Day 18 - Back to Kyoto

We woke up to a very cold and rainy morning, so we started the day slowly and enjoyed breakfast at Inase, before attending a tea ceremony offered by the owner. We had also signed up for some calligraphy practice, where we would learn to write our names in kanji using a calligraphy paintbrush in the ancient Japanese method. Mai-san led our calligraphy session, and offered a sample for Lauren and I to copy. My kanji name was translated as "polite samurai", and I had a lot of fun trying to draw it 6 times. At the end Mai allowed us to keep our favorite, which was a nice surprise.

During our lunch a couple of days prior, Lauren and I both fell in love with the beautiful coasters at Matsukiya Honten, which were made of Japanese obi fabric. Keiko had helped us identify the shop the previous day from some pictures we took, and gave us the address, which was in Kyoto. We already wanted to head back to Okariba for a meal, and since Kyoto is only a short 15 minute train ride from Otsu, we decided to head that way after lunch, hoping the rain would lessen.

We arrived in Kyoto around 1PM, and immediately made our way via train towards Saga-arashiyama station. We hopped off several stops earlier, and walked for about ten minutes into what appeared to be a residential area before we found the coaster shop, Kikyo-ya. We walked inside and were greeted by a very shy and polite young lady, and pointed towards the wall where there were several shelves holding coasters. Lauren and I proceeded to rummage through the coasters for a solid fifteen minutes, ultimately selecting 24 of them, 8 for ourselves, and the rest as souvenirs for friends and family. Lauren also picked up a beautiful table runner for us, which we couldn't leave behind.

Satisfied, and with significantly lighter wallets, we left the shop and made our way to Gion via train and taxi. Lauren wanted to see if she could find a green tea latte powder that was highly recommended on YouTube, so we walked down the road with our umbrellas, dodging rain and other pedestrians as we sought the store. After a half hour of walking, we found the shop in question and once again navigated around mobs of other tourists before finding what we were looking for. Lauren picked up a couple of boxes, and we left as soon as we could, wanting to escape the crowds of Gion. We decided to head towards Okariba, as we had noticed a shop in that area the prior week called the Kyoto Handicraft Center, but could only browse for a couple of minutes before they closed. Lauren and I wanted to go back, as it would kill some time before dinner, and allow us to finish our souvenir shopping. 

After a bus ride and a short walk, we found ourselves entering the Kyoto Handicraft Center around 4PM. Lauren and I both walked around, browsing on our own for a while. Lauren found some earrings in silver that she loved, while I found a miniature replica of famed samurai Date Masamune's kabuto (helmet). 

After picking up our souvenirs and browsing for a while longer, we walked to Okariba, where we would enjoy a wonderful meal with Aoki-san and meet some travelers from Vancouver, BC and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 

After wrapping up our dinner, we caught an evening train back to Otsu, and walked back to Inase to pack our bags and prepare to head for Kagaonsen the next morning.

Day 17 - Exploring Shiga's Lake Biwa & Rice Terraces

We woke up on Tuesday morning excited to do our first guided tour of the trip, a very special experience in nearby Omi-Takashima where we would cycle around lake Biwa before visiting the nearby rice fields and eating lunch with a local family. The morning dawned cool and windy, so we bundled up in our warmest clothes and ate a quick breakfast at Inase before heading to the train station to catch a short 30 minute ride north to Omi-Takashima where we would meet our guide Keiko-san.

Lauren and I, saddled up on our bikes.

Upon arrival, Keiko-san and her partner Hiromi-san were waiting at the train station with bicycles and helmets ready to go, in addition to the very thoughtful addition of gloves and chemical hot packs for the cold weather. Lauren gladly accepted both, while I availed myself of some gloves before getting our bikes adjusted. I was given the largest size bike possible, but it was still much too short, so it was a little bit like an adult riding a child's bicycle, though Lauren's fit her fairly well. Keiko-san led us away from the train station towards the nearby lakeshore, where we stopped at a small shrine to see the remains of a giant oak tree before continuing our ride a couple of kilometers down the lake to Shirahige-jinja shrine, which is famous for a large Torii gate in the water, as well as the shrine itself which overlooks the lakeshore. We sat on the steps down to the water for a few minutes, relaxing and enjoying the view before crossing a relatively busy highway to get to the shrine.

