Day 7: Open Air Museum - Venetian Glass Museum - 
Lalique Museum - Bullet Train to Hiroshima

Yesterday's weather had really gotten to my friend so she decided to rest up at the hotel for the day while I tackled the elements. 

This was our last day in Hakone and I was determined to not let a bit of rain, wind and cold weather stop me from seeing the things I wanted to see here. The weather looked like it was going to be a repeat of yesterday as I made my way to the Open Air Museum. 

Descending down the escalators and through this dark tunnel made me feel like I was going down the rabbit-hole. I really didn't know what to expect. To my delight, this amazing scenery revealed itself to me and I could see outdoor sculptures, one by Henry Moore and many others just scattered along this picturesque mountainside. It was here, the rain finally decided to stop. 

It doesn't take long for me to realise this is one of best museums I have ever been to and I wish my friend was here to see it as it would of definitely changed her mind about all museums being boring. I could of lingered on for hours at this museum, but the luxury of time was something I didn't have.

The next museum I visited was the Venetian Glass Museum. This was also an amazing museum to see, especially with all the outdoor glass sculptures on its ground. My final museum for the day was Lalique Museum. I couldn't take much photos here, as cameras weren't permitted, but what I did get to see at Lalique were displays of some really exquisite glass pieces like perfume bottles, brooches and jewellery.

While I waited for my bus to arrive to take me back to the hotel, the mountain scenery on this side of Hakone feels so reminiscent of the Glasshouse Mountains in Maleny that for a fleeting moment it feels like I'm back home. It's a strange feeling when the lines between your dream and reality are blurred and even though it's obvious where you are, you still have to pinch yourself when you think "I really am in Japan!"

When I finally made it back to the hotel, it was rather late in the afternoon. My friend was worried because she thought I got lost... but I didn't! In fact, I was slightly chuffed with myself for having navigated all around Hakone for the day. 

We were both ready to leave this miserable weather behind us and make the five hour bullet (shinkansen) train trip to Hiroshima.

The first time we saw the bullet train was AWESOME! And a little scary too, especially when it roared right pass us. Getting to ride on one was really exciting. On our way to Hiroshima, we caught glimpses of some of the cities like Kyoto, Kobe and Osaka which we would later come to visit on our trip. We also had heaps of time to kill and for whatever reason, we decided to put on a mini photoshoot session with our Japanese notes and coins. This was unexpectedly fun and kept us entertained for a bit on our long commute.

That night we rode the streetcars in Hiroshima for the first time before checking-in to our hotel.

Day 10: Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan - CosmoTower - Umeda Sky Building - Kani Doraku - Dotonbori

We checked out early and bullet it to Osaka. No matter how many times we saw the bullet and got to ride on one we were always in awe of it. It was fast, punctual, cheaper and more comfortable in terms of space than flying. Plus there was no need to check in your luggage.

We were both excited to be back in the big city!! On top of that, we were even more delighted to discover our hotel had an excellent location. That is, less than a minute walk to the famous crab restaurant (Kani Doraku) and the takoyaki stand where we often saw queues for.

Our first stop for the day was Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan - one of the biggest aquariums in the world. My friend really enjoyed it here as it was her first time visiting an aquarium. The aquarium felt a bit like a spiral maze, it had sections dedicated to animals or fish found in that particular region like penguins for Antarctica and colourful reef fishes for the Great Barrier Reef. It was funny seeing all these reef fishes because I couldn't help thinking, "It wasn't this colourful when I was snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef!"

The CosmoTower was nearby, so we decided to check that out too. It was really quiet on this side of town. The views from the observation deck just reinforced Osaka as a port city because we could see PLENTY of container ships here.

Next was the Umeda Sky Building. By this time the sun had already set and finding it was a bit of an adventure. It was a 15 minute walk from the Umeda station and at this point any type of walking was a real big effort for us. The building itself was a formidable sight, you didn't have to be an architecture buff to gloss over the coolness of it. What was really memorable was the awesome looking escalators and the panoramic views of Osaka City.

We had already made dinner reservations for the crab restaurant for 8 that night. This was probably one of the best meals I had on the entire japan trip and a highlight of osaka!! It was an 8 course meal. The first crap dish to come out was cold crab, this was followed by sashimi crab, and then it was time to grill our own crab. In my opinion, and my friend would agree, this was by far the best way to enjoy these crabs. OISHII!! 

We really could have stopped there, but then more dishes kept rolling out like crab soup and crab sushi. All this was finished by a simple dessert of vanilla ice-cream with green tea matcha, which would be the Japanese version of affogato. 

After dinner, we decided to explore our neighbourhood. And what a neighbourhood Dotonbori made!! The place just came to life at night and was really buzzing. Being the red light district part of the town, there was really nothing unsafe about it. Instead, we found it really entertaining just people-watching and seeing all these interesting characters go about their nightly business.