Slow Boat to China

We wrapped up our night in Osaka and wanted to go to Spa-World, an 8-floor building of spa delights! But sadly no tattoos allowed, so Brad and I weren't allowed in. :(

So instead we went to another local sento (like an onsen but not from natural hot springs). I forgot to mention my last sento experience. In Kyoto, we went to a local sento where a sweet Japanese lady came to my rescue and helped me save face. At the first public bath we went to, shampoo and soap were provided. I made the mistake of assuming they all did. I had already stripped down and gone into the bath room, wearing nothing but my locker key around my wrist. I sat down at the shower station where I realized there was no soap or shampoo. One of the major parts to a public bath is washing thoroughly before getting into the actual tub/tubs. I looked around not knowing what to do, not wanting to go back out into the main dressing room, naked, to look for shampoo or soap from someone. Meanwhile, a sweet older lady sitting next to me struck up a conversation. It was a little hard for me to sit and have a normal conversation, one naked person to another, but she was so sweet and saved me. She offered me her soap and shampoo, never making me feel like an idiot. Turns out she'd been to New York several times. She told me about her grandchildren and how she comes to the sento everynight to have time to herself. It was pretty amazing. Just one more example of Japanese hospitality. She could have been offended and irritated at the dumb foreigner's attempt at Japanese culture, but instead she did everything she could to make me feel comfortable. Amazing.

So anyway, our last night in Japan, in Osaka, we went to another sento. This was our third one on the trip, and by this time I felt like a pro and was actually able to relax and enjoy it. We went to Lawson's (my favorite part of Japan may have been the awesome convenience stores filled with amazing goodies at all hours), loaded up on junk food, and went back to watch Japanese TV in the hopes of seeing a Japanese games show (sadly we never found one).

The next morning we boarded the Su Zhou Hao, a bit nicer than the first boat and also having more people, and set sail on the slow boat back to China...

Foggy smoggy Shanghai...