Last night we were planning on going into the city to see some of the sights but it was late and we were very tired. In addition, we learned that a train ticket was about 1,300 yen each way. That would be $26 just to see a
city that was pretty much closed up. Sure there would have been some bars and dance halls but that isn't my scene so we ate some very expensive food here at the hotel and went to bed. The airport here is quite fancy. It is very open with walk ways all over the place. The walkways lead to the roads, the trains and the hotel where we are staying. The Narita airport (in Tokyo) is very similar but is actually a bit fancier looking. I know I've described the space toilets they have here but since I'm blogging now I thought I would describe them again with a picture.
These crazy toilets are very cool. They have a little water jet to clean your rear end for you. The toilet seat is heated and some of them even blow dry your backside but this one doesn't. See all those cool buttons on the side? You can even
buy them to fit on a regular toilet but they're over $100 and I find that hard to justify. Today was a very strange day and I'm very sore. Today we were supposed to visit Sanyo's R&D facility but at the last minute they told us
that they don't allow visitors to their R&D facility but they would meet with us during the conference next week. We assured them that we didn't need the grand tour and we would be happy to just sit and visit with them.
They still didn't want us to come but it was now inside the two week time to change tickets so to change the tickets would have cost nearly $1000 so we ended up with a free day here in Osaka. We tried to use the day to go visit Kyocera's head
office in Kyoto but apparently they don't want us either. So here we are with a free day in Osaka. We started off with a visit to the Tourist Information center and learned that you can buy an all day subway pass for
2,300 yen. Since a single return ticket into Osaka was 2,600 this seemed like a bargain. We then got the tickets and found out that they include free coupons to all the popular sights. By the time we were done
today if you add up the admission into everything we did, together with the normal subway fairs it would have cost us more than 5,100 yen so that was a pretty good deal. The country side around here is very strange.
They have houses and apartment buildings and people everywhere but if they have a free piece of land they grow rice on it. This picture is not a very good one because it is taken from the train but you can see the rice
patty there among all the houses. Most of the people here live in huge apartment buildings but there are still a lot of people who live in small houses crowded together. I know it is mostly roof
tops but you can see some of the houses. This picture is also taken from the speeding train. Since I slept as long as possible this morning and I didn't want to pay airport prices for breakfast I didn't eat before heading into Osaka. Tim was also
hungry so as soon as we got off the subway we looked around for food. Tim saw some burger place that is popular in Asia and asked if I'd ever had a rice burger. Apparently they use a bun made of rice rather
than bread. It was small but surprisingly good. I also had a milkshake with it and the milkshake was especially good for Asia. They don't normally do dairy very good over here. After lunch we headed for the Osaka Castle. As we
were walking through the park I was amazed to see a bunch of makeshift tents with what looked like vagrants living in them. I can't imagine why they would let vagrants live in the park but there they are. You tell me what it
looks like to you. Osaka Castle was built in the 1500's by a guy named Hideyoshi Toyotomi. Mister Toyotomi was a very nasty guy but he was the first guy who was able to unify all of Japan. Obviously, Castles in Japan are not like what you would see in Europe. They do have a moat but it is around a large tract of land and not around the building itself. Inside this large tract of land (in this case about twenty acres) they build a large Pagoda type of building. This one is about eight stories high. We went to the top of the castle and took a bunch of pictures of Osaka from up there.
This city is huge and goes on forever. I was looking at some of the rocks that make up the wall of the moat. Some of the rocks are huge and I was trying to imagine how they could move such huge rocks. It would be very difficult in todays modern world but impossible back then. I guess not impossible but it was still amazing. Well guess what? It is all fake. When they were refurbishing the place they found out that the huge rocks were only a foot or two thick. They just made them so big to try and impress people. Well it worked for me. I was impressed. This is so funny. I have the TV on while I'm typing this and Monk just came on. It is all in Japanese. It is hilarious to watch Monk talking away in Japanese. OK, back to the wall. So after we were done with the Castle we decided that the next most famous thing in Osaka would be the Shitennoji Temple. By this time we pretty much have the subway system figured out so the trip to the Temple was a quick one. The temple is right in the middle of regular native Japanese people and not a tourist area so I took a picture of the street we were walking down so you could get a taste of the normal Japanese life. This temple appears to be a normal working temple but it was built in 593.
