We said our final goodbyes to our lovely machiya and took at cab to Kyoto Station to catch a shinkasen to Tokyo.  After an uneventful 2.5 hour ride, we transferred to the Yamanote line for a few stops to get to Shinjuku Station.  Our hotel web site said that the hotel was a mere 8 minute walk from Shinjuku Station so despite our luggage, we figured it would be easy to walk there.

Our first mistake was that we didn’t know just how big Shinjuku Station is – as in the busiest train station in the world with over 2 millions people using it on a daily basis.  We attempted to find the East exit as suggested by the hotel but somehow ended up in the New South exit.  By now it was approaching 2PM and my lack of food was starting to become a problem.  Thanks to Chris’ patience and Google Maps 30 minutes later we finally found our hotel.

After a quick check-in and drop-off of our luggage, we hit the streets looking for food.  One problem – almost everything was closed.  We eventually ended up at a shop close to the hotel that specialized in tatoyaki.  I vaguely remembered hearing that term before but it turned out to be octopus balls – no not those balls but rather a croquette type ball with chunks of cooked octopus.  It was surprisingly tasty and with an ice cold Kirin, hit the spot for my tired, hungry body.

Finally fed, we made a quick stroll around our neighborhood and discovered that we were right next to the famous Golden Gai, which is a series of interconnecting alleys that house 200 tiny (as in most seat 6-8 people) bars each with their own unique theme.

None of course were open since it was in the middle of day but we made sure that would be our first stop later in the evening.  After some more relaxation time, we made a short trip down the block to a restaurant called Seiyru, which had been there since 1858.  It was a large cavernous restaurant filled with sallarymen drinking way too much sake and beer, and their disapproving girlfriends/wives.  It was very amusing and the food – yakitori for Chris and noodle for me – was very good.

We then looped back to the Golden Gai to start our exploration.  I had read that a lot of the bars don’t let in foreigners or are private clubs.  However, there were supposedly many that would welcome us.  After a failed attempt of finding one bar that had been recommended, we came across Albatross, which I had read about in several guides.  Fortunately, it was early in the evening so we were able to get seats around a very small, cramped table.  There was a 500 yen seat charge, but that is typical of the Golden Gai.

There wasn’t a theme per se with the bar but the disco ball and the great deep house music made it a lot of fun.  I saw they had Suntory on the menu for one of the whiskeys so I opted for that.  Hey, it was only 600 yen so I figured why not?  It tasted like, well, a 600 yen Scotch i.e. not great.  Still, the music was fantastic and there was a very nice chill vibe to the place.  We vowed to come back another time and made our way to the next bar.

As you might guess from the picture above, this bar’s theme was horror – Death Match from Hell! Inside was horror fan’s ultimate tree house.  The entire bar was stacked floor to ceiling with horror movie posters, trinkets, toys and other assorted props.  Japanese death metal was the music choice and the flat screen TV was showing Fulci’s Zombi 2.  There was no seat charge here so I opted to splurge a bit and get a bottle of sake.

Sitting next to us was an expat from Ukraine who had been here for 4 years and an Aussie traveler who was amazed that I was drinking sake straight from the bottle.  Both were extremely nice and I shared my sake with them in the spirit of the Golden Gai tradition.  We needed to head out to Shibuya so we said our goodbyes and made plans to check out more of the Golden Gain in the nights ahead.

Finally, it was time to go to the techno music club Mecca known as Womb.  After an assist by two drunken but incredibly helpful sallarymen, we took the quick subway right to Shibuya Station.  Right in front of the station is the world famous massive crosswalk, where seemingly hundreds of people pass each other on diagonal slants that somehow don’t end up in bodily injuries.  The entire area was lit up with huge LED screens and flashing lights everything.  THIS was the Tokyo I had imagined before coming here.

We winded our way through a series of streets where “love hotels” were king and arrived at a large concrete building where Womb is located.  After paying the 3500 yen entry fee, we were escorted into a large dark room throbbing with bass.  One of the last remaining clubs to feature the fabled Phazon sound system, Womb is a destination for any serious clubber.

The first thing that was readily apparent was that the crowd was decidedly more mixed with foreigners than anywhere else we had been.  It reminded me a lot of the clubs in Ibiza in that sense as well as the up for anything vibe of it.  We walked up a couple of levels, where other DJs were playing in side rooms, and watched the main floor from the top level.

