What are we missing?
こんばんは
( ＾∀＾)
I’m traveling with my teenage son (15) in Japan for six weeks (Tokyo 16d, Osaka 5d, Kyoto 5d, Onomichi 2d, Hiroshima 2d, Nagasaki 4d, Sapporo 3d). We have been planning this trip for several months but we never really nailed down what to do in Osaka. We were under the impression it would be like Tokyo and we could endlessly explore and never run out of stuff to do.
It’s our second day here and we are… underwhelmed? I’m not sure if it is because we are coming off of 14 days in Tokyo (which is one of the best places ever) where we never ran out of things to do and see or if it is just not our vibe.
I’m feeling like we must be missing something. We did go to a delightful cat cafe today, but other than that, mostly things are just… bland. Most places are closed, streets are empty, we obviously aren’t going out drinking, so it seems this just isn’t the place for us?
I love exploring and finding hidden gems, I’m generally easy to please but with so many places closed there’s not much to see or do. Does it only wake up at night? My son loves anime and history, and we both love animals and kawaii things. In Tokyo it was just easy to always find something around the corner. We even had such a hard time finding lunch today that we walked for an hour and settled on a McDonald’s 😹 (due to things being closed or not serving any vegetarian options because my son is vegetarian).
I wanted this to be the most epic trip for us, a once in a lifetime experience. But now all I want is to go back to Tokyo and I’m dreading going to the other places, thinking they may also not be the vibe we are looking for.
We aren’t the type to just check things off a list. We enjoy connecting with local culture and finding off the beaten path restaurants and experiences. (Highlights from Tokyo are going to the Giants game, visiting a pig cafe, the Tama Zoo, and Aqua Park aquarium. In addition to just exploring the streets and walking into random shops with anime figures and kawaii things.)
Please help! Dying for suggestions!!! We want to love it!
ありがとうございます
( ^ω^ )
Edited to Add-
*We are planning on:
—Aquarium
—Minoh Falls
—Mipig Cafe (same one we went to in Tokyo and loved)
—TeamLab Botanical Gardens
—Pokémon Center
—And I have a tattoo appointment 😹
Just really want to spend our days wandering into fun little shops and such. Why is everything closed 😭 Also, I know enough Japanese to get around so I’m not worried about that piece.
Edited again: We looove Pokémon too!