Isn't that just amazing? This place is built more than 1,400 years ago. It was built not long after Moroni died and not long after the Nicene creed was drafted. It is hard for me to comprehend things that are that old. We don't have anything in the States that old. Walking into the Temple grounds we passed a real "working" graveyard. There was incense burning all over the place (I paid a dime and lit one) and they had these little wheels that I think the idea is you spin them and they send up a prayer. I sent up a lot of prayers. They also had a pond in the garden area with hundreds of turtles in it. They had built several little islands for the turtles to sunbath on. I couldn't help but think of the ponds in
Florida where Kira lives. If they had alligators in Japan they would be nice and fat. The most amazing thing was this tower in the middle of the grounds. The tower was no more than ten feet in diameter and inside it was a spiral staircase that went up the tower about five stories. I'm not sure what the point of the tower was originally but now it was filled with several Buddha's built into the walls and thousands of little miniature replica's of the tower with people names inscribes on them. It looked to me like you could buy one of these little towers and get your name honored in this tower but Tim figures it is actually a way to honor your ancestor's.
He is probably right since this is more like his culture than it is mine. On the way out of the Temple I was hoping to find a gift shop where I could buy one of these little tower replica's and then I saw them by the ticket booth (we had to pay to get in but it was free with our subway pass). We were looking at them and while neither of us could read the Japanese we could see that they were $1,000 each. Yes, that is a thousand dollars NOT a thousand yen. It was a hundred thousand yen. When the woman in the booth saw us looking at the little towers she made it very clear to us that they were not for sale. I guess since they don't want non-believers buying them then Tim must be right.
They are for religious purposes and not just a fund raiser. By the time we finished up at the temple yesterday we were starving so we decided to eat at an authentic restaurant where the locals eat. We walked into this hole in the wall place. If you see the picture of me standing by a little sign, that is the front door to the restaurant. I also took a picture inside the restaurant and yes, there are two tables and you have to walk sideways down the aisle. There were three little old ladies running the place and I really think these little ladies decided to go into business just so they could sit and visit all day. They loved us and waited on us hand and foot.
It was a total surprise what we were getting since neither of us could figure out the menu and there were no plastic models of food like the more touristy restaurants have. The food was really good and I'm sure they charged us less than the menu said. I left a dollar tip and the lady came running after me to give me back my money that I left. It was funny and I'm sure she thought I was nuts. After lunch we headed to the Kyocera Dome. That’s right, they have a huge stadium here called the Kyocera Dome. Too bad we don’t have one of those in San Diego. After the Kyocera Dome we headed to the bay for a ride on the Santa Maria. By this time we were ready to sit down.
Both of us were about ready to collapse. It was very relaxing to sit on the Santa Maria and enjoy a cruise around the bay. I think Christopher Columbus would have killed for a boat like this one. First of all it was made of steel and not wood, it was equipped with a nice big diesel engine and electrical lighting, radar etc. By the time the cruise ended (also entirely free) we wanted to go straight back to the hotel room but we figured we had better eat in town rather than at the airport. Once again we just headed down some random street and looked for a good place to eat. This time we had to find a place that would take credit cards so that we didn’t have to take out more cash. After all we leave town tomorrow morning. We ended up at a barbecue place. By barbecue I mean meat on a stick. We got five different kinds and they all very delicious but my favorite was chicken breast with plum sauce and some leaf that I can’t remember. Very good. So that was my day. I left my room this morning at 8:00 and I was on my feet continually until 8:00 tonight. Tim and I were both dragging.
