Asakusa by day. Our last day in Japan

We were very sad that today was our last day in Japan, but were also a bit tired (still recovering from colds and gastro) and over "touristing". So although we had the time to go out to Shinjuku or Ginza or Shibuya and Harajuku, we ended up just staying in Asakusa and wandering around for the few hours until our train to the airport.

Edo Tokyo Museum, Akihabara and Asakusa by night

Upon the recommendation of my older sister, we decided to check out the Edo Tokyo museum and get an English guide. It was great!

After looking through the museum, we caught the train through to Akihabara to have a look. Daniel was hoping to get a cheap MP3 player, however all the ones he liked were only in Japanese.

For our last night in Japan, we went for a wander through Asakusa and ended up in a Big Echo karaoke bar

Osaka to Tokyo

Another day of travelling, this time from Osaka to Tokyo.

We were very grateful for our 11am checkout time, because we didn't sleep very well. Daniel was still a little under the weather and I seemed to have caught the same bug which resulted in a restless sleep and a number of trips to the bathroom through the night.

Neko no Jikan, Osaka Castle and Yakiniku

猫の時間, 大坂城, 焼肉
In the morning we decided we would check out a Japanese cat cafe and went with the (self proclaimed) first cat cafe in Osaka before heading on to Osaka castle.

For dinner we stopped in at Akiyoshi based on the great looking menu out the front - and we were not disappointed!

After dinner we went across to Q's Mall and played some video games at the Sega store.

Unplanned rest day

We had planned to go to Universal Studios today, but Daniel woke up with a very upset stomach and wasn't too keen on venturing out of the apartment. Given that we had been going pretty much non-stop for almost two weeks, a rest day was appreciated.

Tennōji Zoo, Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan and Dōtonbori

天王寺動物園, 海遊館, 道頓堀
Since it was just around the corner and only ¥500 each, we thought we'd check out the Tennoji zoo. Worst. Idea. Ever. This was the most depressing zoo I've ever been to. I realised what a high standard Australian zoos set for animal welfare and enrichment!

After that we journeyed to Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan. We liked it so much we went through it twice.

From the city of temples to the city of food

Today we travelled from Kyoto to Osaka. It was only an hour by train, but we couldn't check in to our room until 2pm, so we took our time getting to the train station and catching the train.

Once we got to Osaka, without having internet, it was a bit tricky finding our room - and it was raining - but it wasn't too long before we were there.

The room was amazing!

Once we'd settled in, we went and explored the nearby shopping mall and then went out for dinner