For my last day in Japan, I got up super early again, had breakfast, then went back up to repack my bags. I left my luggage downstairs as I made my way over to Umeda. It was my first time heading over to Umeda on this trip and it was purposely just to have ramen. =P

Before ramen I stopped at the Ha Shrine to pray for my teeth, then made it in line at Ramen Yashichi at 9:45am. I somehow managed to be first in line for their timed tickets, which would be handed out starting at 10:15am. The signs were all in Japanese but it was very well organized, including directions on how to form the lines to not block access to the other shops on the street.

By the time the shop opened to hand out tickets there were maybe 15 people in line. As I was first, I got to pick whatever time I wanted to return for, but decided on eating at the first entry, so my ticket was for 10:44am. That half hour gap gave me enough time to run to the washroom at Nakatsu Station and go to the bank next door.

I returned exactly at 10:44am and purchased my ticket at the machine. Then I waited for my ramen to arrive. Their shoyu ramen with extra chashu was probably one of the best bowls of ramen I’ve ever had. Despite having more onions than I wanted to eat, at ¥1,200 for a bowl it was such a steal. 

Even though I was already full from ramen, by the time I walked back to Umeda I found myself in front of Grenier Patisserie, which from all the reels I’ve seen on IG is THE dessert shop in Osaka. I couldn’t help but order their crème brûlée. The pastry itself was massive and I wished I could have shared it, cause there was no way I could have finished it by myself. Sadly the shop didn’t have garbage bins outside and seeing as I didn’t want to carry it on the train, I had to go back inside the shop to ask them to toss my half-eaten pastry. I felt really bad, but it was definitely necessary.

There wasn’t much left of my trip afterwards. I quickly browsed inside a Nitori when I made my way back to Namba, then it was the Nankai to the airport. Kansai Airport definitely didn’t have as many duty free shops as Narita or Haneda, so I didn’t even bother buying additional snacks. I only bought a mentaiko potato bread before I boarded my flight at 5:30pm. 

Overall the trip was a lot of fun – I got to see Arashi for the last time and meet up with friends I hadn’t seen in a while. The timing and weather worked out perfectly, even though there were a couple of really hot days in May. I’m so grateful I got to cross off Shikoku on the trip, and I’m sure I’ll be back for another visit soon!