GW Day 5: Slow Start to a Chill Week

10:34 - I've been in Osaka for the past 3.5 hours just hanging out in the lobby of Hotel Green Plaza Osaka where I will be staying. It has a very classy and dignified air to it and it wasn't half as hard to find as the terrible directions I found made it out to be (super close to multiple train lines). Again I couldn't check in until 15:00 so I went out and got myself some breakfast (from your friendly neighborhood Family Mart コンビニ) in the hopes of finding a nice quiet place outside to sit and eat but the nearest park is miles away. It's too bad, I could use some sun to wake me up. I think I deserve a nap because I already did a quick turn of the area so that's first on my to-do list. As far as plans for the next few days are concerned, well I'm up for just going with the flow. Between two fabulous and fun cities, three days and no curfews or schedules to uphold, I think I can do plenty of things in this laid back fashion.

I was pondering going to Kyoto today after my much needed nap to hit Japan Bucket List #17 - Visit Fushimi Inari Torii in Kyoto and some interesting shops in the area. I might even end my day with a movie at Toho Theater (Iron Man 3 anyone?) or go to the Umeda Sky Building also found here in Osaka which has a perfect view of the whole city. Either way my only real concrete plan for the whole trip is to relax and enjoy myself here because this part of GW feels like it will shape up to be a pretty peaceful one.

15:45 - ROOM ACTION!!!

Smaller than what I had in Seoul but no less useful for a place to lay my head down. :]

19:10 - Sleeping Beauty has arisen and is on the move for the Fushimi Inari Taisha! I was a little worried trying to figure out how to get to the second part of my route which  takes me directly into Kyoto because nothing I was reading while speed walking through Osaka Station was matching up. So, remembering the advice our amazing program coordinators told us about getting lost, I found a ticket gate attendant and said 「すみません、稲荷に行きたいけど、どこに行く？」"Excuse me, I want to go to Inari but where do I go?"

He pointed it out on the fare map, told me how much it costs, that the gate we were at would get me there and then reminded me to transfer to the Nara Line at Kyoto Station. This entire exchange occurred in Japanese, if you couldn't tell, unlike my inability to ask the concierge at my hotel if I have to leave my room key with them (which is a thing so people don't lose keys; I was worried about missing the train and couldn't process the Japanese). Kudos to me for some success. So far so good!

I won't be entering the shrine itself but I just wanted to run through the torii gates [鳥居｜とりい] like young Chio did in Memoirs of a Geisha. Then I'll visit a shop or two and head back to Osaka. Thankfully, the hotel had some very useful guides for touring both Kyoto and Osaka, so looking up maps on Google has been rendered an inconsequential habit. The trains are basically running behind schedule so here's hoping I'm not out in the dark too long. Cell phone flashlight, do you duty!

20:26 - Oh my goodness that was a freaking blast! Turns out the gates were inside the shrine so I had to go through it to get to them. Okay it's nighttime as you can tell but just being there in the presence of the gates, it just felt like such a powerful moment. I chickened out by the second division of gates because why would I be dumb enough to go any farther alone in the dark?

 



I mean those dog sentinels are a tad foreboding but I doubt they'd protect me. I definitely will return here during my down time on Friday after I check out (the bus doesn't leave until 22:00). I've made it a habit whenever I visit shrines and temples and major landmarks to buy various kinds of good luck charms or key chains to remember these places by. Looking at my travel backpack (which I acquired three years ago in Japan) you will see just how many places I've been here. I'm so pumped right now it's not even funny and all I did was look at a ton of beautiful gates. Oh well, I can check another goal off my bucket list - #17 Visit Fushimi Inari Torii in Kyoto.

Speaking of my list, I have a few amendments to make in regards to #18 and #25. I don't want to do #18 anymore and as for #25, unless I wind up in the hospital (knock on wood I don't) I don't believe I'll be able to find out my blood type.

Now that I am especially awake I will most certainly go catch a movie - that is if I make it back in time, lol. I'm also happy to briefly report that transportation remains to be simple, in that, I don't need to get any other cards or constantly buy tickets because my trusty Suica card works everywhere (thus far).

Also, an interesting thing happened as I was leaving the shrine. I was skipping merrily down the stairs and was passing by an older man who, as I stopped skipping and walked by him, stood up straight and at attention and closed his eyes. He stayed that way until I was well beyond him and then proceeded up the steps to the gates. At first I didn't know what to think, the little bit of people that were there stopped to pray all over the place so maybe that's what he was doing but I'm not sure, lol. So funny.

0:16 - Okay so no movie. Apparently there were only two show times and I completely missed them both. Oh well, tomorrow or Friday is another day. I'm going to enjoy the rest of my Subway sandwich (I'm being very bad not eating Japanese food but tomorrow has a special dish in store for me) and catch up on my shows! Until then, じゃまた！