How I spent my summer vacation #4
...but now I've got this song running through my head!
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
From the heart of Japan, it was off to the heart of Kansai, Osaka! Cue up Shonen Knife's song "My Favorite Town Osaka", which (roughly translated and heavily condensed) goes something like "I've been to Tokyo, I've also been to Chicago, I've been to all these other places, but Osaka is the number one place anywhere...My Favorite Town Osaka"... The title is pretty much the chorus and is sung in English; most of the rest of the song is in Japanese. This is a three-woman punk band (two of whom are sisters) who have (among other fine songs) a great cover of the Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated" (although that comes out more like "serrated" the way they pronounce it, so I think of walking knives. Intentional? I don't know...) I missed my chance to see them play at a 'live house' last year, but that's another story.
I was staying in a business hotel (New Osaka Hotel Shinsaibashi--if you book through the JNTO website, you will get a very nice rate for a very nice room...I transacted my business with the front desk in Japanese, but I have a feeling they have English-speaking staff) that stated on its website 'just a 3min walk from the Shinsaibashi station of the Midosuji [subway] line"....well, that was a bit of an understatement. If they had said they were behind the Hotel Nikko Shinsaibashi, that would have been a little more helpful for those of us who are kanji-deficient. I was fortunate--after walking through a shotengai (shopping arcade) and getting to an intersection where I had to decide whether to go left, right or straight, a kind gentleman asked if I needed directions. He then whipped out his keitai, called the hotel, then walked me there. Osaka being my hometown's sister city, I'd like to think that someone here would be as kind and helpful to a lost tourist here, but sorry to say, I have my doubts about the majority of the populace.
Admittedly, I did not have the most picturesque view of Osaka from my window, but I was not going to complain (it did have a certain sense of humor about it, though). For the price I paid (about USD$60, including taxes), I couldn't have asked for a nicer room. Shinsaibashi is a lively district, and there are lots of places to eat, drink, and be merry...or just go shopping. Amerikamura is nearby, so you can hang out with all the trendy people there, should you desire (sorry, not my style). I went over to Loft and found a few items I'd been looking for, like metric measuring spoons, erasable pens (Mitsubishi's Signo has overtaken Pilot's d-Ink...they now have a 0.5mm tip and finally erase cleanly...but these aren't the same ones that are had here, so beware of impostors, folks!), and neckstraps (OK, so I dislike the Batman look, and lots of clothing looks better without the cellphone in pocket...so what do you do with the silly thing? Wear it around your neck. Too bad my sleek little Japanese number doesn't work here...the big klunky ones I have look a little odd), among other things. Lots of fun character goods, especially for fans of mecha anime or people that like kawaii stuff: "Pantaron Z". It's an hommage to the creators of the old giant robot shows like Mazinger Z, etc. (or is it a parody like Martian Successor Nadesico's "Gekigangar 3") featuring cute animals driving a giant panda robot. Don't you love it?!
I was really tired from traveling (about 5 hours door-to-door, even though I took the bullet train), so I didn't even seek out one of my favorite Kansai foods, takoyaki. Takoyaki are, well, octopus fritters (for lack of a better term). They may not sound very good, but Osakans take their takoyaki very seriously....they are a 'meibutsu' (famous product) of Osaka, and a staple of summer matsuri (festivals), at least in Kansai. Takoyaki are almost always served drizzled with takoyaki sauce, and flakes of katsuobonito (shaved, dried bonito) sprinkled on top; sometimes you'll also see aonori (powdered, dried seaweed) and mayonaizu (mayonnaise) as well. Good takoyaki are light, puffy balls of goodness with delectable chunks of steamed tako inside; bad takoyaki are leaden lumps that a tako may have been shelved by in the freezer. Some of the best takoyaki I have ever had were in the underground maze below the Hanshin depaato (department store)/Hankyu Umeda station--I can't remember the name of the place, but all they offer are takoyaki. Come go with me, I'll take you there... There's also the little bar/ice cream/takoyaki place in my family's neighborhood, Rappu.
