What a difference!

We've arrived in Osaka and what a difference. Kyoto was very gentiele, refined, traditional; early impressions of where we are staying in Osaka is that it's brash, loud, neon, in your face and every other street vendor is selling it's best loved dish of octopus balls ( in batter and served with various sauces).The city is definitely more Western , cosmopolitan etc , I don't think we're likely to see many people dressed in kimonos here. Chris and I had a quick look around while Carys had some 'chill' time in the room , it's very busy and a lot of street vendors trying to entice you to eat with them, and each food outlet has a huge exaggerated figure outside of their premises. Osaka is well known for a billboard of ' the running man', apparently it was the first billboard to appear back in the 1930' s for a food company and has become a bit of an iconic image for the city.

Food and drinks were quite interesting tonight. Think it's fair to say as a vegetarian it's been a bit hit and miss on the food front, some nights have worked out great, others not so much. Tonight we found a restaurant which did major in barbequing your own wagyu beef at the table. I mentioned to the girl that I was a vegetarian and she replied , ( very sweetly) 'ah, that's so sad' 🤣. Anyway, there seemed to be some things ( by the pictures on the menu) that I could have, but after ordering I seemed to end up with some onion , sweet corn and a lot of lettuce! Think the fries (and the wine) just about saved the day! Chris and Carys really enjoyed what they had.

Earlier , Chris and I ended up in a bar for a beer. Think it was quite a posh affair as we had to pay a cover charge and ended up paying what seemed like a lot for two beers - we did get some complimentary snacks. We were in the third floor and when we left the bartender escorted us to the lift, and she bowed to us as she said goodbye and stayed bowed until those lift doors closed. Respect!