A peaceful weekend in Osaka (01.-03.06.)

Since we didn't have anything special planned for this weekend, so our wallets could recover a bit, I went to downtown Osaka on Friday to walk around a bit, because let's be honest, I haven't been downtown too often and I'm not particularly good at just sitting around in the dorm. So I left after breakfast in fantastic weather with the plan to just walk around without a plan. I also noticed that there are some advantages to being alone, as you can do whatever you want without having to consider anyone else. I checked out HEP 5, a big department store with moderate prices, but I wasn't really in the mood for shopping, since we recently booked flights and hostels for Hong Kong, which weren't exactly cheap either, but well, if you're already nearby, you can also visit Hong Kong. So I quickly went through here and after the mall, I walked around the city a bit, finally arriving at the river and crossing a bridge to an artificial island in the river, which housed a small park with benches, trees, flowers, and small restaurants. I took a break here on a bench in the sun, because I really liked it. You can see the river around the island, as well as the skyscrapers, but also the relaxed atmosphere of the small park, which was very lovingly designed. After that, I continued walking to Umeda Sky Building and then back to the train station, where I met up with my friends and we had a bowl of ramen. As it got dark, there was an open-air exhibition in Osaka of various artworks made of candlelight. The streets where the exhibits were located were also equipped with directional candles, which looked really pretty. At the end of the exhibition, we reached a larger square, where a small amateur band played some Disney-style songs, which we listened to for a while before heading home.

On Saturday, we met in Osaka for a hike in a larger group with some people I didn't know yet. This group was organized by Masaaki-san, who had already taken us hiking in Kyoto and showed us hiking trails that we wouldn't have found on our own. This time we walked through small alleys that really reminded me of Kyoto, and then into the forest on a mountain. I really like the forests here, as they are still real mixed forests that host all kinds of trees and plants. When we reached the summit, we found a great view of Osaka on the one hand and seriously a amusement park for younger children on the other hand. We were pretty amazed because that was the last thing we expected to find on a mountain, but it actually has, in addition to the forest path, an access road and a large parking lot for park visitors. That is so unbelievably Japanese, brightly colored, loud, squeaky, and absolutely random. But since you have to pay for each ride individually, we were able to enter the grounds and sit down on a park lawn to have lunch. After the descent, we went to the Tennoji district to climb the tallest tower in western Japan and explore its observatory. However, we decided to take the free option, which only goes up to the 16th floor, but even from here, the view was great. That already made me really excited to climb Umeda Sky Building, where there is a real 360-degree view terrace. I have planned this for Thursday, as it will be my 24th birthday on that day. After the observatory, we walked through Tennoji Park to the Shinsekai district, where we had a decent beer (and when I say decent, I mean decent: the large Asahi bottle contained 650ml) and after the exercise and the sun, I was also quite tipsy, which made it even funnier. At least for me. :D

On Sunday, we had planned to go to Biwako (Japan's largest lake), but since some people canceled or went on solo trips, I also did that. So I drove to Ootsu via Kyoto, a small sleepy town, where I checked out the harbor, but quickly realized that it was otherwise relatively boring and soon drove on towards the beach. On the way there, which led directly along the lake, I met two American girls on the train who also wanted to go to the beach, just like me. We quickly became friends and found a nice spot in the sand to sunbathe. I couldn't wait to swim and was pleasantly surprised how warm the water was already at the beginning of June. So swimming was pretty great, as I didn't get cold and the water was also very clear, and I had really missed swimming. Back on the towel, some Japanese people soon approached us who wanted to take photos with us, and so we also became friends with them and had a pretty fun day, even though the conversations had a rather rudimentary level. But since the students traveled in a large group and were well-equipped with music, camping chairs, a grill, and drinks, it was still very funny. They invited us to a barbecue and we had Japanese-style grilled noodles with meat and vegetables. Luckily, it turned out that all of them, just like me, came from the Suita district in Osaka, so I didn't have to buy an expensive train ticket and was able to ride back with them in the car. That was really nice of the beach boys, who drive a pretty fancy car: a black Toyota van with seats that are like first-class seats from an Emirates plane, with insane legroom and screens in the front seats. The drive took an hour and a half and they even dropped me off directly at my metro station. The Japanese people always prove to me over and over again that they are the friendliest people in the world.