Last night we were planning on going into the city to see some of the sights but it was late and we were very tired. In addition, we learned that a train ticket was about 1,300 yen each way. That would be $26 just to see a
city that was pretty much closed up. Sure there would have been some bars and dance halls but that isn't my scene so we ate some very expensive food here at the hotel and went to bed. The airport here is quite fancy. It is very open with walk ways all over the place. The walkways lead to the roads, the trains and the hotel where we are staying. The Narita airport (in Tokyo) is very similar but is actually a bit fancier looking. I know I've described the space toilets they have here but since I'm blogging now I thought I would describe them again with a picture.
These crazy toilets are very cool. They have a little water jet to clean your rear end for you. The toilet seat is heated and some of them even blow dry your backside but this one doesn't. See all those cool buttons on the side? You can even
buy them to fit on a regular toilet but they're over $100 and I find that hard to justify. Today was a very strange day and I'm very sore. Today we were supposed to visit Sanyo's R&D facility but at the last minute they told us 
that they don't allow visitors to their R&D facility but they would meet with us during the conference next week. We assured them that we didn't need the grand tour and we would be happy to just sit and visit with them. 
They still didn't want us to come but it was now inside the two week time to change tickets so to change the tickets would have cost nearly $1000 so we ended up with a free day here in Osaka. We tried to use the day to go visit Kyocera's head 
office in Kyoto but apparently they don't want us either. So here we are with a free day in Osaka. We started off with a visit to the Tourist Information center and learned that you can buy an all day subway pass for
2,300 yen. Since a single return ticket into Osaka was 2,600 this seemed like a bargain. We then got the tickets and found out that they include free coupons to all the popular sights. By the time we were done 
today if you add up the admission into everything we did, together with the normal subway fairs it would have cost us more than 5,100 yen so that was a pretty good deal. The country side around here is very strange. 
They have houses and apartment buildings and people everywhere but if they have a free piece of land they grow rice on it. This picture is not a very good one because it is taken from the train but you can see the rice 
patty there among all the houses. Most of the people here live in huge apartment buildings but there are still a lot of people who live in small houses crowded together. I know it is mostly roof 
tops but you can see some of the houses. This picture is also taken from the speeding train. Since I slept as long as possible this morning and I didn't want to pay airport prices for breakfast I didn't eat before heading into Osaka. Tim was also 
hungry so as soon as we got off the subway we looked around for food. Tim saw some burger place that is popular in Asia and asked if I'd ever had a rice burger. Apparently they use a bun made of rice rather
than bread. It was small but surprisingly good. I also had a milkshake with it and the milkshake was especially good for Asia. They don't normally do dairy very good over here. After lunch we headed for the Osaka Castle. As we 
were walking through the park I was amazed to see a bunch of makeshift tents with what looked like vagrants living in them. I can't imagine why they would let vagrants live in the park but there they are. You tell me what it 
looks like to you. Osaka Castle was built in the 1500's by a guy named Hideyoshi Toyotomi. Mister Toyotomi was a very nasty guy but he was the first guy who was able to unify all of Japan. Obviously, Castles in Japan are not like what you would see in Europe. They do have a moat but it is around a large tract of land and not around the building itself. Inside this large tract of land (in this case about twenty acres) they build a large Pagoda type of building. This one is about eight stories high. We went to the top of the castle and took a bunch of pictures of Osaka from up there. 
This city is huge and goes on forever. I was looking at some of the rocks that make up the wall of the moat. Some of the rocks are huge and I was trying to imagine how they could move such huge rocks. It would be very difficult in todays modern world but impossible back then. I guess not impossible but it was still amazing. Well guess what? It is all fake. When they were refurbishing the place they found out that the huge rocks were only a foot or two thick. They just made them so big to try and impress people. Well it worked for me. I was impressed. This is so funny. I have the TV on while I'm typing this and Monk just came on. It is all in Japanese. It is hilarious to watch Monk talking away in Japanese. OK, back to the wall. So after we were done with the Castle we decided that the next most famous thing in Osaka would be the Shitennoji Temple. By this time we pretty much have the subway system figured out so the trip to the Temple was a quick one. The temple is right in the middle of regular native Japanese people and not a tourist area so I took a picture of the street we were walking down so you could get a taste of the normal Japanese life. This temple appears to be a normal working temple but it was built in 593. 
