The ways of social Drinking

In Japan it's very common to drink socially either with your co-workers or your peers. It's there way of loosening up around each other, say a few "bad" comments, and then everyone forgets (but not really) by the time they wake up in the morning. Therefore, it's very common to drink.


In an Izakaya, of course. Not to say that people are not drunk in public, because they are, but just as drinking a cola in public in deemed illmannered, as is drinking alcohol.

Anway, a few friends and I have seemingly started this routiue, it's one of the few social things open after our college day is up, besides karaoke. So you go with a group of buddies, sit down at this cheap place and eat, drink, and talk merrily.

Some people drink more, and others less, it's not about how much you drink but that you're having a great time with those around you. Also, we tend to stay at these places for at least an hour or two, but it seems to pale in comparison with the Japanese. One group was in there before we got there, and probably long after we left as they were still socializing and drinking as if the world was going to end.

Of course, the great influence was going to these places and being social, is to continue being social. We decided to go, buy more drinks, and smuggle them into the shady (read: awesome) karaoke establishment: Ring. Some of stayed there to Midnight, and others eariler in order to catch the last bus or train.

Namba

On October 10th 2010, as a birthday day out, me and a friend traveled to the great district of Namba. For any of those back home who have not been to Japan, or just simple unaware--Namba is a district of Osaka that is known for both a) it's shopping and b) it's entertainment.

Unfortunately, we only went for the shopping and a little food.

First off, there is a very famous mascot-ish picture that everyone and their mom takes a picture of, so we should first get that out of the way.

                                            This is Glico Man. He's on Glico own products

He's right outside of the this European store known as H&M. This is also where you'll descent into the madness that everyone refers to as "the overcrowded streets of Japan." It doesn't happen in Hirakata, but be rest assure once you step outside of this community and into any place of Osaka and Kyoto, you will be overcome by the sea of people.

Also, I bought a wonderful shirt at H&M.

We traveled for like ever looking at the wonderful places set before us. My friend and I ate at a wonderful Izakaya because a Japanese boy gave us a coupon and had us follow him. I'm so happy we went with his choice, even if he only led us there because it was his job.

After the wonderful food we found a great accessory shop known as Heartdance. It's expensive, but everything was so adorable.

I bought a headband, it's super awesome with a feather and everything.

Finally, we made it to a place called Big Camera, where we unlocked an achievement: buying an MP3 player. I went with a wonderful, and very new (released October 09th), NW-S755 series Sony Walkman. It's pink, it hold 16 GBs, I am quite happy at the moment--until those Gigs fill up.  I also bought an awesome pair of headphones and then called it a day.

My friend then treated me to some Ice Cream. It was wonderful!

Namba is a great place for any shopping nut, and you'll find whatever you want as long as you look hard enough.

...Except for shoes above 26.5 centimeters. 

Adventures in Kyoto

In the last two weekends I made two adventures to the wonderful city of Kyoto. The first time was for more of an experimental shopping, while the second was to experience the various clothing shops in one of the shopping districts.

First, the flea market. 

Every month, on the 25th you can travel to Kitano Tenman-gu and experience a very lively, very full, flea market. You'll know just by the bus ride that you're going to the right place, because as you get closer to the temple, the bus becomes insanely crowded. Everyone and their mother's mother goes to this flea market. There's some religious reason for going this temple as well, but seeing as I barely seen anyone one person leave from the flea market area--it's not as important as the goods that surround you.

And why? Because everything is cheap, like insanely cheap. I bought a kimono and an obi for only thousand yen, or roughly ten bucks. Yes, this place is great for finding deals. It's also great for finding antiques and statues, and even toys for children. If you're looking for something out of date, you'll probably find it at this location.

The food stands they have set up: also awesome as well as the icy stands. The icy was a little sweetie than I was use to back home in the states, perhaps because I tend to chose things labeled with sour, but it was great none the less.

Also, there's another flea market on the 21st of every month at Toji temple. I was told it was actually bigger than this one, and by god that's scary.

The other shopping trip was to Sanjo.

