Okay, let's start from where this blog last left off---Two weekends ago I went to the country, then the next day and that whole week I didn't do a lot at all until Saturday. On Saturday I went hiking up Mt. Hiei. Now for anyone who knows Japan, this is an old mountain somewhere near Kyoto and Lake Biwa (Japan's biggest lake) that has a TON of shrines/temples on it that are very old. So we took the train out, then went up a really steep track on another cable car---ran on a cable, but did not lift off the mountain (the next one, where we hiked instead did). There were monkeys around, but though we thought we might have been pretty close to one, and heard their calls, I personally didn't catch a glimpse of one. The hike was beautiful, and the temples were pretty neat too. Some of my friends were talking about going to Lake Biwa again this weekend, camping, but nobody wanted to make those plans when a typhoon was coming midweek.
After that we tried to go to a moon viewing festival but kind of met with failure. There were so many people in our group that we couldn't decide which festival to go to, or get off quickly, and so we made it just as the festival was ending so we couldn't go in (doesn't help that it looked like it ended a bit early). Oh well---by the time we would have got there it was covered in clouds anyways. The moon was gorgeous from Mt. Hiei though.
Then came the tsunami mid-week (weds and thurs morning). It was kind of scary to hear so much wind and rain blow in. It hit about 6 pm on Wednesday night, and it was only like 50 miles away, so it quieted down and stopped raining for a while about bedtime. Then in the middle of the night it started pouring and the wind howling again. There was damage and flooding in other cities, but Osaka is pretty protected, this area is, because of being on a chunk of inland sea (theres a big island between us and the main ocean). So we got school off Thursday morning. Boy was I tired that day---I didn't sleep well!
Then on Saturday I just hung out with my friends---had dinner, played cards, watched a movie...didn't do the studying I brought over...oops. Yesterday, Sunday, we all got up, and met at the train station. Turned out there was a bit of a Danjiri festival going on: Danjiri are big floats that are carried by a bunch of strong guys. There were 3 that I saw, and its some sort of competition, I think. Joel, Diego and I watched that for a little while, before heading out to Osaka to see the Hayao Miyazki museum (travelling). It was amazing, even if it did take 2 hours to go through, and an additional hour to get in, and a long line to buy souveneirs. It was amazing! I just wish I hadn't felt claustrophic among so many people! And that I could have understood more. Ha ha...we just looked and ignored the nice little plaques of kanji and big words I don't know!
On the way out we saw some other friends that we were going to meet up with by Umeda (an area of Osaka) later that day, talked for a minute, and then headed out for lunch---a really late lunch, for which we were all starving. A note to other travellers: KFC's fried chicken in Japan is incredibly greasy. Go with chicken nuggets. Unless, you like having your hands and lips covered and shiny. It was good though!
Then we headed out to Osaka, where Joel got us lost---my sense of direction was correct for once! Yay! .....nobody believes me when it is though! lol. Umeda Sky Building looked amazing, and having climbed it and looked all 40 stories down---beautiful. The sunset was amazing from there (I'll try to remember to post photos later) too bad it was cold. We could see the ENTIRETY of Osaka from our vantage point. The Floating Gardens at Umeda Sky Building is definitely on the list of places I'd recommend people to go see! An entire city, a bay, an island and mountains in the distance spread out around you in a panoramic view. Very nice.
From there we went out to America-mura (an "american shopping center") yeah not as recommended. In fact....two thumbs down. It was kind of one of those places you shouldn't go to after 4 pm---it starts closing at 8, and looked a bit on the wild side---clubs everywhere, and a rougher variety of person by the looks of it. We snagged dinner first before heading there---
Let me just say this: I have had the best spaghetti of my life in Japan. And have developed a love for Italian-style margherita pizzas. Move over American-pizzas---you suck. Okay, I still will eat them, but.......not quite as award-winning.
Then we headed home for the night. Today is a national holiday of some sort (don't ask me what I'm not quite sure) but I'm just going to chill out and study, maybe play some cards if the studying goes well with my friends in another hour or two.
Laters!
Okay everyone, photos as promised. Top left is a picture of me, my friend Joel (the weirdo who went into a salon and told them to dye it red), my friend Amber, me, and my boyfriend being a teensy bit creepy! Top right: A picture of the edge of Osaka at sunset from the Umeda Sky Building. It was GORGEOUS. But I already told you that. Seriously, a must-see for the Osaka area if you want a view of the city and bay. The bottom one is self-explanatory for you Miyazaki fans. Ponyo! This is Joel standing next to me. i look so short!
