On the next leg of the journey we both tried to sleep, but only managed a couple of hours. We arrived in a very cool and cloudy Osaka at 6.45am. After the formalities, and a stressful moment when the ATM told us that our card wasn't valid (it was OK the second time), and then another stressful moment trying to work out what trains tickets we needed from the vending machine, we found our way to the right platform and caught the train to the station close to our hotel. While walking to the hotel, we came across a bakery with some delightful-looking treats in the window, so our first food consumed in Japan was a scrumptious cake for John and a warm savoury bread for me. I think John was a bit dubious about whether he'd bite into his cake and find something like a tentacle or piece of something unidentifiable, but all was well.
We checked into the Hotel Raizan South ($162 for the 2 of us for 3 nights!) and had a bit of a snooze. 
But Japan waits for no sleepy-heads, so we caught the subway into Namba and strolled around the underground shopping mall - the likes of which I've never seen in my life. It was HUGE and so was the crowd!
The young Japanese folk were out in force displaying their gorgeous fashions. A young lady I know would have been beside herself if she'd seen all the shops selling clothes, shoes, handbags, accessories etc.
We had a browse in a bookshop and were particularly intrigued by these two. John suggested that Volumes 1 and 2 of Cat Shit One '80 must have been achieved enough success for Volume 3 to be published!
After drooling at many cafe and restaurant windows, we had a very nice noodle dish for dinner and as I write, we're about to watch a video (free loan in the hotel), and then I feel an early night coming on.
We're off to Osaka Castle tomorrow.
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