One last Adventure in Tokyo...!

Hi Everyone!

You know I had one more adventure in me today in Tokyo since I won't leave for the train and airpot until 2pm (and my flight is at 7:30pm).

I decided to head to the Rainbow Bridge which I caught a monorail over to Odaiba a few days ago with a friend. The bridge is actually a walkable bridge and so I got to see some wonderful views of the ocean, city skyline, Odabia area, ports and more. On a clear day, Mt. Fuji is also visible too but today is a little overcast....

There were many people running the bridge and the apartment I am at is in such a great location so close to that the water. The walk also made me appreciate even more the engineering of such giant transportation sights..Wow!

Thank you to many of you for your emails back welcoming me back to the islands...Many of you were kind to write about your thinking I had a future in travel writing (dream job!) but I don't know if my writing is that good! :)

I am excited to see you all, especially with HPA graduation and Summer right around the corner....

Alright, time to head to the airport....I hope the rain holds off until I get to the station....

Until my next adventure....

Aloha,

Caroline

xo

Tsugi Wa = The next station is....

Here I am ..... my very last day of traveling on this Australiasian Adventure!

It's hard to believe that I'll be back in an English speaking non-Asian country tomorrow (But I guess Hawaii is more or less Asian right!)

My last day in Tokyo and this trip was packed full again and I retire tonight with some blisters and sore but happy feet from all the walking around. My day began with a subway ride to the area of Asakusa. This is a very traditional Japanese area and a famous temple that is popular to visit. There was massive amounts of people enjoying the warm weather and holiday occasions. Asakusa reminded me a bit of Kyoto with its quaint shops and Japanese rickshaw drivers too.

On my way to Asakusa, I stopped at McDonald's for the famous ebi (shrimp) burger. Now many of you know that I used to work at McDonald's when I was 16 for a short job stint and have not set foot in the place since....BUT, Tamiyo in Nagoya insisted that I try this tasy burger that is a specialty in Japan. McDonald's in general here is quite deluxe and on opening the wrapper of the burger, the freshness of the bun and packaging itself was already better looking than the US or Australia. It was tasty indeed with lettuce, sauces and a fried patty that was filled with small shrimp pieces....interesting!!!!

I forgot to mention yesterday that I also was recommended by another friend to try a special burger chain from Japan called MOS BURGER. The burgers are cooked fresh on the spot and the special kind of burger here is the RICE burger...hmmmm I had no idea what that meant but found out that the creator of the chain thought he would try and adapt the Asian liking of rice by making the burger buns actually two round sticky rice patties that sandwich the filling (chicken, grilled veges, shrimp, beef etc--I went with the popular shrimp). Delicious, fresh and as always, incredible service!

Anyway, back to my day.....I walked around enjoying the sunshine. From Asakusa you could see the newest construction happening in Tokyo...the Tokyo Sky Tree....meant to open in 2012 with the tallest observatory of the city...already there are about 3 other towers I know you can visit too! I headed to Ueno Park which is another giant green park in the city and home of the zoo, some museums and more....

I am so grateful for the endless opportunities that I continue to have for traveling, learning and appreciating this amazing world of ours...I am humbled by the kindness of people and fascinated by the stories I have come across. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my adventure with you all and I hope to get some of the photos up online for you to view soon.

Sayonara for now and I hear the Big Island Calling....

Obadi Odaiba!

I'll begin today's post with my first Japanese aftershock earthquake experience last night at about 2:15am. The bed started swaying and I quickly checked online for an update..it was a 5.0 quite far away...But, things here in Tokyo are pretty much getting back to normal with trains pretty much all back on schedule.my friend even got the shinkansen 3 hours north of Tokyo to visit her family for the golden week holiday....This train goes past Fukushima to the east too....To save electricity though, many escalators at train stations are not working and big billboards and such that light up at night are not doing so (including the Tokyo Tower)---but apart from that..its normal Tokyo big city shennanigans:)

I headed out walking towards the Tokyo Tower this morning from the apartment...I didn't know if I was headed in the right direction on my map but then turned the corner and BANG! there it was right in front of me...on closer inspection and news from a friend too (see photo) the top of the tower is bent a little from the recent earthquake. I didn't go to the top of the tower but explored the shops in the bottom floors. It was a busy day with many kids and families there for golden week.

