Osaka Forever

So with my final departure from Japan coming up quick, I wanted to go back to Osaka at least once more to see my friends and see my favorite parts of the city one more time.

May 1, 2017

Arriving on the first, I made plans to meet up my old partner teacher and friend, Hitomi for lunch. Like I've said in previous posts, Hitomi and I became close near the end of me leaving Osaka. She is really a genuine person and I definitely wanted to see her again in Osaka.

We met up at North Shore Cafe in Kitahama. The cafe faces the river and has a really nice terrace. There is always a line there but it's understandable with the good food and excellent views. So after landing in Kansai Airport, I took a bus to Namba Station, tried to find a coin locker to put my luggage but failed, so then headed to North Shore to meet up Hitomi.

We spent the afternoon eating a massive salad and catching up on our new lives. After lunch we headed to Umeda to do a little bit of shopping. It's weird looking at a place you've known so well for the past few years with the thought that you'll be leaving soon. It's like I looked at Osaka deeper and tried to take more of the city in.

I spent most of my time in Osaka in an area called "Minami" or better known as Namba. So we went there after to go to some boutiques I wanted to check out as well as just an area I wanted to digest a bit more. For dinner we made plans with some of our old coworkers but before that he went to Streamers Coffee in America-mura for a coffee break.

I was really excited for the evening because I would see my favorite coworkers from the school year before. I was eager to hear everyone's updates and to hear how my old class was doing this year as Toddlers. It's crazy how much I miss some of my students. I would find myself thinking about them just wishing I could hug them. Even though last year's job was so hard, some of those kids really stole my heart. I actually wanted to visit my old school on this visit to Osaka but with Golden Week, the school was closed for the whole week. It was so unfortunate!

Anyways, 7pm rolled around and Hitomi and I headed to the place she booked for dinner. I thought we were just going to a normal restaurant but it was actually a venue that had areas sectioned off for private parties. When we pulled back the curtain for our space, I saw in large glittery letters "Good Luck Theresa" and was so surprised. Slowly, more of our old coworkers came in. I think it was a really nice reunion for everyone since this year many of the teachers got spread out to other schools. Last year's team at Higashi Osaka school was really special and it was nice to see many of them again.

Dinner was a course menu so the food just came out without us needing to order. It was nice to have an all you can drink option though. So we ate, drank, updated each other and laughed about new and old stories. Along with my farewell, we also celebrated Saori's birthday that had just passed a few days before. So at the end of our meal, a large fake cake with a smaller actual cake, came out with candles. We were so surprised the cake even had an edible chocolate photo of our staff from last year on it! The food was mediocre but the company was the best.

So as the night went on, I had thought all the surprises were finished but then the lights went down once more and suddenly a video appeared on the tv. What is happening?? I suddenly saw a slide show of images from last year's school events. The photos captured many good moments that we had last year at Higashi-Osaka. I was just enjoying the photos until I saw a video of my old manager come on! Then one after another, I saw all of my coworkers in a self recorded message FOR ME! I was so shocked and taken back by how sweet and thoughtful everyone's message was. I held it together pretty well until Hitomi's clip came on. She was singing a song we sang often with out kids last year and just thinking about our class last year and the struggle and love, it just made me burst out in tears. It was just so sweet and it took me back to all the memories of last year.

I felt so loved at dinner and so thankful to have such good friends and coworkers. A big thank you to Hitomi for arranging the dinner, video compilation and everything!! You are truly the best partner I could have wished me.

After our reservation time was up, we still wanted to spend time with each other so we walked to a near by darts place to have a few more drinks and play a few games of darts. We had about seven people join us for darts so it made the games much more fun. The seven of us stayed for a few hours playing different dart games with the losing team taking shots. It was fun but reality of time and sleepiness settled in and soon every one was on their way home; but not without getting some after-drinks-ramen! All the girls in the group headed to get a snack at a ramen place around the corner.

As for where I would be sleeping this night, Hitomi was generous enough to offer her place for me or anyone else who wanted to crash for the night. It was such a fun day and evening I was exhausted by the time I got into a bed, which was nearly 5am! But the first day back in Osaka was very well spent with amazing company and really good times.

I may not of gotten a sufficient amount of sleep this night but I had a busy week ahead and wouldn't let sleepiness hold me back! Onto Tuesday!


