Storming Himeji Castle

Today we went to Himeji, which is about 90km east of Osaka. We traveled there by the Special Rapid Service train which took us about 70 minutes one way. Once in Himeji we met up with Charlie, a work friend of Ari's, and he helped/guided us around Himeji Castle and the nearby Nishi-Oyashiki-Ato Garden ‘Kokoen’. I can tell the trip is starting to wear me down becase I could not make it up to the top of the castle's main keep. I made it up as far as the 3rd floor but could travel no furthur, and I did not get much footage becase I was too tired. The walk through the garden was much easier and I got some footage I think my family will like.

Namba take 2

Once again we wandered around Den-Den Town looking for gifts to bring back. There is too much here. most of which would be difficult to use in the states. Though for 1,357,823 yen they had a really nice big screen T.V. I am sure my dad would like. Today we were going to go to Nara in the afternoon but we spent too much time in Den-Den Town so we went to Shitennoji Temple instead. We went there to see a Buddhist all souls day ceremony, but again we arrived just too late to see the festival, we did walk around the temple grounds a bit. All this walking is tiring us out and makeing it difficult to get to things before they close.

Josh Montee's Photolog

Josh has been uploading pictures of our trip, that he has taken with his camera. I am working out how to best upload the video, but until I do it is the best I can offer for photos.

http://s97.photobucket.com/albums/l236/phubarr/

Laundry and Sumiyoshitaisha

Today we did laundry since we packed light for the trip. After filling up the washers and sitting around for a while, we headed off for a light day to recover from the march. Ari took us to visit the Sumiyoshitaisha which is near his apartment, however by the time we got there the main temple was closed. We then went back to Namba station to visit the Dotonobori section again so I could get footage. On the way we stopped in Namba Parks to eat Udon at Osaka Noodle City. There we had some Nagasaki style noodles. I was not feeling very well so I did not eat much , but Josh and Ari greatly enjoyed the meal. After dinner and the re-visit to Dotonbori, we called it a night.

Namba Death March

Today we took a hike around the Nambia Station area, and also visited the Umeda Sky Building. We left Ari's apartment at around 10:30am and spent till 2:30pm walking around Den Den town. We then headed to Umeda Station via the subway, and visited the Umeda Sky Building. We went to the top of it to get a good visual of the greater Osaka area. The top of the Umeda Sky Building is called The Floating Garden, and is the highest point in the city. After visiting the Sky Building we headed back to Namba station and ate at A hawaian burger joint. Then we walked past ECC, the company Ari works for, and to he grocery store to pick up some drinks. There we visited the "ethnic" isle to see the American food section. It was kinda funny to see our stuff in such a location. After that we headed to OCAT station, since Ari wanted to show us the people who dance in front of the mirrored wall there. We then trudged back to Ari's place and called the night.

Osaka Castle

As our first full day here we got up early to go to Namba Station area for breakfast, before our trip to Osaka Castle. We soon discovered that most places do not open until after 10am, so we had to stop as a small 24hr place to eat. The Japanese do not havebreakfast like we do so our breakfast consited of what most would consider a dinner. I had a type of fried chicken and a teryaki style sauce, with rice. To drink we had iced coffee. It was an interesting meal, but very good. After our meal we took a quick walk around the Dotonbori area (shopping distric) and then headed to the subway in Namba to go to Osaka Castle. Castle's in Japan are not like in european castles. They have hude walled courtyards and one cetnral tower to overlook the surrounding area. The trip was fairly quick and the museum inside the castle did not allow pictures or any of the artifacts. After we got back we rested at Aris apartment, since the days are so hot. After that we went back to Dontonbori to see it at night, and ate at Subway for dinner. I forgot my camera for that part so we will ahve to come back sometime so I can get footage.

Arrival

Today we arrived in Japan. It was a very long, boring, and painful flight. I had no leg room and could not sleep a lick the entire trip. The plane was completely packed, though the flight attendants were mostly nice. I sat next to a couple from Taipai who were returning from a visit to the US. I think a 12 hr flight is pushing my tolerances for commuter airlines and will probably not do that again for a long while. After landing and muddling our way through to customs, Josh and I had to confuse the customs agents enough to let us pass. Japan require you fill out these forms and one of the questions was where you would be staying. Unfortunatly I did not have Ari's address or Cell number but, luckily I managed to confuse the the custom's agent enough to just let me into the country. Ari met us just after customs, and brought us through the Train system to a stop near his apartment. The line we used was a local so it had many stops and was long trip. Given the time Ari wanted to see if another stop near his Apartment was close enough. We tried the stop and had to wander through some back allies to get to his apartment. By the time we got there it we were soaked from sweating, tired from the hike with our luggage, and tired from the lack of sleep for over 24 hours. We went to sleep shortly after arrival.