Where We Stayed
So, let’s talk about where we stayed in Osaka—Moxy Osaka Umeda.
The hotel has a modern, fun feel with contemporary furnishings. We had read that most hotel rooms in Japan tend to be on the smaller side, so we weren’t expecting a huge room. But honestly, this one didn’t feel small to us. I would say it was a modest size and worked really well for the three of us.
And the most important thing?
It has a bidet. 😂
My son stayed on that pot longer than he needed to.
Mm-hmm!
And did we mention that it sprays both lukewarm and cold water?!
Very awesome!! 😂
The breakfast area is on the ground floor, and they had both continental and traditional Japanese breakfast items available at the buffet. There was a good variety, and overall, I’d say our stay was comfortable and the breakfast was great.
Another thing we really liked was having convenience stores nearby. If we wanted drinks or snacks in the middle of the night, we could just walk downstairs and grab something. With a kid who is always hungry, that was definitely a plus!
Convenience Stores Are a Whole Thing
And Japanese convenience stores are an experience all on their own.
The nearest one to our hotel was Lawson, which made those late-night snack or drink runs super easy. If we walked a little farther toward Osaka Station, there was also a 7-Eleven.
And these aren’t just places where you grab a bag of chips and leave.
For starters, they don’t just have sections for cold drinks. You can get hot drinks too! There are hot drinks sitting right there in the store, ready to grab. That was something we weren’t used to seeing back home.
Then my son discovered the smoothie machine.
They have frozen fruit already portioned into cups. You pick the one you want, pay for it, then scan the barcode on the smoothie machine. Put the cup in, let the machine do its thing, and next thing you know—there’s your smoothie!
My son absolutely loved that part. 😂
It was one of those little things that probably wouldn’t make it onto a typical “Top Things to Do in Osaka” list, but it was one of the things we remember.
And if you ever find yourself in a Japanese convenience store, try the egg sandwich.
Seriously.
Those were some of the fluffiest sandwiches we’ve ever had. And that egg filling?
Yummmyyyyy in our tummies!! 😂
We were not expecting a convenience-store egg sandwich to become something we looked forward to, but here we are.
Getting Around Osaka
Now, here’s something I didn’t know when I was researching the hotel.
There are actually two local train stations in the area, and I didn’t realize this until we got there.
The station we were closest to was Osaka Station, where the JR Line runs—and that’s actually the one we wanted.
This turned out to be really convenient for us because we knew we wanted to explore beyond Osaka itself.
There are area passes that you can purchase through Klook depending on where you’re going. Since we knew we wanted to visit Dotonbori, Osaka Castle, Universal Studios, and Kyoto, our main transportation was going to be the trains.
We took advantage of the Kansai Area Pass, which allowed us to ride the trains unlimited for however many days we chose, depending on the pass we purchased.
So here we are at the train station office getting our passes.
And after that?
We’re lost.
Confused as heck.
How can railway lines be this complicated?!?!
There were people moving in every direction, trains coming and going, signs everywhere, and here we were trying really hard not to look like lost tourists.
But can you blame us?
It’s confusing, I tell you. 😂
So what do we do in case of confusion-ness?
Ask.
So we asked.
And then we asked again.
And again…
The staff were really good about helping us figure things out—what platform to take, where to get off, whether we needed to switch trains, and which train was actually ours.
Once we started getting the hang of it, it became much easier.
But one thing that continued to amaze us was how many trains were coming and going on different schedules and heading to different places.
And somehow, they all run on time.
Like, really on time.
Not “I’ll be there in five minutes” and then showing up fifteen minutes later.
I’m talking right on schedule.
You really have to be in awe of how they keep everything moving.
Meanwhile, we’re just standing there trying to figure out which platform we’re supposed to be on. 😂
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