Anyway, I wandered around Shinsaibashi a bit, stopped by a conbini (convenience store) and picked up some stuff for breakfast. Conbini rock--you can get fresh tasty food, including vegetables and salads, and it's cheap! You can get all kinds of different, good things to eat, and not break the bank. (OK, so there's not much atmosphere if you eat in your hotel room or picnic in a park, but it is possible to eat well on a budget in Japan.) You can't really get any decent, healthy stuff to eat at 7-11 here, and it's all owned by the same company (Japan's Ito-Yokado). I admit that 7-11 here and 7-11 in Japan sell the fine products of the FritoLay company, although they are not the same. You can't exactly get Flamin' Hot Cheetos in Japan, but then you can't get Gindaco takoyaki flavored snacks here. Conbini are really convenient. You can get a lot more stuff at a Japanese conbini, you can pay your bills, do your banking, buy prepaid telephone cards (for keitai and for overseas calling), send something by takkyubin, make photocopies. About the only thing I can think of that you can't do is buy lottery tickets. For that, you have to go to the little takarakuji (lottery) booths and buy your tickets there.
The sheer variety of the drink shelves is just amazing: I have never counted the number of different brands of canned coffee in an average conbini, but it boggles the mind. You can get coffee with your sugar, but it's harder to get just plain black coffee. Most canned coffee has milk and sugar in it, to varying degrees. One of the funniest brands I had recently was "Otoko no Coffee"--it was supposed to be less sweet and therefore more manly than the regular kinds, but to my taste, I thought it would be equally likely to send one into diabetic coma. (Japanese canned coffee is really sweet.) Another recend brand that a lot of English speakers might take the wrong way is "God" coffee. Well, coffee saves my life in the morning...I don't know how you feel about it, but I definitely need that trip to the local espresso dealer before I go to work. There are more isotonic/sports drinks than you can count, too. The ever popular Pocari Sweat is a long-time favorite, but avoid the no-sugar version as it has a nasty aftertaste. There's also Aquarius, Amino Supli, U Boco, and lots of drinks with "Water" in their names.
As a general rule, if the bottle says "Water" it isn't water--you have to know the kanji for water or know a European brand of mineral water in order to get water. Plain water is almost never available in vending machines. If you are a water drinker, it's good to always carry a bottle with you and stop in a conbini to replenish your supply when you run out, especially in the summer. You can always get tea and coffee in a vending machine, rarely Coke. I don't recall everseeing a Pepsi vending machine on the street. Most vending machines are for drinks (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) and cigarettes. I've seen alcohol vending machines that will sell you anything from a one-cup sake to a liter of beer or a bottle of whiskey. I have seen vending machines for batteries, rice, fresh fruits and vegetables, telephone cards or bus passes. I have heard of vending machines for more esoteric things (the classic example being high school girls' used underwear, which may be an urban legend), but I've never ventured into areas that have sold such items...
So, what was outside my window in Osaka? A beautiful view of the headquarters of the Anabuki Construction Company. I just had to laugh! If you have not seen these commercials, go to this website: http://www.electricpenguin.com/jwr/anabuki.html for a translation and explanation. A link to the actual commercials (CM, pronounced "shi-emu") is here: http://www.anabuki.co.jp/anabukin-chan/theater/index.html. Be forewarned: they are bizarre!
The next day, I decided to skip riding the Midosuji subway to get back to JR Osaka Station and took a taxi from the Hotel Nikko. My study of the Kansai dialect paid off--I actually understood what I was being asked and was able to answer although not quite in kind. I haven't gotten the conjugation down yet. It was a little strange being asked what I had done today so early in the morning, though, so I decided to misinterpret it and tell the taxi driver what I was going to do instead.
