The Ōsaka-jō Post

So. We have free wifi in the dorms. Only accessible from the 2nd floor, in the lounge area, but it's here. It's REALLY slow. Too slow for Skype or gaming or the likes, but just fine for blogging and Facebook. Sure would have been nice if someone had TOLD me that, oh I don't know, maybe when I was lamenting that because I didn't have internet I had no way to tell my parents I'd arrived safely at the dorms. Thanks, guys.

But enough about that, this post is about Osaka Castle (Osaka-jo). I finally got the pictures uploaded. Osaka castle was only about a 15 minute train ride from the hostel, so very easy to get to and an absolutely worthwhile trip. As you approach Osaka castle, you start to get glimpses of it through the trees. It's a stunning building, crafted by only the most worthy artisans and gilded in gold.

Getting closer, you can start to see more detail:

The first impression I had upon reaching the outer edges of the castle grounds is how massive and immense the walls are that surround the castle. I can't imagine trying to lay siege to a place like this because not only is it surrounded by a moat, but there's these building-thick stone walls that are unbelievably tall. You can't really get a sense of scale from this, but believe me, the walls are massive.

First you have to cross a bridge (which would of course be an excellent choke-hold to pick off your enemies from inside the castle during a siege) to get through this wall:

So I know in that shot you're not really getting a sense of how big these walls are, but just trust me, they're massive. Not only are they pretty damn tall, but they're incredibly thick. These walls will be here long after we're all dead and buried. Actually, perhaps this will give you some sense of size; the wall is behind the line of trees and you can see the man walking to the right:

Once you get over the moat and across the bridge and past the wall, you're greeted by this gate:

Which has massive wooden doors that probably take ten men to close. Seriously. Massive. The Japanese do not F around.

You walk up a ways more and climb about a bazillion stairs and finally, you're almost there. This is Osaka castle from behind:

Obligatory cherry blossom pic (though I am told they are not as impressive this year as they usually are):

The Emperor now doubt enjoyed the fact that from his perch, he could survey much of his territory:

Did I mention there are yet more walls?

Seriously. Not fun for invading armies.

There is this really awesome tiger at the top of the castle and when I was snapping pictures, this little old Japanese man kept insisting I get shots from specific angles so as to highlight the best parts of the castle. He was sweet. Anyway, here's the tiger, you can see it mid-upper right:

When you go 'round to the front of the castle there is a sort of park or fairground area. There are shops and stands which sell food, drink and souvenirs. There is a koi pond and traditional park area and it's just so peaceful and pretty. Here's a shot I took from the other side of the koi pond which summarizes it better than I could in words (even though I just did):

I went inside, of course, and there is a museum of sorts there that talks about the history of the emperors during certain eras. You can go all the way to the top floor and there is an outside area there where you can see the entire city and take photos. There's also a gift shop. The photos aren't great because of the sort of chain-link fence enclosure to prevent people from falling off, but I'll toss a couple up anyway:

There is some really neat stuff inside like samurai armor and battle standards and the likes, but most floors didn't allow photos to be taken at all, so I can't share that. Here's some nifty stuff that I was able to get shots of, though!

This is our tiger friend who is on the outside of the building, alongside a Koi that is also on various points of the building:

It is the museum's 80th year anniversary, so they put up this tile thing-that-I'm-too-tired-to-remember-the-name-of:

And there are some samurai helmets you can try on for photos (for a small fee, of course):

I went back outside and there is a small well that baka gaijin have put money into as if it were a wishing well (it's not):

I don't know what was in this pit but it probably wasn't good:

I should have taken more shots of the grounds but by that point I was just ready to relax. I ate takoyaki in the park and drank Asahi beer. The weather was glorious and it was a very relaxing and interesting trip. If you go to Osaka, see Osaka castle, it's worth it.

Oh, and bonus points if you can figure out what the hell this dude is doing:

I want my, I want my, I want my inter-nets.

