Travel always precipitates learning and awareness. I’ve learnt that my butt-hole is 5mm off centre. Each bathroom bidet experience results in a hit slightly to the left and I have to lean somewhat to make contact.
This has come as something as shock to a balanced Libran and I’m considering corrective surgery. Will advise re results.
One more glorious sunlit day as we headed out to break our fast. We found cafe 21 directly opposite the gate to Dotonbori. The Japanese owner gives something of his history away with the breezy aloha music soundscape and plethora of beach-surf parafanalia. He once ran a restaurant in Hawaii and we kick back in our cane chairs amidst the potted ferns and bolted surf boards, look out at the icy-cold Osaka morning traffic and gulp down mini-frankfurts, scrambled eggs and hot coffee with cream (an Hawaiian breakfast standard apparently – we wonder what sparked his return to Japan).
We take a walk down one of the many covered markets, this one mainly seafood, and marvel at the live; squid, prawns, mussels, oysters, fish, sea urchins, crabs, lobsters and more. Not wanting to be too adventurous before our home flight, we opt for the salted yam crisps.
A lovely walk through the old part of the Dotonbori area past wooded restaurant fronts, an old cemetery, a Shrine, dodgy looking massage parlors, queues of young people waiting for their favourite breakfast places to open, and impossible, mangulated powerline configurations.
I find a random squeaky duck in my coat pocket and recall the pop gun shooting range last night where said duck was won and annoy Di with random squeaks as we progress.
Doubling back to our Ryokan, we snap last nights dinner spot, pick up our bags, stride 20min to our bus stop and catch a ride to Osaka international. It’s a short stint to Haneda across the island but I count 75 golf courses (when out of cloud)!
A comfortable recline in JAL’s lounge before boarding JAL 51 bound for Sydney where we now sit binge watching in-flight movies before, hopefully, nodding off :-)…actually I think Di’s asleep. Sssssh, see you soon
The new Top Gun is good.
Wow what a finish to your trip, I’m amazed at the street scenes of Osaka – so much information everywhere in mostly unintelligible sign language. I think I would be tired just walking and looking.
Great you are now safe and sound back in Australia, but will miss these wonderful blogs! Thank you Jeff, I feel I’ve travelled to Japan and seen some beautiful places and experienced your pleasure and excitement (and concerns at times) of your trip.
So pleased that a few of the trees blossomed especially for you in the freezing cold!
Thanks Joy, your comments have kept you with us as we travelled, it’s been fun sharing our adventures with you. Yes, we really lucked it in with the blossoms, glorious! Now at Dot and Pete’s re-acclimatising.
Love the photos