My sister bought my pass from me in the morning for it's worth. Then, already running late, I rushed to the station. The busses seemed to crawl there and I arrived already five minutes late. Sophia texted me earlier saying that Sara wasn't feeling well and wouldn't be comming. And Dasha sent the "don't ask" text of: "Dude, Stuff happened last night, I need a nap, can't come." One person I got in touch with, Heewon (The Korean) said that she was running late too. So I thought "Oh sweet, I can try to get my bus pass."
I forgot that I speak at the Japanese level of a 5 year old apparentally.
So after much apologizing to the woman behind the counter, the kind man on the phone whom she called, and the people behind me in line I left (now 17 minutes late) to find Heewon, empty handed because I couldn't figure out the bus pass. Heewon and I met up and she said that she heard from Ogivie that a lot of people weren't comming. Apparentally it was "Let's get hammered" Friday night and they were all sleeping off hangovers. I was a bit irked that only two people thought to let me know, but the outing was informal to begin with.
So Heewon and I get in touch with Jordan and Jordan is also running late. We walk around and then I realize "Hey, Heewon's Japanese is really good." So she kindly agrees to help me get my bus pass and serves as a translator. The pass ended up being more expensive than I thought, 30,000 yen. But it's still cheaper than the bare minimum by my aformentioned math, so I thought it was still something I should get not only for conveniance but to save money and be able to see friends. Heewon was really nice and I really appreciated it big time (making a mental note to buy her coffe or something).
About an hour late and after Heewon and I walked around half the shops in the station Jordan arrived. Our little three person party set out to go to Osaka. They all looked at me and asked if I knew how to get there, I promptly responded that if I did it wouldn't be an adventure. I also figured if we had to struggle with it a bit it'd really stick for the future. So with some asking, and some difficult map reading we got on the express train to Osaka.
Here's how difficult it is to get to Osaka from Hirakata. Pay just 320 yen, take the express train 20 minutes to the last stop, get off, you're in Osaka. Tada!
Since it was also raining in Osaka and because of the late start we didn't have much time we decided to go to Shinbashi and in Shinbashi, Shinsaibashi-Suji. Shinsaibashi-Suji, asside from being a mouthful, is a big shopping areas that's covered and you can walk around in. It's massive and stretches for blocks, and shops of all shapes and sizes and heights open into it.
The Entrance:
Inside Sinsaibashi
On the way we passed a Hard Rock, and of course I had to stop to get a pin to add to my hat!
But also remember that I'm in Japan, so the Hard Rock can't just have normal Hard Rock things, of course not, it must be cute!!
Hello Kitty meets Hard Rock:
So Hello Kitty Pin in hand we explore the stores of Shinsaibashi. Everything was there, shoe stores, clothing stores, 100 yen shops, Rolex, there were restraunts, cafes, arcades, everything you need to exist can be found in the halls of Shinsaibashi. We walked around and got a lay of the land. Heewon saw this store called "Tokyu Hands" which is this giant store that has everything. It's like, walmart meets ikea and becomes awesome. I found an onigiri box for when my Okasan makes me some for school. Onigiri, for those who don't know, is rice balls, and they have a tendancy I've discovered to be a delicious lunch, but easily smush in backpacks. I also found a bento box that was a mate to the box I bought Jeff a long time ago, so that came home with me too.
I was really excited, at the Hard Rock and Tokyu Hands I could use a credit card!! I felt like a normal person again. We all had a long talk on how weird Japan is for not taking cards and being cash-only everywhere!!
Before we headed home we stopped to get food. This is Heewon and me being silly and her takeing a picture of me taking a picture of her.
We got desert from a street-side vendor (of course in Shinsaibashi). Imagine a creme puff filled with green tea ice cream, that's what the girls got. I got a cream puff but like baked with hardened sugar on top and hot cream with chocolate chips inside. It was -amazing-.
Heewon, myself, and Jordan are all homestay kids, on the way back we called ourselves the HSA or the Homestay Students Assocation. It was nice to talk to people who knew about troubles or feelings with regard to homestay and see how others were doing. Since Osaka was so close and cheep, and now we're pros on how to get there and navigate the subway around, we all agreed we're going to go back almost every week.
In the evening after I came back I went to dinner at the gramma's house. She's a sweet old asian lady, exactlly what you'd expect and really cute. Dinner was really traditional, and seated on the floor, it was kind of cool actually.
I've got more to say, but now that I have net I have time to say it, so I'll post more tomorrow. For now it's sleeping time.
Miss you all!
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