Trip to Osaka

I had to go to Osaka for my 'final interview' at the Sanyo HQ, and went by bullet train. Stopped in Nagoya to see an old friend who's back from 3 years traveling in Asia then hitchhiking from Laos to the western tip of Ireland; had a salmon 'variety' bento on the train- egg, salmon sushi, salmon roe, more salmon... In the station Takashimaya's restaurant section I found one of the restaurants of Iron Chef Chinese, Chen Kenichi, and decided to do the 2600 yen lunch set. It came with his signature dish, mabo tofu, which was really tasty.
Continuing south before sleeping in Osaka, I stopped off at Nara to see Nara park and the Great Buddha. Deer wander freely and people feed them in the park; the buddha may be the biggest in the world. It is perhaps my favorite historical site in Japan, quite breathtaking and hard to understand the size and magical powers that you only get in person.