I’m a legal alien: Flowers, Frisbee and failure.

Well its been all go here since my last entry, totemo isogashi desu ne. Fortunately the beta 5 has been behaving itself a bit more but its still not working as well as I’d like it to be. Sadly I’ve not been able to tinker with it too much, life has been getting in the way.

Thursday was the day I officially became a foreign resident in Japan. The day started with a trip to Apato heights, the apartment block that was too be my new home. I set out with Takahuchi-san, one of the many secretaries here and a totemo kawaii onna no hito (a very lovely lady), in a car as we had a lot of travelling to do. The apartment is pretty barren and on the expensive time, I’ve been assured this is the norm in Japan and the company are fronting all the money for my apartment, I’m not fully reassured but I don't have much choice sadly, and everyone here is so nice that I’m sure they’re doing the best they can.

Anyway next it was time to sort out that residency registration. As I mentioned I’d tried to do it earlier but failed due to the distance. This time we had a car so all was good. It was only about a 15-minute drive to the Sayo prefectural office. It was, like every other administrative office I’ve seen so far, packed and abuzz with activity. Still we were seen very quickly and Tahakuchi-san helped me to fill out the myriad of forms, all in Japanese of course. I swear all this bureaucracy will be the end of me.

So one hour later and an official resident it was time to get me a bank account. This was a lot more straightforward though I did manage to muck things up by putting my name the wrong way round on the form (surnames come first in Japan doh).

Friday was then fairly uneventful, barring a bit of a stress when I was presented with the costs of internet installation at my new flat eep, not so grand. Anyway I don’t want to dwell on that so here is the obligatory montage of cool things Ive eaten/drunk.

So now the fun bit. The weekend, and what a weekend it was. About three days previously I'd managed to get in touch with some guys who play Frisbee out in Osaka and found out what times they were playing. This in itself was cool Id’d been itching for some Frisbee since I’d got here. Not only that but it turned out a they were having a big get together in Osaka castle park for a Japanese festival called Hanami. How could I resist?

 

A bit of background here. Hanami (from the word “hana” which is flower and “miru” which is to look) is about the viewing of the sakura (cherry blossoms) in the brief one-week period that they blood. Sakura are very important in Japanese culture. They only last about a week and their fleeting nature is seen as a metaphor for the brief time we spend upon this earth. For that reason there tend to be many Sakura planted at Japanese gravesites.

Anyway Hanami itself is one big party and it's a big deal over here. People will literally camp out days in adance to get a good spot under a tree. Also when hanami time actually hits all the parks are rammed with people from all walks of life.

So anyway Saturday morning I set of bright and early to Aioi to catch a train to Himeji and then on to Osaka. The weather was a bit muggy but I was still optimistic of a good time. Not too many pictures of the train journey sadly as it moved so friggin fast I couldn’t keep up.

Anyway 2 hours later and I was in Osaka. Wow. This place was busy, crowded and cool as hell. I would of liked to have a better look around but I was already running late. I couldn’t find Graham, the guy from Osaka Frisbee, so In typical Marcus fashion I blundered my way to Osaka-Jo park.

This trip was exciting for another reason. I finally got to practice some of the Japanese I'd been learning for the past month or two. Admittedly I din;t use too much but I now am a bit more confident that I can get by with what I know, and have a new drive to learn more. So after a few Doko desu ka? (where is ) and Dochira desu ka (Which dirction to?) I made it to Osaka-jo.

The main castle is actually quite something. The wall on which it I built, according to a sign I read, reach down nearly one kilomeer, and the surrounding moat is over 75 metres at its wides point. The main courtyard was pretty cool as well, many nice arches and the castle itself was very pretty, I didn’t get to go in unfortunately, maybe another time, but I did scramble about the walls a bit haha.

So anyway Hanami. The sakura where in full bloom and it really is breathtaking, an absolute snowstorm of pink petals everywhere you go. The park itself was full to the brim of family groups, friends, school groups, businessmen and women. In fact pretty much every walk of life was represented. It was very cool and everyone was just having a great time. I knew the group of people I was looking for weren’t Japanese so that was a place to start right?

What I hadn't counted on was just how big Osaka-jo koen is and how important having a mobile phone is. I thankfully managed to stumble across a group of people who were part of the JET programme (Japenese exchange teacher I think) and one of them offered to phone Graham my contact for me. After a quick conversation we managed to figure out where we both where in respect to each other and agreed to meet next to a large sandstone fountain.

So onto meet the rest of the people. Knowing no one, and very little Japanese, this was a bit of a test but I had fun anyway. Everyone has their own story and I love meeting new people. I had a great chat with some of the Osaka Frisbee guys, Graham, a guy from Texas called Dennis and a big hippy called trip who had an awesome fro. They seemed like a fun bunch. Also with it being Hanami I even had a cheeky drink of some plum sake, not normal for me but when in rome and all that.

It was also interesting to interact with some people closer to my own age, to be honest I was happy to be away from Harima for a bit, I’m a city boy at heart and its just a bit too quite out here. Anyway I also had a great chat with a lady named Tomoko about climbing and I met a few other Japanese girls whose names escape me, Fuko and Akiko I think. I’m rubbish with names at the best of times but when I can barely pronounce some of the names, well that's just unfair.

