Sayonara sojourns Pt 2. Takarazuka, Trains and transits

Well part two is now upon us. After Ikumi and my hospital appointment I set out on what would be my last major adventure around Japan, as such I wished to make it a biggie. In fact my idea was to go and see all my friends who were further afield so that I could say goodbye. That decision marked the start of a large amount of travelling.

First on my list however was a trip to Takarazuka (宝塚). I'm not entirely sure of the reason but I have totally fallen in love with this area and I just knew I'd regret it if I didn't manage to visit one more time. Now whilst it is a very fancy area, home to the famous Takarazuka revue, an all female theatre troupe, and many fancy buildings and restaurants, my main goal was to go back and visit Osamu Tezuka's museum.

My previous visit had been around two years earlier and I was quite taken by it then, regardless of how little I understood of the displays. I grew up watching a lot of his anime and to be honest he is not called the "Godfather of Manga" for any trivial reasons, his stuff is highly excellent. This time, armed with a much better ability to read and comprehend the Japanese language I was even more impressed with what I saw. Judging by the displays of his primary school work the man was a genius from the very beginning. 

In addition to being able to read more there were also a few extra films on in the small theatre including a very touching piece about a very friendly Ame-furi-kozou (a kind of rain demon that wears an umbrella and looks like a small child) who just wanted some rain boots. He befriends a local boy and helps him out with three requests in exchange for his rain boots. Sadly at the last minute the boy moves away and never returns the Ame-furi-kozou's help. Once he is a fully grown man (now a granddad in fact) he suddenly remembers his promise and goes through hell and high water to get back to his countryside home and present the demon with the rain boots. It had a nice simple line style and the Japanese wasn't too difficult which was great for me.

Afterwards I moved on to Osaka to get on board a night bus bound for Tokyo. I've lost count of how many times I've used that service now, though I am now a gold member so it must have been a lot. It's uncomfortable, it's tiring, but it's just so damned cheap that I can't help myself, I am my Nan's grandson it would seem.

This time, whilst my main purpose was to visit a friend, I was also very excited to be  heading into Tohoku, the northern region of Honshu, for the first time. Since I never like to do things the easiest way I got it into my head that it would be a fantastic idea to go by local train, a journey of a whopping 7 hours. Why would I do something so crazy you ask? Same reason I do everything the way I do. It was cheap. Also I thought the scenery might be nice.

The initial departure from Shinjuku went fine, if a little bleary eyed, and I arrived in Shinigawa in good time, enough time intact to actually buy breakfast. I boarded the first local train, bound for I-can't-remember-where, to begin about two hours of sitting still. I was hoping to read a bit and just spas out from tiredness but alas no such luck. A pair of Ojisans (old japanese men) sat next to me and started nattering away, so much for peace and quiet. It wasn't till I couldn't help but laugh at one of their jokes that they clicked that I understood Japanese. After a bit of a chat we realised we were off to the same place. Well that was that, I was stuck with them for the next four hours.

For the most part they were pretty interesting but once the Sake started flowing I knew I was in trouble as the conversation began to get steadily more and more unintelligible. I'd love to say that I did the right think and stuck it out but alas I am a bad man and ditched them on the third train transfer. I was tired, hungry and in no mood to try and decipher their slurs. I stepped out a little bit before Fukushima, grabbed a bento, played a bit of UFO catcher and just generally chilled for an hour or so before getting back on board for Sendai.

I think even if you know very little about Japan you have at least heard the name Sendai before as it is the capital of Miyagi prefecture, the area that was worst effected by the great Tohoku earthquake of 2011. I have to say I knew pretty soon when I had crossed the border into Tohoku as I was suddenly surrounded by vast seas of green, boundless nature. It is such a contrast to the urban sprawl that dominates central Honshu and I think had it not of been for a combination of the quake and a busy work schedule I think I would have made the journey sooner and more frequently. 

Right that is your lot for today. Next time I'll talk about what I actually got upto in Sendai.

Mata neee

Testing Testing 123

Once again I’ve been neglecting to write in this blog and I’ll be honest it is the same reason as always. I’m rapidly learning that a picture is worth a thousand words because the figures for my paper are taking for-ev-er to get right. Furthermore I was locked away in the bowels of hell (the Spring8 experimental hall I kid) for a good nine days doing crazy things with x-rays. As you can imagine not much time for anything else.

