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.