Well, I think the night before last must have been a ‘big’ night for the travellers based on some photos I’ve been sent.

They visited Namba, which I read is a “high-energy entertainment district” – famous in Osaka for its small izakaya bars which line an alley behind a Zen temple, where lots of frivolity and fun was had.

Like father like son, as the saying goes.

Minoh is a parkland ‘escape’ about 30 minutes from Osaka where both locals and visitors enjoy visiting. There is a walk from the railway station which took them through a valley along the Minoo River to Minoo Waterfall.

But, did they take a photo of that? No.

So, I “borrowed” one. Obviously taken in a different season to the minute.

I read that the trail does not have any steep inclines, and that it takes most walkers about 45 minutes to walk (one way). I was worried about Mick making the distance, as walking is not one of his favourite pastimes. But there was a reward in stall for him.

One of the photos I was sent from their visit to the falls was of this monkey.

They observed it walking across the top of the fence that is there to prevent rockfalls, and obviously it has learnt that this is a good way to travel through the forest.

Now to Mick’s ‘reward’.

The trail also passed through shops, temples and restaurants, where ‘craft’ beer was on offer.

As well as their excursion to Minoh, the group explored some more of Osaka on foot. And in the daylight. They were impressed by its beauty and majesty.

This is the outside of their hotel and then some of the buildings nearby.

They explored the Dotonbori Area – a very famous part of the city, because of this canal system, which takes its name from the original ‘developer’.

The story is that very early in the 17th Century, a very forward-thinking merchant invested all of his money in diverting the Umezo River into a waterway that would link to the Kizugawa River. Sadly, a few years after his project started, Doton the merchant, was killed in the Siege of Osaka war in 1615. But, his cousins insisted on finishing it and named it in his honour.

I did mention before that Mick often sketches some of the funnier things that happen when we are travelling, drawing them in our common diary where I write important things like what we spent on our credit card for the day, and what that cost converts to in $AUD. I also like to mention the weather and how far we have travelled that day if we have hired a car. Different priorities.

Mick headed off on this trip with his very own diary with every intention of capturing some of the special moments. He sent me a few that he has done so far. This first one is his take on the meal from their first evening.

Bernie has been to Osaka before, and one of his most vivid memories of the city was of an enormous waving crab, used to advertise a restaurant specialising in crab – which figures. He reckons the 3-metre tall, air-filled plastic crab would flail its legs around in an attempt to attract people, but in most cases it frightened the life out of them. But after mentioning this story, the group went on the hunt for the waving crab and for dinner.

Sadly, to no avail. I don’t think it helped them much that they went on this trek AFTER their visit to the famous “drinking alley”.

On a more personal level, Mick admitted to me that he was having trouble with the Japanese plumbing; the smart toilets in particular. At first I was pleased when he told me there were smart toilets in the hotel as we are having one fitted in our new apartment in Brisbane. I am now a little worried because of this…..