2015-Japan: SUN-27-DEC-2015 Day 8 in Kyoto & Osaka

SUN-27-DEC-2015 Day 8 in Kyoto & Osaka

We were up at 6:00 AM and packed up and checked out and took a cab to our favorite place, the Kyoto Station.

Japan is so clean. No trash cans anywhere. No trash anywhere. Lots of cute dogs but no dog poop (like New Yorkers leave dog poop and don't clean up). Not a spec of trash. No smells. When shop keepers close for the night, they pull the metal down and then take a broom and start cleaning the street area in front of their shop.

The culture is so homogeneous. Everyone is Japanese. They all know what is expected of them and so they all behave exactly alike and are predictable and consistent. Highly consistent. Other places, there are other cultures mixed in and that creates a change in the homogeneity and creates uncertainty.

Anyway, back to the trip.

We stored our luggage and went on another 1/2 day tour.

Then we took the bullet train to Osaka and checked into the Osaka Hilton. The kids have their own room and the parents have their own room.
http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/japan/hilton-osaka-OSAHITW/photo-tours/index.html

Love the shower, it has a see-through glass

It is adjacent to the deep soaking tub

Another meaning for heated seats

Asked hotel for pizza recommendation, they said go across the street. Bill came to 16,060 JPY which is $133.55. Are you serious?
1 glass wine 1,200 JPY is $10
2 coke's 1,400 JPY is $11
1 small sake 1,000 JPY is $8
1 small pizza prosciutto with 4 slices 2,400 JPY is $20
1 small pizza margarita with 4 slices 1,500 JPY is $12
1 Caesar salad 1,200 JPY is $10
4 table charge 4,000 JPY is $33 (we had no idea there was a cover charge)
1 medium pizza margarita with 6 slices 1,900 JPY is $16
service charge 10% 1,460 JPY $12

We could have eaten a serious meal for this kind of money, we should have known better, we should have asked questions but how are you supposed to ask if there is a cover charge on a Sunday night and no one speaks English?

Guess I need to provide feedback to the hotel and let them know if they will recommend this place that here is what happened to us and people should just eat at the hotel, it will be cheaper and more filling. We were still starving after that so we ended up in the Executive Lounge and ate all the food there.

Anyway, back to earlier in the day.

Here is the house of a Shogun, which, upon his death, he gave it to the Buddhist Temple.

You can read about Shoguns at http://japanundertheshogun.weebly.com/feudal-hierachy.html

It is covered in 24 caret solid gold leaf, you can see the squares

The Shogun planted this tree 600 years ago and left instructions to his gardener to make sure it grows into the shape of a ship and is pointing west and that is what has happened for 600 years. It is hard to tell from the picture, but it does look like a boat, the bow is to the left. If you click on it and zoom in, you can see all kinds of wooden structures under it holding it up to make its shape.

Here is an example from Osaka Castle from Day 11

Look carefully at the gold leaf squares

Went to a Shinto Shrine that was built in 947 AD.

2016 is the year of the monkey

People in Japan have two religions. People are both. They are not one or the other. They are both. The shrines are used for happy occasions like this where the child is being blessed by a monk. The Temples are used for death. Those long scarf-looking things are attached to bells, you pull and ring the bell twice to wake up the Shinto gods (there are millions of Shinto gods) and then make a prayer and a wish.

Got back to the hotel and changed into our very comfy pajamas from the hotel. Yes. Free. You can not take it with you. But you can use a new one every night.