osaka

I traveled to Osaka with my friend Michelle yesterday. We left Tokushima on a bus early in the morning and left Osaka late at night, about 10 or so. Fortunately for us, it rained lightly the entire day, and we were soaked for most of our trip. There is not much to recount, but we did have a good time. Most of our time spent was searching for places, such as a vegetarian restaurant i found online and some English pub we found in the travel book. Firstly, after much trial, we found the vegetarian place to eat lunch, and I thoroughly enjoyed my veggie ham and spinach pasta with soymilk cream sauce and my soy green tea latte, finished off with a carob and honey brownie. It reminded me of eating in the city with cynthia, and the atmosphere reminded me of vegan potlucks with friends back in binghamton. The interior was mostly wood, and country music played in the background (unlike those potlucks at amy's, when KMFDM was more likely to be played), and i actually found a honey dispenser for tea--a food anomaly in Japan. Afterwhich we walked to Osakajokoen (Osaka castle park), and after going the wrong way three times and looping every way but the right one, we finally penetrated the two inner circles, past bridges over both wet and dry moats (filled with vegetation), and entered the castlegrounds, which contained some souvenir shops and a few takoyaki (fried octopus balls) stands. The castle was magnificent to behold: green curving tiled roofs, gold lining beneath the eaves, golden tigers stalking prey above the top windows. The castle of today was rebuilt after WW2, as most of it was destroyed besides the castle walls in bombing raids. But it was meticulously modeled after the original, which was refurbished numerous times throughout history but was originally constructed on orders from Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who unified Japan after a long period of feudal wars. Although the interior was more of a high-tech museum with holograms and short movies, with the exceptional samurai sword or armor on display, it was enjoyable to be inside. After the castle, we got a bit lost again but eventually found a subway terminal, and jumped inside, as we were a bit tired, and Michelle, on account of her deformed leg and her necessary limping, had trouble walking around so much. The subway system was quite impressive, although not as hip as the NYC metrocard system, and i saw a record of no hobos, which made me disappointed, although we did see some in the Osaka railway station, one of whom had a long pointy beard and a bald head and stared straight ahead as he smacked his lips (he looked wise and i wish to look like him when i am homeless and old). The search for the English pub, humorously called "The Pig and Whistle", took a good hour or so of traipsing around the same area over and over, asking a myriad of people along the way, even French cosmetic hotel attendants and convinience store workers, and finally ended in the first good answer of the night, courtesy of a young man who worked for a downstairs bar: "It's closed. It used to be right here." After this debacle, we came upon a sign with a jolly leprechaun clutching a pint of Guiness, saying "The Blarney Stone--6th floor". Naturally, after expecting to find an English pub for an hour, we settled for Irish and dashed upstairs. We ordered pints of Guinness and I got a veggie burger (i couldnt believe i was eating a completely vegetarian veggie burger in Japan, the land of fish extract and beef bits) while Michelle got her fish and chips, which she took great joy in eating, being from England and all. We got chocolate too, because at this point, nothing else would have lifted our spirits as well. After leaving, we headed back toward the station and walked around a bit to waste time. We ended up in a luxorious Hilton hotel and i asked a woman behind the counter how much the rooms were, and if i was wearing what would be considered "smart casual"; she replied that i was not, and i then inquired if it was considered "stupid casual", which made her laugh. I also requested to see the various furnishings in the rooms and whether or not i could enjoy a cigarette with my American-style breakfast. I was feeling a bit silly at this point, probably delirious from exhaustion, and also prompted by Michelle's doubts that i would have the nerve to ask such questions. And so ended the day when we got on the bus that took us back to Tokushima, whereupon we both rode our bikes home and collapsed on our respective futons.