Keiko-san gave us a walking tour of the shrine and instructed us in how to properly approach the shrines themselves, while Hiromi-san took a few photos before we stopped and offered us some hot tea and rice snacks. From Shirahige-jinja, we rode back the way we had came, though instead of following the lake shore, we rode up the hill slightly to visit an ancient gravesite with incredibly old Bhudda carvings.

From the gravesite, we veered further in land across a pond covered in wood walkways and near many beautiful sakura trees before stopping at the ruins of an old castle, which at this point was just a pile of large stones. We took a couple of photos here, and then rode back to town to tour a sake distillery that has been open for more than 200 years where Lauren and I got to taste about 7 different sake offerings, all with their own unique taste.

The sake we purchased

Lauren really enjoyed their best sake, a Junmai Daiginjo, so we purchased a bottle to take back with us before moving on. We were now quickly approaching late morning, so we headed back to the train station to catch a bus into the countryside, where we would be visiting the rice terraces and eating lunch with a local family. Our bus left just after noon, and took about 30 minutes to get us into a rather remote area of the mountains that was covered in tiered rice fields, beautiful traditional Japanese homes, and massive cedar trees.

Lauren and I on the way out of the Hayashi's home.

We walked about 5 minutes up the hill until we reached the home where we would be hosted by the Hayashi family. Mr and Mrs. Hayashi are a retired couple in their 80's who live in a gorgeous home in the Shiga countryside with its own rice fields. Mrs. Hayashi greeted us at their door and welcomed us in, immediately seating us at a table and offering some hot green tea. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Hayashi greeted us and we were led back to the kitchen, where we would help prepare our own lunch. With Keiko-san and Lauren interpreting for me, I was instructed in grinding some sesame seeds for our spinach salad before Mrs. Hayashi took me under her wing and tasked me with being her assistant as we made vegetable tempura.

Lauren and I with Mr. and Mrs. Hayashi

Making tempura consists of dredging the vegetables in a batter made of water and tempura flour (flour with baking soda), before gently placing them into hot canola oil using chopsticks. I was given my own pair of chopsticks and from what I could interpret, asked to flip the vegetables as required and remove them when cooked. The process of making the tempura took about 10 minutes, as we cooked up a whole variety of vegetables including Japanese Yam, carrot and onion, butterbur, and some other leafy greens. Once the Tempura was finished, we were invited to the kitchen table where Mrs. Hayashi was preparing a shabu shabu pot, which is basically a water infused with konbu seaweed that is used to boil and cook vegetables and meat or tofu. These cooked items are then placed into dipping sauces (usually ponzu and green onion) before being eaten.

Our shabu shabu was tofu, leeks, enoki mushrooms and shimeji mushrooms with a ponzu and green onion dipping sauce. This was all accompanied by our previously prepared spinach salad and tempura, some pickles, and rice that the Hayashi family grows on their own land.

The Hayashi family's marriage kimono.

A decoration in the Hayashi's home.

Mr. Hayashi is particularly proud (rightfully so) of his beautiful garden.

After an hour of stuffing our faces and enjoying some lovely conversation about the differences between our cultures, the Hayashi's offered a tour of their home, and kindly showed us their family heirloom kimonos, photos and the beautiful tatami rooms that make up their home. We finished up with another cup of green tea, before being walked through their beautiful traditional Japanese garden up to their rice fields, where Mr. Hayashi explained how the flood the field using a small stream that is diverted using wood blocks.

The rice terraces were very beautiful

These cedar trees are easily 3+ meters in circumference. Massive!

After the tour, we bid our generous hosts goodbye, and walked up the hill a little further with Keiko-san to explore some larger rice terraces and visit a nearby shrine with ancient cedar trees that are nearly the size of the California redwoods. Lauren and I took some photos here, and we all walked back down the hill to catch a cab back to Omi-takashima station, where we caught our train home for a quiet evening.

