Day twelve - Washing and meeting Mary-chan

Yesterday was another day of rest for me. However I managed to do my washing. Yay, me! When I finished, I chillaxed again.

Saying that, I did go out in the evening. My classmate, Mary, was due to arrive in Japan, so I went to meet her at her hotel. I thought depending on how tired she was, we'd going to get dinner.

I jumped on the JR line train to Kyoto and got to the station. Mary's hotel was literally next door. However... it took me about 30 minutes to find it. Mary and I kept calling each other (expensive on our UK mobiles) and it turns out that we were on total opposite sides of the station. It's huge.

I met Mary at her hotel. Omg it's lush. 4 stars! Very nice. Kinda posh. As it was late, we basically went to a Seven Eleven, got snacks and chatted in her hotel room.

Day ten - Amerika-mura

I skipped day nine, because I literally vegged. I was so tired that I slept for a couple of hours, watched Japanese TV and listened to music. It was also supposed to be a wash day, but I even failed to do that. Lol.

Onto Wednesday.
Sayaka was basically feeling as knackered as I was, so we didn't meet up. But she did direct me to a store called Mandarake, which sells tons of anime, Manga, cosplay, DVDs, CDs, just about everything. I didn't stay long otherwise I would have spent all my money. So tempting!

Someone else took this photo as I failed. But you get the idea.

Mandarake is situated in an area called Amerika-Mura. There are loads of clothing stores. To be honest, not sure where my head was, but I really didn't stay out for long. And I didn't take any photos. Only about four hours, which may not strike you as odd. However Sayaka and I had been out born up to eight hours on most days.

That being said, I did manage to find the ¥100 store (dangerous!), but I behaved. I eventually head back to the hotel and vegged for the rest of the eve.

Day eight - Lol, I need a rest...

This was my last day with Sayaka and her family. Hrt father and brother had already left for work so I'd said goodbye and thank you to them the night before. Sayaka's family had been nice enough to give me gifts before Sayaka's mum helped my put this kimono on. 

This is Sayaka's kimono called Furisode for Seijinshiki. It took 30 minutes. But it's gorgeous so it was worth it. Can't believe it fit me. Rofl. Arigatou gozaimasu.

He he the kimono was easier to take off than it was to put on. So lovely. Kimonos of this quality are around £3000+. It was definitely a privilege to wear it. 

After that, Sayaka's mum showed us how the tea ceremony is performed. It had a go and did quite well, if I do say so myself. :-P 

Shortly after that, I left to go to my next hotel. I chuckled when i got to my second hotel. My room was bigger than the first hotel and this hotel is two stars rather than three. More stars don't mean better quality.

And again I collapsed when I got in. Huge suitcase and goodie bag. Another day of rest, methinks.

Day six - Meeting the family and exploring Sakai city

So today I checked out of my first hotel and made my way to Sayaka's home. Her family had been nice enough to let me stay. When I got there I met her mother, father and older brother. They had ordered a gorgeous meal which had so many cool things. I tried everything. It was superb. The sashimi (raw tuna and another fish, can remember) was gorgeous. I'd tried raw fish at Yo Sushi! in London, and hated it. This sashimi was unbelievably tasty. I think that the only thing in wasn't keen on what this egg dish. It had a creme brulee texture but was savour. It also had prawns in it.

After the meal, Sayaka and I relaxed for a while and set out for a tour of Sakai city.

We partook in traditional green tea and sweets. Before looking around the gardens.

Then we saw a tanuki on our way home. :-) 

Day five part two - Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan

It's a shame really for two reasons. Firstly because I fell asleep at my hotel after I'd visited Osaka castle, I arrived at the aquarium about an hour before it was due to close. Secondly I didn't get many good photos because it was too dark. :'(

Day five part one - Osaka castle

Sayaka was busy so I took a wander to Osaka castle and the surrounding park. The sakura seems to be in full bloom. 

Random Japanese guy practicing. I managed to ask him if I could take a photo. In Japanese, I may add.

I slowly made my way up to the castle. I could have posted more photos but I have far too many.

The castle is now a museum so I couldn't take any more photos until I reached the top. Lol made the mistake of not taking the elevator. So 8 floors later...

Day four part two - Den Den town

This is Den Den town, an area full on maid cafes, games stores, hobby stores, electronic, you name it. It's the 'come to' place for all your nerdy desires. Omg I was in heaven. I need to win the lottery right now. :-) 

First thing we did was grab some cake in a maid café. It wasn't really what I thought it would be. Maybe I watch too much anime, but I really was expecting the girls to be in maid outfits, saying 'yes master' or 'yes my lady'. Not that the place was bad and it was really popular. 

We weren't allowed to take a photo of the café, so one of the waitresses took this for us. After eating, we explored the shops and found this retro gaming store.

Here you can buy anything to make a completely customised doll.