Shin Osaka Hotel

... ettei! Käydään vetämässä pienet Karaokesessiot Tokiossa ja tullaan sitten viimeisellä luotijunalla tuhannen örvelöissä takaisin Osakaan. :-) Toimii!

Suunnattiin siis ensimmäiseksi aamulla Shin-Osakan aseman lipputiskille varaamaan sunnuntaiksi meno-paluulippuja Tokioon. Hiukan nosti kylmää hikeä, että miten tästä varaushommasta Japaniksi oikein selviän, mutta ihan mainiosti meni. No problemos. Tai silleen oli kyllä problemos, että olin ihan sulaa vahaa taas n ...

... mitään ihmeempiä suunnitelmia, niin tehtiin pikapäätös suunnata Kobeen katsomaan Lumiere valoteosta, jota on paljon mainostettu joka puolella Japania. Kobe Lumiere on muistomerkki vuoden 1995 maanjäristyksen uhreille ja se järjestetään aina joulukuussa. Vuoden 1995 maanjäristyksen uhreja oli kaiken kaikkiaan melkein 6500 ja aineelliset vahingot aivan järjettömiä, että mistään pikkujutusta ei ollut kysymys.

Matka luotijunalla Osakasta Kobeen kesti ...

... was more like a library not a museum .....very few displays, just alot of Japanese comic books.

Stopped at another Starbucks. Not sure how Jordan can drink so many Frappucinnos in one day.

Caught the bullet train back to Tokyo. Saw Mount Fuji .... unfortunately no picture as I was to far away from the window.

Got back into Tokyo at 5 pm and went straight to the hotel. Took the subway to an area called Shibuya ... the ...

... around there for a bit. Every store was brilliantly lit up and had some kind of crazy display advertising their merchandise. From the Gap to the atrociously cute Hello Kitty stores- it was certainly more glitzy than American displays. We stopped at a Best Western with minute hopes of vacancy (must have been that sense of American entitlement that drew us in), but of course the hotel receptionist informed us that all of Osaka is booked for the weekend. So we wandered ...

... had read about in Shinsaibashi. Little did we know at the time, Shinsaibashi is one of the neatest and most popular locations in Osaka. Right at the top of the subway station was a major intersection surrounded by huge lighted billboards for major designer stores such as Channel, Louis Vuitton, Dior and Cartier.

We found the Mexican restaurant with surprising ease and had a wonderful Mexican meal. It was really nice to have Mexican ...

Public transport so far in Osaka has been mind-bendingly complex.  Think about the paradox of going to the past and changing the future; then imagine that past was that of a parallel dimension where time ran backwards.  That vaguely approximates where my brain is after two days of using Osaka's transport system.  This is how the system is supposed to work:  you swipe a ticket in the machine at entry, and then again when you finish your journey.  How this really works:  you swipe upon ...

... courage to try them yet. Maybe someday. So, as you can imagine with all the people in this country there is certainly no room for cars! Yes, they do exist, but for simplicity matter people use trains, bikes, and their feet. Subsequently, there aren't tons of parking lots...just tons of bikes everywhere!! We have considered purchasing one for ourselves but we can't seem to convince ourselves that it's worth it. The train system is so convenient it's ...

... told me that they don't eat rice at breakfast, they eat salad instead. Then Chloe said, "oh no, I hope my family doesn't give me salad for breakfast!!". Okay, it's my turn now. My story will be about Japan's wonderful toilets!!!! Haha, the toilets, or bidet, shoots water at my butt! I didn't try it yet but from people's stories, I can tell ...

... exercise. Right before the station is a wide river. Instead of walking across the bride, we decide to cross via stepping stones. This proved to be a great end to great day. We might have looked silly having such a time jumping from rock to rock and taking pictures, but we were not the only ones. Several Japanese: some kids, a young couple, and an older couple were doing the same. I guess no matter what age or race you belong to, stepping stones are still fun.