The bus took us on a 45 minute trip to a bus station in Osaka the name of which I have forgotten. From there the East Hotel is about ten minutes to the north, across the Yodoyabashi Bridge, then hang a right on the street right after the American Consulate.

Picture right: East Hotel as seen in daylight (and when *not* raining!) Source: East Hotel Web Site - see below.

We checked in, and finally set ourselves free from our suitcases once entering the somewhat narrow hotel room. Next order of business: Dinner.

I wasn't sure what I was in the mood for, and Kyoko was needling me for a decision. Besides eating, she wanted to take me to the Hankyuu bulding in Umeda. It's got a great view of downtown Osaka and has many restaurants on the top floors. So I said we'd just go explore and find something that agreed with our appetites.

The view from the building was indeed impressive. Osaka at night is truly something to behold. The skyscrapers are neither too tall nor too densely spaced, and everywhere colorful skylights, building illumination and nutty neon advertisements filled the night.

The 29th and 30th floors had many restaurants, and delicious aromas tickled our noses and set our tummies grumbling. The problem was, we spent too much time dawdling, and many of the establishments were closed. It was around 9-ish at this point and the top of this building wasn't the kind of place you go for an all-nighter. (Those I got to see later on the trip...)

One place seemed to have food we'd like, but it was horribly noisy and neither of us were in the mood for that sort of thing. We can both be horribly indecisive, but we eventually came upon a little pasta place that seemed nice.

I ordered spaghetti with these keen little slices of Italian sausage and Kyoko got the spaghetti with eggplant. Note to (my step-dad) Duane: The proper spoon came with the dish - no asking was necessary.

Another trait about Kyoko and I is that we aren't often chatty while eating. We're both fans of good food, so we get rather absorbed during most meals. We did engage in some light conversation, and take in the great view of Osaka/Umeda at night. One entire wall of the place was glass, and we could see the Hep Five (explained on day 4) Ferris Wheel.

Another great thing about Japan - no tipping. Because excellent service is a trait of the Japanese service industry (especially restaurants) there's no need to include a gratuity. This was a great departure from what I'm used to in SoCal, where good service is infrequent, great service is unheard of, and if you don't tip you'll get your food spit into next time you visit that establishment.

So there it is, my first day was over. Kyoko and I walked hand-in-hand back to East Hotel, our tummies happily sated and our hearts brimming with joy at being reunited. From this point there was little to do but retire to the Hotel and rest up for the coming adventure on the morrow.

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