The original mission was to go to a yarn store. However, every time we found a store we thought was interesting, well we just had to stop. One of them was a 315 yen store. Such awesome accessories for such a low price. I got two scarves, a purse, and a pair of sunglasses for roughly fifteen dollars. It's really amazing the type of stores you'll find if you look hard enough.

Along the way we had to stop to eat, everyone was starving. So we found this little cafe on the second floor of an older building, and oh my it was amazing! They placed in a private room, probably for the benefit of everyone involved in the communication and we had water in pretty glasses. We looked through the menu, deciding what was the best option. Most of the group went with a very American Meat Lunch with involved a hamburger steak and sometime of sauce. This was lunch was an amazing deal since it came with a soup (cheese soup), a drink, the main course with a choice of bread or rice, and then a small dessert. Everything about the food was great.

Eventually we left and made it to our destination with a few other stops of course. However, the yarn was apparently very expensive so we went home empty handed (when it came to the original mission).

All in all, Kyoto is a great place to leisurely spend time shopping and having fun. It is a very vast area and 'd recommend as a foreigner to go with at least one other person, so that if you're lost, at least you're not lost alone.

Oh! On the way back to the train station we ran across a publicity stunt. We're still not fully sure what was going on, but involved pretty dudes in suits, people laying on the ground as if they were dead, and one man in a maid outfit. We were amazed, and it was awesome.

*Pictures may or may not come later.*

Karaoke and Tuskimi

Karaoke. It's a social outing that have been very famous in Japan, at least among those who have dreamed of coming to the Land of the Rising Sun. As one such foreigner, I went with my fellow travelers, classmates, and friends to the Ring.  The Ring is an overall entertainment center where you can play games, read manga, and of course karaoke for eight hours for only eight hundred yen. Not that everyone will be actually singing for all eight hours, but it'd there and the same prices regardless of if you do it for one or not.

The first step however is signing up for their membership cards. They're two hundred yen, and from what I understand they keep you from having to pay  four hundred yen, on top of the eight hundred yen, in order to use their place. Of course, I'm not really sure, I was only assured over and over again that this was  a better deal.  Once you're done with that, you're given a basket that contains two mics, cups for you and everyone you're with, the air conditioner remote and a number. The number matches with whatever room they decided to put you in, and it printed clearly on the basket. Once inside, you'll have a set up with a television, benches, a table, and the karaoke system. From there on, just enjoy and have fun. Also, don't worry if you happen to not know any Japanese songs, they have plenty of English ones.

We had a lot of fun, sung a lot of songs, and drunk plenty of melon soda. We had a few geeky moments and played Disney and old 90's songs that had random videos going on in the background. What an American beach has anything to do with Alejandro, I'll never know.

On a more traditional Japanese note, I was able to attend Tuskimi. This was a very last minute trip, and so I wasn't there to experience everything (as I have a night class). However, what I was able to see was very pretty and amazing.

It was held at a shrine in Kyoto, the end escapes me, but it's the last stop on the Train line and they have a exit labeled with the shrine being that that direction once you get off the train. It was about a ten minute walk from the train station in a very quiet area of town. We were actually afraid that we had missed everything when we got there, as we kept seeing more people leaving than coming in, however we made it in time to watch and listen to the traditional music. All in all it was a great experience that I was glad I didn't decided to miss out on.

If you happen to come during the Fall Semester, I will wholeheartedly suggest going to this event, even if only to experience something that isn't done in America. Remember, once you're back home you're not able to experience such festivals so freely without a fifteen hundred plane ticket and additional money for other transportation.

The highlight of that night, thugh was on the way back to the seminar house I had to wait thirty minutes for the bus at Hirakata Station. While waiting, a bunch of Japanese boys started to get really loud, until one of them pantsed himself and ran down the station and back to his friends. It was really an awkward moment for everyone involved.

A Fine Night to Walk Home

In case anyone wasn't aware (like really where have you been?) I walk to and from school everyday. This, depending on such factors as how awake I am, and how much time I have to get there, can take any where from 20 to 40 minutes. However, as people have already done a "this is how we get to school," video I thought the next best thing is seeing the awesome short cut at night, as I have to at least two nights a week. So let's begin!

