Namba and Umeda!

(A picture of the train!)

 So, the last trip we made into the city was to Umeda, which is considered the rich district of Osaka. This next trip was to Namba/Shinsaibashi, which is the adequately priced shopping area of Osaka. To get to Namba, you have to take the train to Umeda and then transfer to the subway toward Namba/Shinsaibashi.

Billy likes to be silly on the train. Notice how all the passengers choose to ignore him...

This river separates the subarb from the city.

When the trains arrive in Umeda station, it's the last stop and they end up switching the ends of the train. The back becomes the front and the front becomes the back.

Here are some better scenic pictures that I didn't have last time.

This ferris wheel is a huge tourist attraction and is a lot higher up than it looks.

 

This is the view from the top!

And then came Namba!

We ended up eating at this restaurant which is famous for it's sauce and frying all it's food. It was okay...

We later ate at another place which looked more like a college bar than a restaurant!

As you can tell, no one was extremely impressed...

Then, after our shopping and eating, we happened upon this shrine tucked away in this shopping district.

It had this beautiful Buddha station covered in moss that the people would sprinkly water over and then pray.

There was then an area where you could drop money in a box and then pray. It was lighted by numerous lanterns.

You could also pay to get your fortune told. You get your fortune by shaking a cup with a small hole in the top and tipping it upside down. A stick then comes out with a number. That number is a box where you pull out your fortune. The fortune then tells you what your luck is, whether it's good or bad. If your luck is bad, you can tie it on the ropes, like the woman in the left corner, to change your luck.

 There also happened to be a lot of cats around.

These are little wishes, or prayers, that people can pay for. There are specific temples in Japan for specific wishes/prayers. At one temple you can pray for good results on your exam, while another temple is known for helping a girl find a good boyfriend.

 And, of course, an adorable kitten was napping at the temple.

 

I figured this was more interesting than me shopping.

Sayonara!

Kareoke

Lately my friends and I have been taking part in a well known activity here in Japan: Kareoke! I don't particularily enjoy singing, but the slow song are a great way to improve your Japanese reading skills.

 

The large rooms accomedate our large party.

 

The Japanese people love to sing! Some of our wonderful RA's are really good.

 

Unfortuanely, being the crazy Americans that we are, we didn't really keep it tame and it ended up being a dance party.

Obi and Per love to rap!

Bernie may not look it, but she loves the hard rock!

Per's belting out his solo!

And, as always, being crazy!

Umeda!

So, since Wed. was our day off, we decided to hit Umeda!

Umeda is one of the shopping districts of Osaka but is also known for it's many arcade and pachinko parlors.

At the station!

UMEDA! (Being silly!)

A quick info. session:

Pachinko is Japan's 'gambling' game. Gambling itself is considered illegal in Japan but with Pachinko, you play using little metal balls and have to hit certain spots, similar to pinball.

The more you win, the more balls you get. You then trade in your balls for a 'prize.' This prize will be something like a teddy bear or ball. You then take your teddy bear or ball and leave, and just around the corner you'll find a window where a guy will just happen to be buying your teddy bear/ball for cash.

Well, we stayed clear of those games and went for shopping and the arcade instead. All the shopping 'malls' were either enclosed with a roof or in buildings.

We went to this shop called 'Donkey' where you can pretty much buy anything. It's around 4 stories high! 

Surprise! We actually found this Cardinals bag in the store! Even Japan knows the Cardinals' greatness!

We then played this game call 'MaiMai.' It's pretty much DanceDanceRevolution for your hands. We had a blast and it's pretty much becoming our official arcade game.

 

We then tried some of the more technological games. This one was cool because your body was the controller.   

Some rock band :) (Bernie and Nick)

This game was cool; it was like wack-a-mole to music. (Billy)

 (Obi with one of our RA's)

Then, after all the dancing and shopping, we went to a noodle shop!

I think this dish was called Umedon, but it was rice topped with egg, and chicken. It was extremely greasy but very good.

Then it started to get dark and we ended our day in Umeda. We'll have to visit some of the other areas for shopping though, becuase we found out that Umeda is a very pricey area.

Sayonara!