I couldn’t believe how quiet the bullet train ride from Tokyo to Osaka was. I was amazed. I fell asleep right away. It was as smooth as a non-fat person’s butt.

When I arrived in Osaka it was pouring like crazy. I was hungry and tired. These two variables made me crazy. It took me 2 hours to find J-Hoppers, my hostel. When I finally found J-Hoppers I was greeted by Kyohei, the receptionist. He’s really cool. He has travelled to over 20+ countries and knows English, Japanese, and Italian. He plans to backpack throughout Latin America in Summer 2014 during the FIFA World Cup time. I might join him as well. He recommended me a restaurant named ALL 280 Restaurant in which each individual dish only costs 280 yen! Super duper great deal since food in Japanese is expensive.

The food was excellent! I mainly ordered izakaya food. This night I tried so many dishes and it was deslih.

Dish:

1. Momo Kizoku-yuki
2. Mune Shibazuke Mayo-Yaki
3. Mochi Cheese
4. Sweet Potato Salad
5. Edamame
6. Tori-Kamaneshi
7. Milk Kanten

Drinks:

1. Toriki Original Milk (Apple Barrel)
2. Apple Pineapple (Apple Barrel)

Next day I went to the Osaka Castle with Dean Gallagher, an Aussie who tours in a band. 

Then we visited the oldest temple in Osaka (or was Japan?) and then parted our own ways. I went to visit Kobe which was near by Osaka.

 Teasing school children. Look how cool their uniforms are!

My real intentions of visiting Kobe was to eat nomnomnom Kobe beef but made a detour to visit the ship yard first. Unfortunately, I got lost in the shipyard. It was like a maze. I was climbing tires, giant metal boxes, and couldn’t ask for directions because there were no one there! I don’t remember how I found my way out but when I did I was hungry.

I thought about eating the kobe beef at the nice area that sells it but I realized it would be weird since everyone else eating the beef is on a date, married, or with their family. I’m the lone backpacker with technical clothing in a posh area.

Plus, I realized that I don’t need to spend more than $200 on a single meal. I’m a backpacker on a budget, not a posh traveler making loads of $.  Instead, I ate this:

 It was decent food at the Harbor Center.