First, I leave from the building where all my classes are kept. Right outside of this building is a water fountain. It's very pretty at night. See, look at this closer look at the baby! In any case, after leaving the building I have the option of going through the Main Gate, which is lame because that requires back tracking, or I can make my way through the campus and go through the East Gate. So of course as the savvy college student that I am, I go through the East Gate.

The walk is very nice, and with all the lights around, you forget it's actually dark outside. I took all of these pictures without any flash setting. Soooo, I think I'm pretty safe from anything that goes bump in the night. So, this walk is probably the longest part of the walk, and is pretty much the same winding word for about 10-15 minutes, once again the speed depends on several factors.

After going through the gate, I have to cross a small road, another road, and then a larger road that requires a cross walk. I suppose if you're the type to live in the fast lane you could opt out of the cross walk, however my mother didn't raise a fool--as they say. Once you're on the other side, you pretty much have a straight forward walk. It's street, buildings, and more of the same street.

I pass a park on the way, which I find to be a bit on the creepy side for two reasons: the equipment looks old and it's really just a very desolate area every time I walk by. The most I see is, is an equally old bicycle parked along the fence. However, I like this park because it tells me to turn off and go into the awesome, scary, shortcut of doom and happiness. It's a straight shot (sort of ) to the seminar house from here. You walk, you keep walking, and then walk some more.  Just pay attention for cars and motor scooters as they go through there very quickly, and the road isn't very wide.

I pass another place that I think is a shrine, turned into a park area? Maybe, I know it's pretty, I know there are shrine like things there, and a playground.  This is probably the highlight of my walk, minus the few gardens I pass along the way, which I didn't take a photo of, since they're beyond closed walls.

Then I walk some more, really it looks all the same, so be prepared to get lost if you don't stalk a fellow gaijin the first time.  And remember, pay attention for cars and motor scooters, in such of this instance, I wasn't paying attention and had to move very quickly in the middle of the photo. I found it funny, knowing I would warn the danger of the narrow road, and here I was not following my potential advice. 

Anyway, Once you some to this intersection, you'll turn right, walk a couple yards and boom! You're at your home away from away from home.

And Now a Post Close to Home

As much as anyone loves adventure, we often have to take pauses from our new life when sudden close to us has disappeared without out presence. When I came to Japan, I was fully aware that my grandfather was sick, but part of me wanted to hope that maybe, just maybe, everything would have been okay until I returned.


I'm too much of an optimist at times. Or perhaps I'm simply naive.

Either way, I came to Japan and hoped for the best. And when I came to Japan, I had hoped that maybe I'll be able to say goodbye. Or at the very least came at point in time when I was able to have adapted enough to cope on my own terms. But neither of those things have happened, my grandfather passed away and I'm alone in a computer lab sobbing over such a significant lost.

Me and my grandfather use to be so close too. As a young child, I would sneak out of bed and watch such cartoons as Secret Squirrel and and Atom Ant. Both of which still hold a special meaning to me, and even though as I grew older and we grew slightly apart, my grandfather was still an important person in my life.


There isn't much else I should, or could say, at this moment other than I loved my grandfather dearly, and he will be missed. However, as most challenges that that face my life, I still like to keep repeating one simple quote at the end of the day: "We enjoy warmth because we have been cold. We appreciate light because we have been in darkness. By the same token, we can experience joy because we have known sadness."

Orly Japan?

Since there wasn't much of a weekend, and my blog is a little small, I thought it'd be best to do a little segment on things that make me say "yay," or "WTF Japan?" There may be more of these as my time progresses, only time will tell.

Anyway, let's start with the "yay," section or as I say to myself "How Japan and I are secretly twins separated at birth."

Twins Separated at Birth:

1. Coke and Lemons. If there are two things that I like more than anything else as a late night snack, it's a good coke or a good lemon. Together, these two things are god-like. So I'll have you know I was humbly surprised by such things as a lemon in my coke drink, or the fact Japan even sells Pepsi with a twist of lemon (not coke, but it's a good substitute when coke is not around.)  Add a little salt is you feel the need there isn't enough in your life, I know I do. Speaking of lemons...