Day 16 - Hikone Castle and Yaotora, An Amazing Izakaya

Our start on Monday morning was fairly relaxed, as Inase serves breakfast at 8AM each day. Lauren got the Japanese style breakfast, which consists of a salmon steak, rice, miso soup, a small salad and a bowl of rice. My western breakfast was a thick slice of Japanese toast, yogurt, a small salad, and some scrambled eggs.

We hit the road and walked about 15 minutes to Otsu station, where we caught a local train to Hikone, a small town about 45 minutes away that is on the shores of Lake Biwa, just like Otsu. Lake Biwa is the largest lake in Japan, and is large even by international standards, measuring some 670 square kilometers.

We arrived in Hikone around 10AM, and though the day was sunny it was still quite cool, leaving Lauren in regret that she didn't bring her jacket. We both wandered through the town until we reached Hikone Castle, a small feudal Japanese castle that has survived from its original construction in the 1600's. The castle itself is rather small, but due to its unique architecture, and intact state is considered a national treasure in Japan.

Lauren and I paid the admittance fee of 1800 yen to access the Castle, Museum and Gardens, and began to explore. The walk up the hill towards the castle is very interesting, as you must pass the original moats, curtain wall and fortifications before you reach the gate. The grounds themselves were picturesque, with many sakura trees, moss covered rocks on the walls and a wooden bridge that leads into the castle's yard.

We walked inside and traversed two very steep staircases before we reached the top floor, with beautiful views of Hikone, Lake Biwa and the surrounding area. After taking some photos, we made our way back down to the ground floor, and walked the grounds of the castle to reach the gardens, which are extensive and contain many water features. The center of the garden contains an old teahouse which can be reached by crossing a wood bridge, while the periphery is surrounded by the moat and has beautiful old trees and shrubs.

After completing our tour of the gardens, we walked out of the castle grounds to a nearby street food vendor area, where we each got a skewer of meat to tide us over while we hunted for lunch. A search on Google found us a local ramen shop, which served a large variety of soups. Lauren opted for a curry miso ramen, while I got a Chashu ramen with a soy and dashi (fish stock) base. Lauren's was unfortunately much better than mine, but both were tasty and warmed us up.

After lunch, we ambled back to the train station to catch a one hour train back to Otsu, which got us home just before 4PM. Lauren and I relaxed for a while before deciding to heat out for dinner around 6:30. One of the other local restaurants on Lauren's list was an Izakaya (public house meets gastropub) called Yaotora. The restaurant was only about 700 meters from our accommodations, so we walked in that direction and soon found ourselves entering Yaotora. The restaurant is laid out like many traditional Japanese restaurants, and features raised seating areas surrounding the tables.

After taking off our shoes and sitting at a table, we found ourselves assailed by a very intimidating hand-written menu, entirely in Kanji. With no english menu in sight, I used Google translate to try to determine what was what, though often times this resulted in incomprehensible gibberish like "cut pork cutlet poon". Despite these struggles, we did manage to find their website and translate that - which gave us a much more legible menu. Lauren and I ordered some sweet and spicy chicken karaage, a pork katsu (breaded cutlet) and some sashimi. The food was delicious, and the presentation was superb for dishes that ranged from only 500 yen to 1200 yen.

Kai sashimi at Yaotora

Absolutely stuffed after an amazing meal that cost us only $45 US dollars including two drinks each, we ambled back to the hotel, another day complete.

Days 14 & 15 - From Kobe to Shiga: Kobe Beef Extravaganza!

On the morning of Day 14, Lauren and I traveled to Shin-Osaka station with Devin to bid him farewell and catch our train to Kobe. We said goodbye, and then caught the 10:30 train to Kobe - which is a slower local train that takes about 1 hour, but gives a nice opportunity to appreciate the scenery.

We pulled into Sannomiya station in Kobe around 11:30, which gave us just enough time to walk to Honten Kobe Steak Ishida  and arrive just before our reservations at 12PM, where Dan and Chelle would join us for lunch. We first met Dan and Chelle in Japan four years ago, in the spring of 2015, when they were living in Thailand as expats but joined our group that was touring Japan for a week with Carl Rosa. We immediately hit it off with them, and spent a lot of that week together. Upon their return to Houston, we struck up a friendship and have seen them regularly ever since.