So, no internet at the dorms. Wifi is a rarity here, apparently. I won`t have internet for at least a week, so no updates for now. I only have internet access on-campus, and campus is like a 30 minute walk and a 10+ minute train ride, so I don`t anticipate coming here unless I have to. There MAY be an internet cafe near the dorms, but of course that costs money. Will update again once I get settled. Hope everyone is doing well.

Kusuriya!

Sit, children, and let me regale you with the epic tale of me trying to find a pharmacy (kusuriya). It was really difficult, considering that I know perfectly well how to say 「Where is the pharmacy?」 - 「Kusuriya wa doko desu ka?」 (Those bars on either side of the sentence are quote marks in Japanese - I`m on a Japanese keyboard right now which requires some compromise for use). I needed some asprin and I stopped at three conbinis and a su-pa, and none of them had the brand the clerk at the hostel recommended (Bufferin, as it turns out, but she wrote it all down in Kanji so I had no idea it was Bufferin). When I finally DID find a Kusuriya, it was closed. So I stopped at a Kouban (sort of like a mini-police station, most neighborhoods have one every few blocks) to ask for directions, but the policeman was absent... So... Then I sort of wandered around and asked a shopkeep where a Kusuriya was, and finally found one. Yay for asprin.

Feeling better, and now I`m off to the aquarium!

The Hostel Post

I think one of the most interesting things about being in a foreign country aren't the things that are overtly and very obviously different, but rather the day-to-day minutiae. For example, everyone uses the toilet, everyone washes their clothes, everyone eats food. It's the ways in which those things are done differently from place to place that adds intrigue.

That said, much of the hostel is Westernized, or at least feels Westernized to me, though I really have nothing to base it off of, not living in a Japanese-style house or anything like that. I mentioned that the toilets have bidets, and actually encountered my first genuine "Japanese-style" toilet at the park outside Osaka castle yesterday. This is a traditional toilet:

It's worth noting that despite living in Okinawa for three years as a child, I JUST learned that you're supposed to FACE the flushing apparatus when you use a traditional toilet. I didn't use the traditional toilet yesterday (there were Western toilets, too), but there was a sign with a little stick figure illustrating the proper method.

The toilets in the hostel look like this:

Pretty standard stuff, except perhaps for the sink over the toilet (and perhaps the bidet, depending on which part of the "West" you're from). When you flush, water comes out of the tap on top and into the sink to refill the bowl. You can wash your hands with this water in the interim, and it's a pretty legit way to conserve water.

This is the hostel from the outside:

And a close-up of the entryway:

To the left there is a shoe-storage closet type area. The umbrellas are free to borrow for J-Hopper guests. The bicycles out front can be rented by the hour (¥100) or for the day (¥500). I had thought that would be the best way to get around, but the fact is I don't really understand traffic laws or bicycle laws for that matter, and I've not seen anyone take one on a train, so perhaps they're only ideal for getting around inside small neighborhood areas. Also, the traffic here goes pretty quick and they're not as respectful of pedestrian crossings as one might expect (in my experience thus far).

The view from standing in the doorway of the hostel, looking out:

And yes, those surgical masks are at least as prevalent as you've been led to believe.

Just inside the entryway:

Here you can see the kitchen and dining area towards the back of the room, the clerk area is to the left (closed when this shot was taken), and the stairs to the right lead to the TV room. One of the things you can't see is behind the little bar area is an actual beer vending machine. In the kitchen. Yep.

Speaking of the TV room, let's head downstairs and check it out...

Ah, here we are. This looks comfortable!

Off to the right (out of the pic) are two desktops set up for use. They usually have a rental fee for hourly use, but because of the emergency they are free right now. On the wall is a large map of Japan with what is easily hundreds of little cards with tourist attractions, their locations and descriptions.

There are J-Hopper hostels all over Japan, so you could easily tour a good portion of Japan and stay at their hostels on the cheap.

Remember those stairs? Let's go back up them! I hope you love stairs, because they're everywhere :)

We go up another flight of stairs to the 2nd (3rd? Whatever) story, where my shared room is located. Let's peek in!

