Woke around 0745. Aki made coffee. Read the BBC’s reporting on Newcastle’s Cup win over Liverpool…sounds like a well deserved victory amid emotional scenes from the wimpy Magpie fans, all standing around crying and that! Walked to Shinjo tube station and caught a train northward, then changed for a bus to take us to the Golden Temple…of course, it was raining by now, and the paths through the grounds were packed with umbrella-wielding tourists. It meant you sort of had to shuffle round the place. But the views of the temple set in an ornamental lake were worth the effort.
Caught public transport back to the city centre…wandered through the busy Nishiki Market and bought eel on rice, and custard caramels, to take back to the apartment for lunch. Headed for Osaka mid-afternoon, taking the train. Ha’chan met us at the station, and we walked through the monumental shopping centres…Ha’chan pointed out the restaurant we are to meet at this evening, and whisked Aki off to see a dentist about her broken retainer.
Kath and I wandered about in the Hanshin shopping centre…Kath bought some clothes in Muji, then we took a well-earned rest and some refreshment in Starbucks. By the time we rocked up at the Chinese restaurant, Aki and her old school pals were already seated and ordering the food a drink.
I had last met them all in similar circumstances 10 years ago, but managed to just about recognise them, though there was zero chance of recalling any names, other than that of Ha’chan. But they were as pleasant a bunch of people as I remembered them to be…and we managed to have a laugh across the linguistic divide. The food was great, and kept on coming…the pork belly in black vinegar sauce a melt-in-the-mouth highlight!
They walked us over to the monumental Central station, where we hopped on a train back to Karasuma station, and walked back to the accommodation where we collapsed into bed…
No comments:
Post a Comment