We ventured over to Osaka for the weekend for our last "babymoon" trip. It was about a 2.5 hour drive from Nagoya. Our main reason for going was to check out Costco, but decided to take the weekend and also check out the aquarium and Ikea.
First things first - we headed straight to the Hard Rock on Friday night for some good ol' American food. The Hard Rock in Nagoya closed last December, and I desperately miss it! It was the only place to get "good" American food besides Outback in Nagoya. I had my typical grilled chicken sandwich and Joe of course got a burger. Topped it off with their drink "special" for celebrating 40 years, which was a drink for 1200 yen = $15.50.... yeah not so much of a special if you ask me! But they were good nonetheless, and then we ended the evening with their delicious apple cobbler - my favorite!!!
On Saturday we went to the Osaka aquarium. It's known for being one of the largest aquariums in the world and the best in Japan, so we had pretty high expectations. The theme focuses on the Ring of Fire, and the exhibits displayed were exceptional. However, we were somewhat disappointed - despite the large and extensive exhibits, there were not any shows (at least the Nagoya aquarium has a dolphin show!). It was very crowded, and people were pushy, which made the experience even more disappointing. On the plus side, their shark exhibit was fantastic - there was a giant whale shark, a few hammerhead sharks, and tons of manta rays. We also got to see a baby penguin up close and watch him being fed. We were also impressed with the touching area, Joe was able to touch a few sharks and sting rays. I attempted to touch a sting ray, but he wasn't too fond of me and scared me a bit... so no shark touching for me after that! Overall it was a fun experience, and we're glad we went.
After the aquarium we decided to get some fresh air and hike the smallest mountain in Japan. Mt. Tempozan stands next to the aquarium and is right next to the bay. It's summit is 4.53 meters above sea level, and it took all of about 2 minutes to walk over there. ;)
On Sunday we headed over to Costco. It was super crowded and stressful - but we made it fun and managed to find all of our American goods, including: tortilla chips & salsa, variety of cereals, muffins & bagels, tuna, pop, TP, paper towels, laundry detergent, Pampers diapers & wipes, pasta sauce, and snacks: raisins, trail mix, nuts, etc. just to name a few! I also splurged and bought a huge container of blueberries & cherries... which are normally hard to find in Japan and/or ridiculously expensive - but being from Michigan, these are 2 essential summer fruits I need!! We also stocked up on pre-made quick meals (burritos, burgers, crab cakes, etc) for when the baby arrives and American beef since there was a beef scare recently in Japan with the meat containing radiation - so now we don't have to worry about eating contaminated meat for a while. A very expensive but successful trip!! We also bought a few things at Ikea: picture frames, an end table, candles, vases, etc. Joe has some pretty talented packing skills, I don't know how we managed to fit everything into our tiny car.
First things first - we headed straight to the Hard Rock on Friday night for some good ol' American food. The Hard Rock in Nagoya closed last December, and I desperately miss it! It was the only place to get "good" American food besides Outback in Nagoya. I had my typical grilled chicken sandwich and Joe of course got a burger. Topped it off with their drink "special" for celebrating 40 years, which was a drink for 1200 yen = $15.50.... yeah not so much of a special if you ask me! But they were good nonetheless, and then we ended the evening with their delicious apple cobbler - my favorite!!!
On Saturday we went to the Osaka aquarium. It's known for being one of the largest aquariums in the world and the best in Japan, so we had pretty high expectations. The theme focuses on the Ring of Fire, and the exhibits displayed were exceptional. However, we were somewhat disappointed - despite the large and extensive exhibits, there were not any shows (at least the Nagoya aquarium has a dolphin show!). It was very crowded, and people were pushy, which made the experience even more disappointing. On the plus side, their shark exhibit was fantastic - there was a giant whale shark, a few hammerhead sharks, and tons of manta rays. We also got to see a baby penguin up close and watch him being fed. We were also impressed with the touching area, Joe was able to touch a few sharks and sting rays. I attempted to touch a sting ray, but he wasn't too fond of me and scared me a bit... so no shark touching for me after that! Overall it was a fun experience, and we're glad we went.
After the aquarium we decided to get some fresh air and hike the smallest mountain in Japan. Mt. Tempozan stands next to the aquarium and is right next to the bay. It's summit is 4.53 meters above sea level, and it took all of about 2 minutes to walk over there. ;)
On Sunday we headed over to Costco. It was super crowded and stressful - but we made it fun and managed to find all of our American goods, including: tortilla chips & salsa, variety of cereals, muffins & bagels, tuna, pop, TP, paper towels, laundry detergent, Pampers diapers & wipes, pasta sauce, and snacks: raisins, trail mix, nuts, etc. just to name a few! I also splurged and bought a huge container of blueberries & cherries... which are normally hard to find in Japan and/or ridiculously expensive - but being from Michigan, these are 2 essential summer fruits I need!! We also stocked up on pre-made quick meals (burritos, burgers, crab cakes, etc) for when the baby arrives and American beef since there was a beef scare recently in Japan with the meat containing radiation - so now we don't have to worry about eating contaminated meat for a while. A very expensive but successful trip!! We also bought a few things at Ikea: picture frames, an end table, candles, vases, etc. Joe has some pretty talented packing skills, I don't know how we managed to fit everything into our tiny car.
nice - how fun - glad you were able to get so many goodies crammed into the lil car - hope they tide you over for a while =)
ReplyDeleteDo you think you should be climbing mountains "in your condition"? hahahahaha
ReplyDelete