They say that love is lovelier the second time around. Does this saying apply to travel, too? Because it’s my family’s second time to visit Japan, only this time we were with my mother, and I had to say that we fell in love with the beauty of it all over again.
Our family trip in Japan will not be like the first time we went here. We’re here with my mom, and we wanted her to feel special for her wedding anniversary with my dad, who just passed away last year. We wanted to make her feel loved more than anything else.
Our trip was scheduled for six days. On our first day, we explored Tokyo again and checked into our Airbnb. We had our dinner at the Shinjuku shopping area. The next day, we decided to head to Osaka for us to experience the bullet train. Now, this transportation system really lives up to its name. Its speed is as fast as a bullet! We arrived at our Airbnb in Osaka at around noon. Afterward, we instantly explored the beauty that is Osaka. We went to the Arashiyama District to see the Bamboo Grove on our first day.
On our third day, we went to the Noodle Museum, and we went to the famous Philosopher’s Path. At that time, it was the Sakura season in Japan. We had the best view of the Sakura trees in full bloom in this area.
Since we’ve already gone to Tokyo Disneyland during our first stay in Japan, we decided that we go to the Universal Studios for our fourth day, instead. We spend the whole day at Universal Studios with Mikko running around, wanting to try the rides built for kids.
Of course, what trip would be complete without shopping for souvenirs? We made sure that we took the time to shop at Dotonbori on our fifth day in Japan. It was just a mere seven-minute walk from our Airbnb rental. After shopping for souvenirs for family and friends, we explored Namba and the whole of Dotonbori. To make our way through, we rented a taxi to make things a lot easier for us.
Everything in Namba is so close by that’s why we had all the time to do many activities and finish by lunch. In the afternoon, we headed back to our rental place.
Yes – Japan was lovelier the second time around. It was a brand new experience because we were with my mom and that we opted to visit Osaka instead of staying in Tokyo.