Isn't that just amazing? This place is built more than 1,400 years ago. It was built not long after Moroni died and not long after the Nicene creed was drafted. It is hard for me to comprehend things that are that old. We don't have anything in the States that old. Walking into the Temple grounds we passed a real "working" graveyard. There was incense burning all over the place (I paid a dime and lit one) and they had these little wheels that I think the idea is you spin them and they send up a prayer. I sent up a lot of prayers. They also had a pond in the garden area with hundreds of turtles in it. They had built several little islands for the turtles to sunbath on. I couldn't help but think of the ponds in
Florida where Kira lives. If they had alligators in Japan they would be nice and fat. The most amazing thing was this tower in the middle of the grounds. The tower was no more than ten feet in diameter and inside it was a spiral staircase that went up the tower about five stories. I'm not sure what the point of the tower was originally but now it was filled with several Buddha's built into the walls and thousands of little miniature replica's of the tower with people names inscribes on them. It looked to me like you could buy one of these little towers and get your name honored in this tower but Tim figures it is actually a way to honor your ancestor's. 
He is probably right since this is more like his culture than it is mine. On the way out of the Temple I was hoping to find a gift shop where I could buy one of these little tower replica's and then I saw them by the ticket booth (we had to pay to get in but it was free with our subway pass). We were looking at them and while neither of us could read the Japanese we could see that they were $1,000 each. Yes, that is a thousand dollars NOT a thousand yen. It was a hundred thousand yen. When the woman in the booth saw us looking at the little towers she made it very clear to us that they were not for sale. I guess since they don't want non-believers buying them then Tim must be right. 
They are for religious purposes and not just a fund raiser. By the time we finished up at the temple yesterday we were starving so we decided to eat at an authentic restaurant where the locals eat. We walked into this hole in the wall place. If you see the picture of me standing by a little sign, that is the front door to the restaurant. I also took a picture inside the restaurant and yes, there are two tables and you have to walk sideways down the aisle. There were three little old ladies running the place and I really think these little ladies decided to go into business just so they could sit and visit all day. They loved us and waited on us hand and foot.
It was a total surprise what we were getting since neither of us could figure out the menu and there were no plastic models of food like the more touristy restaurants have. The food was really good and I'm sure they charged us less than the menu said. I left a dollar tip and the lady came running after me to give me back my money that I left. It was funny and I'm sure she thought I was nuts. After lunch we headed to the Kyocera Dome. That’s right, they have a huge stadium here called the Kyocera Dome. Too bad we don’t have one of those in San Diego. After the Kyocera Dome we headed to the bay for a ride on the Santa Maria. By this time we were ready to sit down. 
Both of us were about ready to collapse. It was very relaxing to sit on the Santa Maria and enjoy a cruise around the bay. I think Christopher Columbus would have killed for a boat like this one. First of all it was made of steel and not wood, it was equipped with a nice big diesel engine and electrical lighting, radar etc. By the time the cruise ended (also entirely free) we wanted to go straight back to the hotel room but we figured we had better eat in town rather than at the airport. Once again we just headed down some random street and looked for a good place to eat. This time we had to find a place that would take credit cards so that we didn’t have to take out more cash. After all we leave town tomorrow morning. We ended up at a barbecue place. By barbecue I mean meat on a stick. We got five different kinds and they all very delicious but my favorite was chicken breast with plum sauce and some leaf that I can’t remember. Very good. So that was my day. I left my room this morning at 8:00 and I was on my feet continually until 8:00 tonight. Tim and I were both dragging.
3 comments:
It makes me happy when you take the opportunity to see the sights and culture of the places you visit. Thanks for sharing. Love you & miss you!! xxoo
Oh, I would love to be "dragging" too if it was a day like that! WHEW! It's amazing what all you see AND then recall it again for your blog. LOVE IT! Keep it coming. I love to see the world through your eyes.
That space toilet just blows my mind. There are some weird but amazing things out there.
Aren't the rice burgers good?! I LOVED it. I love the blog, with all the pictures and sights.
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