Day 4- Getting lost (again) and making friends (finally) Today we made the trek from Osaka to Kyoto and had our first ride on one of Japan's famous bullet trains (Skinkansen in Japanese). We boarded the busy train at Osaka-Shin station and were devastated when we realised we would be standing for most of the 85 minute journey. The trains go up to 300km/h but you wouldn't know from inside as they are super smooth! When we finally got a seat, about and hour into t...

Day 3- Getting a degree in getting lost Ohayo gazaimasu! (good morning) Guess what? The sun came out! So naturally we now love Osaka. It even reached a balmy high of 13 degrees which was a lovely change from the day before. We found a little cafe with an English name (Cafe Regent) for breakfast and were served the one meal on their menu- toast with eggs, bacon, cabbage and banana. The cafe itself reminded me of the set of Seinfeld. Its furniture was from the ...

Day 2- Getting lost in Osaka I'm ashamed to admit it but in true Westerner-style we kicked off our day with a stop a Starbucks for breakfast! After tackling a very Japanesey Italian sausage muffin and mango frappe we ventured on to tackle the minefield that is Osaka's subway system. There's a subway stop basically under our hotel which made the 'find the subway station' step of our adventure much easier. After fumbling at the ticket machine and attempting to a...

Konichiwa!!! We've landed in Osaka and what a place it is. Oasaka's Kansai Airport is on an impressive man-made island about 60 minutes from the city. As we drove through the province last night on our way to the hotel, Osaka seemed more like a reflection of other cities we had been before, rather than a unique place in its own right. It has the giant industries of Beijing, with the biggest LPG plant we have ever seen. The pressured steel vessels towere...