Day Four: Shirahama to Osaka

• Tonight maybe we're gonna run
  Dreaming of the Osaka sun
  Ohh ohh...
  Dreaming of when the morning comes
  (C Martin, Lovers In Japan)

I am seriously not getting enough sleep. But the buzz of getting out of Colditz - sorry, Meiko Hotel - the brilliant sunshine pouring through my window at 6am and the lure of another onsen i had still to try on Shirarahama beach got me running down the hill and back to the waves. The grown-up son of the landlady had been on hand to show me the large dining room, after which he just stared blankly into space, dutifully waiting his next instruction. Breakfast was on a par with the feast i had at the Hindu Union Hospital, Mwanza. 2 plain. slightly stale rolls and black coffee! That was it! Not so much as an egg. I counted 4 members of staff during my stay at Meiko - i saw ONE other guest, briefly.

I stopped off on the way to Shirarararahama and grabbed a cold can of Kilimanjaro Coffee, from a vending machine. (You can get anything from a vending machine, you just have to ask it nicely). I walked along what in England we would call the promenade, before joining the early dippers. It was already hot. hot, hot. The morning swim felt even better than the day before. The highlight, however, of the morning was discovering, quite deliberately, Saki^no^yu, an open air onsen - old, rocky, natural and a snip at 300 Yen. I was abrasively told that the `tide was high` so I couldn`t venture all the way into the sea, but a fascinating, beautiful location nonetheless.

The clouds came late morning and i felt I had made the right decision to leave for Shin-Osaka. The slow coastal train would have given Michael Palin the chance to whimsically go on about the hotel he stayed at the night before, and wonder what treasures lay ahead of him, as he tried to cling onto the roof for dear life. Sorry, i digress.

I met a New Yorker, originally from Seoul, and her family. We got chatting at the station and we followed each other up until we said goodbye at Umeda, a short stop away from the Shin-Osaka terminal. Nice chat, but I felt relieved to be able to choose my own destination after we split, as I set out to see what Osaka had in store for me.

I surfaced near the Kita (Umeda) area and zoned in on the Umeda Sky Twin Towers. Before that I found the first of three Media Cafe Popeyes (I am currently in one in Nagoya writing this update) - 24hr internet cafes with showers and lounge booths. A Megaplex, surrounded by 1000s and 1000s of Manga comic titles. My membership entitled me to free soft drinks. I topped up and checked my emails. I later returned there to write my first blog (days one & two). Felt that Garry was unlikely to meet me in Japan, as although his Plan A had fallen through, I was far away from his entry point of Fukuoka.

Umeda Sky Building is a fascinating piece of architecture with connecting, diagonal criss-crossing escalators. Fun, but not the white knuckle ride up to the top that the guide has promised. The view of Osaka was worth the trek in the hot sun. But I had to give up capturing the sunset later on as it got too cloudy.

I moved onto the Minami / Dotombori area for the evening. There was plenty of bright neon lights and interesting street entertainment. I had my heart set on some fish and chips and a `pint` (TM: England). Sure enough I found the Pig & Whistle which had Robbie Williams and Wham! on the jukebox and did a version of fish and chips for 900 Yen. Along the Dotombori-gawa was a plethora of neon, tacky gift shops and all manner of folk dressed up inviting into their particular establishment. Quite a few drag queens, too. I wandered around and stumbled across the red light zone, although everywhere was a mix of bright colours, really. (No, i didn't in case you were wondering - mostly because after a day going commando my b******* were extremely chaifed).

I eventually wandered around too sober for words, for too long. I got lost. I ended up on the "World`s Biggest Ferris Wheel"...in Tempozan... although i believe at 135m the Millennium Wheel (London Eye) reaches higher. No lights, but definitely RED. Then I studied, from a purely sociological perspective, Japanese businessmen flicking through porn mags.

I was tired and a bit fed up and had just enough energy to drag myself down a couple more streets to the Capsule Inn. Now, ever since I saw Michael Palin, back in 1989 on his original travelouge, Around The World In 80 Days, I have wanted to stay in a capsule hotel. A bizarre, hard to explain dream I have haboured for nearly 20 years. He stayed in a capsule hotel in Japan. If you want to read his thoughts at that time then check out the link below. Note - i only paid 3300 Yen, 300 less than he paid in 1989 !!

http://palinstravels.co.uk/book-1395

Needless to say, a lot of what Palin wrote experienced then, albeit in Tokyo, still holds true today... except i had the added inconvenience of having to constantly go back and forth between first and fourth floors.. the initial shoe lockers, sauna and pool were on the former, while the showers and individual capsules were on the latter. I was number 405. My neighbour, 406 was a snorer, but for once I was too tired to care. I had the best night`s sleep so far in Japan!

Coming soon on the next blog: Wrestling with aligators, kayaking down the Mississippi and having my fortune read in Shangai. Sorry, still reading Palin.

Next blog: Osaka to Kyoto.