Woke at 5:00am and got the boys ready for the morning prayer.

Met in the Hondo, (prayer room) and watched the monks chanting and imparting information to the pilgrims. Having all but a few lines of phrasebook Japanese under our belts, the language was inaccessible and so we sat there imagining what was being said till Kit gave us an inking afterward. The low ceilinged room, cluttered with dusty relics, paintings and lanterns was dimly lit and full of incense and mystery. Again, no photographs allowed.

Afterward we ate miso and seaweed and tofu and green tea, along with sour pickled plums and other unidentifiable dishes. Most of it was quite nice.

The angry guy behind is Daruma who mediated so long, his arms and legs fell off!

Monk style blogging, though no internet here of course. Lots of socks and double chins in evidence though. *sigh*

The garden around our rooms.

They might go without a lot but they do have heated toilet seats and bum washers. They didn't have a "Princess Button" though which is a button you press that makes the SOUND of flushing so others can't hear your noises.

We packed to leave and caught the bus down to the cable car for the steep descent to the train below. The ride was crowded but fun till I realized at the bottom that I had left a bag waaayyy up top. There was just enough time for me to ride the cable-car up the hill, explain in broken Japanese that I had left by bag, got let out through the gates, found it alone on a bench, got let back in the cable car and waited for an eternity while old pilgrims and English tourists slowly dribbled in. laughing and chatting, all the while I could imagine the train departing far below. It took ages for the old cable-car guy to inset his key, close the doors and sound a siren to get going. Thankfully, at the terminal, the train had not yet left and I joined the others for the scenic journey down the mountain by rail.


Kit entertained himself, and us as we waited for the train (actually, as they waited for me to return on the cable car).

We back tracked to Osaka and caught taxis to our hotel. A group of us went walking to Den Den town, an electrical precinct. Ash bought the i-pod charger he wanted and soon, it was just Ash, Chris, me and Shaun, a German guy on the tour. We stumbled onto a huge strip of manga figurines, and cards, and books and anime soft porn the likes of which we had never seen. It was great fun (I steered the boys away from the porn). We shopped for ages and finally returned where Sharon had rested and then took herself our for a more respectable shop of chopsticks and presents.

We rested for a beat before joining the Gap tour in the lobby for one last meal together. Kit took us into Dotombori, Osaka's premier strip for nightlife and food. It was a feast for the eyes as much as for the stomach. The most impressive boulevard of electric lights yet. Huge animated sculptures and 10 story tall billboards flanked us as we pushed through the crowd. The smells of food and sound was mad. Lots of pufferfish signs and sculptures for shops offering Fugu, a meal, if prepare incorrectly, could be fatal. Nice!

We paused on the Ebisubashi bridge which was where baseball fans, elated with a win, threw a statue of Colonel Sanders into the water. Since that time, Osaka's team had never won and it became known as the Colonel Sanders curse. Last year (I think) they found the statue, restored it, and now the team is prosperous once more.
Great bridge and the centerpiece of the whole strip.

On the Ebisubashi bridge. Behind us, the Glico Man billboard, dedicated to an Olympic runner.

Busy, busy, busy!

We then saw a restored theater and Kit took us off the beaten track, through a maze of tiny streets till the buzz of Dotombori had all but faded.


A blurry and short video but one that shows how narrow the streets to the shrine were.

We turned a last corner to find a tiny, authentic shrine the thespians of years past, went after shows to pay heir respects.

Still haven't found where they sell these lamps!

Brad splashing the statues.

 We took turns of splashing water on the moss encrusted statues and light incense before returning to the bustle of Dotombori and up a small staircase to dinner.

Group shot!

Two local girls, enamored with the table of westerners, try to decipher a joke dispensed from a machine on the table.

Chris and Christa

Shaun. He and Ash really hit it off.

 Lots of food and drink and we thanked Kit who thanked us in turn and we walked up the strip to sing karaoke... But the boys were underage so we parted, and reluctantly returned to our room. After such a short time, we were sad to part from our new friends.

Thanks to all for a great experience.