May 2, 2017

Tuesday morning was a late morning, if you could guess, but luckily I didn't have plans until lunch. Weeks before coming to Osaka, I had contacted a few friends to make plans for this week.  A pair of people I had to see again were Kiyoko and Mayumi. We made lunch plans this afternoon to meet at our usual spot, the 8th floor of Takeshimaya department store.

It was great to see these two, as it always is. We ended up picking a lunch spot that had endless pizza with your lunch meal. Sure the pizzas were pretty crappy but hey, company was still good! As we usually do, we talked for hours updating each other on our current lives. Our long lunch turned into going to Namba Parks to the cake cafe Harbs for after lunch coffee and tea, plus a massive piece of cake.

I stayed with Kiyoko and Mayumi up until 5:30pm. They walked me to the station and were in tears as we had to say bye. They are so sweet and every time I meet up with them they really  make me feel so loved.

Next stop, Kishiwada to see Ash and his new soft serve shop. So at Namba Station I headed to a Hiroki Station to be picked up by Ash. In the last half year, him and his wife decided to open up a soft serve shop. He had done the renovations, interior decorating, and creating the whole menu. I really wanted to see if and have some ice cream because who wouldn't want ice cream!

Once Ash picked me up, we headed to the shop where his wife and niece was working. I got a sundae that had strawberry, chocolate and coconut flakes in it. I was full from lunch and my cake, but somehow always had room for ice cream.

Later that evening, we met up Taka and Nori for dinner at a kushi katsu place. These guys really spent time with me as I was moving Osaka before, so I made sure to have time for them this time too.

This whole day was spent eating and talking and catching up. I was ready for some proper sleep!! I felt as if I was a coach surfer, different place every night. This evening I would be staying at Ash's surf shop. He has a living quarter above the shop where his father stays. He offered the living room to be since there was a nice couch there. So after winding down and cleaning up, I laid down to try to get some proper rest.


May 3, 2017

The next morning, Ash came back to the shop to pick me up around 8:30am. Kishiwada is a little far from the center of the city and with possibly early plans this morning, I didn't want to sleep in and chance wasting a day. So after a big hug from Ash, I hopped on a train and headed back into town to meet up Mariko at her new apartment in Ebisucho.

Originally, this day, Mariko, Rika and I planned to have a BBQ at Lake Biwa. Rika would be driving the two hours to the lake and back. This was the original plan. But it turned out Rika had a really late night the evening before working a new job so this morning, it was a bit difficult to get a hold of her.

To wait for her to get up, Mariko and I walked to Shinsekai area to get a small bite to eat. Her new apartment was in a convenient area. Maybe some may think it's not the safest being that its so close to Shinsekai, but if I were to move back to Osaka, I would totally move here! We ended up having some kushi-katsu. The weather was really nice and there were many people out.

Ring-ring! We finally get in touch with Rika and changed our plans to better bit the time and energy she had. We decided to instead, have a small BBQ at a place near the river in Kishiwada. Hey I just came from there! This way, the drive would only be about an hour and it would be more manageable than going all the way to Lake Biwa. Once, Rika came to Mariko's place, we all got settled in to head down to Kishiwada.

The drive was just over an hour and it was nice because we took the high way which allowed us to see all the lushness of the mountains. The river was more so a recreational park where people could rent out a space to BBQ or fish. Small, but was totally fine. We ended up getting there about 3pm. It was a little later than we hoped so we immediately set up our bbq pit. Luckily for us, Rika had everything we needed.

So with the couple hours before sundown, we cooked up a tray full of meat, couple packs of wieners, and also made a super delicious yaki-soba. It was probably the quickest bbq we've ever done but it was just enough for the three of us.

After we finished eating, we snapped a few photos and even checked out the river some. Rika actually got in, but after seeing her struggle with the cold temperature, I was definitely not getting more than my hands wet.

Once we headed back into town, we went back to Mariko's place to chill and build an appetite for dinner. The three of us would be having a sleep over at Mariko's this evening so we brought up our things for that as well.

One of the places I had to eat in Osaka again was The Butcher's which is a burger place me and Caoliang love. I decided it would be nice to go there with the girls for dinner. So along with the three of us, Yucco also joined us after she got off of work. Mariko's place was close enough that we walked there in about 15 minutes.

They had never been to The Butcher's before, so it was nice to introduce them to one of my favorite spots. We each ordered a burger as well as a milkshake for dessert. Oh were we full after or what! But dinner was so yummy and I was happy I got to eat here again and with this group of girls.

