I am so exhausted from the massive amounts of walking but at least it was worth it. Ogawa, Sugi-chan and A-san and I went to Minami, which is south Osaka and famous for it's shopping. So with Obentos (boxed lunches) packed, we took the train! I tried to remember every step along the way and finally I figured out it worked like the trains did on my last trip to Washington D.C., except in a foreign language. That's not intimidating at all.
Famous in Minami. So are the puffers next door.
When we finally arrived the shopping began, but Ogawa was set on this one wholesaler so we really only went into about 3 stores out of maybe 100,000. I was a little taken aback since this was the biggest shop experience I'd ever seen--like Minnesota's Mall of America splayed out over part of a whole city. I really wanted a certain type of bag (still looking) but didn't find it in the places we happened to check. At lunch we stopped at Starbucks to eat our lunches and of course, I got to check out Japanese coffee. I got a mocha frappuchino with JELLY ("je-ri") in it. Different but still delicious. If you have ever had bubble tea (Hi Amanda!) then it is just the same! Except tasty mocha flavored. I hope that finds its way to America sometime.
For roughly $5.00, it better have been delicious.
Afterwards, we finished walking Minami and were trying to make it to the big giant ferris wheel in Osaka that overlooks the whole city, but after a train ride and zig zag walking, we found it, and we found it to be closed until October for repairs. :( So instead we went to Osaka Castle!
Haha! Almost there...
It's not the original but it is a replica of it. The inside was very interesting/historical (thank goodness for English translations for tourists) and each of 8 floors had a different experience. My favorite floor was the life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and each display in the wall had a background but then hallographic images played out the scene. Very Jedi-Star-wars. We got to look out from the top floor too! 
Afterwards while we were leaving, I noticed large buses and then that it was a friend's favorite Japanese band. Apparently, they were playing in Osakajo Hall soon and there was crowds of females. I forgot which one exactly she is in love with but I made sure to send them my love.
I did find a concert vendor selling things and after fighting a few other women at the booth for the vendor's attention, bought her a souvenir ('omiyage'). It left me laughing for about 20 minutes at my luck.
The train home took a long time and it was a very long day of walking. I'm very thankful I picked the comfy shoes. I am also trying to get used to being stared at. I did see some other Americans since we went to a more tourist location but that was in Osaka, this is outside and more Japanese "suburan/rural." Oh well. At least it's only because I'm a blond foreigner and not that I have something on/severely off about me...
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