In fact there has been one more thing that has been keeping me busy the past few months. A fair while ago I had decided that my Japanese language progression was getting a bit stale and so as an incentive to do better I enrolled myself into this July’s Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT). There are several levels (1-5) of difficulty with N1 being the most difficult test and N5 being the easiest. I felt that the N3 would present enough challenge without being overwhelmingly difficult given my limited time resources.

This was way back in like April however and sadly I didn’t take the studying too seriously, due to other workloads, so by the time June came around I realized I’d done almost no studying. Panic! Well actually no. Stress is nothing new to me these days and in all honesty there was nothing really riding on this exam than my own pride. I guess I should look at things more seriously than that but if I failed I failed and I was the only one to answer to.

Either way I had spent 1 or 2 hours a day practicing kanji and switched any of my personal reading to Japanese. I felt that might give me a bit of a chance on the vocabulary and read sections at least. As for the listening section? Well Kansai-ben is way more incomprehensible than standard Japanese and I’m even getting the hang of old man Japanese these days so I was confident with my listening comprehension.

On July 7^th (yup a Sunday) the big day finally arrived and I made the arduous journey to Kwansei University, Nishinomia campus where I would be sitting the exam. This meant about 3 hours of travelling by train and bus with a large number of transfers. Still I guess all the hustle and bustle distracted me from any potential exam nerves, though I’ve always been a bit zen just before exams, since there is not much you can do on the day anyway.

The University itself is one of the oldest, and richest, private universities in the area and all that money really shows. The campus is really impressive with pristine, neatly mown lawns and well refurbished beige bricked buildings I almost felt like I’d wandered into an Ivy league university.

As I arrived I started to feel the buzz of nervous tension from the other examinees waiting to enter the halls. I was like being in the final year of university all over again. I think it is fair to say that the vast majority of examinees were from south east asia and many groups of friends were huddled together chattering in their own languages. It’s times like this that it really hit’s home just how small a minority native English speakers really are in Japan. The weirdest part for me was observing friends of different nationalities talking in together in Japanese. This is of course perfectly natural but it still took me by surprise. I guess this is what it is like for none native English speakers in most corners of the globe.

The test itself wasn’t all that long, though with all the formalities it seemed to take forever. I won’t bore you with a blow by blow but I do think it went ok and my results should come in soon. To wrap up here are some of the more interesting (to me) observations I made on the day;

1.     It seems like it is natural instinct for a lot of SE Asians to give and receive items with two hands, though this observation maybe biased as we were in Japan and that is customarily how things are done here.

2.     Seating order can be confusing. The seating order in the halls went from right to left and in columns with the lowest number at the top. Felt really weird to me but hey different strokes.

3.     Japanese inefficiency is everywhere. I seriously felt the urge to get up and show the instructors how to collect in all the papers in at least a third of the time. It was nonsensically slow. Maybe I’ve just been coding too long.

   4.     Natto spaghetti is not and never will be delicious and I refuse to believe and Italian would ever honestly enjoy it. Reading paper you are a pack of lies.

   5.     A sign with a little chibi man telling people to shush is about as effective a deterrent as a feather duster for warding away lions.

   6.     A short break should be longer than 10 seconds and not contain ridiculous music.

That’s it for now.

Mata neee.

Singularities in Singapore.

 So lesson of the night number one, if a Japanese person ever uses the phrase “deshou” (the potential form of the verb to be, i.e ‘might be’) to end a sentence, don’t believe a word of what you have been told. We managed to get turned around twice before having to leg it for the night bus barely managing to get on in time. Our efforts were rewarded however by a super swank night bus. We had foot rests, blankets and even a weird cover to pull over our heads to block out light.

Suffice to say this return trip was a lot more pleasant than the outgoing one. No sooner had we stopped off in Osaka and we were catching a train out to the airport. This journey seemed to be fated wit coincidences and number one occurred at the airport itself. As we were checking in we ran into a friend of mine from Hmeji who was also off to Singapore, on the same flight no less,  to attend her friends wedding.

The flight was pleasant enough, super basic due to the low cost but since it was only 6 hours in the air  I can’t complain. To be honest I didn’t really miss having in flight movies since I usually don’t end up watching any. You get so much choice these days that I waste half the flight trying to decide what to watch.