As you can see, there's three sets of bunkbeds and a small table. All of the beds have that little curtain you can draw around your bed, which gives you some privacy and blocks out some light (though not all of it). There's also some lockers to the right and a small luggage rack at the foot of my bed (my bed is the bottom one on the leftmost bunk). The beds were pretty comfortable and came with a couple of sheets, some sort of thick-blanket/padding type thing that is like several blankets on top of each other then tied together with knots 'round the edges. Can't really explain it. Then a very soft warm faux mink blanket similar to the one I have at home, but smaller.

Down the hall are toilets, the shower (one on the 2nd floor and three on the 3rd floor, and more on the 4th and 5th, though I'm not sure of the numbers). There's also twin sinks with mirrors, but all of that is pretty standard. Here's the shower (it's unbelievably small, but very functional):

The only really annoying thing about the shower is that the water is only on for about 15 seconds and then you have to push the "on" button again. As a filthy gaijin who is accustomed to just STANDING in the hot shower water because it FEELS good and for no actual utilitarian reason, this is quite frustrating. I just hold the stupid button down. I don't really take long showers anyway, maybe 8-10 minutes, but I miss being able to stand there for a minute or two and just enjoy the water.

There's a laundry facility outside:

And a small sitting area:

Let's head up to the roof, one of the designated smoking areas (one of the signs on the door warns that nothing more than making out is allowed on the roof):

The rooftop has a sitting area as well, with some views of the city:

Ah, let's go back down five flights of this:

On the walls there's often pictures and text of useful information like this:

There's a small garden next door:

It's very peaceful in the hostel, even with people coming in and out. There's lots of restaurants, pubs, conbinis (convenience stores), su-pas (supermarkets) nearby. For breakfast I had eggs and what I swear to God was bacon until I cooked it and though it looked precisely like bacon when it was raw, it neither looked, acted, nor tasted like bacon once cooked. It WAS some kind of pork product, it just wasn't bacon. Still, it was ok. For lunch I had conbini sushi and some kind of salad that was really good but I couldn't begin to tell you what was in it.

All in all, I am having a good time. I leave the hostel tomorrow and head to the dorms. I hope they're at least half as comfortable as the hostel is.

Anyway, jaa mata ne for now! I promise my next update will be Osaka castle; once I can sort through the photos. And then I'll tell you about Umeda Sky Tower and the Gaijin JET English Teachers I met :)

Oh, and PS: I GOT SOME TOE SOCKS YAAAY:

The day is about half done, and I feel I've been fairly productive - if only in a "touristy" sort of way. I did achieve all the goals I stated in my last post, however. I visited Osaka castle and picked up some food from a スーパ ("su-pa" or Supermarket) so that I can cook my own meal tonight. I got some bacon (yay) to go with my eggs and some stuff to make a salad. I figure for dinner tonight I'll boil up one of the eggs and cook some of the bacon and toss that in the salad to make it more filling.

I am really enjoying the hostel. It has plenty of open/shared areas like a full kitchen, dining area, a bar area to eat at in the kitchen and a TV area downstairs. The whole place feels very open and there is lots of light. There's a little spot on the balcony of each level with 2 washers & a dryer, and then clotheslines if you prefer to hang dry your clothes.

Though I am sharing a room with 5 other people, it's not a big deal. I was probably the noisiest person in the entire place last night due to my restlessness. I was up at 4 AM and haven't slept since. I did get to talk to my mom on Skype though, so that was good.

Things I have learned about Japan today:

You have to wear different shoes for the toilet room than you'd wear around the rest of the house.*

Everyone in Japan has a camera.

Everyone's camera is nicer than mine. Everyone's.

People stare. Sometimes when you catch them, they stop, but sometimes they just can't help it. I'll admit, it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be (based on what I'd read), but it's still REALLY entertaining when I catch someone mid-stare and they immediately avert their eyes. GAIJIN COUNTER-STARE POWER! Admittedly, it doesn't bother me at all. I just smile and keep going. I am a minority here - not just a gaijin, but one with blonde hair and blue eyes - and that's just how things are going to be. No reason to get huffy about it.