Lauren and I, preparing to enjoy our Kobe beef at Ishida

The meal at Ishida was served in the Teppanyaki style, with the entire meal cooked at the table on a flat top grill by a chef from the restaurant. Dan and I had both ordered the 180g dinner set, while Lauren and Chelle had the 150g lunch set. Our chef prepared the meat for us in two batches, allowing us to enjoy the leaner and more fatty parts of the steak separately. The steak was accompanied by two types of salt (both sea and Himalayan pink salt), pepper, wasabi, garlic chips and soy sauce. The meal was accompanied by a salad, fried rice, pickles and some grilled sprouts. 

Our chef at Ishida working on the fried rice.

The meat here was extremely tender and flavorful, but incredibly rich. It's hard to describe how different Kobe beef is from what we are used to, other than to state that the moment it touches your tongue it begins to emulsify and coat your tastebuds in beef fat and intense umami. While it's pricey, I strongly recommend that anyone who enjoys beef give it a try at some point, it's a special experience.

This fish was in front of a strange museum/cafe we walked past in Kobe on the way to Chinatown.

After our delicious and rich lunch, all four of us headed to our accommodations at the Hotel Okura to check in and put our bags down, before heading out to explore the town a little bit. We joined Dan and Chelle to walk around Kobe's version of China Town, which is a lively area of street food and restaurants all serving Chinese mainstays like soup dumplings, peking duck, and steam buns. Dan and Chelle tried a peking duck wrap, while Lauren and I tried a fresh strawberry on top of a mochi dessert that was filled with chocolate.

The knife shop we visited had a massive selection

We wandered around a little more before eventually reaching a shotengai (covered shopping street) that was rather quiet, but still had some interesting shops. Lauren and I stopped to pick up a nice paring knife at a little shop, but otherwise didn't spend any money. The four of us all stopped to see a street performer who had a trained Japanese monkey, but all left after a little while as seeing the little guy with a leash around his neck was a bit depressing.

An interesting name for a bar!

In the mood to relax, the four of us soon found ourselves in a bar called Teddy Bear Dining Darts Bar, which we entered mostly out of curiosity. We found it to be a rather quiet little joint with electronic darts games, fairly priced drinks and a quiet table in the corner where we could talk.

While I neglected to mention it earlier, before we left the Hotel, Dan and I had managed to cajole the ladies into another beef meal for dinner and secure reservations, so we all had to head out around 6:30 to be able to make our 8PM dinner at Daiei, a family owned and much more informal Kobe beef hangout.

Getting to Daiei was an adventure, requiring us to take a train and then walk about 15 minutes down some very quiet side streets. Once we arrived, we found the restaurant hopping with people, extremely busy and with amazing food aromas wafting from the door. After a very short wait, we were seated at our table and given an english menu. Dan and I each ordered 300g of Wagyu, instead of Kobe, as it was only 4200yen per 150g, a very reasonable price. The ladies ordered a 150g portion of beef to share, some scallops and shrimp, and we also ordered two plates of fried rice, assuming they were a reasonable size. Although we should have stopped there, we also saw a very limited offering of Oxtail Curry, which we all wanted to taste, so ordered that as well. When our food began to arrive, the locals were all staring and our table became quite the spectacle, as the Japanese patrons could not believe how much food the fat Gaijin could put away.

Our massive spread at Daiei

All jokes aside, the meat was delicious and we all enjoyed it thoroughly, though the fried rice turned out to be far too large, leaving one bowl entirely untouched. Stuffed, and very "beefed out", we all retired to the hotel to relax and chat in our hotel room, before eventually saying goodnight.

We all met up the following morning for breakfast, and then we said goodbye to Dan and Chelle for the last time in Japan, knowing we would soon catch up in Houston.

