Osaka: A promise kept.

When I toured Japan last year, I felt Osaka was one of those cities where I could live, and I promise to myself and some friends here that I would come back. So this time I decided to spend 12 nights in Osaka, to get a real feel of the city.
There are 3 things that make Osaka so nice, its people, a lot more open than what you can find in other Japanese cities, its nightlife, best in Japan, and its dimensions, being not so small and not so big as Tokyo. Walking Osaka is truly a pleasure, finding from great street musicians to empty, dark and creepy hidden places, but Japan is probably the safest country in the world.
Partying in Japan can be very expensive, you pay for a single drink the same you pay for a full meal, but still bars are packed.
I stayed at a very cheap hotel in the south, 25 minutes walk to Namba, where most nightlife happens, but this time I had a private room, so no more snoring people during the night.
During my stay I met new friends, I played with great musicians in a jam session, had a concert at a local bar and visited the nearby city of Nara. The city dynamics are curious, Osaka has something that attracts me, and surely having already some future projects with local people is good news.
The concert day was a bit crazy, I had told my friend Tomo to try booking one of 3 options I found on the internet, places with grand pianos. At first noone picked up the phone but then one called back and said ok. The interesting part is that we thought it was the first place and not the second, so only 1 hour before I played we realised the concert was going to be in a different venue.. I performed for about 1 hour there and the audience response was very nice, the grand piano was ok, although a little bit out of tune in the high notes.
The morning of the 29th I woke up with the news that my flight was cancelled because of the airport shutdown due to an upcoming typhoon. Luckyly it was only moved 1 day in the calendar, so I could experience the typhoon with the hotel staff and other guests. It wasn’t actually that bad so we went to the hotel’s roof top to enjoy the windy weather.
Now I’m checking out, saying goodbye to Osaka, I fly tonight, but first going to a Sake Festival, to taste some more good spirit and cheer for this incredible city. ;).