Day 2 Evening

Hotel living room

Once we arrived at the hotel after several train rides, we got situated in our room.  The room has quite a bit of Japanese feel to it as compared to a Western hotel.  It is divided into two rooms however, the divider is simply a curtain.  The beds are on the floor and are very thin mattresses.  The decor is Japanease in design and very beautiful.  I'm still getting used to the Japanese sliding doors and will probably attempt to push my way through a few more of them before getting used to the trend.  Here are some photos of the room:

Mom and I decide to explore downtown a bit even though we've been traveling for around 30 hours by now.  I'm on the hunt for some local dive cuisine and mom picked a hotel in a great location right by the main drag here in Osaka.  We roll up on the entrance to a city-center-looking area.  At first glance, the area looks HUGE!  It is shops and restaurant for as far as the eye can see.  My stomach starts doing somersaults to remind me of my original mission so we start hunting for a good noodle or dumpling bar.

Entrance to the Osaka Main Street Center

Now I'm not completely unfamiliar with Pachinko, which is a Japanese game that involves flipping a lever and firing metal bb's through a gravity maze with the purpose of landing in little holes that score you more bb's.  I grew up playing the one my dad has in his basement.  According to mom, Pachinko parlors are a big deal in Japan and as soon as I enter this city center area, I see them everywhere!  I don't see a ton of people playing in them and I definitely don't see any children inside.  It might be because they actually gamble on these machines in Japan kind of like a slot machine.  The kids are definitely going to flip out when they see these parlors tomorrow.

Endless miles of Pachinko machines

Mom and I dip into an Udon noodle bar.  I just looked for something that looked dumpy yet had a full counter of local people inside slurping up noodles.

Noodle Bar cooks

Basic Udon with beef and a piece of sour plum

Gotta run to breakfast but one fascinating thing about Japan is how disciplined the people are.  They sit and wait at a crosswalk until the lights change!!! I guess jaywalking is somewhat tactless here.   It's almost crazy seeing people waiting at a stoplight when there are no cars around and you could easily cross safely.  This is compounded and even funnier when you see the size of some of their crosswalk intersections!  The one in front of our hotel is a confluence of 6 streets and the crosswalk is literally the size of a soccer field.  Then the lights change and everyone crosses at once in 6 different directions.   This picture captures only about half the size of the crosswalk, but you get the idea.

A massive Osaka Crosswalk