Pre Trip

My friend Stasha has been living in Osaka for about 5 years teaching English.  I was going to visit a couple of years ago but lost touch with her.  When I was enquiring about the AsiaPass, I realized I had a friend in Japan I could visit and contacted her through a mutual friend.  I actually couldn't get a hold of her a couple of weeks before I left but finally spoke to her the morning of my flight.  I had back up plans to stay at hostels for around 3000Y/$32CAD a night.  In addition to salt and vinegar chips, coffee, and toothpaste I bought for her, she wanted North American strength deodorant (Asians don't stink) and some magazines for her and her roommate.

The Cathay AsiaPass flew out of Hong Kong so on the way out, I had to fly over Osaka and into Hong Kong, layover for 7 hours (I slept a bit in the terminal) and fly out of Hong Kong to Osaka at 3:30am.  This was over 24 hours of traveling plus the day I lost with the time difference.

Day 1

Since I was arriving early in the am, Stasha said she could meet at the airport but I indicated I could save her a trip and some sleep and meet her at the nearest train station.  Train/rail/public transit access at the airport in most major cities is usually excellent with Osaka no exception.  It was a hour and a bit ride (1160Y/$15CAD) to her nearest station, Kyobashi.  I waited an hour at the station for Stasha since she slept in but used the opportunity to people watch.  Surprisingly, people queued up for trains as I was expecting this mad rush to get a seat.

The Kyobashi area was a little east of the central/Umeda district and was a hub with 2 rail lines and 2 subway lines passing through the area.  The Osaka Business Park and theatres were nearby.  Stasha shared a three bedroom apartment with a roommate and two kittens fairly close to the railway station behind a bunch of love hotels.  You could "rest" there or stay overnight at these hotels.

The day was spent resting (more by Stasha during the day) and I took my turn at napping when Stasha had to work in the evening.

Day 2 & 3

Stasha worked from about 1pm - 6pm and 7pm - 12am at about four jobs teaching English so it was tough to get her up early to do anything.  I, on the other hand, was usually up early which is not my normal pattern.  On our first day out together, we walked over to Osaka Castle.  It was actually a re-creation of the original castle and the historic origin of Osaka.  There was an observatory level at the top with a sweeping view of the area.  One interesting point was looking at a Samuri battle dress and seeing how small they were (must have looked like a fierce midget army).  We paid money to dress in these plastic costumes and get our picture taken.

We walked around the large grounds and then took the train to Umeda (a central area) with a huge underground mall complex. We were looking for a place to eat and Stasha asked for directions from a security guard.  He then gave the directions to me so Stasha told him I didn't understand Japanese but he still continued to talk to me.  It's still a bit strange for a Japanese person to see someone white speak Japanese so even if they are speaking fluently, it may not get understood.  I guess I would have a similar reaction seeing someone white speak Cantonese or Mandarin (it's a more difficult language than Japanese).  We had dinner and rode the ferris wheel before heading home to get ready to go to the bar.  Bars were open til 8am or later so I took a quick nap before her friend came over and we taxied to the bar "Sam and Dave 5" (1800Y/$23CAD for the ride).  We didn't leave for the bar till 1am.  Cover at the bar was 2000Y/$25CAD but did include a couple of drinks.  Drinks were 500Y/$6 and there is no tipping (applies in restaurants as well).  By 5:30am, I had enough and taxied home as the sun was starting to come up.  I was a little hung over and tired the next day.  But Stasha still hadn't come home though we were planning to go to Kobe and see the Van Gogh exhibit that day.  She had partied till 1pm and ended crashing at her friend's place so the day was a write off.

Day 4

An earlier start and we trained over to Kobe to meet her friend Jo and husband Tomas to see the exhibit.  It was a holiday Monday so there was a huge line up so we decided to skip it and go into central Kobe.  Kobe was less busy but modern and clean (like most Japanese cities).  We had lunch, strolled through the shopping arcade, visited Chinatown (the cleanest Chinatown I've seen) and visited a Shinto temple before heading back.

