After a full morning including the nasal reduction, I headed to Sasebo station, destination Osaka! I wanted to check Osaka out since I had only been twice for brief visits. Once with my mom at the castle during Sakura and once with SMS when we had to pick up his tripod from lost & found and we hit up the Umeda Skytree building.
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| My capsule! Well, until I came back later that night and found a Japanese woman in it. She had mistaken the numbering system but no big deal, I just took the top bunk. |
I love Osaka! It was such a vibrant city! I stayed in a capsule hotel, which was pretty awesome. I had wanted to do that for awhile so it was cool to actually do! It wasn't as claustrophobic as described- I've had less room on a ship! I think there may be smaller capsules at different hotels but I was really happy with this place. It was really clean and the bed was pretty comfortable. Like a lot of lower cost Japanese hotels, the bathrooms were shared. I don't mind because there are plenty of facilities and very clean. Also, it helps that the toilets and sinks/vanities are separated so someone isn't hogging the mirror in a bathroom stall.
After checking in, I walked around downtown Osaka. The hotel was next to the Amerika area, which was very young and has an interesting view of what American fashion/culture is. Mainly, a lot of hip-hop and "urbanwear" with a healthy dose of cowboy boots (not to be worn at the same time).
I spent a lot of time in the area between Shinsaibashi and Namba stations. Shinsaibashi has a lot of high-end shops and is near another covered shopping street. The area also leads to Dotonburi, where there a ton of restaurants and shops. Here, plastic display food is taken to another level since it is enlarged and suspended in the air on the storefront sign. At night, the area is well-lit and has a frenetic energy. Unfortunately, that energy did not translate to the okonomiyaki restaurant I ended up choosing since it took forever to get my food. I was so hungry and there was so much waiting! It was delicious though. I had tried going to the okonomiyaki restaurant listed in "36 Hours in..." but the line was huge and consisted only of fellow tourists so I decided to pass.
Well, after a belly full of okonomiyaki, I decided to go to the spa! Spa World was a few subway stops away. There are two full-floor, multi-spa areas, one with an "Asian" theme and the other, "European." The floors are single-sex and switch every month. This month, women had access to the European floor. It was pretty awesome. There were many (9,11?) spas, most as big as small swimming pools. There's a lot of walking around naked since being naked is what one does at an onsen and because there were so many spas to choose from, there was a lot of tub-hopping. As wild and crazy as this potentially could be, it is very staid and everyone just wants to relax. Spas included a Trevi Fountain, outdoor "Spanish" waterfall, an Italian Blue Grotto, a Finnish sauna and a few other very hot water pools. I think my favorite was the salt sauna, where I sat in a sauna with a big pile of salt in the middle which is rubbed on the body (for circulation?). The weird thing was an older woman who was sitting on the floor playing in the salt as a child would in the sand. Or make that the snow since she also seemed to be making salt angels on the floor. Maybe she was overheated.
After the spa, I went back to the hotel and slept. The next morning, I woke up early to take the local JR train to Kyoto to buy SMS some of his favorite dried fruit at Nigishi market. It took a little while and I hopped on the 10 o'clock Shin right on time in order to be back in the Yoko-Yoko area by noon when I was set to take over call. The call weekend was quiet (yay!) and the next week, I was back to work. Until the next vacation... [Although in fairness to me, the past week actually was a work trip and I saw >45 patients. I just managed to squeeze in a lot of side trips!]
After checking in, I walked around downtown Osaka. The hotel was next to the Amerika area, which was very young and has an interesting view of what American fashion/culture is. Mainly, a lot of hip-hop and "urbanwear" with a healthy dose of cowboy boots (not to be worn at the same time).
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| Oh little guy, you were almost worth waiting for! |
Well, after a belly full of okonomiyaki, I decided to go to the spa! Spa World was a few subway stops away. There are two full-floor, multi-spa areas, one with an "Asian" theme and the other, "European." The floors are single-sex and switch every month. This month, women had access to the European floor. It was pretty awesome. There were many (9,11?) spas, most as big as small swimming pools. There's a lot of walking around naked since being naked is what one does at an onsen and because there were so many spas to choose from, there was a lot of tub-hopping. As wild and crazy as this potentially could be, it is very staid and everyone just wants to relax. Spas included a Trevi Fountain, outdoor "Spanish" waterfall, an Italian Blue Grotto, a Finnish sauna and a few other very hot water pools. I think my favorite was the salt sauna, where I sat in a sauna with a big pile of salt in the middle which is rubbed on the body (for circulation?). The weird thing was an older woman who was sitting on the floor playing in the salt as a child would in the sand. Or make that the snow since she also seemed to be making salt angels on the floor. Maybe she was overheated.
After the spa, I went back to the hotel and slept. The next morning, I woke up early to take the local JR train to Kyoto to buy SMS some of his favorite dried fruit at Nigishi market. It took a little while and I hopped on the 10 o'clock Shin right on time in order to be back in the Yoko-Yoko area by noon when I was set to take over call. The call weekend was quiet (yay!) and the next week, I was back to work. Until the next vacation... [Although in fairness to me, the past week actually was a work trip and I saw >45 patients. I just managed to squeeze in a lot of side trips!]
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