Before making it to the Tower, I wandered over to Zozo ji Temple right by the tower....another popular place to visit and there were hundreds of adorable worshipping dolls lined up too:) I kept walking after the temple and tower and was ready to meet another friend (brother of the apartment I am staying at and HPA grad!). We headed to Tsuyoshi's work building which happens to be home to the sky view deck, an art museum and small planetarium...great views!!! After, we got to explore Roppongi-an area very multi cultural and quite affluent. We had a little gourmet tour of Tokyo after that since he too likes to eat good food!

Rain didn't dampen our spirits as we headed to the ODAIBO area for our late afternoon/evening adventures. Its kind of an island area with many more shops and an amusement park too....great restaurants that we ate at including cheese fondue, sashimi, and takoyaki. There is a copy of the shopping store in the Bellagio in Odaibo with the roof looking like clouds and the sky. The funny thing was there was a hugeee Hawaiian exhibition on with foods, hula dancing, music, stores and more....you could even buy slices of Ted's Bakery chocolate haupia pie!

Another amazing day in Tokyo city....one more full day tomorrow but for now, I'm putting the feet up and heading to bed!

More Fun Pics of Tokyo Today...

When in Tokyo....

Day 2 in Tokyo was fortunately with more good weather (no rain!). I headed out to the well known and trendy neighborhood of Shibuya by train. The area is alive with young people and sort of like the Times Square of Tokyo. Right out of the station is a very very popular meeting sport where THE STATUE OF HACHIKO the dog sits. The statue is there in honor of Hachiko's faithfulness and loyalty to his master. The dog continued going to the station over a decade after his master passed. Its also apparently in some Richard Gere movie??!!!

Anyway, some big stars like Madonna and Mariah Carey are also known to have made music videos in this hub of an area that's filled with flashing billboards, shops and well...you get the idea!

I made my way to the next suburb over to meet a dear friend that I met last Christmas at HPA who was leading a student group from Japan which I was teaching English too. This area was made famous by the now popular label "HARIJUKU". Again, this is a funky neighborhood with one particular Takeshita Street that is closed off to cars and is chock full of people checking out the boutique stores and fun dressed people (see photos including a shop for dog kimonos!!!). The area is also home to a massive green park that is filled with cherry blossoms early in April. My friend tells me that an apartment in this area costs around $US 6000/month!!!! The park was nice and busy with families and all age groups due to the golden week holiday. In this green area is also the home of one of the most visited shrines in Japan called the Meiji Jingu-we were really lucky to see a traditional wedding take place too (which Rina says is most wanted by many people in Japan but very very expensive!).

We got the train a couple of stops down to SHINJUKU station...this folks--is the busiest train station in the world and I read that it passes about 3 million people through the place per day!!!! We walked to the Tokyo Metro Government Building to check out the free public 45th floor sky view but unfortunately missed the cut off time by 3 minutes (the building has shorter hours since the earthquakes). Not to worry as I went on google and found a picture of what the view would have been liked:)

http://www.google.co.jp/imglanding?q=tokyo+metro+governmnt+buildilng+sky+view&um=1&hl=ja&client=safari&sa=N&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbnid=4TAdDpOlVJE6CM:&imgrefurl=http://www.trtube.com/y/%2525E6%25259D%2525B1%2525E4%2525BA%2525AC%2525E9%252583%2525BD%2525E5%2525BA%252581/&imgurl=http://img.youtube.com/vi/wFy6_hamXI0/0.jpg&w=480&h=360&ei=FvS7TfiEB4yougOj9eWDBg&zoom=1&iact=hc&page=1&tbnh=139&tbnw=199&start=0&ndsp=13&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0&biw=1040&bih=606

Shinjuku station was hugeeeee and made even more confusing to navigate since there is underground shopping too! We walked around the area which was great in itself to see all the different shapes, sizes and designs of the work buildings. Rina then took me to Japan's Red Light District area called KABUKICHO. There is some illegal things that get run here if you could imagine and even as we walked through the streets at around 5pm, there were a number of guys standing on corners waiting to recruit women to work. We sadly said our goodbyes and hope to reunite again on another trip!

