The first thing we did this morning was check the weather. 6am, 28 degrees and 85% humidity.
Yep, walking through the fish market is going to be something!
I have to show you the electric kettle in our room. I mean, you're singing it right?
"I'm a little teapot..."
It's so cute!
Also, up till now the blinds have been closed. We opened them this morning to check out what kind of view we had. Think we'll be leaving those closed!
By the time we came back inside from the balcony, we were drenched in sweat. How will we survive this trip!
We ventured to Dotonbori. Oh, I should explain, even though we hardly got any sleep, we were still up by 5am this morning. We left our apartment before 8am. It's a Saturday and while there were people around, there are always people around, the shops don't open till 10am. In the past, we would have just walked around, had a coffee etc etc, but this time, it was just so hot.
Took a few snaps around Dotonbori.
Look at all the bikes!
Even this stairway has a side bit that you can walk your bike up.
The picture even gives instructions on how to do it.
They cater for all sorts here.
We weren't going to have a McDonalds breakfast but we both wanted eggs and we were too early for the cafe's so we went here.
I promise you, this time we will eat more Japanese food. Incidentally, it was the best egg McMuffin I ever had!
And check out this sign on your average walk way. Yes Deno, watch your head!
We left our apartment again around 11 and headed back to Ebisubashisuji. We figured we'd just hang about and shop with the locals today.
Look what we found just near our apartment!
Unfortunately we can't go in because Deno tells me he's allergic. I'm just not sure it's if it's a physical allergy.
And seriously, I LOVE this store in Japan. Way more than there is in Adelaide!
Just about every restaurant has an artificial replica of the items on their menu in their windows.
Some of them look pretty good! And it really does give you a good idea of what you're getting.
I assured Deno it was just a 4.2 kilometre walk to Umeda, in particular, the Hep 5 building (the one with the big Ferris Wheel).
He thought it was a lot longer and seriously, in the heat, it really really felt longer.
But so good to be there and I'm really gaining confidence in with my Japanese.
We had to buy sunscreen and I asked for it in Japanese.
Deno was also looking at one of those iced coffee cans and I asked the attendant in Japanese, if the can had sugar in it. I'm sure Deno doesn't believe me when I say I've had these conversations. In fairness, I do seem to have the best conversations when he's not around. It's only day 2 so I'm sure by the end I'll be really confident.
Next we went to the Hankyu building. Don't judge us, we're really just trying to stay cool.
The amount of people in their food area was just unbelievable!! and it's just a regular Saturday. Nothing special. It's just the way it is.
I took some pictures to share with you... and a video if it works!
Here's a short video clip of the food area
Crazy! The video really doesn't do it justice.
And some pics of the food we saw in this area.
Strawberry and Kiwi fruit sandwiches anyone?
What even is this!!!!!!!
Pretty desserts.
Just another bike park.
I think I'll pass on the tea but thanks for the offer.
Later on in the day we walked to another mall. It had cooled down so although still very hot, didn't seem impossible.
We stopped to pick up some groceries for our room and again marveled that this food, meat, fish and eggs, can be left out on the bench for god knows how long! How do people not get sick?
Having said that, we have bought this sort of food in the past, eaten it and it was delicious. We didn't even get sick.
Anyone for some fish? Barely have to heat it as it's sitting at room temperature already.
This FOUR litre bottle of whisky is 2800 yen which would convert to less than $30AUD with today's conversion.
Amazing isn't it.
Oh, and we never made it to the fish market which is good news for everyone really.
We ate Japanese food tonight. It was pretty good! No fish. Mine had a strange meat in it somewhere but I powered through.
And we got caught up in the crowd leaving the Baseball field. You may see some of them in this pic but the crowd had thinned quite a bit by the time I took the picture.
Sorry I know it's long but tonight I'll leave you with this thought. 時々、私の好きな日本語の言葉は「時々」です。
Tokidoki, watashi no sukina nihongo no kotoba wa `tokidoki'desu.
OYASUMINASAI
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