Road Trip part2: Osaka

These road trip posts will be in mostlt chronological order, but Osaka presents a problem, cos it was the base of operations for a while: a place to stay while we were checking out other places, cos theres so much near-by.
Anyways, when we got there our first priority was to find a place to stay. So we went to the info booth and they told us about the Hotel Kinki. Hmmm a kinky hotel? (For any Japanese people reading this the English word kinky is similar to the Japanese word hentai). But it was close to the centre of town and dirt cheap. For a twin room (thats 2 beds to make sure of no kinky stuff- haha) it cost us less than 3000 yen (about $30 Aus) each. Not bad.
So after sorting out accommodation the next priority was to find a suitable watering hole. We kind of wandered about aimlessly (even though we had an aim) until we spotted a sign for an Irish pub (yes they ARE everywhere) and since Irish pubs the world over are basically the same, we figured to give it a go. Good call. The place was tops, very friendly, we talked to just about everyone there and when the place closed the barmen took us with them to an after hours bar. Needless to say we were pretty blotto by the time we got back to the hotel.
The next night we took a well-deserved break from drinking in order to be in tip top shape for New Years. When we got back there on New Years the place was packed and again had a great atmosphere. At one stage when the band was playing a conga line started up. Gold. And there was this crazy old guy dancing and trying to get any woman in a 5 metre radius to dance with him. Classic.
Anyways, after talking to nearly everyone in the joint, I ended up in the company of a very nice young lady. We hit it off nicely and things were heading in the direction of a nice..... conversation (ahem). But after a little while she said that she and her friends were going to go to a shrine about an hour away from where we were (its Japanese tradition to go to a shrine on New Years). I thought bugger that, and told her about the shrine me and Brent spotted just down the road earlier in the evening. So we (me, Brent, the young lady and her friends) went to the shrine. Now its probably bad enough to be shit-faced drunk at a shrine, but to be making out too, maybe that was a bit much. I didnt think it at the time though of course.
Anyways at 6am after no sleep at all I got on the train for the long journey to Hiroshima. More on that later.
Peace


Night time view of Osaka from the top of a very tall building. The glass elevator ride to the top was pretty freaky









The crazy dancing old guy. Champion
















A Christmas themed love hotel. Classic. (sideways, sorry)

Road Trip part 1: Nagoya

So, the road trip (or more accurately rail trip) was about to start. Since we had a special pass we planned to make the most of it. The only problem is that the pass only allowed local trains, no shinkansen. So we were steeling ourselves for a very, very tiring trip. But it didnt turn out so bad.
So we (me and Brent) arrived in Nagoya early evening after a surprisingly easy journey and went to the info booth to seek out accommodation. We found a hostel nearby. It was nice, cheap BUT closed the next night, so we had 1 night of accommodation for a 2 night stay, small problem considering it was the only hostel in town and we were on a budget.
We put our stuff in the room and promptly went to find somewhere to drink. We eventually found a pretty cool izakaya. It was open and encouraged interaction, unlike other izakayas which enclose groups in their own space. But there were private rooms too, in one, for some reason, there was a guy wearing only a spiderman mask and spiderman undies. Very amusing, the photo is below.
The next day it was off to Nagoya castle. It was all very impressive to me because it was the first castle I'd seen in Japan, although now I know that Himeji castle makes it look like a country shack. there was a museum in there too; all kinds of swords and armour and calligraphy scrolls and stuff.
Next it was off to the Toyota museum, which is really great if you're into looms and weaving. HUGE room full of every imaginable way of getting raw cotton changed to clothing. Fascinating. The next room was a little better, it was the cars. Lots of cool stuff. But the highlight was watching a robot play the trumpet. Gold.
Then back into town to try and sort out a place to stay. We went back to the info centre, no other hostels, plenty of hotels but out of out budget range. Then me and Brent had a powwow. Should we do it? I don't know. We are in Japan. Its like THE japanese experience. I guess we should do it at least once. Yes lets do it. CAPSULE HOTEL!!!!!
So we found one nearby and booked in. The facilities were top-notch, but the atmosphere was really creepy. It was like walking into a spa resort for the undead. Also there was an enclosed section with a door, inside we could hear womens voices outside we saw a list of times and prices. I'm not 100% sure what was going on in there but I'm pretty sure it involved a happy ending.
Next morning as soon as we were up we got out of there ASAHP. Time to move on, next stop: Osaka.
Peace

Me in the capsule wondering what the hell I've gotten into




Me riding a "dolphin"of course it looks nothing like a real dolphin. Real dolphins are orange. Obviously



Now: trumpets. Next: world domination




Somebody get Spiderman a sandwich! Cant you see he's starving?!!?