I'm slowly getting the hang of the Tokyo train and subway system...the biggest in Japan of course but there are a couple of main lines that I take. I am very lucky to be staying in such a great location....40% chance of rain tomorrow.....!

Kore Wa Tokyo!

This is Tokyo!!!!

This morning I finally got to take advantage of Japan's extra thick (normal size to them) bread and make some french toast with Sho for breakfast. After a sad goodbye to the Mehrings and Nagoya city, I headed for my last journey (sadly) on the shinkansen bullet train to Tokyo City - my last stop on this Australiasian Adventure!

The train station was busy but not as busy as I thought it was going to be for the golden week celebrations...perhaps the current situation and recent tragedies have lowered the numbers of people traveling this year??? Anyway, I still didn't see Mt. Fuji on the train ride and I was awake looking for it....the thing is, the country is very mountainous indeed so makes for a lovely scenic ride with mountains on the west and ocean on the east.

I found the apartment I am so fortunate to be staying at in Tokyo and decided to take advantage of my last day of the JR pass and great weather out too! I headed into the main Tokyo Station and thoroughly enjoyed my walk around the Imperial Palace gardens, Hibya Park and Ginza town area.

Big skyscrapers brushed the horizon everywhere with more construction going on too...but it was the first time I have also actually seen so many people running and exercising in the big city. On top of that, like Hibya park which is a great green park in the middle of the city, there are many others around it too..Fantastic!!!!! Ginza area is full of expensive brand stores and plenty of nice eateries. I got the train back to the apartment and am retiring for the night ready to meet a friend tomorrow to explore more of this big city!

In the meantime, I am awaiting for the first ground shaking experiences from up north...more soon!

Fun Pics from Japan

Hope you like them....

Yokohama Daze and the start of Golden Week

I left the house with Sho this morning (him on his way to school) to head out on the Shinkansen bullet train for a day's adventure in Yokohama. I Loveeee riding the Shinkansen and my 7 day purchased pass (about $350) has gotten its worth for sure!!!! It took about 90 minutes to ride to Yokohama and on a clear day you can apparently see Mt. Fuji when you got past the area. It was a gorrrrrgeous day out but I may have either slept past the sighting or it was not clear enough....since I didn't see it (Luckily, I'll have another chance to try and spot it on the way to Tokyo tomorrow!).

Yokohoma is only another 20 minutes on the bullet train to Tokyo but I was only doing a day's trip. I didn't realize the city is located right along the water. It is a huge port for economy, business and also an international ferry terminal (mainly for Korea). It is home of the world's largest ferris wheel and also the biggest Chinatown in Japan and all of Asia. I had a great time walking around and it is very easy to get around on foot. There is a big amusement park right along the water in the city (Cosmo World) and this is the home of the giant ferris wheel.

Chinatown has 10 main entry gates and was filled with people of all ages. There are literally hundreds of Chinese restaurants to eat in and side street vendors selling the popular Chinese steamed buns and treats. I got home around 5pm.

Today also marks the start of "Golden Week" in Japan. It is named this because of a string of marked special holidays on the Japanese calendar including the Emperor's Birthday (April 29), Constitutional Memorial Day (May 3), "Greenery Day"(May 4) and "Children's Day" (May 5). Sho has a whole week off school and this is the case for all schools. It is the busiest traveling time in the year with families celebrating in various places around the country.

I know it will be a different experience going to Tokyo at this time of tragedy for the country. I hear that things are slowly getting back to "normal" with the blackouts reduced and train lines getting back on schedule. I am still excited however to experience this well known city with lots to do. One last stop on this Australasian Adventure for me......

Noritake Nagoya...!

