My Adventure!!!

The day after my last post I woke up to a very hot day. Having no plans for the day, I really wasn't sure what to do. There was one thing that nagged at me, and that was to ride the train and get lost by myself. My girlfriend had work that night and all my friends were busy, so after about 6:00pm I'd be completely on my own.

Around 7:00pm I gathered my things and took a step out the door and decided that I would do this adventure on my own. The previous day I boarded the trains once with Mayu and went to a mall, so I had a good idea how things worked, so I wasn't too worried. Luckily the train station is literally a block away from Mayu's apartment, so I was there in no time. I got to the ticket machine and stared at it for a few minutes as I tried to decipher the Kanji, which I've always had trouble reading... I eventually gave up and went with the, I'll just do what we did last time, plan. I put in the 150Yen and one of the buttons lit up with exactly that amount of money, so I pressed the button and out came my ticket. Having succesfully overcome my first obstacle I felt confident that I could really do this.

My first stop was Hirakata Train Station. I got off the train and followed everyone else, which lead me to the exit. As I walked into the ticket gate I slid my ticket in the slot and suddenly the gate slammed shut in front of me, not allowing me to pass through. At that moment I realized that there was no way I was going to be able to go anywhere on 150Yen. This knocked me off my high horse, but I got right back up and started trying to figure out how I was going to get out of this place. I eventually saw another ticket machine that read, "fee adjustment." Using this machine I was able to change my ticket to the right price and exit the station.

I got to the actual station and exited the building, which opened up to a road that formed a half circle filled with taxis and busses. There were people everywhere and so I chose the largest crowd and started to follow. This ended up getting me no where, at which point I decided to take a picture. The rest of the post will be pictures of my adventure the past few nights there will be captions.

Me Walking around Hirakata Station

Me, back on the train to a new and fun place

A Picture of the City right outside of Kyobashi Station, about a 30 minute train ride from Mayu's.

A Picture of the streets as I walked outside the Station.

24 hour Television. I walked into a building with tons of people and ended up walking around this yellow thing without knowing what it was. I got to the front where those banners are and realized it was a donation station so I handed over 300 yen (3$) and received a paper fan... Yes they were filming as I went through

Osaka Castle Hall is the big building

Osaka Castle, from a distance... I was determined to get closer.

I'm getting closer... and there's a bridge that will get me even closer!!!

Osaka Castle

On the Bridge seen in the last picture.



A picture of the entrance to toward the Castle... these walls were very high.

Osaka Castle

My dinner after the Castle at a Ramen Restaurant near Kyobashi Station

THE NEXT DAY

After my night's adventure, Mayu and I decided to head back to the same area, but further away to visit our friend Ai. The following are more pictures and captions of our trip. This was fun as well.

Doutonbori (shopping and bunch of other stuff) Tons of people

More of the Same (famous Sign of the Gurico Man)

Can you eat that by yourself?

Right outside Ai's work place... beautiful view

Ai working Hard

Mayu, me, Hide, and Ai at her work about to take leave

Me in the street infront of the Tsutenkaku (the tower I'm kinda pointing at.)

The from at the top of the Tsutenkaku

Mayu, Ai, Rui at the Korean Restaraunt after our trip up the Tsutenkaku

Me and Hide at the Korean Restaraunt

Remen and Bibinbop... I think I'm spelling something wrong, but It was delicious!!!

THE NEXT DAY ...

The next day my friend Josh was scheduled to arrive at Kansai International Airport and as a surprise me, Hide, Sho, Honami were going to pick him up with Taka. (Josh will be studying abroad at Daito Bunka near Tokyo, Japan, his blog is linked on the right hand side of my page.) Josh thought that only Taka was going to be getting him. I do have some pictures of our trip to Kansai International, but right as Josh met up with Taka, my camera died and I was unable to take any pictures of Josh's arrival.

We ended up taking the very tired, very sleep, and very annoyed Josh (they lost his bags) to a ramen restraunt. We really wanted to go to Muteppo, but on our way there we realized they were closed on MONDAY!!! and went to another place instead called Mario's... Once again it was delicious and excellent and Josh's first taste of Japanese Rmaen went well. After that we headed to Donki Hote (a place that sells pretty much anything... not the same place I spoke up before) and Josh bought some underwear, while I purchased some shampoo and other things. The airline told Josh he would be receiving his bags in the morning so we took him to Taka's where he'll be staying for the next few days.

This morning I found out from Sho that Josh's bags ended up in Amsterdam hahahaha. Both of us died laughing, but did feel bad for Josh considering he's supposed to be leaving for a Ryokan (Hot baths resort) tomorrow morning.

On my next post I'll have some pictures of the dorm and my room, maybe my roommate as well. I hope you enjoyed the pictures and video!!!