On our visit to Japan, our first stop was the beautiful city of Osaka. We came for a wedding and spent out first few days eating and drinking and sightseeing within Osaka. We visited the Osaka aquarium and went up to the top of Umeda Sky Building. We also had an interesting experience at the Lock Up Restaurant. Other than that we just indulged in the amazing food. My only wish is that I could have possibly eaten more. What I couldn’t eat I photographed, so going back through our trip is really making me hungry. By day four we still had to fit into our wedding clothes. After the elegant ceremony, we went spoil again with course after course of amazing food. I have included some pictures below of the gorgeous wedding of our dear friends.

Osaka has to be my favourite city that we visited in Japan. The people are extremely friendly and polite. So many times when we were lost, older Japanese people would approach us and try to help, even without knowing English. The streets and facilities were all very clean and the people were dressed very elegantly. The food was probably the best here as well. There are so many things to see and do within the city and also on the outskirts. Check out my following posts to see where else we went.

Our first experience of Osaka by night, in Kita Ward (district). Our friends took us to Saizeriya Ristorante e Caffe for a Japanese version of Italian food. It was bad, but it wasn’t like Italy. After we visit Namco gaming store.

Breakfast is hard to find in Osaka. We found Bagel & Bagel for some delicious bagel sandwiches and hot tea. Marco also got a sweet pastry from Fred’s Cafe.

We caught a Japanese train out to Nishinomiya. It was so clean and classic.

We shopped at Nishinomiya Gardens Shopping Centre to get some more winter clothes.

The supermarket Izumiya Nishinomiya Gardens had the most amazing fresh fruit, vegetables, and seafood. We bought some strawberries and cherry tomatoes and they tasted out of this world.

The food court at Nishinomiya Gardens also had the most amazing array of Japanese foods and desserts. Some come beautifully packaged and other are for a quick bite.

We had lunch with our friends at Mukashiyosyoku Mitsuketei, inside Nishinomiya Gardens. Definitely not the healthiest Japanese food but tasty.

Before dinner, we check out the huge technology superstore, housed in the Yodobashi Camera building and Shinsaibashi-suji shopping arcade.

Finally, a traditional Japanese dinner at a little restaurant in Shinsaibashi-suji. It was just the girls tonight so we got to eat what we liked.

After a big night the best cure for a hangover ramen. We found this little ramen bar, near our hotel, in the Kita Ward (district). We had to order our meal from a little machine just inside the door, which helped with the language barrier. We had Vegetarian Ramen and Fried Rice.

Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan was one the best aquarium I’ve ever seen, probably because of its the largest one in the world. This is only a snapshot of what we saw when we were there. There are many walkthrough display tanks. The largest is 9 meters high and can be viewed from different levels. There is also an interactive display where people can touch sharks and rays. One of my favorite things to see were the jellyfish.

Before we headed out for the Welcome dinner we visited the Twilight Fantasy at JR Osaka Station. It was a month before Christmas, so there is a beautiful display.

Our Welcome Dinner was organized for The Lock-Up Restaurant. One of the strangest experiences I’ve ever had. I am still not sure what was really happen. We were brought in by a policewoman who later returned with these ghoulish scary guys, who put our friends behind bars. It was a fun night anyway. The food was decent and the drinks were really nice.

We need a quick power breakfast this day, so we found some onigiri at the Family Mart (convenience store). They were really fresh and most had some seafood filling. Thank god we had a Starbucks nearby too.

To get the best view of Osaka we visited the Umeda Sky Building. It really puts in perspective how big this city really is. There are indoor and a large outdoor balcony and you can go between the two towers. 

Directly under the Umeda Sky Building was the Willkommenzum Weihnachtsmarkt (Welcome to the Christmas Market). It is a German-themed market, where you can eat and drink German food and beer. 

Next we visited the Hankyu Department Store in Umeda for a late lunch. So many food amazing food options. Mostly Japanese, but also some Western foods. I had seafood salad, fried lotus root and inari rolls. We were also treated to a Japanese band outside.

On day four we had our friend’s beautiful wedding at the Harmonie Embrassee Hotel. The ceremony was held in a triangular shaped room, that looked out onto the city. The dress was beautiful and so elegant. The women on the bride’s side wore traditional kimonos. After drinks in the bar, we were taken to the reception room. The room was also elegantly decorated in blue, maroon and black and had beautiful bouquets of flowers.We were then served five courses of fine dining Japanese food. Most of the dishes were seafood, so I got to eat Marco’s share as well. The cake and dessert bar looked amazing, but I had to stick to the fruit.