So I get to Osaka station, meet up with my really old friend Maiko, who used to study with me back in Victoria way back when and had a really stingey curry which wasn't worth the price. I think maybe this picture explains it enough.
Next day, I meet up with 2 friends and they took me to the Aquarium as I had asked because for some reason, I felt like I was missing out on something by not checking out this place when I was in Kansai the first time around.This was taken at the Kaiyukan, Osaka.
Just a nice happy photo taken by the famous Glico running man on Dotonbori, Osaka after finishing up at the Kaiyukan and waiting for one of the girls to go home and get some clothes for the sleep over and the next day.
Afterwards, we took a long journey home back to one of the girls' house,
where I was gonna sleep over for the night and unfortunately we got home pretty late, so her parents ate dinner before us.
That being said, dinner was yummmm.
For breakfast however, we were all at the table and this is what the mother served us...This, is what you call Japanese family hospitality.. and this was only breakfast.. I was pretty much set for the next 6 hours no problem =D
Okay I lied, I was good for the next 3 or 4 hours after devouring this good healthy good...
Next day, us 3 girls met up with another old friend who was also an exchange student at Kansai but is now in the JET program teaching somewhere in the Hyogo prefecture near Kobe. We went for a nice karaoke session and also a very nice dinner. After that I took another nice long journey back to Osaka (prob 2 hour train ride with lots of changes).
That evening, I then met up with an Australian uni friend who is currently studying at Kansai and living on her own outside of the seminar houses. Luckily for me, she was moving back to the seminar houses 2-3 days AFTER i leave her place.. talk about perfect timing. Although I should have been buggered, we stayed awake til the wee hours of the morning talking about our exchange student lives and comparing experiences of living in Japan as a foreigner...
In the morning, my aussie friend went to class as I went strolling around the campus, reminiscing some more and observing the new international exchange students and kept thinking not to let my friend's opinion on these exchange students affect my judgement.. but she was right... they all looked like a bunch of anti-social manga loving Otakus...
Seems we're not the only one who thinks this... also one of the girls who work at the office for the international exchange students, who used to be my Resident Assistant at the seminar house when I was an exchange student also agreed strongly to this, saying back when i was there as an exchange student, most of us were just students interested in the japanese way of life, not the whole anime, manga and cos-plays... met a friend at uni and we had some Seattle's Best coffee and caught up a bit, before I had to run....
Anyways after a little reminiscing at my university, I met up
with another Japanese friend of mine from Nara and we went Kyoto sightseeing.Checked out Kinkakuji where this photo always sends me into fits of laughter. The facial expression caught in this photo after some rude Chinese tourist decided to walk through KNOWING this picture was being taken and tried to duck... priceless
Ryouanji, the famous Zen Garden where from each angle you try to look at it, you will always see 14 out of the 15 rocks. I tried to sit there and try to find the meaning of the rocks, which is the point of this garden and I realised nothing... but all in all, a very nice, peaceful place, especially with such awesome weather we encountered that day.. on a MONDAY of all days and still, so many tourists -_-
After Ryouanji, we took a bus to Kiyomizu-Dera and the sunset there is just breathtaking... Kyoto really is a beautiful city. Kinda made me regret not coming out to Kyoto that often compared to the shopping and hard partying in Osaka back in the days when I was an exchange student... oh wells, at least I'm here again 2nd time around and hung out here again..
After some reminiscing at Kiyomizu-dera, watching the sun set, we headed off to this weird restaurant where they serve one thing and this one thing only. It's a hiroshima style Okonomiyaki at this weird doll restaurant which are seated at random seats in the restarant and the wooden pictures on the wall are pretty much R-rated Ukiyo-E and Shunga blocks.
Hmmm hungry anyone?
The moment I got home after my exhausting day checking out 3 major tourist attractions in Kyoto, my aussie friend took me to a Reggae Club in Kuzuha, where it strangely turned out that she knew the club owner... he took us to the VIP room and in there, there was a guy with this ultra cool t-shirt who i wanted to take a photo with but couldn't find out on the dance floor... turns out he was one of the DJs sitting in the "green room".. luckily we knew the manager and he agreed to take a photo with me and gave us free cds as well... unfortunately I'm not a big fan of reggae music, especially when the DJ likes to add his own rendition rap over the music... so my mission of the night was to find as many awesome t-shirts and bad fashion...
Left the club early, had some maccas and then watched Gossip Girl with my Aussie friend and went to sleep late again after talking about anything and everything... if she's reading this, thank you =D
After 3-4 hours sleep, I met up with my old japanese house mates in Kyoto after spending an hour trying to find a free locker to fit my HUGE suitcase... nice and relaxing, did the typical Starbucks coffee drink, catching up.. lunch then stroll around the Gion headquarters in Kyoto and then a nice dinner... and then caught my shinkansen back to nagoya for my last 2 days helping out at the office before i'm thrown back into the concrete jungle that is Tokyo...
before leaving for nagoya, i had my favourite ramen near Hirakatashi station, called Yo.. the best ramen so far.... just had to add this =P
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