It's Alan's turn for blog writing today. And check out the album as today we have photos. Sarah's comments are in red
We made it through the night even though the pillows in this hotel feel like they have rocks in them instead of feathers. Sarah spent most of the night snoring her head off and since we're in two separate beds I couldn't reach over and thump her one. It is nice to have room to stretch out though. The pillows have some sort of wheat in them so if we get hungry we can have a snack. As for snoring, I don't feel like I had any sleep last night at all.
The plan for today was to do a bit of sightseeing and wandering around Osaka so we set off bright and early for Osaka Castle, which is quite close to our hotel. It was a cold morning but after the walk to the castle Sarah was boiling while I was still freezing. Yes, my jacket works, Alan's doesn't. That's not at all unusual. Unfortunately to get to the castle from the entrance we took meant a steep climb up lots of stairs and concrete ramps. It's very impressive though. It was built in 1580 and was the largest castle in Japan. Not sure if it still is though. Sarah asked 2 Asian ladies to take our photo and was surprised when they answered in broad American accents.
After leaving the castle we strolled through Osaka Castle Park and found our way to Morinomiya station to catch the train to Tennoji. We arrived there around lunch time but Sarah had a sore foot or head or bum or something so we decided to head back to the hotel for some lunch before going out for the afternoon. After lunch Sarah decided to stay and have a nap so I ventured out into the unknown by myself. This could be dangerous! I walked for over two hours on my sore foot so I think I did pretty well. I have a lovely blister on my heel which really makes no sense considering I was wearing my old favourite boots today. Oh, and also, I got to pee at a toilet which was actually a hole in the floor.
I left the hotel at around 2.30 and by this time it had gotten bitterly cold and with the wind chill factor the temperature must have been not much above freezing. But I soldiered on. I'm such a trooper! I caught the train and the first thing I see after exiting Tennoji station was a donut shop. Doh! Sarah had wanted a donut all morning. No, you wanted the donut. My goal was to walk to the Shitennoji Temple so I began walking aimlessly along the streets, guided only by our map. I had no clue if I was even going in the right direction but after some time I did come across the temple. Well I am a courier so I guess I'm pretty good with directions even in foreign countries.
Shitennoji Temple. What is there to say about this place. When I walked into the area there were 2 guys in a booth and I assume they were collecting money for the car park. They didn't seem interested in me so I climbed the stairs to enter the temple grounds. What greeted me was a deserted, somewhat rundown place which was not at all impressive. I thought better of going further into the grounds in case I got myself arrested for trespassing or something. In any case it really didn't look safe for a lone foreigner to go wandering through there.
Back out to the street and I saw on my map that there was another joint just up the road, the Isshinji Temple, so I headed that way and came across it before long. Now this place was much more impressive. For a start there were actually people around, the gardens were well kept and the buildings looked beautifully maintained. Not sure if I was supposed to pay to get in. I'll just assume not. It also contained a cemetary and a shrine where people were praying and there was a huge amount of incense burning. The smell was quite over powering. The Isshinji Temple was built in 1185 and rebuilt after being destroyed during World War 2.
Next on the agenda was taking a look at Tennoji Zoo which is only a short walk from the temple. I followed a steep winding path of concrete steps down a long way but got to the bottom to find there was no way out. Darn it, now I have to climb back up again! After finding the correct exit from the temple, I sensed I was getting close to the zoo as I could hear the occasional animal or bird and could smell that unmistakeable zoo smell. I crossed a bridge which ran above the zoo and although it was due to close in 85 minutes I decided to go in anyway. I figured it wouldn't be great in any case and I wouldn't spend long there.
It's quite a small zoo, but it does have a good selection of animals. There are two sections, the African Savanna and the Asian Tropical Rainforest. Unfortunately, being so late in the afternoon, some of the animals were already being taken to their feeding areas so I didn't get to see absolutely everything. But I got to see most things which was nice. Well either that or the animals were so cold that they were inside hibernating. I took lots of photos of cool animals, but never saw the elephants in their enclosure. It's understandable really since they're such small, quiet, easy to miss animals. I went into the koala section which contained 2 koalas. There was a security guard standing there and he came rushing over gesturing wildly when I tried to take a photo of them. I guess the koalas must be shy. I managed to see the whole zoo before closing time which I was most pleased about. San Diego or Taronga it quite clearly is not, but I have to say that for 500 yen (about $8), I was pleasantly surprised. Alan did take lots of photos, making sure I didn't miss anything. I could have missed the photos he took of the lions though (see the photos and you'll see what I mean).
Found my way back to Tennoji station and after 2 and a half hours of non-stop walking I was still cold. That changed when I got on the train though. The trains here are very well heated and it was nice and toasty inside the carriage.
Sarah looked on the net to find us somewhere nice for dinner and we decided on a place not too far away which was supposedly a restaurant where they serve "Californian cuisine, based on Italian food, arranged into Japanese and Western dishes". So we were a little surprised when we sat down at our table only to find the menu was written entirely in Japanese. Added to that, our waiter spoke as little English as we do Japanese. Luckily a few of the dishes had pictures so we picked a pizza along with the only dish that looked like some sort meat. It turned out to be pork and it was very tasty. $7 for a glass of coke was a bit rich but hey, we're on holiday and enjoying ourselves so it's only money.
Trivia for the day..... there must be just as many taxis in Osaka as there are private vehicles. You can find a row of them parked on just about every street corner just waiting for someone to get in. I don't know how they make any money because you never see anyone taking a taxi. Most locals here ride pushbikes, or at least around the Osaka Business District where our hotel is, and you have to be very wary while walking on the footpaths because they come up behind you on their bikes and don't slow down or anything.
Tomorrow we're supposed to be going to Universal Studios, but we may opt for a day in Kyoto instead as it's forecast to be another extremely cold day. We can do Universal later on when it will hopefully be a degree or 15 warmer.
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