Of course it was still early and most of the shops weren’t open yet but some did start to open. We looked around, did some shopping and then met up with another JET, carter. He had stayed the night before and spoke great Japanese so it was a relief that someone could help us if we needed help. As lunch time approached we began to look for a place to eat. We came across this pizza place that looked decent. I know what you are thinking, pizza in Japan? Turns out it was an all you can eat for 1,000 yen and all you can drink for an additional 500 yen so it was a really good deal! I had pizza, potato salad, curry and rice..oh and beer! Haha. It wasn’t too bad for the price we paid! After lunch we met up with another Jet, Joel, who is also from Hawaii! By this time it was 2 already so we went to check in to the hotel. So before this weekend I had heard something about the hotel we were going to be staying at which is a capsule hotel. From the pictures I saw online I was pretty freaked out even before we got to the hotel! Basically the beds are in the wall like a morgue. They are divided into men’s and women’s quarters and you share a room with 15 other people. You ask about privacy? Well you do get a little curtain that you can slide to close the capsule. This curtain is necessary for those people who would like to rent porn form the tv that is inside the capsule. Haha. You pay 100 yen and the porn comes on, at least that is what I was told!
Luckily, for 4 of us, we had a special room for 4. The beds were still in the wall but at least you were in the same room with people whom you knew! While we were in the hotel, another Jet showed up named Justin from….Hawaii of course! It felt like a Hawaii reunion! Haha. They all were part of group B orientation which is where they met but they are all really cool so it was fun. After we got over the space flight sleeping arrangements we went back out into the city to do some more shopping. We went to H&M which had some pretty good deals! I bought a shirt to go out that night and some underwear. The part of Osaka we were at is pretty famous especially for the amount of people who go there. When we were standing on a bridge looking straight ahead, you could just see a bed of people as far as the eye can see. It is insane the amount of people in the city. After a few more hours of shopping we head to dinner at this Mediterranean restaurant near our hotel. A few of us head to the restaurant while a few stay back to wait for another Jet who was just getting in. The restaurant had a really cool “modern” vibe to it and by the amount of foreigners there is looked like it was very much a gaijin locale. The restaurant was called Absinthe and it served Absinthe. Carolina, Joel and Carter decided to order it. The fact that it was illegal in the states until recently made me decide that I didn’t want to get one. But they did and the show was pretty entertaining. They poured the absinthe over a cube of sugar and then lit the sugar cube on fire. When it was melted they poured it into the absinthe and then poured water in the glass. When they tried it, it only confirmed that I had made the right choice. The drink was really strong and it took Carolina some time to finish it. Haha. I went with beer instead :-) The others arrived and we ordered. The food was all really good and after we decided to get some Hookahs! It had been a while since I had some but It was really good until it stopped working properly and the smoke got really rough. After our hookahs we headed back to the hotel to get ready for a night out on the town!
This is where is gets interesting. The Japanese Onsen. I had been talking to my fellow Jets about the onsen all day. I was worried that I would be “uncomfortable” at the onsen because the first thing you do when you go in is…strip. All your clothes. Everything. Yeah. I wasn’t worried about the act of being naked in public because we all have the same parts right? What did worry me was the fact that I wasn’t like all the other men in the onsen….get it? Matt said it was like him being in a bathroom with all women….exactly my point. All the guys went in because if you wanted to shower, you had to use the onsen so I could either go out smelling like the sweat from being in the hot humid weather of Osaka or I could man up and get naked. I got naked, but not before I got a small towel to at least help cover me a little bit. At an onsen you are supposed to shower first and then get into the onsen which is like a hot tub. So I picked a corner and starting showering, surrounded by about 15-20 naked men. You sit at this little plastic bench and shower.
After I showered I went into the hot tub for what seemed a life time but in reality it was only about 5 minutes. I thought to myself this is enough, I am clean enough. Haha. So I get out, dry myself and head upstairs to change. That was my first onsen experience. I had read some stories of onsens and I am glad that I don’t stand out as much as a white guy would so I didn’t get a lot of awkward stares but still it was weird. Lol. After everyone got dressed and ready to hit the town we left the hotel to find a place to drink and dance. We decided on this club called Pure that had an all you can drink special. The cover for guys was 4,000 yen and 2,500 for the ladies. When we first got there it wasn’t too crowded and they were playing music from the 90’s. But as the night progressed the music got better, or my judgment got worse because of the alcohol, but in any case it was better. After being at the club for what seemed an eternity, most of us felt like we had taken advantage of the all you can drink, so we went to a karaoke place. We got a room for an hour and sang to songs like “We are the Champions” and of course Michael Buble! Haha. After Karaoke we met up with the rest of the people and headed back to the hotel. At this point I believe my judgment was really clouded because I decided to go to the onsen…..I mean I was drenched in sweat so I thought it would help me sleep better! Plus there was only like 3 people there so I felt more comfortable. After a quick shower and dip in the hot tub I went up to my space capsule. It was pretty comfortable because I went straight to sleep and woke up the next morning.
After we checked out, the group split up with some people going home and others to different places in the city. Jocelyn and I decided to go see Osaka castle and it was a really good thing we did go. I mean it was definitely a workout but it was worth it. The castle and the area around it are very scenic so it was a nice change from being surrounded by tall buildings. After a tour of the castle we went to the train station where we met Carolina and headed back home! It was an exciting but exhausting weekend!
For more Osaka photos, visit http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2076387&id=40804678&l=88fb9bc50c
No comments:
Post a Comment