At about 9pm we arrived at our final destination, Singapore. This was a bit of a spur of the moment decision but a very excellent one. My mate and myself had been getting a little bit fed up with Japan at this point. The language barrier was really starting to get to him and it put a lot of extra pressure on me. So where is the least Asian bit of Asia? Yup Singapore where English is one of the national language. Hurray for former colonies. (Disclaimer: that statement was entirely tongue in cheek I in no way advocate colonialism and the many atrocities that have occurred in its name.)

The main motivation for visiting Singapore was actually to meet up with an old friend. We’d met him at Liverpool University when we were just starting to play. He, like us, had continued to play and is in fact on the Singapore national team. He’d assured us that Singapore was a pretty small place so even though we didn’t have much time we could still get a lot done.

Having a friend who is local is fantastic when visiting a country. Firstly you’ll waste no time trying to figure out how to get about since you have a great guide on hand. They are more than likely to know where all the best/cheapest/coolest places to eat, drink and sight see are. Worry number two gone. Also if they are really nice, as was the case here, you don’t need to find somewhere to stay.

Admittedly you do lose a bit as there is no time to get lost and discover oddities, still time was short and I was so grateful for my friends hospitality. One cool thing about leaving the UK is definitely the fact I know have friends all over the world, and an even bigger incentive to do more travelling.

Back to the holiday then. Our friend took us from the airport to a nearby Korean resteraunt for dinner and to meet some of his teammates. Korean food is always good, super spicy and very hearty, and I could see the relief on my mates face as he was getting pretty fed up of Japanese cuisine. Me to for that matter.

After dinner we were treated to yet more food (running theme here). Desert consisted of a variety of sot tofu in warm or cold syrup as well as egg custard tarts.  We were led up some stairs to a little room with a load of benches that was crammed full of people. The thing that struck me most was that no one batted an eyelid as we walked in. In Japan there would definitely been some stares (some less friendly or indifferent than others.) Here, nothing. It was refreshing to not feel like an alien.

The following day we had a nice relaxed start and headed out to some street vendors for a breakfast of  Roti prata and curry with carrot cake (don’t let the name fool you it was essentially a spicy omelette though it did contain carrots). 

Now I’m pretty inflexible when it comes to breakfast and to my detriment I don’t deviate from cereal too often. I think breakfast is the meal people tend to be least flexible about, and is probably why Hilton hotels spent so much money developing their breakfast menu. Either way I decided to hang it and just went with it and you know what. It was blooming marvellous. The tea was also amazing; I’ve not had a good cup of black tea since I left the UK.

Fuelled up we were taken to the Marina bay area of Singapore. This place is like taking a step into the future. Being the central area for business and entertainment and is constantly undergoing development. We went to check out a recently developed area known as “Gardens by the bay”.

This area spans around 250 acres and consists of large areas of greenery and water.  The main theme of the gardens seemed to be one of sustainability and I’m sure the natural appearance of many of the structures was supposed to tie into this. At the centre of the garden are two large conservatories that reminded me strongly of the Eden project.

The first, and smaller, of the two is called ‘The cloud forest’ and is a recreation of the environment within mountain forests. It consists of several floors with the temperature dropping as you move higher up. The indoor waterfall was impressive and we were also treated to a geography lesson as we wandered around. Sustainability is at the heart of these buildings and it seems every little feature is in someway related to this theme.

The shape of the conservatories allows rainwater to be guided towards underground reservoirs. Here the water is cooled a piped back up to cool the air close to ground level. As the air heats it rises and is vented at the top. By doing this it reduces the amount of air volume that actually needs to be cooled and thus reduces the energy input.

This is amongst one of the many strategies in place around the gardens and in fact all the electrical power used in its operation is produced on site. One of the most striking features is the Supertrees, giant constructs of metal, concrete and plant life. At their tops they contain reservoirs for collecting rain water to power fountains and irrigation, solar panels for electricity and even act as vents for the warm air collected in the conservatories.

Impressed though I was it eventually became time to leave and move on to the next visual spectacular,  Marina bay sands. This is a resort complex featuring a large shopping mall, cinemas, theatres museums and a casino. The most striking feature is definitely the three tower hotel complex topped by a gigantic sky terrace in the shape of a boat. I’m assured there is a swimming pool at the top with a glass bottom so you can look down, sadly we didn’t have a look.