Lauren and I were bound for Shiga, a prefecture that is known for its rice farms and Omi Beef (Omi is the old name of Shiga). Lauren gave me the task of navigating so I asked Google to route us to Shiga station. Once we arrived, we got off the train and asked a taxi driver for a ride to our lunch at Matsukiya Honten, a very special Omi beef meal that only served 20 people per day and Lauren reserved months in advance. The driver informed us that was almost an hour's drive away, and that we would be better off catching the train back in the direction we had come from to Otsu station (where we were supposed to go). This would mean we would arrive 30 minutes late for our lunch, something that is not acceptable in Japan.

I'm sure those reading this can imagine how much trouble I was in with my wife at this point, but suffice to say I was not in her good books. We immediately hopped on a train back in the direction we had come from, while I attempted to stand in the very small area between train cars and call our hotel in Otsu, Inase B&B to have them try to push our reservation back. Against all odds, the restaurant agreed to push us back to 1PM, and after a frantic train and taxi ride, we walked in only 1 minute late.

Our meal at Matsukiya was amazing, consisting of three appetizer courses, including an Omi beef roll, some Omi beef slices, and a form of Omi beef tartare. This was followed by an Omi Beef Chawanmushi, which is a savory egg custard that is baked with the meat inside, before we received our entree which was about 120g of Omi beef that we would cook ourselves on a tabletop hotplate.

Our first appetizer at Matsukiya

Our second appetizer, all three were delicious!

This is the chawanmushi, with pieces of meat in the egg custard.

My portion of Omi beef, before grilling

Lauren, looking beautiful and waiting for our meat to cook

The Omi beef itself was perhaps the biggest surprise so far in Japan, as it had an intense beef flavor and nuttiness that other Kobe and Wagyu steak didn't. Where Kobe beef has a hint of sweetness to the fat, Omi beef is all savory umami goodness. The bites of steak, accompanied by a salt foam (very interesting), soy and ponzu, miso wasabi and garlic chips were delicious, tender and bursting with delicate yet intense beef flavor. We wrapped up our meal with an included dessert, and headed off to check in to our accommodations at Inase B&B.

Inase B&B is a fully renovated and beautiful 80 year old traditional Japanese home located in Otsu, a town about 10 minutes from Kyoto by train. Checking in we were given our room key, and shown the common living area with a kotatsu (heated blanket under a table), before heading back to our room "Bansho", which is the nicest room in the hotel. Lauren had booked this room months in advance because it offered a private restroom and bathing room, in addition to a tatami living area and bedroom with futons on a raised wooden platform.

A quick photo I snapped during our walk to the nearby conbini

We put our things down, and spent the next couple of hours catching up on blog posts, unpacking and relaxing before heading out to get some essentials at the conbini nearby. For dinner, we both wanted to keep it light, so we walked about 20 minutes north to a restaurant that Lauren had on her list, only to find it closed. We decided to admit defeat, and grabbed prepared food at the Conbini which cost us only $10US for meals for the both us. We carried our food back to the hotel to heat up in the common area microwave, and ate it for dinner before retiring for the night to relax in our room and watch some TV together.

Day 13 - Hiroshima & Miyajima And Our Matsuzaka Beef Dinner!

As I mentioned in my previous post, we had to start our 13th day by saying goodbye to Neil, who was headed to Tokyo to spend some time with his friends Dave and Kevin before heading home. The rest of us (Dan, Chelle, Devin, Lauren and myself) were headed to Hiroshima and Miyajima Island, so we caught an 8:39AM Shinkansen to Hiroshima, which would take about 2 hours.

We arrived in Hiroshima and took a local subway train about 30 minutes away to the Miyajima ferry dock. We stood in line with a few hundred other tourists before boarding the ferry, with Dan, Devin and I rushing up to the top deck for some fresh air and sightseeing, while the ladies absconded to the lounge area so the wind wouldn't tussle their hair.