Kansai (also known as Kinki) covers a wide swath of Western Japan, but most of us foreigners generally limit it to Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe, and their respective prefectures (although some of my study materials include others). Hyojungo--standard newscaster Japanese--is what you learn in school or in Tokyo, but it's not what you hear in Kansai. If someone asked you "Kinou, ikiharun katta ka", and you had no knowledge of Kansai-ben, what would you make of that? If you were lucky you would piece together something about going, but that's a stretch. The standard question would be "Kinou, doko e ikimashita ka", meaning "where did you go yesterday?"
...to be continued
I was staying in a business hotel (New Osaka Hotel Shinsaibashi--if you book through the JNTO website, you will get a very nice rate for a very nice room...I transacted my business with the front desk in Japanese, but I have a feeling they have English-speaking staff) that stated on its website 'just a 3min walk from the Shinsaibashi station of the Midosuji [subway] line"....well, that was a bit of an understatement. If they had said they were behind the Hotel Nikko Shinsaibashi, that would have been a little more helpful for those of us who are kanji-deficient. I was fortunate--after walking through a shotengai (shopping arcade) and getting to an intersection where I had to decide whether to go left, right or straight, a kind gentleman asked if I needed directions. He then whipped out his keitai, called the hotel, then walked me there. Osaka being my hometown's sister city, I'd like to think that someone here would be as kind and helpful to a lost tourist here, but sorry to say, I have my doubts about the majority of the populace.
Admittedly, I did not have the most picturesque view of Osaka from my window, but I was not going to complain (it did have a certain sense of humor about it, though). For the price I paid (about USD$60, including taxes), I couldn't have asked for a nicer room. Shinsaibashi is a lively district, and there are lots of places to eat, drink, and be merry...or just go shopping. Amerikamura is nearby, so you can hang out with all the trendy people there, should you desire (sorry, not my style). I went over to Loft and found a few items I'd been looking for, like metric measuring spoons, erasable pens (Mitsubishi's Signo has overtaken Pilot's d-Ink...they now have a 0.5mm tip and finally erase cleanly...but these aren't the same ones that are had here, so beware of impostors, folks!), and neckstraps (OK, so I dislike the Batman look, and lots of clothing looks better without the cellphone in pocket...so what do you do with the silly thing? Wear it around your neck. Too bad my sleek little Japanese number doesn't work here...the big klunky ones I have look a little odd), among other things. Lots of fun character goods, especially for fans of mecha anime or people that like kawaii stuff: "Pantaron Z". It's an hommage to the creators of the old giant robot shows like Mazinger Z, etc. (or is it a parody like Martian Successor Nadesico's "Gekigangar 3") featuring cute animals driving a giant panda robot. Don't you love it?!
I was really tired from traveling (about 5 hours door-to-door, even though I took the bullet train), so I didn't even seek out one of my favorite Kansai foods, takoyaki. Takoyaki are, well, octopus fritters (for lack of a better term). They may not sound very good, but Osakans take their takoyaki very seriously....they are a 'meibutsu' (famous product) of Osaka, and a staple of summer matsuri (festivals), at least in Kansai. Takoyaki are almost always served drizzled with takoyaki sauce, and flakes of katsuobonito (shaved, dried bonito) sprinkled on top; sometimes you'll also see aonori (powdered, dried seaweed) and mayonaizu (mayonnaise) as well. Good takoyaki are light, puffy balls of goodness with delectable chunks of steamed tako inside; bad takoyaki are leaden lumps that a tako may have been shelved by in the freezer. Some of the best takoyaki I have ever had were in the underground maze below the Hanshin depaato (department store)/Hankyu Umeda station--I can't remember the name of the place, but all they offer are takoyaki. Come go with me, I'll take you there... There's also the little bar/ice cream/takoyaki place in my family's neighborhood, Rappu.
