Blogs from Osaka, Osaka, Japan, Asia - page 19

Saapuminen Osakaan tapahtui hyvin rauhallisesti, ei samanlaista paniikkia mitä oli kaksi vuotta sitten. Lennolla oli yllätys, se paikka ei ihan ollu niin yksityinen ku luulin...Mutta luojan kiitos että vieressäni ei olllu ketään perhettä....en olis jaksanut ainuttakaan kitisevää lasta. Asteita täällä on semmoset 33...joten heti ku poistuin lentokentän asema tilasta ulos, rupesin heti hikoilemaan vaikka päällä ei ollu oikeastaan mitään :D Heitin kamat hotellille ja lähdin tsekkaamaan tutut paikat :D tääl on muuten alennusmyynnit käynnis, mut vaate tarjonta on huomattavasti laajempi naisille. Miesten osastolla oli vaan joku muutama rätti. Tuli siinä katellessa hirvee nälkä joten lähdin metsästämään ruokakauppaa, S-markettia ei löytynyt :D mut semmonen marketti jossa olin käynyt kaksi vuotta sitten, kauheesti kaikkee...Mul ei ihan noi merkit oo viel hakusessa joten en ihan mitä tahansa us... read more

Here I am, about to blog about Europe, while I'm already in Japan. How many times has this happened on this trip? Too many to count. Before I begin, let me just brag that by the time I get back to Canada I'll have been around the world two whole times in the last two years - once clockwise and once counter-clockwise. Though by the time we get to October I may well have been around it two and a half times as I've been offered a job as an au paire (nanny) for a beautiful family (with a beautiful house) in France, and I think I'm going to take it. Needless to say, I liked Europe enough to consider moving there. In fact, I LOVED Europe (even Greece!) with its inherent diversity, old world charm ... read more

Leaving Tokyo, the next stop was Osaka. Kelvin and I stayed in the cutest hostel. It was pretty much like a house, with one open plan room upstairs which had just 6 bunk beds. Downstairs was the shower room and a little living room with a dining table, books, tv, computer, maps, comics... Straight away we met my friend Namiko (Namiko and I last year - AND ). Had some childlike fun on a big ferris wheel...ate at an Izakaya (of course) and had a good old catch up. Our first full day we decided to go to this huge electronics department store, just to see how advanced Japan is (and how crazy!). There was one section where you could try all these fitness machines. Some you had to stand on and the machine wiggled, maybe ... read more

Japanese Vocabulary: yokozuna: the highest rank a sumo can achieve fundoshi: sumo thong thing yowai: weak higashi: east nishi: west chanko nabe: a type of nabe dish (hotpot dish) that is specific to sumos...it, along with rice and beer, seems to be the staple dish of their diet. Like all nabe, it consists of a broth in which items are simmered, but I think chanko nabe is particularly high in protein. izakaya: japanese bar/eatery that serves a wide variety of drink as well as Japanese small plate bar food...like a Japanese tapas bar On Christine's birthday, we went to the second to last day of a big sumo tournament in Osaka a couple of months ago! Watching sumo is crazy…people drink beer and get noisy and when one of the yokozuna (highest ranking sumo) is defeated ... read more

Osaka aquarium is the best aquarium ever!! There is a massive tank that you can view from 7 floors with a 9mm whale shark with tons of others stuff including giant crabs and otters and seals etc. its really cool! Afterwards we went on the worlds biggest ferris wheels with cool views over Osaka Bay. Steve was a bit scared as its was a bit rikety especially after i mentioned that episode of Bottom!!... read more