I arrived in Osaka from Sydney at 11.30pm, 16th October, so you’re probably wondering why it has taken me 2 months to write about all my amazing, delicious, and bewildering time in Japan – I was tied up with South East Asia OK? I have a good excuse!
Right, so, I checked into my accommodation at the Chuo Hotel. I had a private room, sweet with the smell of straw from the traditional tatami mat and nice and cool from the air con. In the moment of extreme tiredness and confusion over how to perform the whole shower ritual in Japan, I mistook a different hotel as mine after popping out for sushi and pocari sweat (?!) and got into a long painful conversation of how to use the facilities and the robe etc I was equipped with. My frustration of the man (so I thought) not understanding me turned into embarrassment as I realized it was not the hotel I was staying at! I have to say that it was not nearly as stressful as finding that every button on a Japanese toilet does something crazy, some do strange and disturbing things to your nether-regions, others make constant swishing sounds, but none seemed to actually flush the damn thing!
In the morning I devoured several of these yummy little buns filled with a sweet peanutty paste then walked down to electronics central of Osaka - Den Den Town. After browsing at 20 million cameras I managed to purchase myself a sweet new Lumix for a great price. From there I caught the skytrain to the aquarium. It was a well laid out collection of flora and fauna starting above water at the forest floor and spiraled down over seven levels through mangroves and riverbeds to the ocean floor.
After a couple of hours mesmerized by the neon jellyfish and giant stingrays
I ventured back out into the 27 degree day. In the centre of the square was a fat sweaty man dressed in yellow performing magic tricks. While I watched a bit, took a couple of photos and began to wonder off he found it necessary to call out to me with his microphone and drag me into the circle of the staring audience. Luckily I was only asked to introduce myself and where I was from (it turned out he was actually from Brisbane) and not to juggle the batons!
I wandered around the streets and laughed quietly at the Melbourne Café plastic food display showing chicken parmigiana and spag bol
and then laughed loudly at the Japanised english on childrens apparel.
I got my own share when a group of school girls came up to me and said “hello!” then giggled histerically when I said “hello” back. I guess I look and sound funny too! When it got late in the afternoon I made my way up the Uedo Sky Tower and watched the sky turn from burnt orange to a beautiful deep violet and took in the stunning views of Osaka.
The next day I traveled to Kyoto. I couldn’t find my hostel – Uno House for 2 hours. I walked up and down streets and lane ways, and took my pack off several times to relieve the burn. 3 conversations and 5 broken phone calls later I arrive at a small, dingy inn riddled with wooden planks connecting the dorm rooms with the kitchen and toilets. The place was such a fire hazard though, with no escape route upstairs except a tiny stained glass window just big enough for my leg. Apart from the low cloud of cigarette smoke it was a relatively clean and friendly environment. I was sharing a room with an artist from Hungary and a guy from Canada and so went out for tonkatsu (crumbed fried pork with amazing miso sauce). After massaging out the knots in the shoulders I made a visit to the Nishi - Honaganji temple just near Kyoto train station.
I arrived just in time to see the beautiful carved doors open and the ritual chanting and gonging to begin. People from all walks of life gathered in and began to pray, It was a truly calming experience to be part of it. The next day bought on the massive of issue trying to find an ATM that would accept my Mastercard - where all my major funds were held. I spent the whole day in the pouring rain hopping from bus to bus hunting for a bank to help me out. I eventually gave up and spent the late afternoon (and my remaining yen) at the Kyoto museum and supping on hot ramen.
I headed back to Uno House for a quick shower then caught the night bus to Tokyo at 10.30pm. As I rode out of the city I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed, as Kyoto is known as the temple and geisha capital and I didn’t really manage to experience either due to being lost and poor. This just means I will have to come back and am looking forward to it already!