After an early 5:45am start with Professor Mehring yesterday, I retired early to bed last night and got to sleep in with no schedule today. Since Jeff's wife Tamiyo had the day off, we got to enjoy the day together. We headed out to Nagoya city and planned to have the well known "morning set" from Nagoya. This is a coffee or tea drink with a piece of toast and egg on top. Now it sounds simple and all (and it is!) but its the thing to do before 12 noon and lunchtime. Coffee shops are so competitive now that they have a little flashing siren (no sound) in front of their shop that they turn on and light up to indicate that they are open. Also, I should note that the bread loaves in Japan and pretty much all white bread...and they are super super thick sliced. We are talking 5 slices in one loaf! Thick and fluffy and the perfect type of slice to make french bread.

After our morning set we walked to the NORITAKE MUSEUM which is the well known famous brand of china porcelain. Tamiyo said the outlet prices there were fantastic compared to the department store prices. We then headed back on the train to meet Sho (8th grade) at the Nagoya International School. He had an early release today and I got to quickly tour the campus before he got out. The school is very small with only about 15 kids in his 8th grade class. The school is kind of in the country but the facilities were terrific and the school is set on a bit of a hill so has a fantastic view. It was really fun picking out the many "hapa" kids at school including him!

We got the public bus back home and this was a really cool experience because at a point on the journey, the bus driver lets everyone know that the bus is about to go on "autopilot". Basically, two arms come out of the bus that are rollers and get on the track. The driver does not need to steer and only has to control the speed...It's genius....this track is on its own lane and causeway. Jeff said that Honolulu was looking at this or getting the train and they chose the train.

By the time we walked home, it started pelting down with rain. We ate at the local Taiwanese restaurant around the corner which was delicious and then had fun running back home in the rain. I will head out of the house with Sho tomorrow morning at 7:30am for the train to get on the shinkansen bullet train to Yokohama. I am excited to visit the biggest Chinatown in Japan and all of Asia!!!!! I hope the rain stops!!!

PS. Japanese tv is thoroughly amusing me. Right now, I am watching a show that is following a 2 year 9 month old going to a supermarket who has to try and remember certain things to buy....seriously I am cracking up and I wish you all could see this!!! :)

Just another day in Japan...!

I made myself go to sleep before 10am last night because I was setting my alarm for 5:45am to be out the door with Jeff by 6:20am for the 6:30am train (Jeff's daily routine!). It wasn't as cold as I thought it was outside and I guess since the summer is coming, there was a good amount of light out...I was thinking it was going to be pitch black!

At that early hour, there are still people on the train to work but Jeff does avoid the crazy rush hour with school students and work folks. The all girls private university Jeff works at has about 3000 girls attending. It is about 1 hour for him to work and once you get on campus its a beautiful serene setting with many cherry blossom trees that flower during the season. Students start showing up around 8:30am for the 9:00am first period class.

I really enjoyed sitting in on Jeff's first period class which was a listening class. The classes are 90 minutes long and after that he gave me a little tour of the small campus. The area is actually quite historical in terms of battles that were fought in Nagoya. We had lunch in the dining room which was really good...miso soup, fish, vegetables, and rice! After lunch, I was introduced to a big class of his students and more personally introduced again to a group of his students which I had skyped with last year to talk about their upcoming school trip to Australia. It was so great to know that they remembered our conversation on the computer!

I left the university after that and walked the town admiring the adorable traditional Japanese homes and stopping at cute little Japanese stores that are known in the area for their special tie dying prints. Rain was threatening to come all day but held off fortunately and hopefully will continue to do so during the rest of my stay in Japan.

Day 1 in Nagoya

Well rested from a great and comfortable night's sleep at the Mehring hale :) I woke feeling good and ready to explore the city of Nagoya. I headed out with Tamiyo to catch the train with her in the morning around 8:30am. She was going on the same line as I and just stopped earlier for her work. I stopped at the City Hall station for the Nagoya Castle. Last night Jeff told me that I would spend about 2-3 hours at the Nagoya Castle. I thought in my head that was wayyy too long for a castle visit. But, I really did have a great experience at my first castle in Japan. The place was easy to find and was so informative as I got to view exhibits of the history of the area and castle itself, as well as a 3-D movie feature. I took a lot of photos of flowers and gardens today since the castle area flourishes in both.

