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!