Kansai Trip, part 2

Sunday, J headed back to Himeji after we checked out of the guesthouse.  I meandered around the Kyoto Station for a while before i met up with my friend Tosh.  We found a place to eat, had lunch and chatted before he drove me out to Himeji to meet up with J again.  It was quite a long drive and by the time we got there we were ready for dinner, lol.  J's friend was supposed to come too but he couldn't make it so it was just the three of us.  We went to an Asian restaurant, i got spinach and cheese curry with naan, J got bibimbap, and Tosh got some pho.  After that we went to an arcade to play around.  I decided to try one of the claw machines because i wanted to get this little plush Stitch phone charm.  Came soooo close on two of my three tries.  First time i nabbed him but he slipped through, then the second time i was sure i had him, but as the claw was lowering to drop the Stitch into the little prize chute, the claw shook and Stitch went flying out to land back in the pile.  We were all like, Whaa did that just happen?!  Damn waste of money.. :p

My snack while waiting for Tosh- special Uji tea melon bread!

Had Uji green tea filling, i think there were red beans in there too.  Yum :)

The guys playing the rhythm game

 It was getting late so Tosh dropped us off at J's place before he drove himself home.  I think J and i watched Youtube videos then started watching Mrs. Doubtfire dubbed in Japanese before i passed out.

Monday afternoon we headed in to Osaka to meet another of our UW buddies, T-chan!  T-chan said he really missed Mexican food since he hadn't had any since he left Seattle, so that's what we decided to do first- get some Mexican food!  The place he had originally looked up was closed for another few hours still, and J was famished since he didn't eat anything for breakfast, so we decided to hunt down the same place i had eaten at before- El Pancho-  as J had eaten there before as well and we both agreed it was pretty good.  J described it as "a Mexican cave", which sounds about right.   

As soon as we walked into the restaurant, T-chan remarked "So many foreigners!"  To which i replied, "That's because we all miss Mexican food!"  Which is true.  I think most foreigners here will admit that one of the things they miss is Mexican food.  Good Mexican food.  And this place is pretty damn good, if expensive.  We were there before dinner, meaning Happy Hour!  Drinks were all 1/2 off, and i got a huge lunch set for pretty cheap.

SO HAPPY for Mexican food!  Though it might not seem like T-chan is too into it

Ghostly J and our happy hour drinks!  The guys got Coronas but i opted for a margarita.  It was little, but powerful...

My huge "Vegetarian & Healthy" lunch set!  About $10 for soup, salad, and plate full of veggies, refried beans, guacamole, tortillas, quesadillas, chips...  Mmmmmm

We walked around some more after we ate, played around in an arcade, then looked around in a Tower Records for a long while before we called it a night.

Whew!  This is getting pretty long and i still have another whole day to post about, so i'll end it here and try to finish up this trip series in one more post.