Osaka

Seiji took the five of us who were continuing on the next leg of the Intrepid trip to Osaka by local train; James, Lai, Tracey, Jason and myself. After a metro ride, we arrived at the Bridge Hotel, Shinsaibashi.
Seiji took us to see Pokemon and other attractions in a large department store and then said goodbye. We walked down a long shopping arcade to the centre of Dotombori with lots of neon lights and crowds of people.
We ate octopus balls for lunch alongside the canal, and crab ticks and cheese tarts later in the arcade. Shake Shack was another stop.
At 18.00, there was a joining meeting for the next leg of the trip. We were joined by Paul and Annette from Christchurch, NZ; Jim and Mary who lived on a milking cows farm on North Island, NZ, and Yuko Oi, our guide who spoke excellent English. We went to a pancake restaurant for dinner.
It was noticeable how many more men than women frequented the bars and restaurants, especially after work midweek. Apparently, this reflected the male-dominated workplace.
It was also noticeable how few black faces there were although the complexion of the Japanese varied from white to light brown, the latter more likely to look Mongolic, the Japanese having come from China originally. Some ladies applied lotion, powder or something else to make their faces, arms and legs look very white,Lue lisää