Study Abroad in Osaka, Japan | Week Seventeen and Eighteen

Today marks my 3rd year anniversary of my blog! Wow! :D  I've been blogging since I was 18 years old and I can't believe I'm already 21. I feel like I've grown so much over the past 3 years, and I'm so glad I have this blog to help me record my journey. :) Please enjoy my last 2 weeks of my Study Abroad! 

２０１６年５月０１日 　➖　 ２０１６年 ５月１４日

For everyone who doesn't know, Japan has a 3-day holiday break during the first week of May called Golden Week. I decided to spend it in Hokkaido with one of my friends from California, Kiki! She was studying abroad in Tokyo, so on the 1st, I boarded a plane from KIX, and set flight to Sapporo~

I had to wait for Kiki once I got to the airport, so I ordered some delicious tempura set meal. Once she arrived though, we journeyed off to find our Air BnB house.

It was a quant little place, but had everything we needed. It was already late, so we just took quick showers before going to sleep. 

Kiki wanted to visit the Hokkaido Museum and Historical Village, so after buying some conbini breakfast, we went. I don't particularly remember anything brilliant in these two places however. :/ It definitely wasn't my cup of tea, but Kiki thoroughly enjoyed herself so that's good. :) I don't recommend going to the Historical Village however for non-Japanese speakers. There wasn't anything there tbh. But the food they had was really delicious!

We decided to go visit a park after. I'm not too sure what park this is tbh. I don't remember if it was near our Air BnB or if it was near the museum. xD But a lot of people were there doing Hanami which is basically just Sakura viewing with barbecue. It was great because we visited Hokkaido during the Sakura blossoming season. Because Hokkaido is up north, the blossoms bloom a lot later than down in Tokyo or Osaka for example. :)

Because we are vacationing~ We decided to splurge a little and indulge ourselves with DELICIOUS crab!!! Ugh...my stomach is growling just thinking about the crab course we had. I ordered a set crab meal. It possibly could be maybe 8-10 different crab dishes. It was so good though! Kiki could barely finish hers. (So the fatty that I am, I helped her~) I really recommend eating crab or any type of seafood during your stay in Hokkaido. They're known for their seafood dishes, especially uni and ikura (seriously...my favorite).

The following day we took a bus ride to Noboribetsu, a Hot Spring city a little south from Sapporo. Ugh...this place was beautiful. Getting to this place however...not so beautiful. xD It was a rather adventurous bus ride, but hey, we ended up where we wanted and got back where we wanted~ I definitely recommend visiting Hell's Valley and hike down to their natural foot bath~ It was an amaaaazing site to see. I also recommend visiting an onsen. We went to the one in Noboribetsu Grand Hotel, and it was really good! Also, obviously eat some ikura and uni. The best. Just...so good.

Finally, it was our last day in Hokkaido, so we went to Otaru! There were so many things we could do in Otaru, so we tried to fit it all into a half a day. We tried Naruto chicken which is a pretty popular restaurant. The chicken tasted really good too, just too big! Obviously we had to visit the Otaru Canal, walk the beautiful streets filled with lavendar, mango, vanilla ice cream, glass and crystal figurines, music boxes and desserts~ Overall, Otaru was really fun and worth a visit if you stop by Hokkaido. 

And that was the end of my short stay up North! I hope I get to visit again, if not for the views, definitely definitely for the food!!

Back in Osaka, Nastuko and I tried again, and went clubbing again in Dotonburi! Now, Giraffe Osaka is a place I definitely recommend going to. I had so much fun, dancing with all of my friends, and that night made me wish I didn't have to leave them in a few days. :(

Hehe~ ;) I also just wanted to add in this post that my 1-year anniversary with the bae was during this time~ May 10th! Long distance was really hard for our relationship, but I think we grew a lot closer as well~ So ^_^ wooo~ To many more years~ :3

And finally, after taking the final exams we had our end of the Semester program ceremony! Gosh...it seems like forever ago. Thank god its over. Haha~ xD I definitely learned a lot during my class, but to study Japanese that intensely and try to use it 24/7 was just too much for my brain. 

After the initial program ceremony, we concluded with a dinner party, performances (I danced hula for them!), and drinking party! (lol...that last photo really emphasizes what the ending of our time together). It was a really fun night, not going to lie. I really felt like I would miss this weirdos!

And finallyyyy~ The last photo! Departure day! Such a sad day. Everyone pretty much left, and we were the only ones that remained. But guys! We've finally reached the last post of my Study Abroad adventure!!! It's been an unbelievably long ride. I'm not too sure when I'll make another post regarding my thoughts and overall feelings of Study Abroad, but I feel like I should make one, not for my viewers sake, but for myself. So when I look back 10+ years from now, I'll remember, not just the happy pictures I posted, but the real feelings I felt while living in Japan for 18 weeks. 

But until then,

Be true and always be you, 

Love, Aimee

Follow me or come talk to me on:

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook