Nothing like waking up to the beating of drums as the ship is docking at the pier. Those Japanese drummers can sure pound it out.
Drummers waking us up
Today we had nothing really planned and were waiting until we got into the terminal.
Now everyone on the ship had to clear Immigration and Customs. We kind of took our time to get off the ship. It turns out that we were part of 22 left to do this and no one could get back onboard until we cleared. By the time we made it down we were last to clear because we stopped and talked along the way.
Once we cleared and proceeded inside the terminal where we made a game plan to go into Osaka and visit the Osaka Castle.
First task at hand figure out how to get there. That was easier than we thought. Walk 3 blocks and catch the train and stay on for about 20 minutes get off and walk a few blocks to the castle.
Man Hole Covers in Osak
You can use your credit card to tap onto and off the train. I was able to tap onto the train but unable to tap off and had to go see the “guy” in the office. I was told my MasterCard was not accepted and had to pay cash. Good thing Claudia had some yen on her and I got out of jail and continued on. The cost of the train was 270 JPY or $1.75 USD. Just remember this Japanese Trains run on time.
Walking onto the Castle grounds showed me that most Castles are pretty much the same. The BIG moat around them the bridge into the castle and the Buildings inside. Just some are more elaborated than others.
main gate
Osaka Castle
Once done here we went out a different way to find some food. On the way out I stopped to do an Earthcache and get the answers to all the questions.
Earthcache
Once this was done we continued out and found a small 20 seat restaurant that served Japanese food. There is an IPad sitting at the table which is the menu. You select English and tap the dishes you want hit enter at the end and the next thing is your food arrives along with the bill. There was “free” cold water on the table as well.
Ipad
The food here was very good. Once done you proceed to the cashier which is a computer terminal and you scan your bill insert money or credit card and get your change and leave. No tipping required.
From here it was a walk around the area and a visit to the Lawson Store (think 7-11 here) to pick up a drink that I found the last time I was in Japan. Oh yes you want fresh food this is the place or noodles. This is not like going into the 7-11 back home where you take your life into your hands getting a sandwich. The Japanese pride themselves on fresh.
Now paying is different than at home. Place your money in the tray on the counter and it is dropped into a Japanese till that then delivers your change to you. Just remember to bow when you leave. No robbing a store here.
From here we travelled back on the train to the port and slowly walked back to the ship. We stopped at a hamburger place called Hasamun Kurodony that served Wagyu burgers. These things were huge. Let’s say a Heart Attack in a bun. Since we had The thought was we would come back here and have dinner.
Hasamun Kurodony
Claudia had wanted to get here hair cut and found a small salon and I continued on to get a Virtual Cache near the port called. The lowest mountain in Japan.
I had done a Earth cache back at the castle so I managed to get 2 caches today.
This is part of the cruise terminal