First stop was  a Chinese restaurant for noodles and dumplings. The wontons were good (but not as good as ma bo’s in town) and then xiao long boa, a type of steamed bun with a soup filling. All very tasty. Following lunch we went to check out the Andy Warhol exhibit in the ArtScience museum.

The term art science is something I could really get on board with. Sadly due to time constraints we didn’t really have time to see the permanent exhibit but the Wahol exhibit was highly engaging and there was even a bit of dressing up and silly photo taking at the end. The museum itself regularly hosts special exhibits so if I’m ever back in the country I’ll be sure to check it out again.

After getting a bit more cultured we left to meet up with a friend I’d met in Japan now living in Singapore, this was the start of what would be many interesting coincidences of the night. Whilst I’d only met this friend a few times before she had lived in Wrexham for several years whilst working so for reasons of common ground we’d hit it off. She’d only been in Singapore for 2 weeks so I think she was just happy to meet a familiar face.

We stopped off in china town for some tea, quite a lot of different teas actually, before coincidence two. My friend who were travelling around asia for their honeymoon, whom I’d met up with in Japan about a month ago, were now in Singapore. They were also good friends with my Singaporean friend and so were joining us for lunch. By chance they had run into a friend they had made whilst travelling around Malaysia and invited her along also.

The plot thickens however. On the way to the restaurant we  picked up a teammate of my Singaporean friend. He was Japanese and had moved to Singapore about a month ago. Here is were it gets weird. Turns out he was the older brother of a friend from the UK. He had lived there from the age of 9 – 15 and knew quite a few of our mates. Coincidence overload.

Obviously this was an interesting night with some wonderful conversations, great food, sadly I couldn't try the crab but all the other seafood was delish, and other such merriment. We capped it off by trying durian fruit. Give it a go if you get the chance, I’ll say nothing more. I do love that most restaurants in Singapore are street style, completely open and very casual.

The day really just confirmed for me that the world is incredibly small. What followed was a fantastic night out involving more food (it’s a national pastime apparently), some scary revelations (when inquiring if it was safe to leave drinks in a club we were informed that the penalty for possession of drugs is death), and even some late night/ early morning  antics in my mates pool (it was going  to happen really).

Day 2 was much more relaxed. We played some frizzers with the locals, enjoyed some more local cuisine and just about managed to squeeze in a viewing of the Dark Knight Rises. I couldn’t have been happier with the whole trip really. I’m immensely grateful to my friend for being such an awesome host. We hadn’t met in years but it seemed like just yesterday we were in the pool. I’m also still grateful to Ultimate, man do I owe so many of my opportunities in life to that wonderful sport.

I guess since this is a post about Singapore I don’t need the Japanese sign off so…

Laters.

Ikumi mi ni Iku

Well those two most dreaded of words, beam and time, have caused a bit of a slow down in my blogging of late. That combined with a round of bad expression from some rather lame duck bacteria has left me with little free time. Good job I enjoy the mountain life style ey. Anyway since I’ve not really been upto much it’s time for the final installment of my golden week adventures.

The final few days saw some mateys and me from the magical ring of mystery and wonder (AKA Spring8) venturing south for warmer climes and the Pacific Ocean. That’s right I finally managed to work my way down to the illustrious southern Island of Shikoku for a bit of a road trip.

We headed out by car for two reasons. Firstly, Shikoku is not so accessible by the wonderful train systems of Japan, and secondly, ROAD TRIP. Traffic was our friend in the early morning, rather surprising as it was the first day of a four day week end for Japan, our guess is that most people were headed in the other direction. We cruised down the expressway to Maiko and crossed the Akashi daihashi no problem.

Moving swiftly through Awaji, the main Island between Honshu and Shikoku, we came to a place I’d wanted to check out for some time, Naruto. This place is famous for it’s awesome whirlpools, 渦巻き in Japanese, and also sharing the name of a rather famous manga character, actually he’s named after the city and features many whirlpool references. Sadly it was not our day as we came midway through the tides meaning the sea was calmer than a Buddhist monastery,　maybe next time. We did get some wicked udon though.

