My second layover country: Japan

After I had a fairly good time visiting Istanbul for a layover, I am now eager to visit many more countries for layover as I found it was a good way to start getting to know the country, the public transportation and local food. My second destination for a layover is Japan for both Osaka and Tokyo. Instead of flying to the same airport for layover, this time I fly to two different airports at two different cities for a layover.

My first layover for this trip is Osaka. Even though I went to Osaka before during the visit with LESA, this is my first time coming here by myself. Fortunately, I found another Thai friend of friend who study in Osaka. He recommended me to go to Namba for the visit during couple hours that I have and also suggested public transportation from the airport to the city.

Dotonbori, the night life in Osaka

Because of my short time that I have to visit Osaka, I could only choose one place. Dotonbori is a great place to visit at night as there are so many places and tourists around the area. Even though some places have a strong feeling of catering toward tourists, there are still lots of great authentic restaurants around. And, the Running Man neon-light billboard is still as awesome as I expected it to be from all photos that I saw.

Ramen and Takoyaki at Osaka

Even though I already had two meals on the airplane before visiting Osaka, I still couldn't resist to try at least two things in Osaka. Eight pieces of takoyaki at the stand was only 550 yen (or 5.50 USD). It was so good that I did not understand how it becomes so bad in the US. Seriously though? The other thing that I tried there was a simple ramen for 600 yen. The soup is not as thick and concentrated as I had in Chicago but it had a sense of authentic ramen in a small Japanese shop. The resturant also gave free Kim-Chi and rice for those who are really hungry (unfortunately, it was not me at that time). Now, I am excited for what I will find again when my second layover in Tokyo.
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For my second layover trip on the way back to Chicago, I stopped by Tokyo for few hours. This time is different from the one in Osaka as I met up with Balloon instead of walking around by myself.

The first thing that I found in Tokyo instead is another Thai student (Kan) who is waiting in line with me at the custom when we are leaving the airport. We talked a little bit and he helped me contact Balloon to meet in Shibuya earlier than I was expected. Thank you him again for all the help and it was nice to meet you.

Once I met up with Balloon, instead of walking around Shibuya, we went straight to find some dinner to eat. I have to admit that I was not hungry at the time because I just had lunch on the plane. But I just could not resist to have a great Japanese food in Tokyo. We tried to find an all-you-can-eat BBQ restaurant in Shibuya, but it was full. So, we decided quickly that we will go to another station (Yoyogi) for some BBQ at the same restaurant that I went with Balloon when I was working in Tokyo last summer.  The food was still awesome as always, and I definitely ate too much food for my next flight. I ate so much that I could not fall a sleep on the airplane. It was that bad. One thing that I learned from this trip is never eating a buffet before flying. You will feel really uncomfortable.

All-you-can-eat Japanese BBQ with Balloon

Even though I didn't do much in Tokyo because of the short time that I have and the food that I ate, it was still a great time for me to be able to meet a new friend and meet up with the old one.