Osaka aka The Ghetto Honeymoon Trip

Dotunburi
Originally uploaded by pointybunny.

Kristin convinced us to go to Osaka for 3 days so we could meet up with girl Scott and her husband Tom. Taka was hesitant about spending the money but we ended up agreeing. I just wanted a break from his parents house so it was fine with me. We took the Bullet Train (Shinkansen) which cost around $150 or something like that for roundtrip tickets. It was a good 3 hour ride. Our train hostess person had the same last name as us so we talked to her more than usual. Seeing Mount Fuji in the distance while speeding by on a bullet train was like a strange dream I didn't want to wake from. I am a lucky girl.

We made it to the train station and after several wrong turns (Even Taka was confused here) eventually we found our hotel. We decided to stay at the fabulous New Hankyu which we lovingly dubbed "Hotel NO Thank You" I was all excited this was the first time we got to use our married name at check in.

Information about the Hotel New Hankyu:

Hotel New Hankyu
1-1-35 Shibata, Kita-ku, Osaka 530-8310
Telephone: 81-6-6372-5101
http://hotel.newhankyu.co.jp/welcome-e.html

Beautiful View (sarcasm) out our hotel window:

Osaka is a very industrial city. Lots of concrete. Kristin had adjoining rooms to us and we called Scott and Tom at their hotel and agreed to meet up later. We went exploring and found our way to Dotonbori, the famous shopping area.

About Dotonbori:

Dotonbori (道頓堀) is one of the most famous landmarks of Osaka, Japan. It is a canal and former pleasure district, best known for its surrounding theatres, shops, and restaurants. The area is famous for the bridge across the canal itself and many colourful neon signs, including snack/candy manufacturer Glico's giant electronic display of a runner crossing the finish line.

Dotonbori traces its history back to 1612, when entrepreneur Doton Yasui was busy expanding the tiny East/West running Umezu River, hoping to increase commerce in the region by connecting the two branches of the North/South running Yohori River with a canal. Doton’s great task was interrupted when he died defending Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the ill-fated Siege of Osaka, but his cousins carried on his legacy and finished the canal in 1615. The new lord of Osaka CastleTadaki Matsudaira, named the avenue Dotonbori in honor of its visionary even though Doton had been his enemy during the siege.

The character of Dotonbori became defined in 1621 when the newly minted Tokugawa Shogunate instituted urban planning, designating Dotonbori as the theater and entertainment district of Osaka. The Broadway and West End of its time, by 1662 the avenue boasted six Kabuki theaters and five Bunraku theaters, as well as the unique Takeda Karakuri mechanical puppet theater. To support the flood of tourists and entertainment seekers pouring nightly into Dotonbori, an explosion of restaurants and cafes burst onto the scene, providing every sort of culinary delight the eager pleasure-seekers could desire.

Over the years, declining interests in traditional entertainment saw the closing of most of Dotonbori original attractions, and the final five theaters were bombed and destroyed in 1945, leaving only the restaurants that we see today. (Information from Wikipedia)

The Dotonbori Crab:

Kani Doraku Crab - This six and a half meter crab fronts the famous crab restaurant Kani Koraku. It is mechanized, being able to move its arms and eyestalks. Built in 1960, the mechanical billboard soon spawned a craze of imitators including a squid that puffs steam and oni that light up at night. The Kani Doraku crab is responsible in many ways for the current look of Dotonbori, and appears on postcards and websites probably more than any other symbol of Osaka. (information from Wikipedia)

Back to our Adventure:

Of course we got lost again trying to find Dotonbori and ended up having to ask a policeman for help. I got mildly claustraphobic in the crowds around here. I laughed at something really loud (I didnt think it was that loud) and an elderly woman yelled at me. Don't know what she said so it didnt matter. ha.

Finally there we just walked around and Kristin shopped. Taka and I indulged in our favorite past time of UFO machines. He won a video game and I think I got some stuffed animals. We tried to win some yen that we thought was real for some stupid reason but of course it was fake. Its probably a tourist joke of some kind. The attendants there were very nice about putting things up so I could get them.

