Namba and Umeda!

(A picture of the train!)

 So, the last trip we made into the city was to Umeda, which is considered the rich district of Osaka. This next trip was to Namba/Shinsaibashi, which is the adequately priced shopping area of Osaka. To get to Namba, you have to take the train to Umeda and then transfer to the subway toward Namba/Shinsaibashi.

Billy likes to be silly on the train. Notice how all the passengers choose to ignore him...

This river separates the subarb from the city.

When the trains arrive in Umeda station, it's the last stop and they end up switching the ends of the train. The back becomes the front and the front becomes the back.

Here are some better scenic pictures that I didn't have last time.

This ferris wheel is a huge tourist attraction and is a lot higher up than it looks.

 

This is the view from the top!

And then came Namba!

We ended up eating at this restaurant which is famous for it's sauce and frying all it's food. It was okay...

We later ate at another place which looked more like a college bar than a restaurant!

As you can tell, no one was extremely impressed...

Then, after our shopping and eating, we happened upon this shrine tucked away in this shopping district.

It had this beautiful Buddha station covered in moss that the people would sprinkly water over and then pray.

There was then an area where you could drop money in a box and then pray. It was lighted by numerous lanterns.

You could also pay to get your fortune told. You get your fortune by shaking a cup with a small hole in the top and tipping it upside down. A stick then comes out with a number. That number is a box where you pull out your fortune. The fortune then tells you what your luck is, whether it's good or bad. If your luck is bad, you can tie it on the ropes, like the woman in the left corner, to change your luck.

 There also happened to be a lot of cats around.

These are little wishes, or prayers, that people can pay for. There are specific temples in Japan for specific wishes/prayers. At one temple you can pray for good results on your exam, while another temple is known for helping a girl find a good boyfriend.

 And, of course, an adorable kitten was napping at the temple.

 

I figured this was more interesting than me shopping.

Sayonara!