Osaka

So now we are in Osaka. After we found our hostels we quickly took showers, which I have never been happier to do, alone, standing up. And for most people who know me well you know that usually I dont love to shower. it was very exciting and really enjoy feeling clean. We met a brit named Ian, 23, who was traveling and also staying at our hostel and although he was leaving for Hiroshima at 11 decided to come have a drink with us. He and Yumi, the manager of The Peace House Showa, the hostel we are staying in, both recommended we go to the community bar. It was a very good thing that Ian was with us because this "bar" would have been impossible for us to find. The outside was covered with a blue tarp and the inside looked something like a run down repair shop. What anyone would bring there to be fixed I dont know. So we sit down at the bar which was perfect size. Exactly 4 bar stools. Behind the stools was a small table where two old men sat chain smoking cigarettes. One of them spoke a little english and eventually told us that the man he was with was from India and was now homeless. He told us that his homeless friend liked girls and if we wanted to be escorts for the night. We said no. No hesitation. Finally a man popped out from behind another tarp at the end of the bar. This was Momi and he was the bar owner/tender, etc. He said "Hi, Hi,Hi, Hi, Hi, Hi, Hi, Hi, Hi, Hi, Hi, yes uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh take your time, take your time, take your time, take your time." His lack of english did not help his speech impediment and it was shocking. He then asked us what we wanted to drink and then told us he only had Asahi beer on tap. So we ordered our beers, after each order he responded, "hi, hi hi hi hi hi hi ok okokok take your time take your time" "hi" in japanese means yes, though with either translation it was hilarious. He was very animated and friendly and the whole experience was just odd and ridiculous. We decided to venture off somewhere else to eat and ended up at the only place that could seat 4 of us. The restaurant spoke no english and we ended up ordered from boxes full of raw meat. Each plate we recieved had 4 small pieces of of meat on them and after we were done we were starving. After learning that each plate was 650 yen we decided to go to the 7/11 and get a rice ball to curb our hunger in a cheaper manner. We entered another bar and learned that they were doing karaoke. We sat down and participated and everyone was really nice and clapped for us and sang along until 11:30 when they gave us our bill, which included charges for songs (not mentioned prevoiusly) and literally kicked us out.

After that experience we decided to walk around and came across a red light district, 2 blocks from our hostel. When you think of a red light district you think scantaly clad girls, whores coming up to your cars, pimps in fur coats. Not in japan. It was almost like shopping for barbies. The girls were in open rooms and sat on little towels that each had Mickey Mouse or some character on it. SOme were dressed in teddies, some in nurses outfits, some in sports gear, some in pretty dresses, some with glasses, some with hats, etc. They didnt move they just sat and smiled. To each of their left sat an older woman, probably in her late 60s, early 70s, probably their grandmothers, or greatgrandmothers who were their pimps. They were the ones that hollered at the men walking by. At the beginning of the road the girls were very pretty and probably in their teens - mid 20s. The farther you walked down the street though they became older and uglier. The last few were probably mid 60s and had missing teeth. I think they were probably cheaper too. it was a very weird experience.

After looking through lonely planet and talking to people about Osaka, we decided the most important thing to see here was the aquarium. It was a great choice. The aquarium was huge and we were probably there for about 4 hours. The main attraction were the Whale Sharks, which are held in the biggest tank of any aquarium, anywhere in the world. They were pretty big but I had hoped they would be bigger. There were a ton of different, beautiful fish and I loved it because I think fish are really interesting and love to look at them but hate being in the water with them, snorkling, etc. So this was really perfect for me. Since weve been in Japan weve realized we have seen very little pda. No kissing, no groping and not much hand holding. That all changed today. Apparently there are hundreds of pda couples in japan and they all hang out at the aquarium.

We were also told that while in Osaka we had to try Takoyaki, hot dough with octopus inside. We tried them and i probably scalded my mouth for life. Im still not sure if I liked them or not because they were so hot. Over all it was a very satisfying day. Tomorrow we leave for Kobe for a night where we want to go see the cows being massaged and then we want to eat one. Hopefully this fits into our budget...? I guess we'll find out! Till next time!