Osaka

Yes, it has been a month & I have not yet told you about my trip to Osaka. Yesterday I got a CD from the friends I was with & so now I will write about it!

I left early on Saturday morning taking the train to Fukuoka. There, I used the subway to get to the Japan Railroad (JR) station at Hakata. Let me explain: My local train, the one that is not even a five minute walk from my house, is a privately owned train company, Nishitetsu. They own a lot of trains, buses and hotels, but mostly only in my prefecture, Fukuoka. To really travel, you need to get on the JR--they are the ones with the Shinkansen!

The Shinkansen is the bullet train. The train leaves Fukuoka city and travels north making only 5 or 6 stops before Osaka. It is a 2 1/2 trip but Shinkansen, but 6 hours by car! I had a window seat & fell asleep easily because the train was so smooth, even travelling at 300kph (186mph).

The train seats 2 people on one side and three on the other. Both sets of seats, left and right, will swing around so that you are facing the direction the train is going (this is common on the trains here--makes me sad for those taking New York commuter trains everyday and facing the wrong way).

In Osaka I met up with my friend Kathrina and her coworker, Tom. They had flown in the day before (Friday). They were there on business so their company had put them up at the Ritz Carlton (nice!). I met Kathrina while travelling in Africa 5 years ago. We travelled through Eastern Africa together and had a great time.

After arriving, we headed to Osaka castle. It was my job to be tour guide. While I don`t know that much Japanese, I know enough to navigate a city. This was especially helpful because it seemed to me that Osaka had less English written on signs compared to Fukuoka. We took the train to the castle & then slowly made our way through the park to the castle.

The park is huge and the castle is gorgeous. The walls are high and made of stone. There are moats with water and without water. The castle is so high that it can be seen from different areas around the city (if your view isn`t blocked by one of Osaka`s many skyscrapers!).

We visited a shrine on the way up and Kathrina dropped Y5 in the box in front for good luck. Five is considered good luck and as I didn`t have a five or 50 yen coin, I didn`t drop anything in. There was also no bell to ring after you dropped the coin, but we pretended there was.

Before we entered the castle, we had coffee & marvelled at the zillion vending machines that exist in Japan. Both Tom & Kathrina were amazed that they had not been vandalized. The machines are immeculately clean. Kathrina laughed really hard when started meowing at her as it dispensed her water. Later, it made seagull noises.

Tom took a picture of Kathrina & I posing in in wood cut-outs. You can see the castle in background.

The castle has a lot of gold on the outside. Very nice. It has been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times; the most recent time was during WWII when the US was bombing Japan.

Then we took a boat ride on the Osaka canals. Not very interesting though, too many modern buildings. I took a nap. After the ride, we had takoyaki. It is a doughy treat that has pieces of octopus (tako) cooked in it. It was really amazing to watch the balls be cooked: the people doing the cooking have to quickly turn and return the balls so they do not burn. The dough is poured into a pan with lots of round molds that are very close together (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takoyaki). I do not think Takoyaki is not all that good, but it is fun to eat with friends.

We met up with more people that Kathrina & Tom were working with that night. There was the photographer and his assistant (both Germans) and the producer, a Aussie who came down from Tokyo and speaks really good Japanese. That made things easier for me--no on the spot thinking for me unless I wanted to!

For dinner we had Okonomiyaki, a dish Osaka is known for (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okonomiyaki). It is a weird omelet-pizza kind of thing. Flour and eggs are mixed together and the thrown on a grill. Then toppings are added and a little more of the egg and flour mix is thrown on top. Both sides are cooked for a bit of time (more than 10 mins!). It is cut in pieces and served with a couple of different things on top. It is good and filling.

The next day, everyone else had to work, so I slept. I figure, all told, I slept about 12 hours. But you would have too in that bed! And those wonderful pajamas, too!

I eventually got up and wandered around the area and met the others when they finished work. We had shabu shabu for dinner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabu_shabu). This meal entails a big pot of boiling water that people put food (meat, vegetables, tofu, mushrooms) to cook and then eat. This was followed by a visit to an Aussie bar where we sat outside and drunkenly watched the drunken Japanese stumble by (and sometimes fall!). The next day was a holiday so many people were taking advantage of it!

Hungover boy, made it early to the station the next morning. I always wake up early when I have to travel. I bought okonomiyaki snacks as gifts for people back home (called omiyagi). I boarded the Shinkansen and fell asleep again!