Continued from Day 6: Tokyo Disney Sea.

One of the outside-Tokyo excursions we planned for this trip was a quick visit to the Kansai areas of Osaka and Kyoto. We were all excited since it was the first bullet train ride for most of my companions, while it was the first on the N700 series of trains for me.

We all got up bright and early to catch our shinkansen from Tokyo station, which took us to Shin-Osaka in a mere three hours.

Any shinkansen ride that exceeds one hour should be accompanied by food, so we dropped by the shops that sold ekiben (literally “station lunch boxes”, which differed from station to station) for some sustenance. Come to think of it — the entire Osaka trip involved nothing but food: a mere two hours after we arrived, we went to Doutonburi for takoyaki, okonomiyaki, and yakisoba.

With Osaka being mainly a food destination, I guess it was fitting that the only agenda on the itinerary was stuffing ourselves silly. Okay, there is also the important errand of picking up our last travel companion Nina and help set her on her merry way to Hokkaido. But most of the time? Food glorious food!

Osaka was a blast, even if we didn’t stay too long. The next day, it was another bullet train ride — but this time a mere fifteen minutes, to timeless Kyoto and its myriad World Heritage sites.

Continued in Day 9: Higashi Honganji, Fushimi Inari, and Kinkakuji.