Shin-Osaka Sun Plaza Hotel

Komealla aamu-oopperalla pärähti tämä päivä käyntiin, koska onnistuin vahingossa unissani jysäyttämään sängyn päässä olevan radion täysillä päälle. Meinasi tulla aamu sydänkohtaus samaa kyytiä!

Nyt kun ehdin jo valittaa, että ei nähty ketään Tokion frendejä tällä kertaa, niin eilen tuli sitten sähköpostia ystävältämme Marilta, että hän on juuri tullut Australiasta kotiinsa käymään ja voitaisiin nähdä sunnuntaina? Koska meillä nämä junapassit kerran on, niin mik ...

Pääosin matkustuspäivä oli tämä keskiviikko, mutta ehdittiin sentään jotain muutakin.

Ja huhhuijaa! Eilinen kiipeily teki näköjään tehtävänsä ja melkoinen työ oli saada itsensä revittyä sängystä ylös. Lihakset aivan jumissa! :-)

Lähdettiin kuitenkin reporankana laahustamaan hotellilta kello 09 jälkeen kohti Kagoshiman asemaa ja kello 10 kiidettiin jo junassa kohti Osakaa. Ilma oli tänään hiukan sateinen ja sumuinen, joten ei olisi ollut mikään ...

... of youth culture. Much like Time Square in New York .... lots of lights and lots of shops. There were thousands of people on the streets. Went to a fantastic noodle shop for dinner ... had an udon noodle bowl with a soft boiled egg. Also ate some deep fried noodle snack. It was all delicious.

Stopped at Starbucks again before cathcing the subway home.

Sorry not able to load any pictures today .. will put some up as soon as I can.

... of vegetable, shrimp, meat, fish, etc. It was delicious!! I am still shocked that none of us got food poisoning from cooking all our own raw meat. And the fact that we had to do this entirely with chopsticks certainly did not slow us down one bit. That was surely the best meal any of us had in Japan. After dinner we set back out into Osaka once more, and made a beeline to the nearest Karaoke bar. Let's just say that we'd had enough to eat and drink that it didn't really ...

Seconds please. I had to go back to Osaka, one way or another (my return flight was leaving from here). Ate just as well if not better than the first go around. Went to the Takoyaki museum at Universal city walk but it was more tako vendors than museum, not such a bad thing. Had simply amazing Kobe ...

... stamp their feet down to ward evil out of the ring. They then do this facing each other and then face each other in a cold stare. They then move back to their corners and rinse their mouths with water, wipe their faces and there's lots of slapping themselves, working the crowd and throwing salt into the ring (supposed to prevent injury). In the last three matches Miyabiyama (a massive bloke, of lower rank) faced Harumafuji (a thin guy) - Harumafuji ...

... long, trip back across Japan to Osaka. We are sadly now on our final night in Japan but there is a neat symmetry as we have ended up not only back at the first hostel we stayed in, but the same room too. I promise this blog is near its end but, unfortunately, I've already made the disturbing decision to do one more entry when I get home. Just so my pin map looks good you understand.

... the flashiest places are usually pachinko and slots parlors. But in Osaka, we found a grocery store with more bling and blinking lights than we've seen anywhere else even more that a Pachinko parlor! The homeless guys outside were drinking their beers, but they waved to us and tried greeting us, laughing when they couldn't pronounce "hello" very well! If you come here, you will feel very safe, even in the ...

... a chest cold, and stayed in bed for the only 5 days off I got. Can't believe I have to go back to work tomorrow. Sniff Sniff. Exciting news: 1. I went to this place called Spa World a few days ago, and it was really awesome. The whole place is filled with baths/onsens/salt baths/mud baths, you name it. Downside is a whole lot of butt naked old ladies. and of course...they segregate the sexes...of ...

... all the training we've conducted for Nepal so far (opting for the stairs rather than the escalator out of subway stations) seems somewhat insufficient. It actually was very pleasant and got better as the trail turned into sparse gravel turned into a storm drain turned into a small sluice carved out of the rock by falling water. Soaked to the bone at the end, which was fun until the wind picked up, we shivered, cursed, and laughed through chattering teeth all the ...