My new roommate, Katie, and I went into Namba Monday night for renowned cheesecake at Rikuro’s, something Katie said has been on her to-do list. All day and night there is a long line of people waiting to buy these amazing cakes. Something didn’t seem right though……first, there is no cheese in Japan. Second, when the clerk rings the bell it means the cheesecakes are coming out of the oven. They stamp them, bag them, box them, and sell them warm……what??? We were caught up in the frenzy though–22 people were in line with a security guard ushering us through. We went straight home to serve it up.
But it was really a souffle with like 7 raisins in it! If there was one iota of cheese in there, I’ll eat my hat. And the cheesecake. We each took a bite and boxed the rest to her friend who had raved about it and claimed he loved it so much he ate a whole cheesecake in one night. I was reading the reviews online. 9 out of 10 went on and on about how light and fluffy they were, best in Japan, couldn’t get enough. Then the 10th one would say: “This isn’t cheesecake!” We agreed haha!
My new roommate likes to sleep late, which was easy when we had a 2-bedroom apartment in Orlando. In our apartment here with windows on 3 sides, I kept the black curtains drawn and quietly left this morning to enjoy the city morning. I was really glad, because it was interesting watching people get to work, seeing the restaurants and shops preparing to open, and observing the many tourists dragging their suitcases for their early morning trains/planes.
I walked by Namba Parks, with its stairs, escalators, then waterfall fountain trickling down on the right.
I cut through and saw stairs I’d never seen before, which included a path for a bicycle and special bicycle escalator that was a conveyor belt to help you get your bike to the top! 
I noticed on the map the Ikukunitama Shrine, only a couple miles away. I got my 7-11 coffee which is actually very good and headed out. Once I got past my old apartment in Namba I was in new territory. There were dozens of shoe stores, laundry mats, Family Marts. Quite suddenly there was a shrine and wow was it HUGE! It went on for several blocks. The gates were closed but I could see all the buildings and a cemetery. 
In the middle of the shrine complex was a looooooong flight of stairs leading up to a neighborhood. People were bringing their bikes bump bump bump down the stairs. From the top looking down you could see into the complex with the city behind.
When I got to the top I realized that the fancy buildings behind the shrine were actually more Love Hotels–“Rest for 2900 yen; Overnight for 7900 yen.” It seems odd to see the temples and shrines so close to these hotels and buildings, but I guess that’s how it is in all cities. 
As I walked, I noticed there were actually many shrines and temples within a couple square miles. Again like many cities, they are in groups sometimes. Each one had people wandering through, some on their way to work. One even had a drink machine like you see all over the city! 
It was getting closer to time for my roommate to wake up, so I headed west. I noticed on the map there was a park near, so I thought I’d stop and eat the roll I picked up at 7-11. What I found was a very grassy, overgrown, forlorn park that looked like it had promise but was not inviting. 
Too bad, because it was the most green I’d seen in a while. When I got past it, there was a playground (dirt only), and next to it was an elegant set of stone steps leading up to yet another shrine. Here there were people bowing, clapping, using the water for blessing, and a monk in beautiful plum-colored robes. I did not feel right taking pictures; it almost seemed like there was a service going on.
As I got into Shinsaibashi, the shops were opening and people were about. Men were working on projects with electric saws in the market. 
I saw a large group of people and realized that every Pachinko parlor had a really long line! Hundreds of excited gamblers off for Golden Week were ready and waiting for the parlors to open at 10 a.m., hoping to cash in.
More and more tourists were around as the day got later, with security guards crossing traffic, buses, trucks. I have tried to find out what this stone monument is below; you can see the giant sumo wrestler statue in the background, where people were posing for pictures. On one website, it described it in Japanese, which according to Google Translate says:
This huge stone monument began to cut Dotombori during the Hideyoshi era
It is a honorable monument of Mr. Yasui Michitaka (an easy-going cousin)
and a cousin's way (me)
Last night we saw The Avengers with Japanese subtitles in a huge theater. It was amazing and we stayed until the very last credit rolled, as always; no one breathed a word until the lights came on. On the first of every month, Namba Parks theater shows all movies for 1100 yen, instead of the usual 1800–pretty expensive really. Every Wednesday has Ladies Night–1100 yen for the girls. And they had a showing of The Avengers at 8:20 a.m.–even too early for me!
Walking around this morning waiting for Katie to get up so we could sort more stuff, I realized I miss the reliable Florida sunshine. Of course I’ll probably be complaining about the sun within a day of returning to Florida. The sun never came out today and it started raining steadily from 11 a.m. and it’s still raining tonight. That happens so seldom in Florida that it’s a nice break, but it seems to happen a lot here–although this time it is warm outside. We slogged our way to Tennoji to the Q’s Mall for food court dinner and a little shopping. Katie had udon noodles and I had onigiri–rice with all kinds of things, in this case salmon. It’s really convenient because you can grab them at Family Mart easily. And at 7-11 they are labeled in English, so you don’t get any mystery meat!
Tomorrow we move yet again, to Shinsaibashi. This time we paid for an overlap day so we don’t have 6 hours with nowhere to put everything we both have. We mailed another box home and are even going to splurge and take a taxi tomorrow. My new friend from Canada went home yesterday and she said their apartment seemed so spacious compared to Osaka. We will see how our new place looks since soon 4 of us will be staying there!
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