Osaka

Dear diary:

Yesterday I met Abby from Liverpool and Grace from Essex. That's the highlight.

In more detail... I'm on a train back to Tokyo from Kyoto right now. I still have a couple hours to go. I'm sad to leave. It's been a fun trip. Great way to get away. The weather is finally nice. Very nice. Summer-anime nice. I got window seat. Everything looks amazing. I just had delicious food. Had dessert, too. I gave up on trying to avoid sugar while on the trip. Bring all the yummies. Nom-nom. I can't even begin to describe  what I ate. There was sashimi-like thing that basically just ate the fish off of. I had enough rice. I had a rice-ball for breakfast. Great idea. Costs a buck. Mostly rice but has pieces of salmon in it. Finally had a bowl of veggies as well. I miss veggies.

That being said, yesterday I woke up earlier. Around 06:00 this time and went for a run. It was my second day doing this. I really miss having East-facing windows. It makes me a happier person. I love waking up to feeling of being immersed in sunlight.  Everything is quiet and serene. I haven't woken up this refreshed in a long time.

So, I went for a run. Just down to the park a block away behind the Nintendo building. I stretched and did a couple laps there. I did cart-wheels and 360 rotations in the middle of the jog, too. Felt so good to use my shoulders again. I've been walking a lot and not using my arms at all besides to hold chop-sticks. Definitely doing the travelling rings when I get back.

When I got back to the apartment Alan and Annmarie were already leaving. They decided to go see Hiroshima. Bria was still in bed and I needed to take a shower. I bid them a happy day and got ready to leave. With blogging etc. Bria was able to catch up and we set out for Osaka.

I had purchased tickets for a Bunraku (traditional Japanese puppet show) for 16:00 and just needed to pass the time until then. Bria and I took the train into Osaka. I wanted to hit up a viewing deck on a nearby tower and she wanted to go see the Aquarium. I didn't think I had the time for the fish because the National Bunraku Theatre was an hour away and it was already 12:30. Good call on my part. So I walked over to this beautiful mall with what they called "hanging gardens". There were gardens outside of the awesome building. And there was a suspended sky deck. But the gardens weren't hanging. Oh well. The elevator shaft was transparent. Going up to 37th floor and watching it happen is breathtaking.

Upstairs the view was great. My only comment is that the viewing floor only had windows facing South and North, and the roof had a 10-meter gap between the viewers and roof edge. So I couldn't look at things down. In case you didn't know, Osaka is located at the edge of Japan and has many rivers going through it. It's quite beautiful. Sadly though, the visibility isn't all that. I got some pictures but they weren't as good as the ones in Tokyo. I had a good conversation with a Japanese-looking German guy who spoke English with a British accent. As for what to do next, I still had a couple hours left, so I thought I would make it to the Osaka Castle Park and then head down to the Theatre, since the Castle Park was sort-of on the way.

I walked. We have a JR (Japanese Rail) pass but it doesn't cover subway costs. Everything in Osaka required taking the subway. Google Maps said it would take 43 minutes. I made it there in 30. Beautiful park. Great castle. Not very large, but it was on a mount and had only a couple of access points. Looked very medieval. Or, you know, the way it would in Age of Empires II. The entrance cost was 600 yen or ~$5.50. So cheap. It was kept in much better condition than the castle in Switzerland last year and that one was 12 CHF or ~$12.

There was a long line outside with clear signs saying that the line can be skipped if you walk. I walked. The exhibits weren't very good. I wanted a view, but all of the inside was modernized. All of the interesting floors had a no-photo policy. All of the tourists crowded around the samurai armour but I still remember what they're like from that time LACMA (Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art) had an exhibit. I just kept making circles on every floor then going up to the next one.

And that's where I met Grace. I saw her reading a letter or something and I asked if she spoke English. She said yes, in this thick accent. It was British but I couldn't tell which British. I asked if she was heading up or down. It was the 3rd floor out of 8 so technically a good amount of time to spend with someone if they're going in the same direction. She said "up". "Can I join you?" I inquired. "Of course" she replied. :P

Actually that's where the story ends. She started reading the next letter. I've read them all. She was really taking her sweet time reading them. Once she was done she took out the phone and called someone. At this rate I was going to miss the Bunraku performance. I couldn't have that. So I wished her a good day and went on.

There wasn't much after that. The exhibits got worse, but the story of the castle made more sense. When I got to floor 7 I found a sign that said "start on floor 8 then work your way down." ... Really? Now you tell me?! Oh well. I took photos from the balcony on the 8th floor then went down. I hoped to see Grace again on the way down, but no such luck. I looked up directions to the Theatre and realized I better start walking. I was barely going to make it.

I pressed on. Walking through Osaka was very memorable. It looked like a city I'd like to live in. The navigation in my phone suggested I take certain back alleys. I'm so glad it did. I saw kids going home from school. I saw kids going to the store. I saw kids! I miss kids! There was this 5-year old girl going to the grocery store, getting something and then walking back. So awesome. I felt more welcome there than I do in the US. Nobody was walking on the street staring at me like I'm creepy or something.

Side note: I'm so fed up with the US culture of fear. People talk about all sort of "culture" that's prevalent, but the only one that stands out to me is fear. Nationalism: fear of people with different culture. Rape-culture: fear of not being in control of one's body. Restricting parks to parents and children:  fear of losing babies. Political-correctness: fear of getting sued. Racism: fear of change. Sexism: fear of change. Feminism: fear of no change. Everything in the media: fear of not fitting in.