Anyway, I wandered around Shinsaibashi a bit, stopped by a conbini (convenience store) and picked up some stuff for breakfast. Conbini rock--you can get fresh tasty food, including vegetables and salads, and it's cheap! You can get all kinds of different, good things to eat, and not break the bank. (OK, so there's not much atmosphere if you eat in your hotel room or picnic in a park, but it is possible to eat well on a budget in Japan.) You can't really get any decent, healthy stuff to eat at 7-11 here, and it's all owned by the same company (Japan's Ito-Yokado). I admit that 7-11 here and 7-11 in Japan sell the fine products of the FritoLay company, although they are not the same. You can't exactly get Flamin' Hot Cheetos in Japan, but then you can't get Gindaco takoyaki flavored snacks here. Conbini are really convenient. You can get a lot more stuff at a Japanese conbini, you can pay your bills, do your banking, buy prepaid telephone cards (for keitai and for overseas calling), send something by takkyubin, make photocopies. About the only thing I can think of that you can't do is buy lottery tickets. For that, you have to go to the little takarakuji (lottery) booths and buy your tickets there.
The sheer variety of the drink shelves is just amazing: I have never counted the number of different brands of canned coffee in an average conbini, but it boggles the mind. You can get coffee with your sugar, but it's harder to get just plain black coffee. Most canned coffee has milk and sugar in it, to varying degrees. One of the funniest brands I had recently was "Otoko no Coffee"--it was supposed to be less sweet and therefore more manly than the regular kinds, but to my taste, I thought it would be equally likely to send one into diabetic coma. (Japanese canned coffee is really sweet.) Another recend brand that a lot of English speakers might take the wrong way is "God" coffee. Well, coffee saves my life in the morning...I don't know how you feel about it, but I definitely need that trip to the local espresso dealer before I go to work. There are more isotonic/sports drinks than you can count, too. The ever popular Pocari Sweat is a long-time favorite, but avoid the no-sugar version as it has a nasty aftertaste. There's also Aquarius, Amino Supli, U Boco, and lots of drinks with "Water" in their names.
As a general rule, if the bottle says "Water" it isn't water--you have to know the kanji for water or know a European brand of mineral water in order to get water. Plain water is almost never available in vending machines. If you are a water drinker, it's good to always carry a bottle with you and stop in a conbini to replenish your supply when you run out, especially in the summer. You can always get tea and coffee in a vending machine, rarely Coke. I don't recall everseeing a Pepsi vending machine on the street. Most vending machines are for drinks (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) and cigarettes. I've seen alcohol vending machines that will sell you anything from a one-cup sake to a liter of beer or a bottle of whiskey. I have seen vending machines for batteries, rice, fresh fruits and vegetables, telephone cards or bus passes. I have heard of vending machines for more esoteric things (the classic example being high school girls' used underwear, which may be an urban legend), but I've never ventured into areas that have sold such items...
So, what was outside my window in Osaka? A beautiful view of the headquarters of the Anabuki Construction Company. I just had to laugh! If you have not seen these commercials, go to this website: http://www.electricpenguin.com/jwr/anabuki.html for a translation and explanation. A link to the actual commercials (CM, pronounced "shi-emu") is here: http://www.anabuki.co.jp/anabukin-chan/theater/index.html. Be forewarned: they are bizarre!
The next day, I decided to skip riding the Midosuji subway to get back to JR Osaka Station and took a taxi from the Hotel Nikko. My study of the Kansai dialect paid off--I actually understood what I was being asked and was able to answer although not quite in kind. I haven't gotten the conjugation down yet. It was a little strange being asked what I had done today so early in the morning, though, so I decided to misinterpret it and tell the taxi driver what I was going to do instead.
Kansai (also known as Kinki) covers a wide swath of Western Japan, but most of us foreigners generally limit it to Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe, and their respective prefectures (although some of my study materials include others). Hyojungo--standard newscaster Japanese--is what you learn in school or in Tokyo, but it's not what you hear in Kansai. If someone asked you "Kinou, ikiharun katta ka", and you had no knowledge of Kansai-ben, what would you make of that? If you were lucky you would piece together something about going, but that's a stretch. The standard question would be "Kinou, doko e ikimashita ka", meaning "where did you go yesterday?"
...to be continued