It was now a bit after 1AM and the main room was packed.  We pushed our way to the center of the floor and got the full Phazon treatment with the deep bass vibrating all around us.  As a fan of old skool clubs with dark, minimal lighting and no effin bottle service, I was in heaven.  It was a local techno DJ spinning who seemed to have a dedicated following.  I stayed glued to the dancefloor for the next 2 hours or so reveling in the spirit of this fantastic club.  Still, the toll of travel and all of the walking we had done began to mount and it was time to go.

Catching a cab was surprisingly easy… communicating where we needed to go, not so much.  After failed attempts of showing the driver the map to the hotel and gesturing wildly, we somehow set off in the seemingly right direction.  Soon after, he started talking to us in Japanese, which of course we had no idea what he was saying.  We eventually made a game of it, responding back with equal jibberish to hm like “Yes, I do think the Ukraine situation is serious” and “I’ve also heard good things about the new Captain America movie.”

Amazingly, he got us back to the hotel, which is located on the edge of Tokyo’s red light district.  Since it was well past the witching hour, the scene by our hotel had become quite different but very amusing.  We passed by a couple of touts (people trying to get you to come into various go go bars) and made the short walk back to the hotel.  Another long day/night lay ahead so it was time for some sleep.

After the epic meal at Kikunoi and some much needed rest, we ventured forth to Maruyuma Park to check out the fun and frivolity there thanks to the sakura.  Since we had been there the night before, this time we came prepared with the remainder of our sake from lunch.  We wandered around the various booths set up, grabbing some delicious (and in my case, giant) yakitori and found a spot in the middle of the action to people watch.

In the center of the park was a massive cherry tree that looked quite stunning at night illuminated by some floodlights.

After our dinner and sake, we headed down to something we had seen the night before and wanted to definitely check out – a haunted house.  Fueled by the sake, we braved our way through a spooooky maze, which mostly consisted of poorly costumed “monsters” missing most of their cues to jump out at us.  The whole thing was incredibly silly but fun.

Since it was our last night in Kyoto, we walked down to near-by Gion in hopes of perhaps spotting a geisha.  It had started to drizzle a bit so we knew our exploring would be short.  While waiting at the light to cross into one of the main alleys of Gion, which is lined with private clubs where the geisha’s go with their clients, we noticed something across the street.

Jackpot.  More than likely a maiko (geisha in training), her mannerisms and deference to people looking at her made it pretty clear this wasn’t someone in dress up for the tourists.  As we crossed the street, she looked away from the gawkers and quickly made her way down the street.

The rain now was starting to come down a lot harder so hiked up the hill to our machiya.  Tomorrow would be time to finally get to Tokyo and we needed all of the rest we could get.

It was finally the day I had literally been preparing for months.  Through our machiya manager, I had been lucky enough to secure a reservation at the world famous Kikunoi restaurant for a multi-course meal known as a kaiseki.  A favorite of top chefs around the globe, it is considered THE place for a true kaiseki experience.  I had been warned in advance that we probably would have counter seating versus a private room but that wasn’t a big deal as we’d be closer to the master himself that way.

It was a bit more cloudy as we took the 30 minute walk to the restaurant but seemed like more people than ever were snapping photos of the temples and shrines on the route.  We went around a corner to a very traditional Japanese building and were greeted by an old man who instructed us to remove our shoes.  He was soon joined by a woman in a kimono who bowed and told us to follow her.  We made our way through a maze like set of rooms and came to a private room facing a pretty courtyard.  We had gotten one of the rooms after all.

There was a low table with cushions and a support for the back.  I actually knew the drill here and swung my legs underneath the table where there was a heated pit to rest our legs.  Amazingly it fit!

In front of us was a black round tray and a small flat bowl.  Our server poured something into the bowl and explained that it was a welcome sake made with cherry blossoms.  It was definitely different than a typical sake with a nice spice kick to it.  We decided to get a 720ml bottle of sake for lunch and chose the less expensive of the two.  I figured it would probably still be excellent, and it was – very light and refreshing but still with that unique punch sake can give you.

The door opened and there was another woman in a kinomo who said in broken English that she was the chef’s daughter.  She presented us with the menu we would be having today and set down a book that explained the various dishes, which had been published a few years ago with a forward by Feran Adria.

The first course soon arrived in a very beautiful wood carved box and inside was this true work of art.

I won’t list each component as the full menu is above but everything was delicious.  The true stars though were the red sea bream roll and the mountain yam shaped like a butterfly.  So clean and pure.

