Oh Osaka, I didn’t expect to love you so

Food in Osaka deserves its own special post; so first let’s talk about non food related items.

First up, a curved escalator

Then rhinestone covered Mercedes

Then the best Don Quixote ever. Not sure if I’ve expressed my love for Don Quixote yet so nows as good a time as ever. I love this chain of stores! It’s like the dollar store and Big Lots and a food store and clothes store and electric store and home goods store and costume store all in one. Usually on six or seven floors. This one has its own Ferris wheel!!!

I did not expect to fall in love with Osaka. In fact I thought I wouldn’t like it. All the guidebook pics make it look like an armpit. I’m here to say Osaka is like my soul animal. Here are the signs:

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OH YES WE DID!

Oh yes we did drive go-carts through Tokyo for 3 hours at night dressed like Mario Brothers without helmets or seatbelts. It was both crazy and crazy fun at the same time. I think we topped 70km/hr which Eric says is about 43mph. I’m sure it was perfectly safe. We drove across rainbow bridge too This is where I ogled the Valentino store in Ginza: And Rainbow Bridge in the background that we drove over... twice:

First Day in Tokyo

Breakfast: makerel, rice, corn soup and corn iced tea which tasted like popcorn and cornflakes. It felt like home on the ride from the airport because we saw kudzu everywhere. Went to a very fun Virtual Reality megaplex in Shinjuku. I beat Eric at Mario Kart and skied down some slopes. Eric rode a flying wooden bicycle and shot some bad guys: Then we went to a Sega arcade where I was super excited to play the game I had been waiting to play - the drum game!!! Lots of claw machines You can even claw for Red Bull Then we visited our first Shinto shrine, the Meiji Shrine. I was geeked out because I’ve been reading a book about Japanese religions to help me sleep at night. We saw a wedding and made a wish at the shrine, which involves lots of bowing and clapping. There is a place to park your car and get it blessed. A Ferrari was awaiting its blessing. Anyway, this is a bad pic of the temple but that’s our super nice guide ...

Kyoto is Crowded

Let’s start with dinner last night in Kanazawa. We hit the Taito arcade afterwards and played some more drum game! They didn’t have Flip the table game. We played a new game that resembles my favorite coin game at Dave and Busters where you have to knock the coins off the ledge. Only with this game, you had to knock candy off the ledge and after about $10 we scored this booty: Eric claims the ones above were gum but I thought they were marshmallows so I swallowed them. At noon we arrived in Kyoto and munched on squid, scallops, crab and chestnut mochi at Nishiki Market. Even though we have been to about 4 markets already, this one was still different and fascinating. Lots of “no photo” signs though. Then we went to Tofuku-ji Buddhist temple Then the famous Fushimi Inari Shrine with the famous orange gates you see in every pic of Kyoto. What you don’t see in every pic is the massive crowd there. And of course everyone is trying to take a p...

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