Osaka Day 14 June 2, 2008

As beautiful as day 13 was, day 14 , we woke up to cloudy skies and wet floors. The weather once again began to turn and the day became wet as we as left. Before we left osaka though, we hooked up with a good friend of mine, Kishin of 2000BC and he introduced us to the best udon joint in Osaka, Fu FU~ Te Udon. The noodles are so good, there was even a comic feature of the store in which some sumo wrestler turned udon maker had to battle a little old woman from osaka for the title of best udon restaurant. Of course, as the comic ended, the little old lady from osaka won the title and we were sitting at her restaurant. The recipe in the restaurant was simple. Udon, Tsuyu (dipping soup), ginger, green onions and either fried tofu or plain. On the road, this was the magic elixier. Here was the food to cleanse and fulfill. Our bodies were nourished. You like Udon, you have to go Fu Fu~ TE UDon. this is the best. There is no complete tour of osaka without visiting all the crazy neighborhoods that is old dangerous japan. I mean, you don t need to go. It is so sketchy and dirty and run down, you have to wonder what the hell?!.. yes, japan can be a dangerous place. They still have a brothel system run by parents and mafia members where it is a whole neighborhood with a tiny house next to all the other tiny houses down the row. Here the 'mom' sits in the front with 'daughter' all decked out and lit up smiling. Just the eye contact alone is enough to encourage business. Another neighborhood not too far away is run down and piled up with garbage, junkies and dealers. It's another part of town that looks so crazy, I wondered where japan left and universal junkie town began. It is a neighborhood no police officer ventures into. I m sure with all the right reasons. It feels lawless as much as it is controlled. It is enough memories for the naive me and the souvenirs were not what I wanted to take home with me. After the grand tour, we left Kishin, our host and took off to go back to Kamakura. Once again, we started to discuss the wave conditions and we all prayed for surf. There were trickling news of waves kicking up and the surf getting momentum. We left Osaka around 4 pm.. we arrived back to Kamakura around 1am. It was as easy as can be and coming back to shonan, it felt like being home.