Osaka Street Festival 2019

Day 62
Hungover again. I just have to power through, that's what I though when I got woken up by the hostel owner, who was cleaning the dorm. He told me about a huge event going on in downtown Nippombashi area, called street festival. It is a place where all the cosplayers go to have their photos taken and hang out with each other.

I had some breakfast at 11:00 and felt like I was ready to go out. Jon didn't sleep yet so I went out on my own. I arrived at Nippombashi

train station and followed the colorful horde of dressed up Japanese people. It led me to a blocked of district with tens of thousands of people who had gone there to get pictures of their realized video/film characters. I have to say that I recognized a bit more than what I care to admit, but it was a fun experience overall.

When I reached the end, there was a bunch of people who was gathering in front of a stage, I decided to check it out, and ten minutes after my arrival a bunch of girls ran out on the stage and began to sing and dance, this was good and all but the best part was the fact that the audience went absolutely crazy! I'm sorry to say but the metal heads back home doesn't have 10% of the dedication and enthusiasm these middle aged business men show. They know every word of every song, the name and personality of every girl in the group, the entire choreography of every song, and they are dancing and screaming out the lyrics, all while being on the edge of crying. I have NEVER seen anything like this, absolutely bizarre.

Back at the hostel I was greeted by the people who work there and they invited me for Takoyaki night, I couldn't eat anything but it was fun anyway, and I learned how to make Takoyaki, so when I get

home I will be able to recreate this with friendlier ingredients.

Day 63
The search for a puffy bomber jacket continues. I walked for three hours today and saw one candidate. I might have to wait until I come to Harajuku or Akiba to get one... After giving up on jacket hunting, I went back to the hostel and stayed there for the rest of the day and as night fell, me and Jon left to see a Jazz bar that turned out to be one of the best bars I ever visited.

Day 64
It has become a running joke at the hostel, that whenever I go out to

find a jacket, I'm looking for something that doesn't exist. I have gone through more than half of all the stores in the main entertainment district of Osaka, and every time I end up walking back with no jacket. This is very amusing to everyone who works there, and they are constantly trying to give me new tips on where I might find some luck. Today I spent three hours looking for it and in the end I had to go back without finding what I was looking for.

We left for the all you can eat place near Amemura at around 18:00. When we came in the entire staff screamed OHAYOOO, just as you would expect, We where seated, got a bucket of coal and the timer of 120 minutes started. What followed was a feast worthy of kings! We had heaps of beef, probably 400 grams of kimchi, seasonal vegetables, nihonshu, grilled squid, liver, cheek, ribs, rice, pickles, edamame, beer, and that's just the start. I cannot remember the last time I was this full. We sat in a park and simple stared at the ground for 30 minutes, and after that we started drinking beer again. We took a walk to go back to the jazz bar from yesterday and spent a good amount of time before heading back to the hostel.