After departing Naruto we found out why the trip had been so smooth so far. It seemed all of Japan was driving through Tokushima. We must have travelled about 3 miles in 30 minutes at one point. Thanks to some quick route plotting, with a little help from our navi, we were soon on our way again.

Our final destination was Ikumi, a small beach on the southeastern edge of Shikoku. It wasn’t the prettiest of beaches, at one point I was reminded of Newbo, but that's not why we were there. Sadly we arrived a little too late to surf the first day but there would be plenty of time afterwards. We met up with one of our friends who had come from Osaka and she introduced us to her friends who ran the surf rental place we’d be frequenting.

After a few self-introductions we turned back around to go to our lodgings, Nasa house. I knew we were onto a good thing when we pulled up outside and there were old surfboards lying about the place and an extremely gnarled skateboard. The bottom floor was one giant living room with more surf memorabilia and a load of musical instruments. This place had a total hippy vibe and I felt at ease pretty quickly.

We set up a BBQ up front and began to chat away. I’ll admit I didn’t catch everything, the Kansai-ben was heavy and these guys spoke almost no English, but everyone was really cool. I think these were possibly the most laid back Japanese people I’d ever met, a total contrast to the guys at work. Nothing was a problem and they were in no rush to do anything.

The night set things up as they meant to go on. We pretty much spent the days surfing and mucking about on the beach, chatting in the sun. Then at night hitting the onsen, a really nice Japanese restaurant and then back to Nasa house to drink and gab on about anything (mostly surfing) till the early hours.

My Japanese still sucks but I’m getting better at communicating than I thought. I’m a guy with a lot to say and so I think the inability to articulate myself is what drives me to learn the language more than anything else. I’m scouse after all; I’ve got a big gob.

I don’t exaggerate when I say that this is the most fun I’ve had since I came to Japan. The surfing was fun and the time to unwind ws nice but it was the people that made it incredible. You can always trust people into board sports to be absolutely wicked and these guys were no exception. It’s nice to see that the attitude transcends nationality. I’d love to go surfing again for sure and it inspired me to pick up a skateboard again.

Mostly though I’d like to get to the bar some of the guys own in Osaka and say hi again. I think the word 幸せ  sums up the whole trip can’t wait till my next bit of free time, roll on July cos May has been a bit of a crap one.

Mata kondo ne.

I can see clearly now (almost)

A little slow with this update but things are busy as always. The I’m a scientist get me out of here event is sucking up a fair amount of my free time at the moment. So many wild and varied questions from the quiz I’m loving it. I’m also learning a fair bit about physics in the process since I’m the only none physicist in the zone. Happily I’ve not been evicted first so fingers crossed I last the week (I didn't I got evicted today).

Right back to me then. Last weekend was pretty wild. It started with a trip to the hospital. As I’ve mentioned before I have a condition called kerataconus  (円錐角膜 in Japanese) that alters the shape of my cornea making it difficult for me to focus on objects. Well with a lot of help from a colleague I went to the hospital to get fitted for contacts to correct the problem. It was an interesting experience to say the least. My Japanese is getting better but I’m not at a level where I could explain my problems specifically enough or fully understand a Dr’s response so the help was pretty welcome. 

The little differences between countries are the ones that shock the most I think. In Japan eye charts are made up of circles with an opening at the top, bottom, left or right, rather than the alphabet we are used to. It took me a sec to click on to what was going on. Amazingly I could see down to the second bottom like once the lenses were fitted and focused, turns out my eyes aren’t so bad apart from being pointy. It was a real revelation. I had no idea just how much this was affecting my vision until I could see normally. I quite literally could not see the first line of  circles with my left eye. The nurse had to, rather adorably, hold up picture cards and move backwards slightly to test the limit of my left eye. I can’t wait to get my lenses in a week or so and see the world clearly.

So what else was I up to. Well after visiting the clinic I dashed onto a train bound for Osaka. I was due to go to a friends birthday party that night. Another first for me as there would not only be no guys, something I could handle, but no native English speakers either. 頑張ります。Actually my biggest concern was what to buy my friend for her birthday. I have no idea what Japanese girls are into. With a bit of help from some friends though I settled on a small chocolate cake.