The view as the ferry was coming into Miyajima

The ferry ride to Miyajima only took about 10 minutes, and was free with our JR Rail Passes. We arrived and disembarked, following a lengthy dock and walkway before reaching the terminal. We were all rushing to get ahead of the crowds, but were quite hungry so we only made it about 100 meters before stopping to buy ice cream (don't judge us). We all enjoyed a cone, and continued walking along the shore, enjoying the sites of the island while also encountering many tame deer who would stop at nothing to get a snack, including maps,  paper wrappers and any food leavings they could reach. We all got a few photos with the deer, and proceeded on our walk until we reached the famed shrine on the island. Upon reaching the shrine and seeing the crowds, we chose to skip the shrine and proceed to the ropeway up Mt. Misen instead.

Lauren and I near the famed Torrii gate in the water near Miyajima

A shot of the 5 tier Pagoda on Miyajima just outside the shrine

The two way ticket for the ropeway was being sold by a friendly older gentleman in front of a gift shop, and cost 1800 Yen per person. We were warned that the total trip would take approximately 2 hours if we went all the way to the summit, so we all decided we would try our best to keep the experience brief so we could visit the peace dome in Hiroshima afterwards.

A beautiful stream on our way to the ropeway.

 The walk up to the ropeway was beautiful, and took about 10 minutes, though we extended this substantially by taking a plethora of photographs and some GoPro footage. We rode the ropeway up to the mid-point and walked up some stairs before boarding the second ropeway car which would carry us to the top of the mountain. We all got off, and found ourselves with a beautiful near 360 degree view of the island of Miyajima, and the city of Hiroshima in the distance across the water. While we were taking photos, an announcement played on a nearby bullhorn warning that the ropeway may be closed due to high winds, so we decided to turn around and head back to the base of the mountain.

A panorama from the top of Mt, Misen

Just as we reached the ropeway station, they announced that it had been closed due to high winds. We waited in line for about 30 minutes with no sign of relief, before deciding to brave the hike down the mountain, an apparent 60 minute trek with very steep stairs.

The rugged scenery as we hiked down the mountain

The hike down the mountain turned out to be beautiful, though we all worried that we would have sore legs the next day after all the drops and shocks as we hiked nearly 2.5km down the mountain and back to town.

Though the hike was a little imposing at times due to the steep steps and gravelly path, we all made it down in a fairly quick 35 minutes, and immediately accosted the nearby street food merchants for some skewers as we were famished. Dan and Chelle wanted to explore the nearby market, so we all took a walk and bought some more street food along the way, including some fish and onion cakes and Karaage (fried chicken) skewers.

At this point it was nearing 3PM, so the group rushed to the ferry terminal so we could get Dan a chance to see the Peace Dome (Atomic Bomb Dome) before we left Hiroshima. We had a hard time getting to the dome quickly and were very short on time, so Dan ended up jogging to and from the dome after snapping a few pictures, while we hailed some taxis to rush us back to Hiroshima station and catch a Shinkansen back to Osaka.

Our "DX Platter" of Matsuzaka beef. Delish!

That evening we all had dinner plans at 7:30PM, so it was important for us to catch our 5:22PM train back to Osaka, leave us time to reach the restaurant near Fukushima station. Our dinner was at a restaurant called Yakiniku M, which serves Matsuzaka beef and allows the customers to grill their own meat on a grill inlaid in the table. We enjoyed a delicious meal of barbecued beef, scrumptious bacon and garlic fried rice that everyone swiftly became addicted to. We ended up ordering 6 bowls as a group before the night was done. We paid our bill, and took a wacky souvenir picture with the friendly manager Kenji-san, before heading back our AirBnB to sleep for the last time in Osaka before parting ways with Devin the next morning and heading towards Kobe.

Lauren, Devin and I posing with Kenji-san, who kindly provided prop beer mugs

Day 12 - Shopping (and Nomming) in Osaka

Clearly Lauren was very excited we had almost reach our AirBnB

On day 12, Lauren, Devin, Neil and myself split from the rest of the group, who wanted to sleep in a little. We spent the first part of the morning taking a quick train ride over to Osaka from Kyoto, which only takes about 45 minutes. We all headed to our AirBnB, a nice house in a really cool bar and restaurant neighborhood of Osaka and got settled in before Lauren and I heading out to grab some ramen for lunch.

