Heading back to Osaka
Chris, Christine & I left the hotel together this morning so we could get the earlier train back to Osaka & have more time there, leaving Matt & Kayla to lay in & get a later train. I'm hoping to go to Osaka Castle & possible Iwatayama Monkey Park, but I'm not sure that's going to happen. We spent a lot of time getting from the bullet train station to the hotel - it just seemed like miles away - & signing in at the hotel was a bit more difficult than it had been at other places because we had to make sure Matt & Kayla could get into their room when they finally arrived later on. After we checked in, we wandered around the shops for a while, buying all those last minute gifts & souvenirs for friends & family. In the evening, Kayla went & visited a friend of hers, so Matt joined us for dinner. We headed to Hard Rock Cafe, where they were hosting a very loud live band & most people were dressed up as everyone was celebrating Halloween. As soon as we walked in, I asked the hostess, in broken Japanese, if we could be seated somewhere quieter. We were seated as far away from the band as possible but it was still very loud. I loved it though & would have been happy to have been able to watch the band.
