Into the Buddha's Nose

Day 2 of Ellie and I together in Osaka, or as we say, OOOOOOOOOOOsaka. I guess it's day one-and-a-half; we got in last night and haven't really been in the city proper very much yet; but we've still got tonight and tomorrow to explore and have fun before taking the overnight ferry back to Imabari. Now is downtime; we're POOPED! I'm pretty pooped anyway; I should really be napping but it's way colder in our rooms than it is in the lobby here in our hostel, so I'm down using the internets instead of snoozing. Ah, yes, so: here we are staying in what might be close to the perfect hostel - it's cheap, reasonably-to-very clean (actually it's fine aside from the lingering cigarrette smell everywhere, but that's just Japan for you), there's freeeeeee internets, free coffee in the mornings (which we missed this morning, thank you), an Asahi beer vending machine, and a good selection of videos to watch in the rooms, also free. We're staying in Japanese style rooms, small and boxlike with tatami mats on the floor and futons for to sleep on, the only drawback being that it is slightly drafty, shall we say windy, inside. I wonder if the Western Style rooms are also as drafty inside. What do you think, do they insulate those ones for authenticity? Do they know?

What Josh forgot to mention is that this hotel is right next door to another hotel, which has the same name, and also they share a building. When we tried to check into the other one, the unfriendly front desk guy was stymied by our claim that we had called earlier, and only after a lengthy, complicated interrogation did he finally direct us to try next door, at the other hotel with the same name at the same address. Go figure. We're pretty sure we got the good one though since there's free video rental and we borrowed the Addams Family and something called "Bassing," a fishing video. --Ellie

So yes, we're back in the hostel after deciding we're pooped and a bit overwhelmed with seeing beautiful things and being in new surroundings; after a recharge (boy I should go nap soon) we'll hit some nightlife maybe, get something to eat, see what's around. This morning we went to Nara and saw the Daibutsu, the Giant Buddha, encased in the fourth monument we have seen labeled as "the largest wooden building in the world." It was pretty unbelievably amazing; about 1400 years old or something, bafflingly large and perfect and awe inspiring, much as the complex around him is. AND, Ellie and both got into paradise! That's right folks, you can rest easy now, because me and sis have been assured our eventual ascension thanks to THE BUDDHA'S MAGIC NOSE! Behind the statue itself there is, in one of the temple's the supporting pillars, a floor-level hole carved that is said to be the exact diameter of one of the great statue's nostrils - make your way through it and your place in paradise is assured! Woohoo!! We watched as a long line of parents shoveled their young through the hole like torpedoes; children from infant- and toddler-age up until young high school students were being rammed one after another through the tiny gap in this pillar, one child pulled straight from the stroller and BAM head first into the pillar with a big resounding THUNK before the father re-adjusted his aim and threw the kid into the tube, to be recieved, a dazed but blessed bundle, by mom and the picture taking grands on the other side. And of course, eventually, Ellie goes and says something like, "man, you'd never even be able to get your shoulders through there." And friends, it was no sooner said than there I was plunging headfirst through a one-meter square wooden hole the size of the great Buddha's nostril in the largest 1400 year old wooden building in western Japan, and into nirvana. Pictures to come.