Continuing my nomadic ways for the week, after getting back to the apartment, I cleaned up, stayed up with Mariko and Rika for a bit, but then fell asleep. I think all of us were pretty tired from the day. Super fun day though and was happy I got to have this memory with them to last me until our next summer event.

May 4, 2017

Time to hit the road again! On the fourth I made plans to go to Akashi to see Jacob. Mariko laughed as she heard my schedule for the week. I was pretty much traveling all of Kansai to see my friends. Akashi is rather far from south Osaka. The train just to get to Jacob's would take be nearly two hours from Mariko's so I had to get a move on.

I was really excited to see Jacob though. Not only is he one of my good friends and has been since the beginning, but he also lives out in semi-country side next to the ocean! Anytime I hang out with Jacob we usually just spend the day outside, if the weather is nice. This day the weather was
amazing!

Once we put my things down at his apartment, we headed out on bikes to the supermarket to get lunch things then out to the beach. There were a couple families already out there having picnics and enjoying the nice sun. We set out our tiny mat and took off our shoes to soak up the beautiful weather too.

We spent a couple hours our on the beach until it got a bit too sunny. We then walked around the sand a bit before headed back on the bikes to one of Jacob's favorite spots. It was a temple down the coast with apparently, wisteria that was really beautiful.

The bike ride was really nice but man did my bum started to hurt! Luckily, the temple and the wisteria were really beautiful and smelled so nice. I know I'm a city girl at heart but I could always use some quiet time out in the country/coast now and then and with a friend like Jacob, this afternoon was perfect.

After a painful bum ride back, we decided to make Mexican food for dinner. So after getting some things at the grocery store, Jacob and I went back to make some taco rolls as well as guacamole for dinner. Jacob cooks much more than I do so I left all the big things up to him. I pretty much mashed the avocado and cut the vegetables. Anyways the food turned out super yummy and very satisfying.

I think as we get older, we have less of a need to go out and more of a want to stay in and be simple or comfortable. That was definitely the case this evening. Once Yuki, Jacob's boyfriend came home, he has some of our home made Mexican and hung out with us a bit before heading to bed.

This night, Jacob had a whole room that I could have! It was probably the best sleep I had all week. Finally my own space! I was grateful for their awesome hospitality and went to bed that night super satisfied.


May 5, 2017

My last full day in Kansai! This day I planned to spend with Becka in Kyoto. So after waking and having a yummy home made breakfast by Jacob, I packed up my things and headed for Kyoto.

Man was Kansai warm! I was so sweaty and gross by the time I reached Becka's apartment. I had to change out of my shirt into something cooler before we headed back out. Luckily, she didn't have work today so could spend the whole day with me. Becka manages a touring company in Kyoto as well as does work for an outside company, so lately has been rather busy.

Along with spending time with Becka, I just wanted to do some shopping in Kyoto to get a few Japanese things before leaving the country. So as we shopped, we enjoyed the warm weather and busy streets as locals and tourists alike came out to enjoy the sun.

Once we successfully got my shopping done, we went to a Mexican place to have a late lunch. Yes I know funny it was my second day in a row having Mexican. You would think that I'm leaving Japan soon I should be eating more Japanese food, but really I'm not too picky. If it's good food, it's good food! I ordered a taco rice dish and Becka, a shrimp dish. As we enjoyed our lunch, across the small river there were these street performers singing songs from Okinawa. To my surprise, Becka joined in with them! It was funny to hear and see but a nice addition to our lunch outside near the river.

The rest of the day was spent just being us, having coffee, watching people, talking about life stuff. Really this was all I wanted when making a trip back to Kansai. A chance to see my friends and be as we always were. By this point, I had seen all the sights I wanted to see already. It was really just coming back to see my friends again.

Luckily my flight wasn't until 2pm the next day but Becka had work the next morning. So we called it a night rather early and fell asleep quickly.


May 6, 2017

Time to go back to my baby! It was bitter sweet leaving my friends and this city this week. All my good byes are really "see you laters" but still, not knowing when I'll see them again makes it sad. So being that I left Becka's a bit early, I took my time going back to Osaka Station and Namba Station. At Osaka Station, I had a coffee and really took in the views of the station. I did the same at Namba. Walking around familiar areas that I used to frequent on a daily basis.

It really is a mixed bag of feelings when leaving a place you've called home the past three years. But like I've said before, I'm thankful for every experience I've had in this city and the great people I've got to meet here. Osaka, I will love you forever.

Thank you to everyone who took out time for me this week. You guys are awesome. See you soon Osaka!!!



xx
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