Il Cuore Namba Osaka

... The bus ride back from the temples was quite the experinece. The bus was packed. It was very hard to get off the bus at our stop. You have to get off the bus at the front of the bus which meant we had to push our way thorugh everyone. You actually get on the bus at the back door and you get off at the front. You pay your fair when you get off.

We ended the morning at a large ...

... rocks and white gravel are used in the garden. It is said that the garden was created in 1525.

- The Golden Temple - it derived this name from its main building which is covered in a thin layer of gold. It is simply beautiful.

- Sanjusangen-do Temple - in the temple hall their are 1001 Buddhist statues (1000 life-size statues of Kannon and one gigantic seated statue, placed at the center of the standing ...

... say the Japanese are reserved conformists!!);
- Our hostel, where despite staying in cheap dorm beds, has a marble entry, super helpful staff and plays Christmas carols in the foyer all day long;
- The bathrooms with automatic lights, soap dispensers and taps. And completely unfathomable control panel for the toilet.
- Awesome beer... which maybe I`ve had enough of for now.

... also says that it is important to make sure the cattle feel relaxed, and also naturally to keep the cowsheds clean. But what took me by surprise was that the cattle listen to music all day long!

I asked whether the cattle are fed beer and given massages with sake to produce better quality beef, according to the myth believed by some overseas.

They flatly denied it with the simple phrase, “No beer, No massage”!

The cattle are shipped before they ...

... checked in in our Hotel Toyo. All good again and run by this old Japanese man. Helpful and friendly....but his Hotel did have a curfew!! If not back by 12....you no sleep here!! Oh, okay....weŽll make sure we get back in time.!! So bags dropped and off we went to check out the neighbor hood. As we stayed a bit south of Osaka center, and this would be our first Japan visit, we wondered what to expect. Well our neighbor hood was like an old Amsterdam ...

... the Shinkansen to Kyoto. After we arrived there, our plan was to take the subway to the Shijo station in Kyoto and do some shopping, check out the Kennin-Ji Temple and then grab another subway to the Nijo Castle. A complete day in Kyoto we thought. Well, as it happens, after we checked out a couple of department stores, we stumbled across a shopping side street, little did we realize it was three shopping ...

... we later saw in another country that was squeezing herself into a box that would hold a small tv and she joked that she purchased this in Tokyo - it was advertised as a 2BD, 3BA apartment. Not surprisingly, the hotel room was pretty small . What we liked most was that people were actually organized here and orderly as opposed to the chaos we experienced in China. Everything was so futuristic. Our train looked like something out ...

... trays and drinking cups out of bamboo. Ingenious design! Wine and beer cups made out of 3-4 inch bamboo where the trays were made of 8-10 inch diameter bamboo cut in half lengthwise. I was presented with a beautiful silk vest and little bowls filled with quilted bags. Yukiko had made a 'Welcome Home Shane and Mary" sign using her beautiful dried flowers. It was a great party ... so so so fun! Even when people called us "Heh Bozo" it was OK. Because what they were really ...

... dinners. Whoa, Japanese are quite particular about order and time. No problem with that, I could live with it. We were each assigned one room with its own bathroom and piped in music. My first dinner: juice, a cupcake and a smooth banana. I had no idea what time a slept, all I know was that it was really late and I was so tired to check. I woke up from the ...

... she was in pain. Why does Japanese porn look like the girl is really not enjoying it? Anyways, decided it was really too late to be watching porn (besides, they put those fuzzy "Cops" blur-blocks on the private parts to avoid really showing anything) and went to sleep. I had to try to lie diagonally to stretch out my arms and feet on my stomach. I dont' think that people much taller than me would be comfortable. I think there are women's floors in this place too.