Soon after we finished, the next course came – ah, finally some sashimi – the red sea bream again along with some stunning Spanish mackerel.

This was quickly followed by more sashimi and the biggest of them all – belly of blue fin tuna (maguro) with a piquant soy mustard sauce.  Like buttah.

Next we switched to a hot course – tilefish steamed in cherry leaf with sticky rice.  The fish was perfectly tender and the clumps of sticky rice made for a nice texture contrast.  It was also the first time I had bamboo root, which tasted like a steamed potato with a bit more of a woody flavor.  Delicious.

After some more sake and a chance to catch our breaths, my favorite course of the day arrived – grilled halibut with egg yolk.  The yolk had been turned into a fine yellow powder scattered on top of the thick filet of halibut.  The meat was thick but not chewy, with a slight hint of the charcoal from the grilling.  There was also a small bowl of a local plant called udo in a rich soy sauce.  A truly stunning dish.

I had been looking forward to the palette cleanser since seeing it on the menu – strawberry-wasabi sorbet.  As Chris correctly pointed out, it taste pretty much what you would think that combo would – the wasabi wasn’t overpowering but added an interesting element of heat.

Our next course was the only real miss of the meal.  A seaweed salad with shredded mountain yam.  To me, it was a texture thing.  I did enjoy the yam though so it wasn’t a total loss.

Fortunately the ship was righted with the next dish – a pot of steamed bamboo shoot, a different type of seaweed, our friend the red sea beam and rapini, which wasn’t something I was expecting to find.  This was a much larger piece of bamboo, which tasted even better than the previous incarnation due to the rich broth that the sea bream helped develop.  I also quite enjoyed the seaweed as it wasn’t nearly as slimy in this preparation.

Our final savory course was another winner – see the full description above – but the highlights were the fantastic prawn dumpling, which was one of the best I’ve ever had and amazingly enough for me as I’m not usually a fan, the pea soup.  I think I liked it because that’s where the dumpling was so the prawn flavor permeated the soup.

By this point, I was pretty sated but since the last and only sweet course was my all time favorite ice cream – pistachio – along with a mango soup, I figured I could squeeze in a bit more.  The ice cream was heavenly and while mango is pretty much my least favorite fruit, it complemented well with the pistachio flavor.

We had actually only drank about a bit over half of our bottle of sake so our server kindly put the bottle not only in a bag but also wrapped it in bubble tape – full service indeed.  We said our goodbyes and made our way to the exit, reveling in the amazing experience.  Tonight would be time for more hanami fun but in the meantime, a much needed nap was in order.

Blessed with once again near perfect weather and with an iffy forecast ahead, we decided to hit two of the major items on our list – Philosopher’s Walk and the bamboo forest of Arishiyama on the other side of town.  We arrived at the beginning of the Philosopher’s Walk a bit after 9AM, which proved to be wise as it was already teeming with people.

Named after a philosophy professor from the near-by Kyoto University, the path was a beautiful cherry tree lined walk above a small river below.  Some locals appeared to be having their morning stroll amongst foreign tourists and Japanese tourists dressed in traditional garb.  It made for quite the people watching.  We walked the entire path, ending up on a large street that led toward the university.

As we crossed into the surrounding campus, we noticed these large wooden signs which appeared to be advertisements to join various college clubs – from alpine climbing to dancing and pretty much everything in between.  A few of the favorites we saw:

After yet another fruitless attempt to have a cab driver take us to a specific address, which led to him kicking us out of the cab, we opted to hoof it as we discovered we actually weren’t that far away.

Chris was jonesing for some more wagyu beef and since I hadn’t had that yet, I had found a place known for it, at a very reasonable price, called Hafuu.  We had actually tried to locate it the day before to get a reservation but it was closed.  After a couple of false alarms, we finally found it tucked away on a quite side street.  The counter seating was already gone but they had a small dining room in the back.  That would be more that acceptable as it was finally a real table with real chairs!

The restaurant is owned by a family who also has a butcher shop.  This, they explained, is why they can sell wagyu for a lot less than other places.  We both ordered the wagyu sirloin, which was a very reasonable $40 USD.  This would also include some sides in a typical bento-style lunch.

Soon a glorious plate of freshly grilled marbled beef appeared in front of us along with rice, some pickled ginger, miso soup and a salad.  All of these sides were familiar of course but a far superior version than a typical bento box.  I particularly enjoyed the hand cut noodles.  And oh yeah, the beef. Well, take a look at this slice of heaven.

