Relaxing in Japan is the most amazing feeling. School has been kicking my butt as of late so all I want to do when I return to the dorms is take a fat nap.
Outside of napping in my dorm, I’ve been taking long walks through Hirakata and doing just a little shopping. I always end up at the same places that have become quite monotonous after over a month.
Wait a minute. A month? Over a month? That can’t be right. I just got here maybe a week ago.
Unfortunately, I truly have been here for over a month and I’ve barely accomplished anything I wanted to do. That’s all about to change.
A few days ago, I made it my mission to cross off at least one thing from my Japan bucket list each week, and yesterday I did just that.
On Sunday morning, I woke up and hopped on the train to Namba Station with my friend Nathan.
When we got there, it was around 1 p.m. and we walked swiftly to make it to the first item on my bucket list: the Glico sign at Dotonbori, a famous food market in Japan known for its delicious street food, large crowds of tourists and eye-catching signage.
The sign is an ad for Glico, the company that makes Pocky. It shows an image of a man running on a track and has been up since 1935.
Most tourists take photos doing the running man’s signature pose and I’ll shamefully admit that I was no different.
Afterward, we wandered through the food market until we found food I wanted to try, thus crossing off another item from my list. I ordered a watermelon smoothie and an ice cream cone.
I felt refreshed and much cooler even though I was still quite hungry. We made our way over to a McDonalds for some authentic American cuisine.
After feasting, Nathan and I left the hustle of Dotonbori to find the Namba Yasaka Shrine. This shrine is most well known for its stage in the shape of the head of a lion.
Tthis area was incredibly busy and touristy. If I have the option to revisit Namba, I’d like to visit this shrine early in the morning and avoid all the crowds.
The shrine was gorgeous, well maintained and included no admission fee, which is always a plus.
After visiting the shrine, Nathan and I walked around for awhile and found some side streets and quieter areas to avoid the crowds. Finding quiet areas is one of my favorite parts about Japan.
I have a lot of fun doing all the flashy tourist activities, but it’s also important to take time with friends to chat and enjoy each other’s company.
We talked for about an hour before going to cross one more thing off my bucket list. The last stop on our list was Maccha House to try the matcha tiramisu.
I have wanted to try this dessert since I saw people reviewing it online. It was more bitter than I expected due to the matcha powder sprinkled on top. It also was a bit runnier than I expected, but delicious nonetheless.
In the end, I returned to the dorms a little past 7 p.m. and crawled into bed to focus on homework.
Liz Curtin can be reached at [email protected].
