Kon'nichiwa

After six hours on an Air Asia flight (the worst six hours of the year for me) we landed at Kansai Airport, built on an artificial island in the middle of Osaka Bay (of course it is!).  We finally cleared the long line at customs after we had declared we were not transporting camels and managed to get tickets for the last train into the city.  Running through the station we reached the train in time, armed with no money and a ticket to the wrong station!  After a brief panic we were told that the station we needed was on the same line and we made it to our hotel to spend a night in a capsule.  Our capsules turned out to be bright yellow coffins set out in bunks with an old school panel inside to operate an alarm and T.V.  It was as weird as I had hoped for and surprisingly comfy although earplugs turned out to be essential with the thin plastic walls.  Going for a shower the next morning also proved to be more interesting than normal when the men's shower block turned out to be a row of plastic chairs and bowls, each with its own shower hose.  There was also a Japanese bath to share afterwards although I declined this as my normally absent British attitude towards public nudity overcame my natural instincts. Hannah had a slightly more normal experience although the showers contained signs reminding her not to 'dump in the shower'!

Unfortunately this was to be our lunch

As the only ATM’s in Japan that take foreign credit cards are in 7-11’s we went in search of money and breakfast, successfully finding both before carrying on to Osaka Castle and the surrounding park.  A fun run was on and families were sat out on every patch of grass under the cherry blossom trees that were just starting to bloom.  Dogs sporting sun glasses roamed the park as well as some strangely dressed people that included two women dressed in school girl outfits and a host of men dressed as though they were in 1920's Chicago. With little English on the menus food was always going to be a gamble and lunch proved to be an epic fail.  Finding the least strange stall along the fun run we tried strange half cooked dough balls with what turned out to be squid inside, covered in a pungent fish sauce and mayo that made us feel a little nauseous. After recovering we walked to the centre of the park to the castle, a beautiful wooden building set on a mound that offered panoramic views of the surrounding area and the distant mountains.

One of the numerous arcades

Leaving the park behind we walked past a brightly coloured shop covered in Manga characters that had muffled music coming from inside.  Intrigued we entered, only to be confronted by a deafening wall of noise, cigarette smoke and lights. Hundreds of men were sat engrossed on gaming machines whilst waiters scurried about between the flashing machines.  These arcades were all over the area and each was full to bursting as locals whiled away their weekend. We discovered a more familiar way to spend our Sunday afternoon just around the corner as we strolled down a small side street full of small bars.  Each had traditional wooden panelled walls and just enough room to squash a row of stools around the side of the bar and hot plate.  At one end sushi was prepared and at the other meet was cooked on a hot plate and served as tapas whilst people sat singing karaoke and watching the baseball whilst drinking copious amounts of beer and Sake. We knew which pastime we preferred and we had a great beef dish and lager before heading out in search of dinner.  This was more successful than lunch as we sat down with a hot plate in front of us and had great fun cooking an Okonomi (a Japanese pancake complete with English cooking instructions) whilst enjoying the novelty of being in Japan. We were beginning to appreciate just what a weird and wonderful culture we had stepped into!