I got back to Kyoto around 6am, took a nap for a couple hours, and then took the train to Osaka to meet 2 of my Japanese friends M and S. They took me to see downtown Osaka, which was very lively and colorful. The place kind of reminds me of the movie "Tekkonkinkreet"! I love how unique it looks there..so vibrant, so whimsical.
There's always fugu (pufferfish) around in Osaka! Look at this huge fella.
It was too crowded that day so I didn't get to see the view from the top of the tower, but this is the Osaka tower!
We also walked around this place that's pretty much the Osaka version of Akihabara. There were a lot of anime shops everywhere.. very otaku.
Later we went back to Kyoto and went to an izakaya where another friend was working at. The food was really good there! A few others came for dinner too- it was good seeing all of them again.