Loco Burger

 Saturday morning we got breakfast at the hotel and headed to the station to take the train to Nara. Japan has one nationwide railway line, JR, plus a number of smaller regional and local trains plus the metro systems in cities. Most use the same fare system (locally) and the same stations, but the tracks vary. So a good chunk of our time was finding the correct track in the station for the train to Nara. We found it a few minutes before departure. Several folks were waiting on the platform, but a nice lush train to Nara was waiting right there, so we got on board.

It was a very pleasant ride through the first stop. On the way out of that stop, a gentleman came to our seats and sternly indicated that those were his seats. We got up and moved somewhere else, and decided we needed to lay low and get off at the next stop, which we did. It turns out the train was a limited express with reservable seats and an extra fare. Back on the platform, we asked if we needed an extra fare to ride the regular rapid express and were told our existing card would work just fine. So we got on the rapid express, which was a bit slower and standing room only, and rode to Nara.

The main attraction for us in Nara were the wild deer which inhabit the park, a UNESCO world heritage site of several shrines and temples. The deer are well adapted to people and readily approach anyone to see if they’ll be fed.  If you have crackers for them, they can get assertive too. Jane and I bought a couple of packs of crackers and got some photos with them.

We then headed to Kyoto, having met our objective in Nara, this time selecting the special ticket for the limited express train. Once we got there, we decided it was hotter than expected and we were both pretty tired, so after exploring the area near the station, we changed plans and headed back to Osaka. The train to Osaka was the special Hello Kitty Haruka train.

This evening we were going to meet Mio at the Shinkansen station! We were super excited. On the way there, we stopped at a burger restaurant close to our hotel. It was themed like an old time American burger joint, and its offerings definitely rivaled any burger joint in the USA. We were both impressed. We especially liked that the TV was showing a loop of clips from SpongeBob Squarepants - not complete episodes, but Jane identified it as disjointed clips from multiple episodes she’d seen. It set a festive atmosphere.

Our next stop was to meet Mio at the Shinkansen station. We made our way to Shin-Osaka station where the Shinkansen would arrive and waited at the turnstiles watching for her. Sure enough a fee minutes after her train arrived we saw her. She was wearing her San Antonio Spurs jersey! We were so thrilled to see her!

On our way back to the hotel we stopped at 7-Eleven for some snacks. 7-Eleven in Japan is a different sort of place than in the US- there is a wide variety of fresh and refrigerated foods available and it’s widely accepted as a place to get some very good food to go for a reasonable cost. We thought it was great.

On the way back Mio told us of a famous ad sign in Dotonbori of a runner holding their hands high, advertising Glico, the company known for Pocky and other products. So we went there and Mio and Jane got a photo holding their hands high like the runner! 

Tomorrow will be another adventure in Osaka!