Yes, it was delicious and over oh too soon.

We had to locate the 11 bus, which would take us to Arashiyama, which proved to be a bit farther walk than though.  We finally found the proper bus stop and boarded shortly thereafter.  Fortunately, it was the beginning of the route so I was able to get the coveted (well for me) seat in the back with lots of legroom.  We headed out of downtown Kyoto and towards the mountains off in the distance.  Along the way, we enjoyed the sing song stylings of the bus driver announcements and watched as the landscape changed from the modern to the traditional.

We exited the bus to truly feel like we were in another time and place.  A large river, deep green in color, was before us, with boats slowly gliding along and a bank filled with people strolling along it.  This turned out to be the entrance to the bamboo forest and soon we were hiking up a few hundred feet to get to this fabled landscape.  There were of course  many cherry trees along the way but at least at first not that much bamboo.

This soon changed though as we rounded the corner known as the Path of the Bamboo.  In front of us were massive bamboo trees reaching up into the sky, blotting out most of the mid-day sun.  This continued for almost a mile as the path waved its way around these majestic trees.  Truly one of the more beautiful things I’ve ever witnessed.

Chris was impressed.

And I was glad to just finally be able to completely stretch for a change.

At the end of the path was a small village designed to look like feudal Japan and while a bit chintzy, dammed if it didn’t really feel like I was looking into the far past with Toshiro Mifune and his samurai brothers peering back at me.  We made the loop around the rest of the surrounding park and got some spectacular views along the way.

Finally, as my back and feet started to rebel loudly, we made it back on the bus for the long ride home.  It was pretty much the perfect day and made me understand why so many people love it here.

After our short respite, we walked down the hill to a restaurant that had been suggested by the couple we met at the previous night’s dinner.  Chicken yakitori is one of my favorite Japanese dishes so I was really looking forward to trying the real deal.

The restaurant was a small, very funky little spot with the usual counter layout as well as a few low tables.  The smell of charcoal grilled meat filled the air, making me a happy camper.  I noticed the menu had a few cuts of chicken I had never had – skewered or otherwise.  Curious, I opted for both the traditional thigh with leeks, broiled chicken skin along with the not to traditional, neck and hip pieces.  All were superb.  So good in fact that I failed in my food porn duties of capturing a single shot.  Sorry about that!

Filled with meat formerly on sticks, we decided to go check out Maruyama Park, which was supposed to be hosting a large hanamii – basically a party underneath the cherry trees when they blossom.  The park was quite beautiful, with many of the trees lit up along the main path.  It looked though as things were winding down as many people were getting ready to leave.  Bummed we had missed it, we kept walking up the trail and soon realized it was far from over.

Up at the top of the path was a full festival setup, complete with food stands – meats on stick natch, pop-up bars and carnival games.  There were hundreds of people in various states of sobriety, clearly enjoying the hanami.  Still, we got the sense that we had probably missed the apex and decided to go back another night a bit earlier.

We left the park and walked into Gion, which is the entertainment district of Kyoto.  It is also one of the older parts of the city and is basically untouched from days of yore.  We wandered down several alleys, which were stacked with mysterious looking bars that were clearly not for gaijin.  Behind them were probably the fabled geishas but the only ones visible to us were tourists playing dress up.

Knowing we had an action-packed day planned for tomorrow, we opted to go home and check out Gion in more detail later.

After a morning of some much needed rest, it was tempura time.  Kyoto likes to claim that it is the creator of tempura and while I’m not sure about that, it’s clear that they take tempura very seriously.  It’s also way more expensive than what one gets normally gets in the States.  With that in mind, I decided the best way to enjoy a tempura feast on a semi-reasonable budget was to opt for the lunch version.

Chris had already secured us 2 passes for the Imperial Palace later that day so I picked a restaurant within walking distance, which has had great reviews.  Tucked on a quiet side street, the chef Tempura Yoshikawa has been perfecting his take on tempura for decades.  There was counter seating surrounding the chef, and we lucked out getting the last two seats.

The menu was omikase style, with 10 total items chosen by the chef.  Not surprisingly, we started off with the classic shrimp tempura, which was light and delicious.  Our server suggested we use the dipping sauce and while I normally I turn that down, I figured this was the best chance to have a really good one.  It that was a good choice as it added a nice other dimension to the already delicious tempura.

Other items included zucchini blossoms:

White fish, which came with a really good smoked salt.

But the final 2 were by far my favorite.  A large, meaty chunk of shiittake musroom and a stunning white mushroom.  Delicious.