Day 5

Stasha had to work so I went off to the world famous Osaka aquarium with a 3 storey tank housing a whale shark and other fishes. The stingrays and giant crabs were cool but the visit left me hungry for a Filet-O-Fish.  It was a bit steep at 2000Y/$25CAD to get into the aquarium. In the afternoon, I subwayed over to the Shinabashi area and walked around the long shopping arcade there.   After getting back, Stasha was surprised I wasn't impressed since I missed the running man neon sign, the giant crab and all the weird people so we went back there in the evening. There were a bunch of school girls dressed (in what I thought was Halloween costumes) but I thought they were waiting to go to a late Halloween party. Apparently, this was their normal dressing (probably protesting conformity) and the girls were just hanging out. We had a light dinner and went to the 100Y store and rushed backed before the subway shut down in the evening.  With the subway and trains running only till 12am in the evening, it's tough to do anything late without having to pay for an expensive cab ride home. But you could stay in the bar till the trains ran again which makes it a bit better than Vancouver.

Day 6

The next day, we headed into Kyoto to visit some temples. Kyoto is an older city that escaped most of the bombings from WWII and has over 2000 temples.  Our first visit was to Sanjusangen-do which housed 1001 statues of a Buddhist diety.  Pictures were not permitted.  Stasha had to return to Osaka to go to work so I explored on my own some other sites within the area.  Second destination was Kiyomizu which I took a picture of on the left.  It was crowded with busloads of tourists but was high on a hill overlooking the city.  The main hall was several stories on the side of the hill supported by huge wooden beams.  After several hours, I was templed out so I walked through the city on my way to the train station.  I had spotted some Geisha's but they disappeared before I could get my camera out.  When I returned home, Stasha was surprised I wasn't overly impressed with temple visiting and Geisha spotting.  I guess I could've paid the money to have a Geisha dance for me, light my cigarettes and laugh at my jokes....now that would have been an experience.

Day 7

For my last night in Japan, I wanted a fugu (poisonous blowfish) dinner.  The chefs need to be specially trained and licensed to remove the poisionous organs and not leave poison on the rest of the meat.  Since Stasha had to work briefly in the evening, we found a place that would stay open late for us and was also close to her place.  Stasha phoned me after she was done to meet me there and I ended waiting almost an hour for her.  While I was waiting, the restaurant owners were talking to me in Japanese, though I couldn't understand what they were saying. I knew it was "Where is your friend?, Do you have the right restaurant? Do you want to call her? We're closed right now..."  As I was going to leave and pay my bill, Stasha showed up.  Apparently, she had been stopped in a police bicycle check and was being hassled since she didn't have her passport.  Dinner was sort of a Mongolian hot pot where we cooked the fugu ourselves in a boiling pot of water at our table with the fish, mushrooms, vegetable and vermicelli.  When we finished our meal, the broth was turned into soup and mixed with rice.  Since I survived, I guess it was a good meal. The bill came to 10500Y/$135CAD and Stasha wanted to tip them since it was only 3 hrs past their closing time. After insisting they take a tip, the final bill came to 12000Y/$153CAD

Final Notes

Yes, Japan is a land of contrasts. Men in business suits on the train and purple haired old ladies. Impolite to blow your nose on the train but ok to shoot it out of your nose on the street. School kids in uniforms: boys with runners and girls in skirts and leg warmers (haven't seen a leg warmer since the 80's)

Some things I was expecting, face masks worn with people with colds and some surprises, people actually queuing up for trains and letting people out (I was told the pushing and shoving only happens in Tokyo). Coloring your hair (red or brown) seems pretty popular (and actually looks pretty good that even I'll consider it though I'd grow out of it in 2 weeks). The school girl look was popular with miniskirt and fishnets (gotta like that).  Digital camera cellphones were also popular.

What I loved about Japan is the low crime though it is a contrast that people lock their bikes.  I would assume with so many bikes around, it was easy to take the wrong one or borrow one for a quick trip.  Shopkeepers would hang out at the back of their stores and even big department stores didn't have cameras or security tags on their goods.

Neil's Cost of Living Index
Large Pizza delivered 3000Y/$38C
Taxi starting rate 650Y/$8C
Short subway ride 200Y/$2.50C
McDonalds meal 500Y/$6.50
Bar cover 2000 - 3000Y/$25-38
Bar drinks 500Y/$6.50
Vending machine Coke 120Y/$1.50
Movie 1800Y/$23

To Do List
Accomplished
- Eat Fugu and survive
- Spot Geisha
- Visit a Chinatown
- Visit a temple

Not Achieved
- Start fight with Yakuza member
- Find rapeman comic (ask me about this one)

Part 2: Thailand Adventure