We got up really early. Once again Jordan and I found ourselves up with the bright morning sun streaming into the cracks between the curtain and window in Eric's living room greeting us with a new day at five in the morning. It wasn't nearly as painful as the day before but I'm still wondering if this will be the case every morning on this trip.
We laid around and eventually headed out for our nine am train to begin our journey to Osaka. Unfortunately there was no delicious breakfast from Eric to see us off but there was plenty of milk for Jordan to finish up before we left the apartment and we bought onigiri in the station. Jordan bought Eric's favorite, chicken and mayo, and I went for the mysterious rice triangle in the red wrapper. I opened it wrong on the train, misinterpreting step one, and wound up eating the seaweed shell separately. The filling in mine was a mysterious sour lump. Not bad but not expected either.
That held us over until we got to Tokyo where we went bento shopping between trains. I got a Japanese hamburger box which is one of my favs and tastes like a delicious Japanese meatloaf with egg on top. Jordan got kareage again and enjoyed it. We ate on the train to Osaka and Jordan really seemed to begin to get the hang of the chopsticks though t frustrated him to have to eat so slow.
The ride to Osaka from Tokyo was long and warm. In the beginning we has three seats to ourselves and then some kid came to claim his seat. They're pretty serious about assigned seats so we got a nasty look as we tried to quickly shift into our own seats. The train got full and warm but about an hour out we had the place to ourselves again.
We arrived and met up with everyone else who took a different train and made our way to the hostel. We got there hot, sweaty, and ready to dump our bags. The manager of the place seemed like a nice guy but was bugging the shit out of us. The receptionist was either stoned or a space cadet. Finally we made it to our room and grabbed the beds we wanted - the perks to being the first to arrive in the dorm room. A quick break then it was on the road again.
We headed to the big ferris wheel which was on top of the biggest mall I have seen in my life so far. The ride was fun and allowed us to see the whole city. We spotted a 24hr bowling/arcade/kareoke/mega entertainment place and decided we'd go for another rematch. Finding our way out of the mall after our ride was over was a challenge. At one point I thought we would be stuck there forever.
After eventually finding our way out of the mall we found ourselves in another shopping mecca. This time it was another set of shop filled alleys. We found a great place to eat there. It was a Japanese place where you sit on the floor and your feet go on a hole under the table. The food was great and I even got to bust out some Japanese when I quickly gulped down my glass of water and asked for more.
After dinner I was tired as was everyone else but we weren't ready to go back to the hostel. I suggested we go to the bowling place but my companions were all wearing sandals so it was off to Uniqlo first so they could buy socks.
The wait for bowling was long. We passed the time by playing taiko drum game in the arcade and watermelon back at our table in the waiting area. Jordan and I were pretty decent at the drum game and got two free games which was cool. It was funny when Dana brought up playing watermelon. Eric asked Jordan and I if we remembered how to play and of course we did. A couple of intense rounds in I had a flashback to when I learned how to play. It was back when I was rushing my fraternity, during speed socializing at Eric's table and he was the one who taught me. Now 7 years later I'm still playing it with him.
Bowling was crazy. The lanes were so heavily waxed that none of us could get the hang of it for a while. My arm was still killing me from the day before and add in a bad finger am ankle and you've got the worst game of my life. It was still a lot of fun and despite my poor performance the girls still managed to win.
By the time I was through I was ready for bed. It was a quick train ride back the train to Universal arrived just before ours and Eric convinced Jordan that it was ours and to get on. He was on the train and about to sit down before we called him back. Good thing he got off before it left the station. We made it back to the hostel and Jordan and I were dead to the world. By ten we were both asleep.
Tomorrow it is off to Nara for a day trip. Can't wait.
(my bento was actually from New York deli. What are the odds of that?)
Location:７丁目,Osaka,Japan
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