We met up for a fun night at a 鶏肉　(chicken skewer) restaurant for a night of drinking and eating. It was good fun. Hadn’t seen my friend in some time and she was shocked how much my Japanese had come along. It turned out one of our party had spent a long time overseas so her English was amazing. In fact probably better than mine and we had fun chatting about the quirks of British English compared to the Americanized version most Japanese people are used to. Following that we went to, of all places, an Irish pub called the blarney stone. Well I guess it was St. Paddy’s day after all. The bar was chock full of rowdy English teachers and there was a wicked Ska band playing covers of current hits. Saturday was a great day all in all.

I ended up kipping at a hostel in Kyoto that night and met some wonderful people. Whilst staying at a friend’s would have been cheaper there is something to be said to staying in a hostel, you always meet interesting people. I got chatting with a lady who was visiting Japan from Spain. She was a massive Japanophile and her enthusiasm was infectious. It made me realize I really need to relinquish some of the jaded views I’ve been holding.

In the morning I had initially planned to head over to Arashiyama, the northern area of Kyoto, for the first time. Sadly I over slept and the weather was a bit rubbish so instead I went and explored the station.

I’ve written about Kyoto station before now but I can’t help but come back to it. I always come across something new in there. This time I took a meander along the suspended walkway that runs the length of the station. It’s even more impressive when you are up high. It also seems that this year marks 100 years until Doraemon, possibly one Japan’s most famous manga icons, will be born.

I should probably explain that. Doraemon is a robot cat sent back from the future to prevent a young talentless boy called Nobi Nobita from becoming a waster by his descendants. It is the most popular children’s manga ever penned and is essentially the Japanese Mickey mouse. To mark the clearly auspicious occasion a giant image adorned the steps of the west side of Kyoto station.

Since it would be mothers day the next day I decided to grab something for my mum and mail it back home. This was another first for me it’s not something I’d had to do before. Fortunately I was doing this in Kyoto so the clerks, used to tourists, were very patient and probably knew what I wanted without me asking. I hope you enjoy the tea mum. Now having lost time mailing the tea, and also searching for a museum that apparently no longer exists, I didn’t have much time left to go to Arashiyama. Instead I just decided to wander the streets of Kyoto a bit.

It’s easy in such an historical town to head towards the major tourist spots and not realize all the exciting things going on about you. Just a short wander from the station are many winding side streets with some surprisingly old buildings. Unless it’s a temple or a shrine you don’t see so much old architecture in Japan and especially not derelicts. In a country where space is at a premium, things are constantly being renovated and, on the whole, going upwards.

The general architecture of Kyoto is different to most of the cities I’ve experienced though. Nothing like the concrete jungle that makes Osaka, the streets are lined with quirky little houses. I love the slap dash nature of Japanese residential areas. Unlike Britain, where streets tend to be lined with more or less the same houses over and over again, Japanese vary wildly in shape, size and style.

It was nice to take a bit of time to look at my surroundings. I think now that I’ve been here a year I’m really starting to appreciate the smaller differences more. Even back home I’ve always been a massive people watcher and it was cool to take the time to watch people living their lives, wondering why they picked a house like that to live in and so on. After a wander and ponder I headed back to Osaka to play some Frisbee. It had been ages and to my happy surprise the team had grown thanks to some university students coming back home. Some of these guys could really play, leading to 3 hours of knackering fun that I’m still feeling now.

Mata neeeee

Puppets, Pot Noodle Pilgrimage and Progress

A weekend off at last. I feel as though I’m saying that more and more of late but well I knew what I was signing up for right? Well either way it’s always good to get some downtime and some rest. So naturally I spent the whole weekend travelling about.

The reason was actually because a friend from university is actually over in Japan right now on her honeymoon. During the trip she had a few days planned in Kyoto and asked if I’d like to meet up somewhere in Hyogo. We decided on Osaka and I set off bright and early on Saturday.

After the classic moment of phoning someone then realizing you were staring right at them we set off on the underground for Namba. I didn’t have so many plans for what to do really as I wasn’t sure what they’d be interested in. Also the weather was not on our side so anywhere indoors would likely be best.

Our first stop was Dotombori for some lunch. It was time to introduce my friends to Okonomiyaki. Definitely one of my favorite foods and as my friend is both vegetarian and allergic to milk a pretty safe bet. This time I actually ended up ordering Monjayaki by mistake. It’s very similar but the batter is much more watery meaning it has a gooey texture similar to melted cheddar. Still tasty though.