Existential tangents aside I made it to the theatre with 4 minutes to spare and rushed in to find my seat before the show started.  I was so pressed on time I didn't think to try to get English audio aid or something. I also didn't realize I was watching Part II of the story. It was highly advised, as I found out later, to read Part I beforehand. So, with all that in mind, understand that I hated it.

If you end up going to something like that, go to the theatre exhibit where they explain what to look for etc. Because from my foreign perspective, here's what I saw. There was a man sitting off to the side who was reading a story from a book. They put inflection at the end of every word/syllable so it just all sounded a monotonous mix of letters. There was a guy sitting next to him playing a Japanese music instrument akin to a 4-string guitar. They were in sync. On the stage, there were puppeteers holding complex dolls. It took 3 people per doll. Most of the time they just stood around. The story was just narrated. This went on for 2 hours and then it ended. 0.o

I kept falling asleep and waking up. I wanted to leave so badly. But I thought it was only an hour long and at $60 I wanted to see if it got better. It didn't. I was miserable the entire time. Most of the puppeteers wore black hoods so they weren't very noticeable but the people doing the heads didn't have head covered themselves. And they had no facial expressions. The dolls didn't either. I thought they all sucked. Then I realized that it was just most of them who sucked because one of the puppeteers was actually pretty good. He moved the hand of the puppet in a natural fashion. He shook the head and actually made his puppet blink here and there. Mostly importantly, he moved the damn thing when his character was being narrated about. Everyone else just stood there. It was horrible. The more I think about it the more I just want to tell them how stupid it all was.

So the reason why I even went was because I saw an amazing video online of Bunraku to the next level. It was a tennis game with the scene moving up, down, rotating 180 degrees so we got top-down views. The puppeteers moved ping-pong balls in a natural fashion, and the background was black, so they weren't visible. It was awesome. I wanted that level of amazement. I was so disappointed. :(

I got out of there around 18:00 and wanted to meet up with the gang. Bria said she was done with the meal, felt tired and was going home. Alan and Annmarie weren't even in Osaka yet. I was going to go to another viewing deck but was closing at 18:30. The only item on my list that was still open was the aquarium and that's where I went.

Navigation said it would take me 34 minutes but I made it there in more like 23. Fast walking, yo. When I was almost there I saw the sun setting over the horizon. SO BEAUTIFUL. Damn. I wanted to run out at the next station and watch it more. Actually, that's what I did. I got out and kept going in the direction of the sun so I could catch the last glimpse. I decided to be rational and made sure that it was also in the direction of the aquarium. And... I missed it. :( But luckily I got the tickets for the Ferris Wheel as well. What luck that two of those things were in the same place.

The aquarium was nice. There was mystic or magical music playing. Very uplifting. However most of the lights were off and the animals were going to sleep. Yes, animals. Dolphins, beavers, sea lions etc. It was too dark to take photos. :( BUT. And this is the-but. I ran into Grace. Her and her friend Abby. They were Abby from Liverpool and Grace from Essex. I asked if I can join them on the aquarium adventure and they agreed. This time I had no place to rush to so I spend the next two hours with them.

I know I'm going to sound cliche, but they were beautiful. Grace was drop-dead gorgeous. I've seen girls like that on YouTube. They do exist. I don't even know what to say. We looked at sea creatures together. Abby had a bad on a ring finger so I didn't pay her too much attention. Except, I think I probably spoke to her more. She was the extravert. Grace was an introvert. Into anime. History buff. 5'4" with a hot-and-messy look. I didn't get a photo nor exchanged info, so I can romanticise her as much as I want and nobody can prove me wrong. :P

I touched fish. They got a photo of it. I took photos of them, with their camera. We stayed till closing. Gift shop was closed but they insisted on getting something so they went up to a keychain vending machine and bought a bunch there. They had like 40 keychains on their purse. All that from today. Quite impressive. I was looking for fridge magnets.

While at the aquarium they were running around. I thought they wanted to lose me, but I double checked and no. They said it was fine. After everything we were walking and I stopped by a store and found them waiting outside. Aw. I made it in. <3 LOL.

We went on the Ferris Wheel together. Sat in the same cabin and talked about anime etc etc. I told them about my fear of heights. They told me about their hopes and aspirations. Turns out I was the only one in that cart who has cosplayed. We took a photo together. They took one of us as well. The lighting was terrible which is why I only have a vague outline.

We parted soon after. I had to get the train and transfer and they kept going. They had plans the next day to go to Universal Studios early and I needed to pack for Tokyo. I should have given them my card. I regret not staying in touch. I'm legitimately curious how the rest of their trip is going to go.

Regrets aside, this is the tangent where I want to thank YT:Simple Pickup for really driving the point across of telling yourself to "shut the fuck up" when negative thoughts arise. Grace is stunning and I caught myself thinking I wasn't somehow not good enough to spend time with for her. But I quickly told myself that it's her decision to make, not mine. That's why I came up to her. That's why I had a good time yesterday.

The rest is as they say "history". Took the local train home. It look longer than expected to come to Kyoto. Ran to the apartment since I didn't feel like waiting for yet another train. Slept well for 6 hours. Woke up 05:50. Didn't see the sunrise but was pretty darn close to it. Went for another run/stretch out in the park. Got back, showered and packed. The rest of the gang was still waking up. Alan had a cool story about hanging out with drunk locals.

I decided to not waste time lounging around on the last day and bolted for Tokyo.