I got there nice and early at 9am but was suddenly hit with heavy rain from a lightning and thunder storm for about 20 minutes. Luckily, the rest of the day was quite sunny and clear. I walked the streets and observed something really interesting. It was about lunch time and some well dressed business people were on the street picking up trash! I thought to myself that they must be on some sort of community service for getting trouble, but then I kept walking and there were more business people doing the same thing?! I learned tonight that each building or company has a particular day where they are in charge of cleaning their local area and picking up trash! Wow! Can you imagine implementing that in Australia or the USA. And trust me, I was observing them and they do a thorough job looking in drains and behind trees during the clean up!

Another funny photo today was going into a "7 Eleven" type store (which there are many of in Japan) and sooo many people standing there reading the magazines....I guess its OK to do too! I saw the "TV Tower" inspired by the Eiffel Tower with the surrounding ground area named Central Park after NYC's park. There was so much shopping of course around. Underground shopping is soooo huge and you can easily get lost in the underground shopping malls and arcades. There are many many exits and the exit numbers help so you can remember where you came in or out of! (for example one shopping mall underground had exits numbered up to 20).

I got home using the train (and feeling like a local) at around 4pm pretty exhausted, with tired feet, but very happy from another great day in Japan. Dinner made by Tamiyo was delicious again with traditional soba noodles, meat and vegetables. I am looking forward to going to work (early at 6:30am) tomorrow to visit the university where he teaches at.....

Hai...Arigato!!!

Sunday April 24, 2011

Hai…Arigato!

Happy Easter….I have searched in many MANY stores to try to find chocolate Easter eggs to give to Adam and his family but have unfortunately failed and had to resort to giving Japanese chocolate and real eggs (which I wrote the letters of “Happy Easter” on each egg with the “E” and “R” having to be written on the same egg since they only sell eggs by the 10 pack and not 12 here!). I packed up my bag and headed out to the main Shin Osaka station (where I will board to head to Nagoya) to meet my dear cousin in front of the McDonald’s there for lunch.

My cousin has lived in Japan for 6 years and recently married a Japanese woman. He is very busy teaching English during the week so only had the chance to meet me now which I was so excited about! We got to catch up on life as I was treated to my first Japanese style rice, egg and curry…its a dark gravy sauce from a beef type broth that has a sweet taste to it, with egg and scrambled egg and spinach!

The bullet train was a quick 1 hour to Nagoya. I was happily met at the station by Jeff and his son Sho. It was so great to see them and I was excited to talk to them about my experiences in Japan so far including the toilets, people and food. I appear to look like a Japanese person I guess and so when I go into a store or shop….people start talking TALKING to me and I just keep saying “hai” (yes), nodding my head, and “Arigato” (thank you). Its hilarious and I am secretly laughing at myself. In fact, I even catch myself saying “grazie” which is thank you in Italian and other languages because I guess I am confused…soo weird! Hahaha

As I was waiting for Jeff and Sho to meet me at the train station, I realized why people watching is so fun here….apart from everybody being adorable, the women dress in a way that is just sooo funky…I mean they could be wearing a leopard skin hat, with a pink velvet dress and knee high green boots…but still make that look good!!!!

Anyway, we got home and its sooo nice to be welcomed into a home. Jeff’s wife cooked a delicious rice, egg and chicken dish for dinner with miso soup after I went for a walk with their son around the neighborhood. Sho helped explain many of the food items in the store which I had been wondering about and I picked up some dessert for us at the local supermarket. They said they live in “the country” for Japan’s standards but its still well populated I think and nice and quiet, only about 20 minutes on the train outside the Nagoya main station. I’m planning a full day of exploration tomorrow in Nagoya city!

I’ll end tonight’s blog with what I have seen in regards to the nation’s dealing with the Fukushima tragedies:

1) In the supermarket, large bottles of water are not sold since they have sent them all to the disaster areas in need

2) Famous Japanese soccer stars playing in European leagues are on tv ads expressing their support for the victims, this is also the case for other famous people too

3) The news updates the earthquakes across the screen….just an hour ago was a 3.7 earthquake

4) TV ads asking for donations are continuously run…..

