Osaka New Year’s saga part I

Okay. Here it is….the long awaited, much anticipated story of our Osaka New Year’s trip. It all started last Thursday. I wanted to pack on Wednesday night, but we had a few friends over for dinner, and by the time they left and I picked up things, it was time for bed. We packed in the morning and called David, who we were going with, to see when he wanted to leave. He said we should go on the 2:30 bus from Hitoyoshi, which is about 50 minutes from our town. It was currently noon, so we had to immediately jump up and get ready. We threw a few more things in the bag and left since we still had to feed and clean Krista’s turtle tank, go to the bank, and drop something off at Justine’s house. I tried to take a short cut (which is never a good idea when you’re running late ), and it put us off on some backwoods country road. I was terrified that we’d miss the bus, but the road came out right where we needed to be. We left Hitoyoshi, and our trip officially had begun!

We got to Kumamoto around 4PM, and David met his girlfriend, Ikumi. We put our luggage in a locker at the bus station so that we wouldn’t be tied down. The next couple of hours were spent walking around the mall area. We went to the international store, which was a lot of fun because I saw a lot of stuff that is really rare here. Granted it was much more expensive, but if I want brie cheese or Quaker brown sugar and maple syrup oatmeal, I know exactly where to go! David’s girlfriend took us to a really great restaurant. I’m not sure how you would classify it since the architecture was very German with exposed beams and old village style structure, but the food was more Italian-like. Ikumi and I got pasta, and the guys got pizza. No one was disappointed with the meal! It was about 6:30 when we left , and our overnight bus left at 7:20. We walked around the mall area lazily, in no real hurry, but magically time sped up. None of us really know what happened to the time because as we walked back to the bus station, we noticed it was 7:14. All of us had to sprint the last couple of blocks, swing into the bus station to pick up our luggage, and sprint down another block to our bus. Nothing gets the adrenaline flowing like almost missing your bus!!

The overnight bus was dismal to say the least. It was nothing against the bus company. I just don’t sleep well in moving vehicles. Plus, the bus stopped every three hours for a bathroom break. It seemed like as soon as I was in a good sleep, I’d wake up as the bus stopped. Our last stop was around 5AM, and David decided to get a coffee from one of the machines. The machine had a camera inside of it, and we all stood in awe as we watched the mechanical arms of the machine make his coffee while playing music for our listening pleasure. Fantastic! At 6AM, we stopped in Kobe, and around 7AM, we were finally in Osaka. It’s very disorienting to be dropped off in an unfamiliar city without being able to speak the language after a night of sleep deprivation.  Luckily, David studied abroad near Osaka during his college years, so he knew his way around Osaka. Since no where was open yet and we couldn’t check into our hostel yet, we went down into the station and found a Krispy Kreme to have breakfast.  Big, fat, greasy, sugary American doughnut=breakfast of champions!

After we found and dropped off our luggage at the hostel, we met up with another friend, Rachel. She had been in Kyoto all week and was wrapping up her vacation in Osaka. She suggested that we go to Spa World, a huge indoor spa and pool area. It was an amazing idea! We spent the whole day in that one building. It was only 1,000 (about $11) yen to get in, but once you got in they had all kinds of different machines and massages to sucker you with. The first and second floor were check-in and machines, the third floor restaurants and massages, fourth floor guys’ floor, I don’t recall what was on the fifth floor, sixth floor women’s floor, and the top floor was the pool area. The guys and girls split up to went to their respected floors. Rachel and I decided to sit in the onsen (hot springs) for a while. If you’ll remember from blogs past, we have to get completely naked to go into the onsens. It doesn’t bother me at all now, and for the most part people don’t stare. Sometime people, especially kids, will stare just because I’m different. After a long night on the bus, it was amazing to sit and relax in the hot water. Each room was themed like some place in Asia. There was Japan, of course, but also Persia, Iran, and China. My personal favorite was the Bali room. The atmosphere in that room was incredibly relaxing, and the water was scented with jasmine. I could have lived in that room. There was also an outside onsen and salt sauna. It was ridiculously hot in there, but we scrubbed our bodies down with salt, and my skin was baby soft and smooth after that.

We went up to the pool for a while and had to rent bathing suits for that since it was coed. I wasn’t excited about the idea of renting a bathing suit, but it happened. The pool was nice but nothing to write home about. The slides were cool (typical swirly things you’d see anywhere), but you had to pay each time you went down, so we only did it once. The rest of the time was spent floating around the lazy river. It was really crowded, and I kept bumping into other people. Rachel and I were starving, so we got out to meet the guys downstairs for lunch.

The spa was kind of like living in a utopia. Women were issued pink flocks, guys blue, and everyone walked around in them without a stitch of clothing underneath. Each person was given a wrist band with a computer chip in it. If you wanted to buy a drink or something, all you had to do was scan it. Everyone walked around relaxed from one floor to another. Lunch was quite the dining experience! In the States, there’s the rule of no shoes, no shirt, no service, but at the spa it didn’t matter. We were bare foot with only our frocks on, and we waltzed right into the dining area without any questions asked.    There were several restaurants to choose from, but we decided on an okonomiyaki restaurant. Osaka is known for its okonomiyaki, and it’s my favorite Japanese food I’ve found yet. The ingredients sound very weird, I know, but it’s like a savory pancake. Every place makes it a little differently, but at this restaurant it was shredded cabbage, ginger, pork, and an egg mixed together and put on a griddle. Once the pancake is finished, you put mayo, okonomiyaki sauce, and fish flakes on it. Like I said, I know it sounds weird, but please trust me when I say that it is DELICIOUS and very filling.

After lunch we agreed to go our separate ways again. The guys said they were going to the nap room, and Rachel and I said we’d go back to the onsen to soak in the hot water again. I cannot tell you how relaxing and freeing it is to sit naked in a hot tub! Ha, ha. I really know how weird that sounds. I once thought the way those of you who are currently wrinkling your nose think.   If you come visit me in Japan, I’ll take you, and you’ll understand!  Anyway, I stray from my topic.  We went to all of the different pools and left the jasmine scented water of the Bali room for the last so that our skin would absorb it and smell beautifully. 

Whenever we finished at Spa World, we had to go back to our hostel to check in.  Our room was nice.  It was actually part of an apartment, and we had one of the rooms.  There were two bunk beds, and the best feature of our room is that each bed came with its own electric blanket.  Nothing makes me happier than being wrapped in warmth!  I unfortunately drew the short stick and had to take the top bunk.    We got settled in and headed back out to meet Rachel at an izakaya, which is a place the Japanese go to drink.  Izakayas also sell pretty cheap and tasty food.  Since David knew Osaka, he took us to one that he had cheap food and a great atmosphere.  We didn’t stay out too late since David, Ian, and I were exhausted from sleep deprivation.

….and that was Thursday and Friday!  Tomorrow as I’m pretending to look busy at work, I’ll write about Saturday (and hopefully Sunday).