I finally got my mom to go to the Osaka Museum of Housing and Living. It’s on the 8th floor of a municipal building and the first thing you do is take a 2-story escalator to see an upper view of an old Meiji Era section of the town. Then you go down into the town and wander about. After that there are dioramas on the 8th floor. Unfortunately, today was also the day for several grade schools to make their trip to the museum and it ended up being a loud mess.

Afterwards we went walking down the longest shopping arcade in Japan at Tenjinbashi, but it’s all very old-school, so we bailed and headed towards Shinsaibashi.

We had lunch and did NOT get the giant parfait.

My mom and my sister headed towards Daimaru, and I went on a trek to the National Bunraku Theatre to get my mom her favorite calendar.

When I finally got to Daimaru, I checked out the “watch fair”. Turns out they didn’t have any of the Grand Seikos in the area of the fanciest watches because, well, the most expensive Grand Seiko I saw was only EIGHTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS. Sheesh.

My sister and I did have a very nice cup of coffee while waiting for my mom to get a massage.

Eventually we all had massages at Daimaru and afterwards my feet hurt like crazy. I had “reflexology” done (feet and calves) and the tiny woman was incredibly strong.

I had to check out the Apple Store in Shinsaibashi. I’ve been by it a bunch of times but never went in. It’s just like an American Apple Store, except more expensive and not nearly as crowded.

We finally got back to the hotel and they switched my room when I complained about my incredibly creaky bed. Apparently a lot of the mattresses are creaky, but I got a new room on another floor that seems a lot cleaner and smells a lot better. I think I win this one.

Oh, and here’s a picture from last night. I’m not sure if you can see it, but this is when I was waiting at the wrong part of the platform for my train (it was further down towards the right). The guy’s jacket says, “bitch,” and i shows a guy shooting a woman in the head. No idea what the hell that means.