Namba, Osaka

Only in japan can you leave your wallet sitting outside your hostel all night and have it returned to you in the morning, all 50000 yen still inside. Oh god. Anyway apart from that, Osaka is amazingly amazing amazing. We have already had two amazing days and nights exploring Namba (an amazing downtown prefecture of Osaka that is like our favourite parts of Tokyo all smooshed into one - Busy and bright like Shibuya (and it has a tower records too) trendy like Shimokitazawa, grungey like Ueno and Ikebukuro and with many shopping streets - like shin-saibashi, which extends for about 1.5 kilometers and has no less than 5 McDonald's along its length) and hanging out with Tomomi and her friends, who have been so lovely and welcoming towards us. Here are some pictures because I don't have time to write about it all in detail just now because we are leaving soon for Osaka castle and the Umeda district (which contains the LONGEST shopping mall in Japan, at around 2.6km in length). There are sooo many stories still to tell!

Sayonara, Annika

Photos: view of Osaka from our hostel's rooftop, some weird statues, the Namba district at night, a friendly Octopus advertising fried balls of itself (only in Japan), amaaaaaaazing Okunomaki(?) (Japanese style) pancakes, and suuuuuper cheap cocktails at a bar we went to in Namba (normal price for Japan though, we are going to be so sad about going out in Australia again now. These cocktails are about the price of a schooner of bad beer in aus :( )