Following our meal we walked a little ways away to check out Amerika mura, home of many imported clothing and other items. It wasn’t quite as exciting as I expected, I think it really comes to life at night. Still there was a burger king, something I hadn’t seen before in Japan, and also a shop that had it’s own DJ. Also all of the streetlights in the area had this kind of iRobot design that was simultaneously creepy and awesome. I kind of hoped they moved but sadly not.

Next we headed off to the national Bunraku theatre just a short walk away. This is somewhere I’d been meaning to go to for a while and was happy to have some people with me to share the experience.  Arriving at the theatre it seemed fairly full, with a more or less even split between Japanese and overseas patrons.

Bunraku is a type of traditional Japanese theatre using highly intricate puppets to tell the story that originated in Osaka. These puppets are incredible, usually about 2 to 3 feet in height and controlled by more multiple puppeteers dressed all in black. Accompanying the puppets are people playing the Shamisen and also a chanter known as a “Tayu”.

We decided to opt out of the English headset and just try and pick up as much as we could. I made the error of trying to read the subtitles above the stage rather than just siting back and being absorbed in the action and impressive movements of the puppets. I could understand more than I expected but still not much. Thankfully we were given a pamphlet with an explanation of the different acts.

We only stayed for the first act since the whole thing takes 4 hours, although I was up for watching the whole thing so maybe I’ll go another time. We were quite fortunate really as the Bunraku season only runs for 20 days in November and actually finished on Sunday.

Cultured out my friends kindly headed back with me to Umeda so I could check into my hotel. Sadly it was back to the capsule hotel since I hadn’t managed to book into a hostel. On the way we stopped by a supermarket that was selling the autumn flavor range  of my favorite (never thought I’d say that) Soy milk brand. Well I had to buy a couple to try out, purin and chestnut yum.

Checked in it was sadly time to say good buy although not before introducing my friends to the wonders of でっぱちっか or department store food. The quality always amazes me considering the price. I spent the rest of the evening in a mangakisa since I couldn’t face the thought of hanging around a bunch of seedy old men in the capsule hotel. Plus free manga and anime what’s not to like.

The following day I set off bright and early for Ikeda, a district just outside of central Osaka. This was somewhat of a pilgrimage for me as it is the birthplace of instant ramen. It’s no secret that I’m a fan of instant noodles, I think I’ve been eating them consistently since the age of 3 so it shouldn’t be too much of a shock.

Before arriving however I sat down on the train and an old man sat next to me. Nothing strange about that but he started talking to me and obviously, it'd be rude not to, I responded. Suddenly we were having a conversation. I learned about his travels. His son in San-Francisco. His love of climbing mountains and plans to visit Yosemite next spring. He also told me about the time he'd spent in Italy and how he'd really like to visit England one day. All of course in Japanese. I think I might be getting somewhere finally and my responses were a little more than just 'hmm' and 'I see' for a change. Truly a light bulb moment.

Leaving the station and following noodle dori (no joke that's the name of the street) I soon came across my destination, the Momofuke Ando Istant Ramen museum. A.k.a noodle heaven. Greeting me at the entrance was a Christmas tree covered in little plushies of chicken ramen’s (the worlds first instant noodle brand) mascot. No prize for guessing what it is.

The museum was two things. Firstly very cool and informative, you’d be amazed at how much thought actually went into the pot noodle, seriously. Secondly it was jam-packed with people. The Japanese it would seem love instant noodles even more than myself.

The exhibits were well laid out, there was a reconstruction of Momofuke Ando’s shed where the instant noodle was invented and an entire wall displaying a timeline of potnoodle releases in japan. Sadly there were no English explanations but it was fairly simple, this place is actually aimed at school kids I think, so I got the gist. It’ amazing to think that the instant noodle has been around since th 50’s and that pot noodles are over 40 years old.

Anyway the highlight for me, and the hundreds of other people, was the my cup noodle factory. You got to make your own pot noodle, design the cup and choose the filling. Yeah ok I’m sad but I enjoyed it. Actually the cup I made will be a gift for someone else, maybe I’ll go again sometime to make my own.

That's all for this weekend but I'll leave you with a few extra piccies from the museum cause I'm that cool..

Mata ne Minna-san