March 23, 201012th Day of Travel – OSAKA
Waking up around 08:00 hours today, we checked out of our hostel and made our way to OSAKA. It was a short trip. About 45 minutes after we left the hostel we were there. Since there were two different hotels this time, and they were at separate areas of OSAKA, Ben and I went and checked my mother and her sisters in and then left our luggage there.
They stayed at a really nice hotel called the “Bellmont Hotel”. Ben and I were not so lucky and stayed at a hostel called “Hotel DAIKI”. I will get more to our hotel later. After leaving our luggage, we went to OSAKA Castle. This was awesome, just as it was last time.
Now, when you get from the JR station, you need to walk a little distance to get to the castle. By the time we were half way there it started to rain. My relatives were not impressed with the weather.
When we arrived at the castle entrance, my mother decided that she didn’t want to go into the castle. It was bewildering, but I didn’t want to argue. I went with the idea that it was her vacation, and she could do what she wants. We went to the top of the castle and looked around.
About an hour later, we were down at the base again. We met my mother in the restaurant/souvenir shop at the base. She was with some Thai people speaking about what to see in OSAKA.
After buying some souvenirs, we went to DOTOMBURI. If you don’t know what that is, it is the very famous street in OSAKA with the GLICO “Running Man” advertisement neon sign. During our walk around DOTOMBURI, the rain started to get a lot harder.
My aunts wanted to do a little shopping in the area, Ben wanted to go to an electronic shop to look for a laptop, and my mother went into a café to wait. I went with Ben to help explain what he would be buying.
After about 30 minutes, we all gathered at the café and went down the street to find something to eat. Not finding anything really that entertaining, we kept walking on. My relatives were starting to get grouchy. They were scared of catching a cold. As they complained that is when we ran into it.
An OKUNOMIYAKI restaurant is what we found! If you don’t know what that is, then the best way to describe it is a mix between a Japanese pancake and/or pizza. It is a batter that is grilled with vegetables, meat and egg in it. You put a sauce, that is quite literally called “sauce”, and mayonnaise if you like.
It was delicious! My relatives were really impressed and were not used to the style of eating. They were curious about the large hot plate that was in front of them, and were pleasantly surprised when the pancake thing was placed before them. It really was an interesting experience.
Finishing up dinner, my mother wanted to go home. She had enough and wanted to go to bed. Understanding her situation I took her and my aunts to the hotel. Arriving at the hotel, I checked them in, and grabbed my luggage.
While Ben and I made our way to the hostel, they actually called me to confirm that I was on the way. Arriving at OSAKA station, not to be confused with SHIN-OSAKA, we got out and walked to where the mapped marked the place. I was quite upset when it wasn’t there…
Walking into a convenience store and asking about the hostel, it seemed that neither of the clerks knew of a “Hotel DAIKI”. Here is the ironic part. After talking to the clerks, Ben overheard me and told me that he saw the hostel across the street.
I couldn’t believe it! There it was right next to the station, and the map they had for us showed us that it was quite far from the station. Weird! Well, we get to the hostel and find out the first floor is a café.
We have to walk to the café register to find the check-in counter. They told us that we were on the third floor and that there was no elevator. NICE! So, we walked up with the luggage to our room.
SCORE! It was a traditional Japanese room with TATAMI! Except there were beds! I was good with that. We looked around the area, and I was pretty impressed with the room. This is the first video that I have filmed that will be posted on my BLOG! WOOHOO!!!!
[Unfortunately, the video is too large, and will not load properly. I will not be able to get the videos on to the blog, until I have the capability of video editing.]
After taking a shower and getting ready for bed, I spoke with Ben a little while. Then we both drifted off to sleep, hoping for no rain and a safe trip to TOKYO in the morning!
More to come! Stick with us!
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