Osaka - Running Men and Rainy Days

So today Lee and I flew out of japan…and then flew back an hour later. Our flight to Manilla was turned around after a faulty windscreen wiper of all things. It is better to be safe than sorry of course but a missed connection flight and a hotel we have to pay for that we won’t use is annoying on a tight budget like ours. Jetstar don’t have a great reputation for paying people compensation but we can only wait and hope they will help us, if we ever get to Manilla that is.
On the plus side,I get to type to you lovely people.
So what have we been up to for the last few days? Osaka and Nara is what we’ve been up to.
I was very excited to find Lee did to know much about Osaka so I got to show him the bright lights of Dotonbori that I’d heard so much about. Including of course the Osaka ‘running man’. Dotonbori is the restaurant, shopping and bar hub of Osaka. Streets and streets of the weird and the wonderful.

sorry…had to do it

We accidentally stumbled upon Kurmon Ichiba market where we filled up on Tempura and Takoyaki (octopus balls) and we had a few drinks in Minami (very very near Dotonbori) in a bar called ‘Bar Moon Walk’ where after you pay the 400 yen cover charge all drinks are 210 yen ,which in Osaka is a great deal.My favourite was a Sake concoction called ‘Welcome to Japan’…very fitting.
We took in some culture on a rainy day and saw the legendary Osaka castle and wandered the museum inside. It was impressive and a little bit scary to imagine the battles that had taken place on that very ground. It was a horrible day but the castle did cheer it up a bit. On the bright side it also meant every shrine and temples were empty.
If Kyoto is the quiet , refined part of Japan then Osaka is the loud local who lives to run around and get things done. Compared to Tokyo Osaka feels lived in.
If I was to come to Japan again I think I may give Osaka a miss, not because it’s not beautiful but it is a functional city and we did a lot in 2 and a half days. We did also got to squeeze in a half day trip to Nara but the sheer loveliness of that place requires a whole post to itself.
As I write this we are still no clearer if we will ever leave Japan, but as much as I hate this airport right now (where are the cheap fast food places??? ) I loved Japan and we are already planning our return.