Japan trip Spring 2017 Part 3: Day 3 - Tokaido Shinkansen to Osaka and meeting Mintkismet/Rilakkuma cafe

On March 26, we were already saying goodbye to Tokyo and on our way to Osaka! We spent some time the night previous packing our bags and making sure we separated our essentials for the next several days from the items that could be left at our final hotel until we came back. First thing in the morning after getting ready, we walked our luggage over to the Prince Shinagawa just across the street and asked them to hold our bags until check in. It was raining so we had to go buy umbrellas from the 7-Eleven downstairs and carry them around for the rest of the day.

We stopped at Shinagawa station on our way back to the apartment to look for things to eat on our shinkansen ride and picked up a few from a bakery.

We had reserved the shinkansen seats on a Hikari-type train on Day 1, but I had remembered the time of our train incorrectly (and didn't think to double check the tickets) and we were accidentally ready way too early. Because of that, we decided to see if we could just get on the earlier train. At the JR ticket office, the staff told us that the earlier train was fully reserved but we could try to get in an unreserved car. We didn't have much to lose since we hadn't given up our actual reserved seats, so we headed over to the track to go take a look.

We ended up getting on Car 4 of the earlier train but obviously couldn't find two seats together with it being such a busy season and time, and it would have been a crowded and uncomfortable ride. We decided to get off at the next stop (Shin-Yokohama) and just wait until our reserved train (the next one) made it to that station and get on and sit in our correct seats. There was about half an hour we had to kill, which was enough to look around in the station but not much else, especially because we were dragging around our bags with us.

We were able to get on the next Hikari shinkansen and in our reserved seats with no problem. This one was quite crowded as well, but at least we were next to each other and had enough room for ourselves and our bags.

We arrived at Shin-Osaka just about 3 hours later. For this trip, we decided to stay in Shin-Osaka instead of Umeda because we were planning to catch the shinkansen a lot. The Airbnb we booked was in a familiar direction (based on the previous one we stayed in during Summer 2015) but the first walk over always seems to take forever.

We were ahead of our check in time, but had gotten permission from the host to drop off our bags. Cleaning still had to be done in the room, so it wasn't in the most presentable state, but still looked quite nice overall and there seemed to be a good amount of space.

Since there wasn't anywhere to really stop and relax, we headed straight back out towards Shin-Osaka station.

S and I separated again after catching the train one stop. He got off in Umeda and headed towards Ikeda via the Hankyu line. I also transferred at Umeda but to go towards Tennoji. I was a bit lazy so I just got on the JR Osaka Loop Line which isn't the quickest, but definitely the easiest because I didn't want to think too much. For some reason the station seemed a bit different (maybe it was the car I arrived in), but I didn't have any issues making my way to the MIO main building.

I went up the escalator to the 2nd floor and found auréole d'ange where I was supposed to meet Mintkismet/Danielle!

There was a bit of a line since it was the weekend, but it moved fairly quickly and Danielle and I had plenty of time to chat and think about what we would order.

Even the menu is super cute! According to Danielle, this just used to be a regular cafe that had Rilakkuma pop-up theming but ended up keeping it!

 

When we were finally seated, the menus were both already open to what we wanted to order. I got the Rilakkuma ring chou with caramel bananas/chocolate drink set. Danielle ordered from the new menu - Rilakkuma caramel banana french toast!

I'm usually not a big dessert person and struggle sometimes at cafes as a result, but this was really good! And actually there was a lot of it lol. More than I could eat. It was a really nice place to sit and chat as well. The Rilakkuma theming is prevalent but not overbearing or childish while still being fun. If they continue with it, I would definitely consider going again!

When we were done eating, we did a little bit of shopping.

Liz Lisa of course, on the 6th floor of the main building.

I really like the Tennoji store but I don't often buy items from there for some reason.

We also went to Qs Mall so I could take a look at the Abeno 109 location.