Tonight, I also learned a lot about the Japanese schooling system. On the subway yesterday (Saturday), I noticed many MANY school children dressed in uniform….It was SATURDAY!!! But I guess there is something called “cram” school where kids learn and study more…it is where the intense studying happens for entrance exams….exams that get you into the best kindergarten, elementary, high school and university…! Kids as young as 3 and 4 years old attend cram school. Saturdays and Sundays also have club sports and activities and students must wear their school uniform when on public transportation! Wow!

Phew….all caught up on the blogs! Enjoy the photosJ

A blast of the past in Hiroshima!

Saturday April 23, 2011

A blast of the past in Hiroshima!

Fortunately, I felt better this morning with the body aches minimal and I woke the earliest I have in Japan at 7:15am to get out the door by 7:45am on the subway station to the main train station where I would get on the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Hiroshima. Many of us know that this Hiroshima is the first place in history where an atomic bomb was detonated killing about 200,000 people in the area back in 1941.

Anyway, I am so happy with my purchase of a Japan Rail Pass. This type of pass can only be purchased outside of the country by foreigners. You can buy 7, 14 and 21 day passes and I bought a 7 day pass for about $360. This is a lot of money but many people told me it was worth it for both the experience and price! The train itself is so sleek looking and pulls up like a quiet snake. It then travels over 200 miles an hour to get to your destination with local stops in between at major cities. Simply amazing…and I wonder if the USA or Australia ever initiated a building of such a transportation feat-what would it do to the country??!! You can reserve a seat however if there are no more spots in the reserved seat there are non-reserved seats where it’s a first come first served basis. The trains have food cart services, telephones, restrooms, ample baggage storage, comfortable recline chairs and electric sockets at each seat! Price wise, I learned that one point to point ticket from Osaka to Hiroshima is about $120 alone so I guess the ticket pays itself off with just a few trips I am planning to take.

Hiroshima, like Kyoto, appeared to be a very well visited place by tourists and locals since the maps and information booths were very well facilitated. I walked to the “A bomb Dome” site which is where the bomb detonated right above this building and left some of the walls still standing incredibly….around this site is Peace Memorial Park – so quite, peaceful and reflective with a number of memorials and a wonderful free museum you can visit too. A tram runs through the town and I got on that to get to the ferry port to arrive to get to MIYAJIMA, an island 10 minutes on a boat that is typical in Japanese small town community and culture.

Again, many families here. I was amused by the free reigning deer all over the place. They are wild and eat everything including paper so there were warnings about keeping your tickets and passport close by. A beautiful shrine protudes from the water that welcomes you into the little island and you can take a small row boat out to the shrine itself. There are many temples and more shrines as well as a gondola to the top peak of the mountain at around 500 meters high. I ended up just walking around and enjoying the scenery, people and stores. The island is known for making manju here filled with all kinds of flavors but the popular one being smooth red bean paste. I also tried my first Japanese pizza/pancake. Its hard to explain…but I’ll try: OKONOMIYAKI is a crepe base, topped with heaps of cabbage, 2 slices of bacon, noodles (this was the special added item in this area and every region has a different twist to their okonomiyaki) and then a cracked cooked egg on top…Lastly drizzled with this sweet soya sauce and topped with sprinkles of red crunchy ginger seasoning….wow! how’s that?!!!!! Very interesting combination tastes that’s for sure!!!!!

Anyway, I left the island around 4pm and then Hiroshima at 6:15pm on the Shinkansen after checking out some of the shops in the area including the 100 yen shop! I got home back to the house around 9pm after picking up some food from the supermarket. At home, I was greeted to a farewell dinner party by my friend since it was my last night in Osaka …. Hahaha just kidding! My friend Adam had some friends over and it was really fun to talk to them in English. All of them were Japanese men and I was so impressed with how eager and willing they were to speak to me and learn more English! I hear that the people in Osaka are known to be very friendly indeed and louder or should I say more voiced than people in other parts of Japan. I have had a great time in Osaka and am grateful to have stayed with friends and have such a local experience there. I also feel like such a local now as well at the local grocery store and feeling comfortable with a lot of the train lines in Osaka….But tomorrow…I’m Nagoya bound!