I plan to do a comprehensive post about the hostel. I feel weird and touristy by snapping pics of everything, so at least in the hostel (the place where it makes the LEAST amount of sense to feel "touristy,") I try to snap pics when no one is around. Actually, it's not about feeling touristy... The hostel is so homey that it almost feels invasive to be taking pictures of everything. Nonetheless, I am taking them as I go and so will post that soon. And then some of the NINETY-SEVEN pictures I took today at Osaka castle. In the meantime, maybe this vending machine will tide you over:

*You take your outdoor shoes off upon entering and either wear house-slippers or socks and then when you use the restroom, you switch to the restroom shoes. I could be completely wrong about this, because I'm just guessing, but there is a pair of slippers in every single toilet room. They're green. I have no idea.

I'm heeeeere!

Well, I am in Osaka. It was a long trip and by the time I arrived, I felt so completely gross. My flight took me from San Antonio, Texas to Salt Lake City, Utah. There I connected to Seattle and flew out of Seatac to Kansai International Airport in Osaka. The last flight was so very long. I was extremely lucky, though, because I got two seats to myself the entire 10+ hour flight, which enabled me to attempt some of the more unique sleeping positions on the plane. I'd also brought along a sleeping mask and earplugs because I have a hard time sleeping places that're noisy and bright. Finally, I'd stayed up all night long the night before, so by the time I got on the last flight, I was absolutely exhausted. I probably slept for 4-6 hours, not all in one block but off and on, and that's certainly a good way to eat up most of a long flight.

The plane landed at about 4:30 at Kansai, and within an hour I had all of my luggage and was through customs. And yes, I did declare the 1 LB of coffee and 16 oz. of almonds I brought with me which, while it raised some eyebrows, they did allow through. Another gaijin bought an entire 10 LB bag of rice. I couldn't fathom bringing rice TO Japan, but according to him, it's pretty expensive here. We ended up sitting next to each other on the train and chatting during the ride, which took about an hour. Both the airport and train were very clean, and it was neat riding through the urban areas of Osaka by train. Ordering my ticket for the train was simple too. You can get tickets through the ticket machine, but they are all in Japanese (cursed Kanji), but they had a clerk as well and I just told her I wanted to get to the Fukushima station, and she printed out my ticket and handed it to me. Then it was just figuring out how to use the ticket. It's not just that I'm a gaijin, but we don't have trains in Texas. Well, freight trains, but no subways or rail lines. Learning experience!

I had to switch trains at the Nishikujo station, which caused some confusion for me because while it was very clear that I had to get OFF the train at Nishikujo, and had to get ON to the train going to Fukushima, it was less clear about which train that was, or how to find it. I got off at the station and many trains passed me, but none were labeled Fukushima, and none of the overhead speakers said anything about Fukushima when trains arrived. There were two platforms, each with a train arriving pretty frequently. I didn't want to get on the wrong train because god knows where I'd end up. In the end, I just asked someone which train went to Fukushima, and he pointed me in the right direction. That trip was very short, as Fukushima is only about three stops from Nishikujo. The hostel had sent me directions on how to get to the hostel from Kansai, including the train change and then walking directions. It said to exit the station and go left at the Mr. Donuts, but then the road forked. One area was well lit and had lots of restaurants, bars and shopping. The other seemed a bit quieter and perhaps more residential, so I went that way.

It was the wrong way. I only went about three blocks in the wrong direction, but by this point I was positively exhausted and was towing five months' worth of luggage. I stepped into a small shop and asked the shopkeeper where the J-Hoppers was. He looked confused, so I switched tactics and asked where there was a hostel (ho-su-te-ru). His eyes lit up with comprehension and he sent me on my way. The people at the hostel were very polite and helped me check in and get my luggage up to my shared dorm room. The hostel is VERY clean. I took a shower right off the bat, as it was my priority. My priorites going something like this: SHOWER, food and/or sleep. After the shower I felt pretty invigorated and wanted to get some dinner. I walked a couple of blocks away from the hostel and found a small restaurant/bar that was hopping. Well, I had been looking for something a bit more traditional, but you can't see into many of the establishments from the outside, so I wasn't sure what I was getting into. I opened the door to check and literally every single person in the place stopped and stared.

