8 nights in Osaka

Mother House Bethel is off.

Weekly Mansion at Otemae is on!!

Bethel sounded more and more restrictive as time went on (curfew at 10pm, meals only available at fixed and inappropriate times for our timetable) and I was worried we wouldn't get there in time on our first night - nothing like the prospect of being locked out to start our time in Japan huh?

So yeah, for half the price per night, we'll stay here in a "3 bedroom standard". This is the almost the biggest apartment we've seen in Japan - there were a couple bigger in Tokyo but for double the price.

http://wmt-osaka.com/otemae/index.html

The only problem with this place is that it's 35 mins on the train out to Mukonoso Megumi Church, and further again to most of the campuses. However Bethel was going to be 25mins to Mukonoso from the other direction anyway. The extra distance means about Y400 to Y600 per day in extra train fares, but if we can keep our food budget down then we'll be a long way under the Y5000 per person per night of Bethel.

Advantages:

-We can come and go as we please - if you're not going on a campus visit or something at church, you can sleep or wander around Osaka Castle (nearby).

-There's an airport shuttle bus - saves us about Y2300 each.

-It's under Y2600 per person per night!!

-We can cook for ourselves - potentially cheaper than eating out

-Closer to the sights and sites of Osaka

Thanks Rachel!!

Mother House Bethany

Strange name isn't it?

This is a place Maiko and Grahame Smith (CMS missionary with KGK up to a few months ago) recommend we stay.

Its's about 5000yen per night ($90 with today's terrible exchange rate) but it includes breakfast and dinner. So think $60 per night to sleep and a $10 brekky and $20 dinner. Back in the good old days (ie June 2008) I'd be telling you $30 per night, $5 brekky etc.

To put the meal prices in perspective, Rachel and I used to eat out at a dinner place for 1500yen each. This was the cheapest place we could find, and we often used to go there because it cost about the same to cook at home! So even tho a $20 dinner sounds expensive for every day eating, our cheapest dinner (1500Y) would cost $27 in today's AUD-JPY fiasco.

Suffice to say I'm thinking it's good value especially because we save on train fares compared to any of the hotels/hostels we'd found previously.

Other advantages:

-it's on the same train line as Mukonoso Church

-it's closer to a few of the unis Maiko visits (2 or 3 of us can come per visit)

-it's a place where people will more readily understand why we are in Japan - missionaries use the place for conferences etc.

-it's in Kobe - tell your friends you're going to mega-earthquake town

-it's under 20mins by train to most of our ministry locations, which cuts off 30mins travel time (and 300yen) compared to Osaka city youth hostels and hotels.

Your thoughts - should we book? Our other main option at present is a "Weekly Mansion" in central Osaka for 2500Y each per night. It's at least 33mins train ride from the church and 300Y more in 1-way train fare. No food is included, but we can cook for ourselves.