Blogs from Osaka, Japan, Asia

Late start this morning. Left 8:45 and went down the road to the hotel's cafe. We didn't think it had what we wanted, so we decided to go to the Umeda Sky Building. Not best day for it as it's raining, but thats okay. We hailed a taxi because otherwise we'd need to catch a train and bus and with the rain, worth the extra cost ($21). We reached the Umeda Sky Building at 9:10, 20 minutes before opening. We decided to go to the cafe at the top for breakfast. The building is very impressive. The elevator to the 39th floor is glass so you can see 360 degrees as you ascend, then you take an escalator through a glass tube to get to the 40th floor. We had very nice breakfast of coffee and ... read more

A few of these are new to me. From Daily Meal: Japan's rich history means there are plenty of traditional eating customs and url=https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedailymeal.com%2Fjapanese-food-what-do-itadakimasu-and-gochis-sama-mean%2F&data=05%7C02%7C%7Cec8e33df421a4f94fe9b08dbfbfbade8%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638380830606838613%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=IYYbnp8lMt5qkKucvO%2FXnP1dMM0%2F6tieAW4s9pGvd5g%3D&reserved=0etiquette you might be unaware of before your trip. Whether you're dining at your ryokan, at a restaurant, or in somebody's home, you're sure to find yourself asking many of the following questions. Don't rest chopsticks on your bowl. I have always done this, but now I need to use the little chopstick rest or folde... read more

Tour Day 126, Cruise Day 24 – Fukuoka (Hakata), Japan – One of the first non-travel events to land on my planning spreadsheet was the Superbowl. A time-zone calculation meant the GAME should start shortly after breakfast. When I began to incorporate and examine the shore excursions, it was nice to see that there was nothing appealing in Fukuoka. Unfortunately, a couple of days before game day, I began to develop a cold and/or allergies had struck. Although the Superbowl was on the TV in my cabin and on the big screen in the Rock and Roll Lounge, I lazed away the morning dozing off periodically until my stomach won the battle. The score indicates that I missed a good game. Congrats to KC! Tour Day 127, Cruise Day 25 – Scenic Cruising Kanmon Strait –Japan ... read more

After six wonderful nights in Tokyo we packed up our hotel room and headed to the train station to start the journey to our next stop, Osaka. We caught the metro train to Tokyo station, bought some lunch and then purchased tickets for the shinkansen to Osaka. The trip to Osaka was uneventful, particularly for Elodie who had a nap. Once we arrived we transferred to another local train and after a short ride we arrived at our AirBNB. I had booked a cute three bedroom place for us in Umeda, Osaka. As soon as we opened the front door I think Scott and I thought 'oh no' because of the very steep stairs! We turned on the aircon, checked out the (lovely) rooms and then headed out to a nearby playground. Elodie enjoyed having the ... read more

Heute gab es zum Frühstück endlich einmal wieder Pancakes mit Ahornsirup und zusätzlich aß ich wieder wie üblich Spiegelei mit Speck. Danach startete ich meine Tour durch die Stadt. Hauptattraktion ist m.E. die Burg, aber die scheint irgendwann komplett neu aufgebaut worden zu sein mit Beton und Aufzug. Also nicht so altertümlich wie in Kumamoto oder Himeji, wobei ich in ersterer auch moderne Stahlstreben nach dem Erdbeben entdeckte. Es gab sehr viele Besucher und eine gewisse Schlange vor dem Ticketverkauf (nur drei Automaten für normale Eintrittskarten) und dann nochmals vor dem Aufzug in die 5. Etage (insgesamt gab es acht davon und die restlichen drei musste jeder die Treppe laufen). Oben angekommen hatte ich eine schöne Aussicht in alle Richtungen. Auch diese Festung ist inmitten einer großen Grünanlage mit aber größeren Wassergräben und mehr Fläche als ... read more