2. Lemon drinks. As much as I love lemons, I understand that having them all the time is not the best idea in the world, and that's where Japan has my back. Lemon drinks, tons and ton and tons of lemon drinks. My favorite so far, of course, comes from Suntory: C.C. Lemons. Supposedly it has 70 lemons, that's seven tens, worth of vitamin C. I'm know sure how much Vitamin C I'm suppose to have a day, but I think this drink will have me covered.

3. Silent Transportation. You know what I hated as a kid? Being on a bus, an it wasn't because of the ride itself. No, it was far worse. It was the extreme amounts of yelling going on between everyone. I heard this behavior carries on into the adult world when you pay for your public transportation. But not in Japan, because Japan doesn't care about conversations and would kindly like you to shut up. For the most part anyway. If you're on a bus, or train, full of international students expect much the same as your childhood days. Sometimes expect it from Japanese teenagers, but even then they aren't so loud as you fill as if you need to slap them.

4. Walking everywhere. I feel so much better at the end of the day, when I walk home from my college and my feet are sore. I feel a little less...lazy, and a little more as if I've done something worth while.

5. Grocery Store Sales. If you love sales, and you love buying cheap food in a place where it's hard to come by, Japan is the the prefect place. Well that is, after seven in the evening. Yes, yes, I know it's scary and dark out and all that great stuff, but they have food that's going to expire at the end of the good. Food that I know, and you know, can last longer than a day. Food that has been discounted enough that your wallet is happy at the end of the night. I love discounted food, and it loves me.
Anyway, I believe that's enough for one blog of likes and dislikes, and now for the wonderful times of "WTF Japan," or as I like to call it:

Japan must be Trolling

1. Road Signs, who needs those? I do Japan, I do. There's nothing I like better than having a little dinky map telling me where to go and no signs that say I'm going the right way. The last time I check, it was a good idea to always put nice little signs to let people know they were going the right way, especially when that place is something major like a college. Take for example, the University of Mount Union. I have signs telling me 30 miles away telling me I'm going in the right direction. Some may call it culture shock, I call it a bad case of trolling.

2. Everything is so expensive. And I don't mean "I can't buy this anime set, it's like over nine thousand dollars," no I mean a packet of meat is going to cost you roughly six American dollars to buy. And it may, or may not, feed two to three people. I haven't really discovered that one yet, I'll tell you how it goes. On the plus side, crab meat is super-cheap at the moment. And I don't mean my American standards, I mean it's about eighty cents for eighty-one grams.

3. Dryers. I think it's bad enough I have to pay to use a washer and dryer, I mean come on it's not a laundry mat, it's the shower room. However Japan loves taking my money. I feel that if Japan is going to take my money, then he should at least give my properly heated dryers. Yes, yes, I know save the environment, cost of lowering the heat is super awesome savings, and all that great junk--but what is the point in telling me I should user the dryer and then hang my clothes outside? How about I skip that step and just hang them outside? Ha ha, I'm on to you, you little troll...

4 Hot. Cold. Hot. Cold. You basically have to chose one or the other. I have yet been able to be in a room that had Air Conditioning and not freeze. There have been times that I found it a little cold, turn the A.C. off in the Seminar House's Computer Lab, only to have it turned back on as soon as a R.A. walks in. I'm cold, sir, please leave it off. On the same token, once I step out of the computer lab I'm met with a heat wave. It's hot, it's how I warm up, but jeeze Japan can't we have a place that's a middle ground?
I believe that pretty much covers everything for now, I do have one creepy story about my weekend! It was a late, humid, night and I was alone in the computer lab. I was tired, not wanting to sleep, but finally forcing myself to leave. I shut the down the computer and gathered my belonging and thought: "Hey with all this stuff I'm carrying, I think I'll take the elevator." And so I set out on my journey to the elevator. It was right in front of the computer, really, so the journey was quite short but to my amazement, the elevator doors were open and waiting for me.

Now, while I was pretty weirded out by it, I stepped in hoping for the best. When the doors closed, I wondered if this was going to be the twist from M. Night Shaymalan's Devil. I believe it was, as I got safely to my floor. The End.