Babymoon in Japan ~ Osaka, Kyoto & Tokyo

Jenai
Apr 29, 2019
5 min read

Neal and I recently came back from our babymoon in Japan. It was absolutely perfect and the cherry blossoms were gorgeous and in full bloom!

Breakdown of our itinerary - 5 nights in Osaka (with 2 days trips into Kyoto) and 5 nights in Tokyo.

OSAKA

I didn't know what to expect from Osaka other than its reputation for having amazing street food. It did not disappoint. More on that later.

We stayed at the Westin Osaka. We loved the location and the hotel, and got an amazing corner suite upgrade because of our Marriott status. Also had free breakfast and executive lounge access that we took advantage of every day. Oh, and, afternoon tea and sweets!

The location was great too. We were a 5-10 minute walk to the Osaka train station, and walked there almost every day. When we needed a taxi, there were many available around the hotel.

Well, to the best part. The food we ate!

When Neal and I decided to head to Japan for our babymoon, I knew that I'd be deprived of delicious sushi (nothing better than some fatty tuna!), but I was comforted by the fact that I could eat allllll the ramen. So it was only fitting that our first meal in Japan would be at our favorite ramen place - Ichiran. It also happened to be our last meal in Tokyo (and our some of our meals throughout our 10 day trip)! I mean...just look how good that looks. Ichiran locations are all over Japan and easy to find!

We also had a great yakiniku - Japanese bbq that you grill yourself - at Matsusakagyu. Sooo good and fun.

One of the days after we visited Osaka Castle - beautiful, by the way, especially because I had some sakura ice cream while we explored the grounds - we decided to explore Kuromon Ichiba market, known as "Osaka's Kitchen."

We wandered through the market and were drawn in by the delicious and spicy smell of curry. Not knowing what to expect, we walked into this tiny restaurant called Darani with 8 counter top seats and three food choices - beef curry, beef curry with a pork cutlet, or beef curry with fried shrimp. We went with the regular beef curry and the one with the pork cutlet. It doesn't look like much, but *drool*. So glad we ventured in there!

Another day we did the Nightlife Osaka Food Tour with Arigato Food Tours where we explored Dotonburi. Neal and I ventured through the area earlier in our trip and were frankly overwhelmed, and not necessarily in a good way. The area is gimmicky and crowded, and reminded me of Times Square in NYC. However, we wanted to give it a fair shot, so were excited to explore with Arigato Food Tours.

The weather was pretty crappy the night of the tour. Wet and cold. As a result, our guides (we had two because one was in training; they were both very nice but new to the area) did not have a chance to tell us much about the area or point out any interesting facts. However, we were in good spirits and tried to remain positive. To be honest, the food was okay. It all seemed super heavy with too many fried foods. I was a bit underwhelmed with the tour - both in terms of food and our guides, which was disappointing because we try to take food tours in every new city we visit. We had kushikatsu (fried skewers), takoyaki (octopus fritters), tempura (fried veggies), sukiyaki (beef hotpot that was my favorite of the night), and taiyaki (pancake with red bean filling). Overall, it was eh.

So...honest review of Osaka. I liked it, but not as much about Kyoto and Tokyo!

KYOTO

I knew I'd like Kyoto, but didn't realize how much. It is so beautiful and serene, and I felt transported. I'd love to go back and spend more time there.

Our trip to Kyoto - only about 30 minutes by train from Osaka - was memorable. We spent one day getting maternity pictures taken by a photographer, and another day exploring on our own. I didn't take many pictures, because I was so distracted with Kyoto's beauty. Also, we took this trip to relax, and didn't find ourselves running around doing every touristy thing like we usually do. Plus, while I had lots of energy, my hips and baby bump slowed me down by the end of the day!

Two things I really wanted to do in Kyoto was see the Fushimi Inari-Taisha shrine filled with rows of bright orange torii gates and walk the Philosopher's Path filled with rows of cherry blossoms. Both were absolutely gorgeous!

While walking through the Philosopher's Path, we stumbled upon a cute little coffee shop where we split a delicious pork katsu sandwich and a matcha chocolate tart. Yummmmm.

TOKYO

We took the Shinkansen bullet train from Osaka to Tokyo. About 2 hours and 30 minutes. The train ride was comfortable. We saw Mount Fuji from behind the clouds, and had a delicious pork katsu lunch.

When we arrived in Tokyo, we headed to our hotel - the GORGEOUS Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho. Definitely one of the best hotels we've stayed in. I mean...look at that view. We had club access so free breakfast and other fun perks.

Since this wasn't my first time in Tokyo - and Neal has been there many times - we felt very relaxed just leisurely exploring Tokyo. We also had dinner at three different restaurants around the hotel in the Kioi Tower where the hotel was located, and all three were delicious. We had Indian food at Erick South, a Yakitori tasting at Akasaka Torikou, and Yakiniku at Kagurazaka Shozantei. Can't go wrong with any of these choices!

One night we had a super fancy Shabu Shabu dinner with one of Neal's clients at Imahan. Sooo freakin' good. Expensive, but good!

Neal also convinced me to grab pizza while in Tokyo. I was skeptical at first, but oh my. We went to Savoy and it was amazing. Neal reminded me that we saw it featured on Ugly Delicious on Netflix in the episode with David Chang and Aziz Ansari. Soooo glad we went! Pictures of the Margherita and Marinara pizzas below!

Oh, and also ventured to a random hole in the wall with a long line of locals to have some amazing pork katsu. Wish I could remember the name of this place, but...best piece of advice in Japan...follow the lines to find good food!

Can't finish this post without mentioning that I met up with one of my closest friends from high school who lives south of Tokyo with her husband. We explored the Shinjuku Gyoen (garden) for more gorgeous cherry blossoms, and had lunch at the Monster Cafe - super silly but definitely memorable! Oh, and don't ask me what I ate because I have no idea!