The bartender asked if I was alone (Hitori?) and I said yes. At that point, the group at the closest table jumped up and insisted that I sit with them. I hadn't really planned to go to a bar, my main objective at that point was food, but it felt rude to decline their invitation, so I sat with them. The mainstay of the table was a woman who's name I've forgotten (I'm a terrible gaijin), but they all had nicknames anyway. One was a salary man who went by the nickname gorilla (gorira, heh). Another was a server for the bar that the woman kept telling me was a "bad boy with a good heart." A third man was the woman's boyfriend ("honey," "sweety," etc.) I said "Kare?" which means boyfriend, and she nodded affirmatively. There were other people too but this was the core group. Most people in the bar were introduced to me. Everyone was really nice. I drank my Asahi and realized I was about to faint from hunger, so I asked if there was any food.

The girl at my table asked me what I liked, and I said everything. Surprised (and perhaps unsure whether I understood her or not), she went down the list. Pork? Yes. Chicken? Yes. Vegetables? Yes. Then Gorira asked if I had eaten Udon, and I said "Yes! I like udon." Within a few minutes a big bowl of steaming vegetable/tofu udon was at my table. They at least pretended to be impressed when I started eating with chopsticks, then all of them laughed hysterically when I burned my mouth on the hot broth and exclaimed "Hatsui!" ("hot," obviously). I made an over-the-top frowny face and said "Urusai!" ("Shut up!") The udon was really good, and had big, flat squares of tofu floating in it. The woman at my table explained to me two things: 1) that tofu was going to be REALLY hot, so I should blow on it and 2) that I should cut it into pieces.

As a foreigner, one should be aware of when you just don't know how to do something. It's okay to ask for help. My dinner didn't come with a knife (but they did offer a fork, which I politely declined), but I was confused as to how to cut the tofu with chopsticks. I knew it could be done, but I preferred to not look like a total ass and mishandle the chopsticks, so I asked the woman next to me how to do it. She held the chopsticks together and pushed them into the center of the tofu, then opened them up so that the chopsticks went in opposite directions and tore the tofu. I copied her tactic and had success! The tofu was REALLY delicious, sort of a sweet and savory mixed flavor. The udon really hit the spot overall.

I was overwhelmed with sleepiness by this point (about 9:30pm), so I asked if they would be at the same place tomorrow evening. They said they would, so I plan to go back again tomorrow although this time I am going to eat beforehand. My bill of two beers and 1 bowl of udon was about $21.00 USD (1,800 Yen). I plan to find a grocery store at some point today and take advantage of the kitchen we have at the hostel.

It's 5 AM now, and I've been awake since about 4. My clock is still adjusting, but I at least slept from 10p-4a, which isn't so bad. I will probably grab another couple of hours of sleep if I can this morning, and if not I'll take a nap later today. My objectives for today is to find a grocery store and prepare my own meal in the kitchen, and then maybe find Osaka castle - it's supposed to be about twelve minutes away. Oh, and have some Okonomiyaki, Osaka's famous food!

Jaa mata ne (see you later)!

Don't be so hostel!

Today has been very busy, and before I get into the primary topic of this post I want to say that today I sold my car! There was a lot of confusion with the title and what-not as far as my bank is concerned, and even though I started this last Saturday it took until today to get things cleared up, but it's done! Oh, and a sentence you don't want to hear from your bank: "Well, if we have lost the title, we can get you a new one, but it won't be until Friday." If you've what-the-what? How the four-letter-expletive would you lose my title?? Anyway, they didn't lose it, but I was edgy until it was "rediscovered" (I won't say "found" because that implies that it was "lost" -- see what I did there?). So, that has been taken care of and I'm quite relieved because I'm leaving in eight days and I simply did not want to start this whole process over again, and my buyer was getting antsy/impatient.

