Osaka

Hi everyone,
I don't know exactly what we were expecting in Osaka, but we didn't get it. If concrete was soothing, and grey was beautiful, then Osaka would be paradise. Unfortunately, I don't really care for grey or concrete. In other words, the city was rather dreary. The one highlight was "Liberty Osaka" which is a human rights museum. We learned about Japanese minorities and their struggles, as well as their current situations. We were both very glad that we went.

The accomodations were alright, if somewhat small (the picture is no trick). Also, no one speaks any English where we are staying because there is a South American architecture convention in town. We are not staying in a particularly nice part of the city, but then again, we have yet to see a particularly nice part of the city.

We also managed to book our flight to Beijing, which involved dealing with a local travel agency (No. 1 Travel). They were relatively helpful, though we did have to find them, which was difficult without proper directions. However, we believe we got a decent rate.

Food note: I ate shrimp twice, one time it was very good, the other it was simpy edible.

We have booked one night at a hostel in Beijing tomorrow night; we will basically be traveling all day tomorrow, and will get to experience our first city in China in two days!

A few more random thoughts on Japan:

-heated toilet seats = really cool
-courtesy and respect = ditto
-not having to count your change = really nice
-culture and history = actually ancient, not just old
-spending lots of money = not so good
-amount of people who speak English well = not many
-amount of English menus found = many
-Japanese women = stylish and pretty
-pointing and gesturing = invaluable
-running out of things to list =