And yes, there was another case of Steve trying to fit into a Japanese sized thing – this time their bathroom.

After indulging in all of that tempura goodness, we made the hike up to the Imperial Palace.  The grounds to the palace included a massive park which was filled with cherry trees in full bloom.  The sunny and slightly warmer weather made the somewhat long walk to the entrance enjoyable.

This soon turned to something less than that as we were shown into a large orientation room filled with tourists of all nationalities.  Yes, I was about to do my least favorite thing while on vacation – a guided tour.  Since Chris had been nice enough to get the tickets plus he had endured my tempura obsession, I gritted my teeth and rolled with the tour.

Again, the almost perfect weather helped and at least some of the tour was fairly interesting.  I found the portion in front of where the Emperor would receive visitors particularly enlightening.  Still, after an hour of slowly trudging from spot to spot, avoiding the mass of people trying to take photos of pretty much everything. I was done.  Fortunately, Chris was as well.

We headed back to our machiya for a quick nap and prepared for the night fun ahead.

After a bit of rest, we decided to try a restaurant close to our machiya.  After about a 5 minute walk we stopped in front of a small place that at least from the outside looked inviting.  It was another teppanyaki but a bit larger than where we had lunch.  A boisterous group of Japanese tourist were on the far end and we took the 2 seats closest to the flattop grill.  There was the chef and what I assumed was wife, both of whom bowed when we sat down.  The menu was small but looked quite good.  We decided to share a few things starting with grilled shrimp and onions, and scallops with butter and enoki mushrooms.

The shrimp were perfectly cooked and the fresh scallions on top gave them a nice crunch.

The scallops were large and plump, but the real star were the enoki mushrooms, which were tender and bursting with earthy flavor.  Not bad for a combined $13.00!

We also decided to try the Ji-dori Korean chicken.  I was drawn to that as there is a California brand of chicken called Jidori and the taste was actually quite similar.  Grilled to perfection, topped with scallions and a hint of citrus from the squeezed lemon, it was delicious.

As we ate, an older couple came in who turned out to be from Philadelphia .  They ordered the specialty of the house – okonomiyaki – which is a savory pancake made with all kinds of goodness.  They said this was their favorite place to go when visiting and suggested we try that dish next time.  Done and done.  After Chris finished his locally sourced sake and I with my Asahi draft beer, we made the blessedly short trip to our home and rested up for a big day tomorrow.

After our walk around Osaka Castle, it was time for lunch.  Someone had suggested a spot on the main drag where we had come from so we headed that way.  Alas, when we got to what we assumed was the restaurant it was closed.  I wanted to try something besides ramen but most other places were also shuttered.  After about 20 minutes of aimless wandering, I was ready to try the first place we saw that was open.  Off one of the alleys, I saw a small teppanyaki that looked nice if a bit challenging to enter.

The restaurant was about the size of our Osaka hotel room, which itself wasn’t exactly large.  There was seating for 6 people and the chef bowed to us as we sat down.  The specials for the day were pork and ginger, or chicken.  I opted for the pork and Chris got the chicken. The chef took out a carefully measured amount of sliced pork and chicken along with some vegetables.  A few minutes later we had our lunch – delicious.

We looped back to the hotel to get our bags and took a cab to Osaka Station.  One of the more annoying things about my flight mishaps was that I missed my decompression day so I wasn’t thrilled about traveling again so soon. Fortunately, via shinkassen, Kyoto was only 15 minutes away from Osaka Station.  So, about 30 minutes later, we were already in another taxi en route to our place in Kyoto.

Once we got into Kyoto proper, it was readily apparent how different it was than Osaka.  The gleaming skyscrapers of Osaka were replaced with tranquil old homes along a riverbank and cobblestone streets.  We were staying in a traditional Japanese townhouse known as a machiya, with some modern touches.  I had found it on Airbnb, where it had excellent reviews.  It would be nice to get out of a hotel setting, especially in such an old city as Kyoto.

Our host had wisely given us directions to the machiya in Japanese as the location was a bit tricky to find.  The exact address wasn’t readily clear but a very nice neighbor decided to help us find it.  After about 15 minutes of false starts, I recognized a banner in front and knew we had found it.  Following instructions to remove our shoes, we went up to the small steps into the living room.  There was a futon couch in front of a flatscreen TV and a small dining room/kitchen – very nice and homey.  Around the corner was a steep staircase which led up to the bedrooms.  The low height combined with my heavy suitcase proved to be quite a challenge to navigate.  The master bedroom had a low double bed and there was a pull out bed in the adjoining room.

