Osaka Madness, the Weekend Review

A Quiet Friday Night

I had a good weekend, but I am already sensing things starting to get (seriously) busier during the week, so I might need to start taking advantage of the relaxation time. I was going to go to dinner with some friends in Sannomiya (central Kobe) on Friday, but decided to stay in and rest instead. It was kind of a bummer since two of the girls are leaving Japan this summer and I want to spend more time with them, but I wasn’t feeling very well. I was better after a few hours, so I ended up going for an evening run and going to Midori, the electronics store, to look for a multi-region DVD player. I dropped my player last week, and can’t watch the American movies I brought from home anymore (or the ones my friends got over Spring Break travels), so I am working on finding a new one. They basically told me multi-region players are rare here, but to go to the discount electronics district in Osaka (Den Den Town). I’ve been meaning to check it out, so at least now I have an excuse.

Saturday Night Lights

On Saturday, I was supposed to meet some of the Minnesota girls for dinner, but things sort of fell through, and I ended up meeting the usual gang (including Lena, Kelly and James) in Shinsaibashi (Osaka) for Vietnamese and then went out to a few clubs. We started at Café Absenth, a pub serving absenth (strong alcohol that's illegal in America) and hookahs (love the apple hubble bubbles), although I just stuck to my glass of beer and took a puff or two of the apple-flavored tabacco. I told my friend Chris to come meet us, not realizing he had a big group of his own, so our table kind of got a little too crowded at one point (it’s not a very big place), but it was a fun time. Afterwards, we ended up spending the night dancing away at Pure. I have sworn several times that I will never return to Pure Nightclub, yet I keep ending up there on nights out in Osaka (although usually not by choice). People mostly want to go because it’s cheap ($25 for cover and all-you-can-drink all night long vs. a $30 cover at most clubs) and has good music, but the crowd is occasionally a bit sketchyy. As it turned out, the place was packed and the crowd was actually not bad. We ran into a group of people we know from Kobe and probably stayed until 4am when we popped over the karaoke joint next door for a few songs (and a short nap) before grabbing some quick breakfast and heading home. The trip back was a bit tragic considering people were already out-and-about on Sunday morning, and we were all dragging (and probably smelled like the club) on the train, but it was a smooth trip home.

Clubbing in Japan

I would normally not describe all-nighters on the blog, but they do happen here and it’s definitely part of the foreigner lifestyle in many ways, so I might as well include it. Still big on censorship, though (can you imagine if you discovered your high school teachers writing about clubbing all night?!).
Japan is not a club culture in the way America is (Kobe had one – pubs are more popular), so Osaka is the best place to go to find nightspots, and even then, it is mostly foreigners (or either very western – or sometimes scantily clad – Japanese people that you meet out). I'm not too far from Osaka, but it’s still not exactly close, so the easiest option is to go out late, dance all night, and then take the first train home around 5am. My friends that live near Tokyo (in Chiba) do the same thing and have had similar observations (even though I am sure there are more foreigners and maybe more to do in Tokyo). It makes for a late night, but it can be really fun (even if you do practically lose a day the day after).

Sunday
Once I finally made it up on Sunday afternoon, I went for a run along the river (near Harimacho). I can still comfortable run over an hour, but I have probably been a little too lenient since the marathon. Running is getting tougher with the weather, too. There was a noticeable difference in the humidity for the first day; the hot summer weather is close. After my run, I went to Tam and Clayton’s house for dinner and a movie. Kelly came over later on and we chatted for a bit, but it was getting late and I was tired, so I biked home. It was raining a bit, but it actually felt nice, and I love going to bed when I can hear the rain. Very peaceful:)