Anyway, let's talk about Japan. My flight into Kansai International Airport (KIX) is scheduled to land on April 1st at 4pm. From KIX, it's two hours to my dorm. It could easily take over an hour to get through customs and get my luggage. So, best-case scenario; no flight delays, no luggage delays, no customs delays, no missed-the-train-connection delays, I won't be getting to the dorms until 7pm at the EARLIEST. I would feel less nervous about that if the cut-off time for check-in wasn't 9pm. So two hours of delay from ANYTHING would have me landing in Japan with nowhere to sleep. Additionally, the dorm doesn't do check-ins on the weekends, so I wouldn't have a place to sleep for three nights. Needless to say, this possibility made me quite nervous.

I started Googling around for some hostels around the Kansai airport and what I found was two-fold; one, they are expensive and two, they are booked for that weekend. So, I started looking in Suita, Osaka, and was finding that some had rooms on one of the three nights, but not on all three. I found full-on hotels, but they were upwards of $60/night. Which is a decent option if you can't find a hostel, but still, a bit above my price-range. Then I found J-Hoppers. J-Hoppers is a chain of hostels around Japan for people who want to "hop" around the country. Their rooms start at $32/night (for a 6-person dorm style room) to about $50 for a twin bed room. The Osaka location is about 1 hour from KIX and about 1 hour from my dorms, so it's a decent location. When you Google J-Hoppers, you find it's been reviewed frequently and received 4-stars consistently -- save one person who complained it was difficult to sleep due to other noisy patrons -- hello? You're staying in a hostel. Earplugs!

With the great reviews, good location, inexpensive rates, I decided to forget about the dorms until Monday, and spend three nights at the J-Hopper Hostel in Osaka. Now, their check-in time ends at 11, but I figured that would at least give me two extra hours to get there. Further, if you reserve but never check in, they only bill you 10% of your overall cost (so $10 for me) plus one night's stay (out $42 total then, instead of losing the entire $100). That seems pretty fair to me, so I booked three nights; Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The reviews on the place say it is extremely clean and the staff is very polite and helpful; it's near Osaka Castle and other tourist-y attractions, and it comes with a slew of amenities: bicycles you can rent, full-use shared kitchen, free internet access, computer access you can rent by the hour if you don't have your own, free coffee and tea, and clerks who all speak English. When they say they speak English, they mean it. How do I know? Because I then noticed that they have a Skype account so you can call them via Skype for free from anywhere in the world.

I gave them a ring, since I had some questions. My primary question, the thing that had been nagging me since I started looking for alternate accomodations, was what happens if I miss check-in? No problem, the clerk told me. She gave me a pin code that I can use to get in the front door, should I get there late, and informed me that if I miss check-in, there will be a key on a card with my name on it waiting for me on the front counter. So even if I'm late, I can still get into the hostel and get into my (shared) room. I will just have to keep quiet so's to not wake the other guests. I also asked what would be done with my luggage while I was out and about in Osaka, and she said they have a luggage room which locks, where they store large luggage, and each guest has access to a locker in their room to store valuables.

Not only did she alleviate my fears, but she spoke perfect English, and answered all my questions competently and politely. Further, the picosecond we got off the phone, she sent me an e-mail with a ton of information in it (including the PIN code and what to do if I get there past check-in). So. Amazingly. Helpful! I haven't step foot into a J-Hopper Hostel yet and I'm already a happy customer. That's awesome.

Not only am I relieved that I have a place to sleep for the first three nights in Japan, but in a way it sort of puts off the whole "being at school" thing. I mean, I'm sure they'd leave me be at the dorms until the 6th, which is when orientation and such begins, but this feels more vacation-y. I'll have 2 full days (and three full nights!) to not only adjust to the time-change, but to explore Osaka on foot, bicycle, or public transport. I'll have 48+ delicious hours that belong solely to me, where no one will have to account for me and I won't have to account to anyone. This is going to be sweet.