, and even pushing other people out of the way so she could see more. About an hour or so in, she lay her head on a chair and fell asleep 2 minutes later on Rony.
We then went to have some lunch at the mall next door, and ended up at an all-you-can-eat BBQ place that was sooooooo delicious! You take any meat or veggie you'd like, dip it in tempura, and into the oil it goes! Wow, that place was awesome.
Our next stop was Americamura and Dotonbori, two areas that are great for people-watching. Talia bought some bento gear at the 100 Yen shop (like a $1 store) and we really enjoyed just looking around and seeing all the random and nifty shops all around - they even have a whole booth dedicated solely to clothes for dogs!
Here are the pics we took from these 2 days - we are clearly taking less pictures than before :-) https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152703332520364.1073741831.906005363&type=3
We had a 3-hour train ride to Okayama, most of which we all spent sleeping (score!) We had been to the famous Okayama gardens on our last trip, and it was beautiful, but we knew it would be stunning this time because of the sakura, which it was.
We walked back to the train station, because we just love walking through Japan! There are very few days that we don't express (to each other) how much we love this country. We took a direct train to Osaka and located our hostel, J-Hoppers, in the Fukushima area (not where the tsunami hit, it's a neighborhood in Osaka).
The area is GORGEOUS, a narrow street with a bunch of restaurants and, apparently, this is the "hip place for young people" - or that's what was written on a local map. :-)
The hostel itself is great - the staff is awesome and the room is really big for a hostel - no small thing when you are traveling with a baby. There is even a bathtub here (score!) though Sophie keeps crying in it. The bed is comfortable, and Sophie still subscribes to the 80-20 rule: She gets 80% of the bed, and we get 20%.
She kicks us a lot at night, but we don't mind - we just turn our backs AND PRETEND IT IS A FREE THAI MASSAGE. Are you jealous yet?
By the time we got in, it was time for dinner and sleep (for Sophie), and we got ourselves some delicious food for a stupid price at the 7-Eleven 2 buildings down.
The next morning, we started our day at the Osaka aquarium since it was raining, though we had planned it anyway. Sophie LOVES animals (and, really, any nature), and the Osaka aquarium is apparently #2 in the world - and we can see why!
Even though it was drizzling, there was an AMAZING street show going on outside. While we don't generally stop to watch people juggling, this guy was HILARIOUS. We didn't understand a single word he was saying, but we couldn't stop laughing - it was like watching a dubbed samurai movie! You can watch the video here: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rRbi75-0P0I.
The aquarium itself was spectacular - they built it in a way that you don't feel like you are watching fish in a tank, but in their natural habitat.
And Sophie went BALLISTIC. She wouldn't stop laughing and shrieking with joy, and even pushing other people out of the way so she could see more. About an hour or so in, she lay her head on a chair and fell asleep 2 minutes later on Rony.
We then went to have some lunch at the mall next door, and ended up at an all-you-can-eat BBQ place that was sooooooo delicious! You take any meat or veggie you'd like, dip it in tempura, and into the oil it goes! Wow, that place was awesome.
Our next stop was Americamura and Dotonbori, two areas that are great for people-watching. Talia bought some bento gear at the 100 Yen shop (like a $1 store) and we really enjoyed just looking around and seeing all the random and nifty shops all around - they even have a whole booth dedicated solely to clothes for dogs!
Here are the pics we took from these 2 days - we are clearly taking less pictures than before :-) https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152703332520364.1073741831.906005363&type=3
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