Memoirs of a Geisha or Kyoto!

Friday April 22, 2011

Memoirs of a Geisha…and Kyoto

I had a bit of a restless night of sleeping with bad body aches and joint pain. My friend’s daughter has been ill with a fever and cold so am wondering if I got a little bit of something from her. Now you can all laugh at me but I am actually really paranoid that I have dengue fever!!!! From Bangladesh….I exhibit no signs of a cold but my body is so sore and I am so very tired. I slept for ten hours the night before and woke up tired and needing to urge myself on to get out of bed and dressed ready for the day. I had planned to head on a local train with my friend’s wife to the small and quaint nearby city of Kyoto by local train. It had been nearly 5 years since her last visit there and she wanted to visit a particularly popular temple…of course, I welcomed her wanting to come with open arms. She asked her mother to come over to babysit while we went on our outing. It is so fun practicing Japanese with Yorioko. She is an absolute delight and I know will thrive in Australia when her and the family make the planned move down under next year. Together, we learn each other’s culture and language with the translating dictionary ready at hand. I am so excited for her. The train took around 1 hour to get to and as we got out of the station were greeted with light rain – my first in Japan.

Walking down the streets, I could tell the city was a well visited spot by tourists and locals alike. There are many many temples and shrines throughout the city and the one that Yorioko wanted to visit was one of the most popular that overlooks the city. One particular street we walked down was well known for geisha houses and I was fortunate enough to see quite a few “Meikos” around. The difference I learned is that “meiko” simply wears the traditional dress and make up and a “geisha” dresses and performs all the traditional skills.

I was surprised that there were sooooo many different aged school children around (wearing their cute uniforms). Yorioko said that they were most probably visiting from various parts of Japan all over the country. Now with the Shinkansen (bullet train) that is no surprise! The rain got heavier as the day wore on but we continued walking up towards the temple passing many local stores selling traditional pickled vegetables, green tea and geisha dolls. Each day I also get to try new Japanese foods made helpful with Yorioko there. Today I tried a steamed vegetable Manju flour bun. Very tasty and served with green tea. In fact, all places you eat at will always give you a clean hand towel to wipe down your face and hands, as well as a glass of water or green tea! I love it!

The temple was very crowded with heavy foot traffic mainly of school children. I continued enjoying taking photos of the students posing for photos since I find their uniforms adorable and their well known poses with a peace hand sign fun to capture on camera. The shrine had holy water that came out of a well which you could wash your hands with. I wanted to take Yorioko to lunch in Kyoto but we had to get back home in time so her mother could get to her work (Japanese restaurant) on time to prepare the food for the night’s business. I ended up getting some ramen noodles and sushi on the way home for us to eat, but bear in mind that their ramen selection is phenomenal and sushi quality probably better than ours in stores like a “7 Eleven”. We got home around 3 pm for a late lunch and I was so tired again that I showered and slept for 3 more hours – my body still aching. I woke around 8pm to watch some tv than slept again for the night. My plan the next day was to wake early (7am!) and head out to the main station to catch the bullet train to Hiroshima a day’s adventure.

The next station is Umeda..Umeda!

Thursday April 21, 2011

After my friend got home from work last night (he is an English teacher and does private lessons each day that get him home between 8 and 9 pm each night), we headed to Namba town for dinner. His daughter was not feeling well so his wife stayed home. I had seen Namba during the day with its 3 miles of shopping malls and knew the strip would light up at night to be a fun place.

I was not mistaken as the neon signs glowed from every shop and street corner with advertising, karaoke, clubs, restaurants and more. We were going to have a sushi dinner night and started at what looked like a super local joint with the traditional style of the sushi being made right behind the counter you are sitting in. I won’t lie…the sushi was really good. Now sushi in the US and Australia has been altered and the traditional type of sushi is simply raw fish and rice wrapped in seaweed. We ate cheek tuna and salmon, as well as egg. Adam said this place was really good quality sushi and he should have taken me to it last since the next sushi place we were going to try was a “sushi train” type restaurant. These types of sushi train restaurants are typically cheaper and after our first place, I could definitely tell the quality of sushi was different by looking at the cuts of fish. It was still fun though….