The sign outside Ramen Zundoya

Lauren had done a fair bit of research on the best ramen in Osaka and took me to a ramen bar called Zundoya, who are apparently famous for their tonkotsu ramen. We both ordered using the automated kiosk outside, with Lauren getting the standard Tonkotsu, while I got the Spicy Tonkotsu and an order of gyoza to share. The ramen came out about 5 minutes later and was piping hot as expected. Upon first tasting the broth, we were both impressed by the deep pork flavor, though found an unexpected nutty aftertaste that had a faint hint of scallops. The soup itself was very thick and milky, indicating a lot of emulsified fat, while the chashu was extremely tender and flavorful. Both bowls included standard hakata style noodles, a soft boiled egg, and the standard accompaniments of bamboo shoots, mushrooms and green onions.

We both enjoyed our meal, but left feeling rather heavy so we decided to go for a walk through Osaka's Ebisu-bashi Suji, a massive shopping complex that straddles the river and is adjacent to Dotonbori, Osaka's famed food district. We stopped at a famous cheesecake shop called Pablo, which Lauren had wanted to visit, where Lauren and I both got a cheesecake tart, and she also tried their cheesecake softserve, which was delicious.

The busy lights of the buildings near Ebisu-bashi Suji.

We wandered around looking at the shops for a few hours before becoming footsore and stopping at a McDonalds where we could sit and drink some iced tea. After we wrapped up our drinks, Neil and Devin were ready to meet up, so we walked around exploring the shops some more, stopping by a drug store for Lauren to get some contact solution (more on that later) and for Neil and Devin to buy some souvenir snacks. Around 5PM, Neil, Devin and I spit up with Lauren, who planned to have Kushikatsu at Ueshima with Dan and Chelle.

Our Kobe Beef burger

Devin and Neil posing on the cow chair outside the burger joint

We decided to explore the Dotonbori area on foot, and ended up accidentally walking through the red light district where we saw many love hotels and other interesting establishments. We ended up stopping at a little outdoor stand where they were serving Kobe Beef Burgers, and the three of us couldn't resist sharing one for the price of 1000 Yen. The burger was juicy and delicious, and we all felt like it was money well spent. We proceeded from there to walk back towards the main road, where we explored a Don Quijote, one of Japans' most eclectic stores. The first floor is entirely snacks and candy, so we had a great time picking up some souvenirs for our friends, before exploring the rest of the store to see what else they had for sale. Neil purchased a "banana brella", which is an umbrella with a lid that makes it look like a giant banana, and I purchased a "nose mint" which is a vial of peppermint oil you can discretely twist to open and sniff when offensive odors are nearby.

Winn, Steve and I all enjoyed some Kobe beef Teppanyaki

As we wrapped up our exploration of Don Quijote, Winn and Steve let us know they were nearby, so we met outside to go look for a place to have dinner. The group walked around a while rather aimlessly, but we eventually decided to go back to where we had eaten our Kobe Beef Burger, as the restaurant behind it, Steak Sakura was on Lauren's list as a great place to eat. The five of us had a great meal, with Winn, Steve and myself having a small teppanyaki (cooked on a flat top) steak, while Neil had some kobe beef sushi and split a fried rice with Devin who ordered a Kobe beef salad.

Before heading back to the AirBnB, Dan and I had to get a picture together with Lord Kobe

After our meal, Dan, Chelle and Lauren were ready to meet up, so we all took the subway back to our AirBnB, where the group sat, talked and drank, enjoying our last night together before folks began to head back to the US. Winn and Steve said goodbye, and headed off to their hotel, followed by Dan and Chelle, who we would see again the next day. Neil, Devin, Lauren and I packed up and prepped for bed, but not before Neil managed to accidentally start a load of laundry with drain cleaner instead of laundry detergent.

I'm sad to report that despite our best efforts at resuscitation, Neil's favorite jeans were damaged beyond repair. Luckily the rest of the clothing was fine, though we had to run an empty load to make sure the machine was clear. We all headed to bed and slept soundly, though we were waking up the next morning to say goodbye to Neil who was headed back to Tokyo and then home.