On the program for today was attendance at horse races at Hanshin Racecourse, about 30 minutes from Osaka CBD.

Now attending (horse) races is not something that would normally appear on Mick’s and my holiday program, and I’d have to say that at first Mick was not so keen to go. But with a bit of cajoling and some peer pressure, he did end up joining the others at what looks like a pretty fancy racetrack. And, he did end up having a fabulous time, as shown by this selfie he took for me.

Getting to and from the racecourse involved catching trains – and it would appear that they were not the only ones using that mode of transport today.

Before the races though, they visited the Umeda Sky Tower, complete with glass elevators and glass escalators. It is reportedly one of the best places in Osaka for tourists to go to enjoy 360-degree panoramic views of the city. And the weather again looked perfect.

The photos they have sent of the Hanshin Racecourse show quite a modern looking structure – with seating areas high above the actual race tracks (2 turf courses, a dirt course and a jump track). But in fact, this course has been here for a a long time (since 1949). It underwent major reconstructions in 1991 and 2006. This racecourse is HUGE – with a capacity of almost 140,000, compared to Randwick which has a capacity of 50,000. Prior to it being a racecourse, this location housed a large manufacturing industry, making combat planes for WWII. No need for further explanation as to why that was shut down and the land re-purposed.

The betting process was very confusing, even for someone like Tom who is known to have a bet or two each Saturday when he is back home. Not to be beaten, he sought the assistance of security guard to help him place a bet of 10,000y ($100AUD).

With the guard’s help, he placed a bet on Number 7 – only because 7 is his favourite number.

And he won!! Well horse number 7 won.

He did not tell me the odds and he did not tell me if that was his only bet, but the group was happy to help him celebrate the win.

Not everyone was sitting in seats high above the sky – but the huge screens ensured everyone who wanted to watch their horse race could.

Last night the group went in search of something interesting for dinner. And, they were not disappointed.

They ended up choosing a restaurant that specialised in BBQ chicken, and they ended up getting a little more than they had bargained for.

They ate all sorts of chicken dishes including cartilage, chicken liver, chicken hearts and something called “thig”.

The menu was in Japanese and each course came out without any description. It was only after Emma had devoured two delicious morsels of ‘something’ that Mick realised they were eating chicken hearts (as he had eaten quite a few of them when we spent our year in France). But Emma loved them, as did the fellas. And they eventually worked out that the mystery (thig) section of the chicken was in fact (quite obviously) – thigh!!

Tomorrow they leave Osaka for their next destination, which I think is Kyoto. I guess I will just have to track Mick and my Airtag to be absolutely sure of that.