I always insist on visiting both Liz Lisa stores in Tennoji when I'm in Osaka but I realized that I rarely buy anything from either and never get something from both during the same trip. I actually bought most of the things I wanted during this trip on Day 1 and there weren't many new releases I was expecting so most of the stores just had the same stock that I was convincing myself I didn't need. It was surprising to see a couple items here and there that I hadn't seen previously, but nothing I was dying to purchase at that point.

Continuing through Qs, we also went to Swimmer! This was a much bigger store than the one in Harajuku Alta so it was a lot easier to browse through although it was still pretty crowded.

I even bought a few small things this time! I think this is the first time I purchased from Swimmer for myself lol.

We also went to the game center to take purikura!

The Barbie purikura is so fun ♡ especially with the box picture. I think the bright colors actually worked with the red in my outfit.

Qs Mall also has a GU! I had wanted to try to go to one during the first couple days of my trip, but Danielle's IG story of the release on Friday made it look so crowded that I kind of let it drop off the list because I didn't want to deal with the hassle. Luckily this store still had a few of the items so I could browse a bit.

We stopped at the Disney store as well! Disney stores in Japan always have such cute items that we don't see in the US much.

I had so much fun meeting Danielle and going shopping! If I'm doing that kind of shopping in Japan with someone else, it's usually with a family member or S in tow who's bored and not actually interested in buying things from the same stores. It was really nice to just take our time and casually browse through the stores in Tennoji at a leisurely pace. I'm so glad she was able to take time to meet me!

I had to go back towards Umeda to meet up with S for dinner, so I just hopped on the next JR Osaka Loop Line train going clockwise which actually probably wasn't even the faster one lol. But I had a seat to myself, so I was happy and it didn't take very long anyway.

We don't really have a favorite place to eat when we're in Osaka and actually feel like we're constantly just finding mediocre places in Umeda when we're just randomly looking (although being limited by my pickiness probably doesnt help much), so we ended up in the kaiten zushi restaurant in the Eki Marche of JR Osaka station. This is our third time eating here and while it's not a favorite, it always feels reasonably safe (in terms of how the food will taste) and convenient which was great because we didn't feel like aimlessly walking around.

After dinner, we rode the train one stop back up to Shin-Osaka and called it a night! It was raining by that time so it wouldn't have been much fun to do anything outdoors. The apartment had been fully cleaned, and S had "checked-in" while I was out shopping, so he already had a chance to settle his things, but I still had to figure out my stuff. We were both still kind of tired from the too little sleep we got between Friday and Saturday, and Monday was promising to be an early day (but ofc not as early as Saturday), so we were okay with an early night.
Although not extremely eventful, I still achieved what I wanted to get done with this day - settle in in Osaka and finally meet Mintkismet after following her for years!

🌸 Japan trip Spring 2017 🌸
    Part 1: Arrival and Day 1 - Liz Lisa shopping and Ueno Park
    Part 2: Day 2 - Liz Lisa x My Melody Shibuya 109 release and Yokohama Ramen Museum
    Part 3: Day 3 - Tokaido Shinkansen to Osaka and meeting Mintkismet/Rilakkuma cafe
    Part 4: Day 4 - Hiroshima Peace Museum, Hiroshima Castle and Miyajima/Itsukushima Shrine
    Part 5: Day 5 - Nagoya Aquarium, Nagoya Castle, Science Museum and Oasis 21
    Part 6: Day 6 - Tokaido Shinkansen back to Tokyo and MariCAR Street Go-Kart Tour
    Part 7: Day 7 - Kawatsura Strawberry Farm, National Art Center, Rikugien Garden Illumination
    Part 8: Liz Lisa purchases/coordinates
    Part 9: Travel Notes - Airbnb, JR Pass, luggage & Pupuru pocket wifi
    Part 10: OOTD breakdown

✦ Japan trip Winter 2017 posts
✦ Japan trip Spring 2016 posts
✦ Japan trip Autumn 2015 posts
✦ Japan trip Summer 2015 posts
✦ Japan trip Spring 2015 posts
✦ Japan trip Summer 2014 posts