By about 6:30 the temperature began to cool and so di the party, lots of people were leaving or were too drunk to put a proper sentence together, in any language. I took my leave and skiddadled to find the capsule hotel I’d found online.

Now Osaka has an extensive underground service, pretty much like London only cleaner and more pleasant. This makes it very easy to get about the city as its huge. I got off at a stop called Namba which is apparently a major shopping area (I’ve put a picture up of my swag at the end). Anyway even at around 7pm everything was stll bright and open, neon lights agogo. I Dropped into a place called book up or something like that and found to my joy a couple of copies of the Mushishi mange. I love this series and I’d been meaning t get them in English, I got a few volumes as they were only 100 yen each, I’m a bargain hunter in any country.

The next thing I came across was Game Taito station. This was a 6 storey video arcade, increders. It had all kinds, those weird claw machines, panchinko, slots, a floor dedicated entirely to trading card games that you play against opponents on line (Tom you would’ve been in heaven) and a floor of online beat-em-ups. I gave it a quick go but was thoroughly rinsed. It was time to move on anyway as I needed to get checked in and get some food.

I was a bit bewildered by all the bright lights in Namba, amazingly some of the comic/dvd/cd shops were open 24hours in a place called den den town which si the major electronics district. After a good hour of wandering I found the place I was looking for. And right next to it another hotel that was 400 yen cheaper, score.

I checked in. It was a Japanese style room, just enough space for a futon but it’d do and for 1800yen I wasn’t complaining. After that I went up to the counter and asked Doke de ii tabemasu ka? (Where is good to eat). I was pointed just 2 minutes down the road where here were loads of food places, onsen, udon, ramen, izakaya and so on. Unfortunately I was tired and all I really wanted was some takoyaki (I’ll explain this later) and ended up in a rather rubbish tempura place.  Rather unsatisfied I picked up a red bean mochi from a nearby convenience store, its like a rice flour cake stuffed with sweet essentially kidney bean paste, surprisingly oishii (delicious). After that I called it a night I was shattered.

The next morning I was up bright and early. I don’t think the Japanese believe in insulation as every little movement of the other guest was transmitted through the walls. Breakfast consisted, rather unconventionally, of vermicelli noodles with soymilk and a banana. I  also had my first hot vend, the vending machines really are mental, you can even get oxygen tanks from some.  Anyway I exited the hotel in search of an internet café. It was quite tricky actually, although in the town centre nowhere sleeps, on the outskirts it was like a Sunday anywhere else in the world. I did mnage to stop by a 100yen shop (think poundland times a thousnd) and got a few bits for my new home.

Eventually as I reached the centre of the Minami district called namba I found somewhere. It was what is known as a manga or media café and they are open 24 hours. It wasn’t too expensive for an hour and it came with free drinks. I just about managed to figure out what I was doing since everything was in Japanese and chucked out a few emails. Sadly I couldn’t get hold of the Frisbee people so I decided to give it a miss and explore the rest of Osaka.

I wandered around den den town a bit more and drooled over some of the expensive electronics. This place was far more impressive in the day time pretty much anything and everything electronic could be purchased from here. After plenty of window-shopping I moved on to Doguyasuji, a shopping street dedicated to utensils and kitchenware, after all I needed some gear for my new home. I settled on a good pan and a Japanese knife, it took a while though lots of shops and very competitive prices.

All that shopping had made me peckish and I was still desperate to try some proper takyaki. I’d read in the guide that the place to go for food was Dotonbori by the river so I haded up that way. So Takoyaki, from “Tako” octopus and “yaki” fried, is a delicacy Osaka is famous for. They are these really cool octopus dumplings. Basically chunks of octopus, usually tentacle are placed onto this kind of large griddle with circular wells. Then a kind of batter is poured over them and they are periodically turned with chopsticks to form balls. They’re just the right mixture of crispy crunchy and chewy. Oishii.

I found a rather packed stand about half way along Dotonbori and waited in line, it was fun t watch them being made. Stands aren’t too hard to spot thanks to the chibi octopi chefs they are usually adorned with.

Well fed my next port of call was to try and find Osaka city rock gym, I was desperate for some climbing. I hopped back on the subway to Osaka Umeda the main station in Osaka and changed to an overground rail line. I’d looked up the gyms location on the internet, it seemed pretty simple just one stop away and a 15 minute walk.

Alas it was not to be I got very lost. So no Frisbee, apart from a few rounds of cups. and no climbing the two things I’d set out to do for the weekend. I guess in some ways I could, and the old me would, have considered this a major failure, not achieving my ‘purpose’. Looking back though I’d achieved a lot. I’d met new people, bought some gear for my house, done plenty of exploring and practiced a lot of Japanese. One thing I’ve learned is that purpose is never predefined, your end goal may not necessarily reflect your starting one, flexibility is the key to enjoying life to the fullest.

Anyway this things run to long here are some piccies of my swag. Ja ne mina-san.