We met up with Scott and Tom for coffee and a little sidewalk cafe' and tried to decide what to do later. Everyone decided it would be fun to go out and experience some clubs. I text messaged my friend, Yuki who lives in Nara who was interested in meeting up with us.

We went back to our rooms and Taka and I decided to stay in while Kristin went out with Scott and Tom. We needed a little time alone. Apparently its hard to get time alone in Japan. As I am finding out. It was nice to just relax together.

In the evening we all got together after Kristin, Taka and I went out to eat and Yuki joined us. We decided to see one of the Undergound shopping malls, we may have gone to Namba, I cant remember. I was trailing behind everyone because I was open mouthed in front of a Kimono display when I saw Tom standing alone staring at the men's room sign with a very wierd look on his face. "You really want to go to the bathroom?" I said jokingly but he didn't answer and kept staring. Next thing I know, his eyes rolled back and he fell onto the ground into grand mal epilepsy seizures. All the store clerks came running out and a huge crowd encircled us. I have often heard that Japanese are not helpful to strangers but I have never found that to be true at all. One European man tried to help and a Japanese woman put her jacket over Tom while everyone else called the police and went to get help. Taka and the others came runing back and Scott was very upset. Taka immediately took charge, I was very proud of him that day. That's when I knew I really had made the right choice. The Mall police came and they couldn't do anymore than Taka did, they actually complimented him on his skills. Tom was taken away to the emergency room and Taka and Scott rode in the ambulance.

A little flabbergasted at the change of events, Yuki drove me and Kristin back to our hotel and we hung around drinking tea Yuki bought us while we waited for news. Taka finally came back and said Tom was stable but that the hospital wanted to keep him over night. Taka even paid his hospital bill because they couldn't get the insurance worked out then. Everyone was still wide awake so Yuki offered to drive us to Kobe to see the city and get some dinner.

It was a beautiful drive. Taka was having some kind of jealousy fit so he wasn't getting along well with Yuki. By the time we got to Kobe it was very late and the restaurants were all closed. We did walk around the Kobe tower area and waterfront.

We ended up having dinner in a Royal Host - a Japan version of Denny's.

The Royal Host Credo:

* Delicious Food

* Cleanliness in food preparation and handling

* Cheerful service and pleasant atmosphere that brighten society.

They had good french fries so my society was brightened considerably. Yuki drove us around and gave us some history on the Kobe earthquake. For me, I had a great time but the tension was getting on my nerves. Yuki asked if he could take us to Kyoto the following day but Kristin and Taka didnt want to go.

The next day we went by taxi cab to the hospital to clear up some paperwork for Tom. The taxi service in Japan is excellent. The cabs are always clean and tidy, drivers are usually super nice and they have automatic doors so don't try to open them or you will get yelled at. One cab we rode in, the pretty lady driver gave us candy! yup, I loved her. Oh, anyway, we went to the hospital and it was alot like hospitals everywhere cept you dont understand any of the signs. Afterwards we went back to the downtown area and did some more exploring. Tom and Scott were officially out of the touristing. We went to an internet cafe that had loads and loads of manga to read and sent emails home. We were a little dishearted by everything so we decided to just stay in our hotel and have dinner and drinks. Taka and Kristin went by a convenience store and loaded up on our favorite snacks and got some wine to celebrate our honeymoon. I stayed in and took a hot Japanese style bath. It was heavenly.

Our snacks in the picture are Calbee vegetable sticks, Calbee consumme potato chips (or something to that effect), Meiji Galbo chocolate, some kind of Pringles, Smirnoff, Kirin, Ratio red wine, I think a version of the Pizza-La potato chips and some ramen flavor chips. Japanese chips are great. There are so many wacky flavors it's hard to choose from. The pizza ones have some sort of cheese on them, it's very strange.

We just talked and laughed and relaxed. it was nice.

Next morning Kristin and I were bemused by the fact that the hotel gives you a free newspaper under your door every morning and hers was in English and ours was in Japanese. Once our brains started functioning we realized it was because she has a gaijin name on the hotel register while ours is Japanese.

We packed up and hustled off to the train station and back to Tokyo!!! They both slept on the way home but I was too excited by the train travel.