DAY 10 - OSAKA

Our hotel was right next to Doutonbori: a tourist district full that’s populated with restaurants and famous for its eccentric vibe.

The restaurants were embellished with extravagant creations, presumably to help them stand out in the visually chaotic atmosphere.

We decided to lunch at a ramen restaurant, however it was quite unusual. First, we paid while we were waiting in line. Next, we were lead around to the back of the building, then up two flights of stairs to a small bar-style gallery with partitioned seats. The ramen was served through a flap; there was no waiter. It was all very strange and fun.

They really thought of everything.

Afterward we tried to do a little bit of shopping, but once again we didn’t find anything that we felt was worth spending our money on. Still, we like these covered, open-air shopping streets, so we just enjoyed the atmosphere.

That afternoon, we travelled to the Kansai Airport. It was very organized, and the staff were extremely patient with us, even when we needed to go backwards through security to drop off our pocket wifi in the mail.

The face I made when I realized we had a row of three seats to ourselves on the airplane. Over the course of the 10 hour flight, Ali and I spread out our stuff, took turns laying down, and made ourselves much more comfortable than we were expecting.