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Published: October 8th 2007
Penguin
A good shot of the Penguin swimming.So I’ve been feeling a little disconnected and need to vent a little about Starbucks Japan. First off they didn’t accept my gift card so that soured me a little bit right away. Then I usually go there to use an internet connection that I’ve found only if I sit in a specific chair, but the past few days I haven’t been able to connect to it (which really isn't their fault). On top of that they wouldn’t let me plug in my computer to the outlets in the wall! That one really made me really angry. I’m a little disgruntled right now and will be giving Howard Schultz a call here soon. Now that I’m off of my soap box I’ll fill you in on my adventures in Osaka.
Thursday I took off with a friend for the National Aquarium in Osaka which came highly recommended by the Lonely Planet. The aquarium was pretty spectacular, let’s just say it put the US National Aquarium in D.C. to shame (although whoever has been to that one knows that it is not very difficult to do). I had three favorite exhibits at the aquarium: 1. The penguins because I think they
Dolphin
A fun picture of a dolphin playing.
are amazing creatures. 2. The Great Barrier Reef which has spectacular colors and makes me want to visit Australia. 3. The school children who were at the aquarium. These kids were crazy, bouncing off the walls and my ear drums were ringing for a few hours after we left because they were so loud with laughter!
Next to the Aquarium was the world’s largest ferris wheel! Since it made that claim, we had to test it out. It took about fifteen minutes to go around once and I got slightly nervous at the top when we were higher than the bridge across the way, but I survived. It gave spectacular views of the harbor and the entire city of Osaka. It was a really nice day so we were able to see all the way to Kobe.
After the worlds largest ferris wheel I think we went into the world’s largest electronic store (I’m just making that up but if I had to rank it, this store would be close). The good news is that my camera can be fixed! The bad news, they would have to have it for two to three weeks. I couldn’t part with
Dinner...
Anchovy and Sardines, yummy. it for that long right now so I’ll either go to the Pentax store and see if they can turn it around faster or wait and deal with it when I get home.
In order for any trip to Japan to be complete, a visit to the pachinko parlor is mandatory. I think I had the weirdest fifteen minutes of my life playing pachinko. We didn’t know what the heck we were doing and the worker kept coming and putting my balls in the machine for me. I tried to leave sooner and cash out but he kept coming back. I ended up being down five bucks but they gave me a bunch of free food in the process. I need to sneak back into a pachinko parlor and take a picture because they wouldn’t allow them in the room. I’m not sure why, I don’t think you can cheat at pachinko?
I haven’t quite figured out what my next adventure is going to be. I’m sure it will be something exciting, probably fighting my eviction notice 😊
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Brie
non-member comment
Ok ok, I know the D.C. aquarium bites, but no need to bash it publically! It looks like you're having a blast. That ferris wheel looks amazing! I'd love to go on it. Fill me in on your current work status!!