In Japan, most homes don't have central heat. Instead, people heat the spaces they are currently using. One of the things they have is a low table with a quilt on top and a heater underneath called a "kotatsu". Here's a site I found with some pictures and a pretty good description of what a kotatsu is: sushicam.com.

I found the table in Toshiaki-san's apartment to be quite comfortable to sit under. It was so comfortable, in fact, that I dozed off - right there on the floor, in the middle of the walkway. Everybody woke me up and encouraged me up onto the bed. I guess they got tired of stepping over me. ^-^ I only slept for about an hour and a half, but I did sleep. When I woke, everybody was still talking like they were before.

Around 6:00am, Watanabe-san made breakfast: yakisoba. ^-^ He wasn't fully happy with the way it turned out, but it turned out better than mine does when I try to cook it. I was quite happy to eat it. It was a good way to signal the start of the day.

Wow. Yakisoba. And it's not burnt. Very different from how Mom makes it.

We were to meet my friend, Kimura-san (different Kimura-san from yesterday), at 10:00 that morning. We were supposed to meet him at a place called "roketto hiroba" (Rocket Plaza) that was supposed to be pretty famous. I asked the guys about it. They said they'd heard of the place, but weren't sure where it was. We got out an Osaka atlas that Toshiaki-san had, but still couldn't find it. We would have to ask directions at the station.

Ryo's shoulder was acting up, so I was carrying some of his stuff as we walked. 

About 8:30, the guys walked with us to the local eki (station) and got us directed to the right densha (train). 
We said our goodbyes and thank-yous. After that, we got on the densha, and they headed back... hopefully, to get some sleep! Next time, I plan to bring enough money to stay in a hostel so I don't have to inconvenience my friend again. Still, there are no regrets this time. Everyone had a lot of fun that night! ^-^

It was fun! I want to do it again! I want to ride Watanabe's motorcycle again! I want to chat with them all again! 
Sleep is for the weak! Let's do another all-nighter!

We got off at JR Namba eki. We must have been traveling at an off-time because there weren't many people there. We picked up a tourist map of the area, but it wasn't much help. Rocket Plaza wasn't on it, but the subway it was supposed to be near was. We walked in that general direction, still finding no signs indicating where it was. After some mixed up directions from a convenience store clerk, and talking to a couple people who'd never heard of the place, we finally ended up near the subway... but still couldn't find any sign of it. We told Kimura-san over the phone where we were. He came up to meet us instead. I still don't know where Rocket Plaza is...

I finally found hot orange. It was in a vending machine in the subway. Man, if only Ryo had been with me. The the Quest would be over. It'll have to wait until the next time I go, I guess.

From there we went to the neighborhood he grew up in. He showed us the high school... it was quite impressive looking. The building looked more like an apartment complex than a school. I really liked the design. ^-^

We didn't go in it, and I was somewhat thankful. I didn't want to wear those stupid slippers again. I hate them. 

From there, we walked across the street to Osaka Castle. Since none of us had much money, we just walked around the grounds rather than go in to the museum. We met a very nice grounds keeper who showed us some of the better places to take pictures of the castle.

Osaka Castle

Entering Sukiya

After that, we were getting hungry. We went to lunch. Kimura-san took us to a place where he had worked in Namba-rakuzu called "Sukiya". We ate some of the gyudon (beef bowl) that they specialized in and met some of his friends.

This was in late January, right after the whole "mad cow" thing started. Kimura-san told us that after that week they, and other similar shops, would be taking a break from serving the gyudon because the beef was becoming harder to get. The beef bowl shops will still be selling the similar bowls with different meats... but still it's sad to see. Their gyudon was extremely good.

Shock. Anger. Loss. I felt so many things as I heard that I'd never be able to eat gyuu-don ever again... it made me sad.

Then we went to Osaka Prefecture University where Kimura-san was a student. It was interesting walking around a Japanese college campus. Since Kimura-san was, technically, playing hooky from class to meet with us, we didn't get to see his lab. It would have been too awkward if we ran into his professor...

The campus was big. And wide. And clean. And had lots of pictures on the walls. And had no slippers. (Yay!)

Instead we went to the library and looked at history books. I had asked some questions about some historical events from the Japanese point of view. It led to a very interesting philosophical discussion. My Japanese isn't quite good enough for such things, but fortunately Kimura-san's English is. ^-^

The library was warm and very comfortable. Eleanor fell asleep while we were talking. After a while, sleep deprivation and the warm building started to make me drowsy too, so we decided to get up and start walking. 

We passed a pet shop. Out of curiosity, we went in. I'm glad we did. They had some really interesting animals in there. Some of them, I'd never seen before. Others were animals I had seen but never considered as pets before, like prairie dogs and squirrels. Of course, they also had dogs and cats too. ^-^

I kept coming back to the dogs that were on display. They were so cute and playful! My Kali (My cat) never wants to play with me like that anymore... 

After that, we went to one of Kimura-san's favorite hang-outs, a restaurant named "Shogetsu". I could see why he likes the place so much.

Shogetsu is a very homey "mom and pop" type business run by a younger couple. Besides being a very good cook, the "master" is also a musician. There were signs of it in the atmosphere. The atmosphere was very informal and homelike. Customers could sit at the counter and talk with the master or sit at one of the rustic wood tables. They had a TV going and a bookshelf full of manga that people could read. (Of course, Eleanor read several of them.) While we were there, a few people came in that Kimura-san knew. It was clear that this place was more than just a restaurant.

YES!! The restaurants are catching on! I started reading them without delay. Inu-Yasha, Slam Dunk, Slayers... other stuff...
Most of it was Shounen, but it's better than nothing...

Eleanor ate katsu-don, which is a lot like gyudon except that it's made with fried pork. I ate Konoha-don. I don't know what "konoha" means, but it had something to do with mushrooms. Delicious!

The katsu-don wasn't bad, but I still like gyuu-don best.

Our visit was cut short slightly by the realization that we had to be at the train by 6:00pm, not 8:00 like I had been saying all day. Kimura-san escorted us back to JR Shin-Osaka station and we enjoyed another shinkansen ride back to Asagaya.

We had thought about maybe going to Hiroshima after Osaka, but neither of us had gotten much sleep. When we got back to Yadoya, we both collapsed. It had been a very fun and tiring couple days.

Hmm... Hiroshima, eh? (Evil grin.)

At Shogetsu:
Master, his wife, Eleanor and Kimura-san

The Japanese often call the proprietor of a business "Master".