Konichiwa!

Clean, orderly, funky Japan, a culture I still can't fully grasp, how you are so appreciated after dirty, loud, unruly China! Truly, the clash of cultures is amazing. When planning this trip I was almost more excited to revisit Japan than to see Russia and Mongolia for the first time. Having only explored Tokyo and the area near Yokota air force base, I had regretted living so near Japan and missing Kyoto. That regret is now gone! Woo hoo, I got to see kinky kimonos in Kyoto!! 

After flying into the Osaka airport, frustration set in trying to figure out how to get to the hostel, locating an ATM for yen and on top of that being completely exhausted from my previous night's escapades, what a relief to finally arrive at the cutest hostel imaginable, Hostel 64 Osaka. Think pure Japanese style: beds in the form of futons on tatami mats, shoji screens and the most unique showers (tatami and a seated shower with swinging arms to name two--wait until you see these pictures!), I was in love! 

It was Halloween and this girl loves a dress up but just couldn't get my act together with all the traveling and lack of sleep so merely wore colored glasses and some flare and enjoyed others' creativity instead. It was hard to tell if the locals were dressed up for Halloween or if merely dressed in their usual style but as far as sheer numbers go, it's not like the droves of people dressed up in the States so even harder to tell if they were true harajuku girls or not. We checked out the local scene in the Tenjinbashi-suji shopping district, an area of arcades (the Japanese form of gambling), tons of bars and lights: think Vegas. 

So many good eating experiences and this just in the course of 4 days but one of my favorites was the Takoyaki, octopus in fried dumplings, wicked good street food. I think Seattle should adopt this instead of the hot dog, street dogs are so last year and hot pockets just haven't taken off yet ;-) Another yummy experience was okonomiyaki, do it yourself grill type cooking but I have no idea what kind of meat I was eating, come to think of it nor did we have any idea what we were ordering, no wax foods at this joint. And here's another: just a typical udon restaurant yum! Soba in soup, ground beef with egg in rice, common ingredients but how do they always make it taste so damn good? Ramen with garlic, great ambience in the escort district, oh yeah! Breakfast at the hostel was homemade baked bread using rice flour vs. wheat and what a difference, so light with a touch of sweetness. And the sushi, honestly, don't have to say anything, do I? Besides YUM! But the ultimate gastronomic experience was by far the 10 course, fixed meal in Kyoto. Oh but before I describe probably should mention we weren't even hungry but thought, hey, let's check out this place, looks cool and random, we'll just order something light. Yep, 10 courses later, we rolled out of there. My favorite course had to be the whole fish that came out with the explanation in English: fish boiled in broth. (Love the Japanese, again I know I keep repeating but they crack me up always wanting to practice their Engrish, so cute, I want to just pinch every one of their cheeks!) So I attempted the whole fish, well the eyeballs, specifically. And I can't even brag I've eaten it as here's another foodie faux pas: fish eyeball, the first food that I've ever spit out. So sorry for my rudeness but crunch, gulp, it wasn't even the texture, just. wouldn't. go. down. :-( 

Again I must point out the differences between China and Japan, which let's just get right down to it, can be summed up in one word: toilets. Yes, I am back on to my second favorite topic. Just take one look at the care of their facilities, no pushing to the front of the line and always immaculate. (By the way, apparently only Americans use the term bathroom or restroom, there is no bath and certainly no rest involved so why call it that? A fact that was pointed out by my Aussie travel mate, but then again they say dunny and the English say loo so what's wrong with bathroom or restroom? But clearly the rest of the world says toilet or WC, duh.) Have you any idea how nice it is to not only have clean and dry facilities but a WARM seat with a bidet and buttons that do everything from play music to splash water to dry and could probably pick the name of your firstborn if you let it. Pure BLISS after squat toilets. 

Kyoto: dear God, can this country get any more perfect? LOVE!!!! It's as simple as that, quaint but big enough to have the most amazing Zen gardens, temples, and pagodas. It was apparent the moment you step out of the train station, Kyoto is more traditional than Osaka and Tokyo. The architecture of the buildings and the rock gardens made me feel completely at peace, this after a visit to an especially beautiful temple ground complete with a rock garden ending with a walk through a bamboo garden. Truly Zen! Kimonos were almost commonplace and the sheer variety was brilliant! And on one occasion, a group of girls in kimonos wanted pictures of us, so strange as I wasn't sure if it was rude to take pictures of them and here they were clicking away at us. The best moment was when a group of 3 geishas came toward us but I completely froze and only managed a photo as they were walking away, bummer. And oh yeah, I found a Seattle's best coffee, I kid you not! Oh and even a Tully's, Kyoto must be sister cities? And how funny to see Pike Place blend in Japanese, definitely getting homesick for Seattle. But Japan, I could live here, yes, I am not through with you just yet. 

It's the little things about the people that I love the most. For instance, stopping at a random little eatery one night, we were greeted by some friendly Japanese wanting to know where we were from and eager to give us food suggestions. They quickly took a fascination to us, was it the turquoise glasses or maybe the disco bear? Who knows but as the night wore on and they drank more and more Asahi, one girl kept coming over and covering her mouth laughing, pointed to spoon man and said Brad Pitt, handsome. To me, beautiful. They wanted pictures, however, none came out, there was too much laughing and covering of the mouth. Hilarious!

And then there are the weird Japanese inventions. At Starbucks they have umbrella condoms! Yes, folks, just place your umbrella in this machine and it wraps a plastic bag around it, whisking away the rain as it does, a very cool, not sure if it can be classified as a chindogu but I'm gonna anyway. Seattle, are you listening?
 
My last day in Japan was spent biking around Osaka, running various errands to the US consulate, mailing cold weather clothes home and just seeing the city in its' entirety. Biking is such a great way to get to know a city, plus you can just cruise through the uninteresting industrial and business parts. Really fun although in a city the size of Osaka, trying to maneuver through the massive throngs of people is not fun and made even more not fun when the local police pull you over. Really? Do I look like a menace to society? Asking for my passport? Really? I'm on a bicycle. Clearly a safe and orderly country.

And this is where the story of Peter Pan and Tinkerbell ends. Flash packer status stripped, it's now real backpacking for this pixie dust throwing wanderlust girl. Stay tuned, the real adventure is just beginning........