When we got to the airport at 8:45am there was nobody there. We were very nervous we were in the wrong place. Then a bunch of flight attendants started showing up and no passengers. Then when we got on the plane, all the seats were full. Those mysterious Koreans....where were they???
So I forgot to talk about a major part of the trip. We almost didn't get into Japan!! We made the mistake of putting on my customs sheet of where we would sleep as "None." Who knew it would mark us as suspicious?!! hahaha Oh Ellen.
We had to explain to 4 different sets of people that we have no where to stay for the night:
First, we told the man checking that our forms were filled out all the way. Then we told the man who actually checks the form. Then we told our flight people. Then we each told the separate person who checks the form again. Lesson to take from this? Me, "You know ....we are gong to go dancing~dancing...Maybe we hang out in a PC Bang...." What is so suspicious?! They finally believed us and we were on our way.
So we arrive and got our transit passes and go straight to...um McDonald's. We were starving and it was right there....It was pretty much a regular McDonalds. There was strange seating for singles all over...There were these plastic dividers, but really we were sitting side by side with strangers. Strange stuff.
Then we were off to a gorgeous temple. Well actually, we found a little one first. So little, that we were not sure if it was someone's private property. It was simply beautiful. Next, we found the actual temple and the grounds a little later. We climbed up a spiral staircase to the top of the temple while passing all of these beautiful gold Buddha statues. Stunning. The temple also had a real Zen rock garden. I wish I could have raked it. haha
Next, we went to the Osaka Castle. A stunning castle that rises high out of the ground. It is very picturesque. You can read about it here:
http://www.osakacastle.net/english/
The whole area was stunning with the greenery and the river...so wonderful. We also met a random guy while resting. He had been traveling for over six months and had become accustomed to talking to strangers. He spent a bit more time with us as we walked around the grounds. He had a name, it meant freedom... so that is what we called him.
Interrupt to tell a PSA:
I have become very familiar with a program called Couch Surfing. You can easily meet backpackers from all over the world. My friend Oliver and I stayed with a wonderful girl in Poland and it was an amazing experience. I have not let any couch surfers stay with me yet, but I have hosted several and showed them around Chicago. It is such a fun program. I am so sad that I didn't know about it till two years ago. I could have done so much more traveling! It is pretty safe because you can only talk to people who have recommendations and they have to have their address verified. You can learn more about it here:
www.couchsurfing.org
Do it young people!!!
After the castle, I became very tired. There was a show that I was hoping was awesome. It wasn't. It was a presentation of many cultural things...completely in Japanese and completely boring. We headed off to find something to eat. We were on a crazy tight budget. I found some traditional Japanese octopus breaded balls called Takoyaki. Delicious and rich. Melissa had a meat dish at a diner. It looked really good. Next, we walked all over. Streets and streets of shops, vendors, restaurants and bars....What did we run into? pop eyes! The PC place! We checked it out and it seems very comfortable and safe. We felt better knowing we were not homeless.
At 8pm, there was a couch surfing event at a nearby bar. Melissa and I were the only people in the bar except two Navy boys who we played pool with. They were not the sharpest tools in the shed; although they were in fact tools. We told them we were teachers. They later forgot and we had them convinced I was a was in the Navy Reserves who fought Somali Pirates on a submarine and Melissa was a Marine. Don't ask me where I came up with those identities ;) Soon the couch surfers came. There were two from Poland, one Japanese girl, a French guy, and a Scott and our Austrian friend from earlier joined back up. None of us were good at playing pool, but we enjoyed the free tables. We moved on to another bar and it was an Irish bar with a Japanese singer and band. So cool...it was just like the Korean band I saw on St. Patrick's day. We then decided to go back to the original bar. I started to get very very tired. The couch surfers asked who our host was or what hostel we were in. They were shocked to find out we didn't secure a place to stay. They graciously allowed us to crash at their hostel. We were relieved. We rode in a cab back. It was interesting because Japan has road rules like Britain. The drivers side was on the wrong side. Pretty cool!
We woke up bright and early the next morning and hit the aquarium. The line was very very long but we pre-bought
our passes before and went straight through. The lines were also so very long inside. Osaka aquarium has the largest single tank (or something like that)in the world. It was a pretty amazing Aquarium. We saw gigantic sting rays and hammer head sharks. There was a whale shark, dolphins, seals, and gorgeous jelly fish. The weirdest part were the otters. Melissa and I both have never seen otters this big in our entire life. They were the same size as my first graders. Crazy!
We realized that we we're under budget so we treated ourself to a nice Japanese restaurant. It was delicious. We walked around a bit more and it was time to go. Osaka is so so easy to navigate and we were back to the airport in no time. Another Aran girl told us about flavored Kit Kat's and we found them! They had Strawberry, Cheese Cake, and Green Tea. So fun!
We get to the ticket counter only to find out that Melissa's ticket was different from mine and her flight already left. I have no idea how this happened because she bought both of our tickets. East Star Airlines have the sweetest flight attendants ever. There were seats on my flight and we even got the emergency exit. 1.5 hours later we were back at home- Seoul. I love that even after vacation...I get to come back to Seoul! I am so happy here. I am also grateful for Melissa's spirit and her willingness to go for things and go for a crazy random adventure! I am dying for another already!!!!
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