It was then that I realized a particular quirk of the home – the bathroom and the shower were on the completely opposite end.  Not only that but it was also in an area with no heat whatsoever.  Thankfully, the water for the shower (no curtain of course) was hot so at the very least I wouldn’t freeze to death trying to take a shower.

After getting situated, we decided to explore our new ‘hood a bit.  We were right next door to one of the shinto shrines so Chris walked up to the top (I was still not quite up to that yet) to snap some photos.

We saw that we were fairly close to the Heian Shrine so we made the short walk to the grounds, passing by several museums and historical centers.  The street was filled with tourists taking pictures, including some in traditional Japanese garb which helped with the illusion of stepping back in time.

The light wasn’t that great for pictures and it was getting colder so we ventured back to our machiya for some rest.

LAX-NRT – Redux

Back at LAX for what I hoped would be the last time until my return. I once again took my seat on the Dreamliner. Take off was again smooth and quiet but all of us anxiously waited for the familiar sound of the landing gear retracting. When we finally heard that, people started applauding, knowing that there would be no more circling around Catalina Island.

The flight was relatively smooth except for the decent into a rainstorm at the airport. By the point, I just wanted to get the eff of the plane so it didn’t really phase me that much. Despite it being a large international long haul plane, the exit was at the far front, causing a major traffic jam for people trying to deboard. I was able to push my way through and made a bee line for customs. I picked up the pace even more when I was another large mass moving toward the customs area and secured my place in line before it started really getting bad.

A short 30 mins later I headed to the JR East Center to get my 7 day Japan Rail Green pass. The line was slow-moving due to a lot of people asking questions but I had come prepared with my exact route I wanted and was out of there fairly quickly. I had yet to get any yen but had read there was a Citibank ATM I could use, but of course it was broken. I decided I would just deal with it when I got to Osaka and made my way to the Narita Express to get to Shinagawa Station, which a local had told me was the best route to get the bullet train to Osaka as you don’t have to go downstairs.

I went to my assigned car and waited in line for cleaning crew to finish. The first thing I noticed that almost made me cry was the sheer amount of leg room the green car had. Best decision ever getting the green pass. The car was also almost completely empty whereas as the regular cars were jammed. The winds that had made my landing a bit more memorable than it should have also played havoc with the train. There was a notice that one line was stalled due to wind but thankfully my train was just a bit more bumpy.

I transferred at Shinagawa to the Shinkasen bullet train, once again a green car and once again fairly empty. Surprisingly though, there was actually a bit less leg room than the Narita Express due to a foot rest. The seat reclined so that made it there still be a fair amount of room. As the bullet train reached its top speed of 100 kilometers, it didn’t seem to be the smooth ride I was hoping to experience. The fast speed made any gradations on the tracks way more pronounced and when a fellow train zoomed by, the whole car jolted to one side. The combination of these things made my much needed nap short lived.

With 90 minutes to go to Osaka still, I had reached my usual long travel breaking point of 15 hours. This was exacerbated by the fact that I didn’t have water or any kind of liquid as I had no yen yet. I tried as much as possible to push that out of my mind and reach a zen like state. I zoned in on the sing songy voice of the women pushing the carts of food and drink I couldn’t partake in yet as well as the whooshing sounds of the passing bullet trains. Soon, I was finally at Osaka Station and pushed my way through the throngs of people to grab a taxi.

I had read in advance that not many cab drivers spoke or even understood a lick of English. What I didn’t realize was how difficult even trying to give a specific address would be. I had written it down for him and the driver kept staring at the address over and over again. I was well past my breaking point but was stuck with this taxi so all I could do was wait for him to finally know where to go.

Chris had mentioned in his blog that Osaka is a huge city and he wasn’t kidding. We crossed the river into what seemed to be their equivalent of 5^thAvenue – with a Maclaren dealership no less and finally made it to the hotel. I had now been up for almost 21 hours and I was falling apart rapidly. Chris had gotten us a reservation at a place that served Kobe beef but I was so fried by that point, it simply wasn’t in the cards for me. Luckily, he told me about a decent ramen place across from our hotel – part of a popular chain called Ippudo where you could get a big bowl of ramen for $8.00. That proved to a godsend and soon after I was drifting off to sleep in a bed that didn’t exactly fit but would do just fine for now.