I’m lucky to have a lot of my questions answered by Adam since he’s lived here for 11 years now and I know I will continue asking questions to my other friends that I stay with during my trip in Japan. I asked about prostitution….and he said that there’s certain levels of it that progress. For example, there is a bar where there are girls that will sit and talk to you, then another place where it goes a little further and they are topless, and you get the idea with the continuation of levels. There is a house near the apartment that is on the corner and stunning too….when I asked about it, both Adam and Yorioko smiled and looked at each other knowingly answering that it was owned by the Japanese mafia??!!! Yes! They are existent and the police never touch them simply because it has been a tradition that they have been here for centuries! They run everything from normal business shops, restaurants to the trades that are illegal!

After dinner we headed to his friend’s bar that was on the 4^th floor of one of thousands of buildings in the Namba area. Its amazing because Adam says there are bars like this all over the city and I just wonder how you find places like that but I guess its when you have a friend of a friend of a friend that knows the place and shows you and the cycle continues to keep the joint running. The bar was really cool and we ended up staying there talking story with some of the people in there and the bartender/owner.

We got a cab back home at around 3am about 10 minutes away and I noticed that all the cab drivers are elderly men (seriously looking like in their 60s and 70s) who are dressed very well in suits and their cars are immaculately polished and clean. The late night meant I woke up late as well at 10am and my plan to head to another district called Umeda was quickly getting dismissed as I ate a late brunch, met Yorioko’s mother who came over and took a nap with baby Tiffany who was still a little bit sick so didn’t go to school. After the nap, I finally got the motivation to head out and it was definitely a warmer day than the last two…..sunny as well! Umeda is a very busy station known as a real travel hub. I am starting to get a feel for all their train lines and learning how to buy a ticket from the machine. To do so, you have to work out on the map how much your ticket will cost and then insert your money first. I try to ask station staff and they have so far been so helpful with good English. Umeda---like I said, a huge hub and that meant sooo many people (plus I think it was people going home from work and school). So many retail shopping stores again which to be honest, quickly got old for me. The sales assistants were sooo incredibly beautiful dolled up as every just like their female customers. I am continually impressed! This shopping complex had a ferris wheel on the top (9^th floor) so I headed up there to check out the view.

I walked and walked and walked around enjoying the green trees planted around the giant buildings to add some ambience at least to the area. I then headed over to “The Floating Garden”, and this is a building 36 floors high with an observation deck. There are two buildings and they are joined by a walkway at the 33^rd floor. I didn’t want to pay the observation deck fee plus it was getting late so I just took the elevator for a ride and the incredible view and then checked out the gift store up top before coming back down. There is a restaurant at the observatory, which I could imagine is a popular place for couples. It was not busy at all though during my time there. The view made me realize even more how big Osaka is…and I haven’t even been to Tokyo yet!!!!

I found a bathroom in the bottom floor of the building and again was baffled in delight with the whole contraption. Next time, I want to take a video. This was a public toilet and super clean! I decided to just press all the buttons for fun. There is a voice that talks to you in Japanese and I have no idea what she is saying. I think I got the hang of the whole thing and am understanding the controls now too. So, to start of you walk into the cubicle, you can clean the seat with this sanitizer that is dispensed. Adam also says there are some home toilets that will sensor your entrance into the area and lift the toilet seat up for you! Ok, so after sterilization, you can warm the seat up with a temperature control, you do your thing and you can put a waterfall sound on during this time, then you wave a sensor to flush the toilet. You can then get your bottom washed with a water that sprays up, then you can dry the area, and then spray a fragrance in the air….pretty impressive right!!!!! I think I’ll just end up going into toilets now without even needing to goJ

The train ride home was easy as well and pretty busy. Adam says that there are actually people hired to push and pack the people onto the train in the mornings during rush hour! The school children’s uniforms are soooo smart and adorable – I just want to make them into figurines and want to try and take some photos of them without looking like a creepo! Hahaha! We had home made pizza for dinner and I think I will try and head to bed at a decent hour tonight so I can waker up earlier and plan a trip out to Kyoto or Nara tomorrow!