National Foundation Day Holiday Weekend (三連きゅ) - Sat & Sun

Hey everyone! I'm currently feeling pretty exhausted after my "relaxing", long weekend (ironic, no?) but I can say I had a fabulous time...

Chillaxing (saturday.)

I will admit that I have a tendency to try/want to do as much as I possibly can at times (life is short!), but I think I am finally learning the benefits of just taking it easy and taking a day off. Spent Saturday inside, relaxing. Just me, just time off, just relaxing... it's actually pretty nice. Go figure.

To my surprise, my muscles weren't actually sore from the long run on Friday at all, but my body just needed rest afterwards. I could have slept late into the afternoon on Saturday, but got up when I got a text message from a friend, telling me to look out the window. I looked out to discover a heavy snowstorm (heavy in relative terms, but still a lot of white!). The snow didn't settle where I live, but there were patches along the tracks all the way to Osaka when I went there later on Saturday night (ok, so I cut the relaxing time a little short) and the Kyoto trails were lined with a blanket of white when I went hiking on Sunday. There is just something romantic (natsukashii tabun?) about seeing thick flakes and a fresh snowfall... I really miss it sometimes, but I will admit it's also nice to get relief from the ice and months of slush and mud.

But back to Saturday afternoon.... After just reading, writing and taking catnaps most of the day, I ventured out on the last train to Osaka on Saturday night to visit two old girlfriends who I was close with when I first moved to Japan, but who I rarely see these days. One of them used to live close to where I work, but quit her job to move to Osaka and pursue bartending in the Shinsaibashi club scene. I've vowed to go visit her more this year, but things can get busy or there are other adventures I seem to find (or people I need to see) once I make it over to Osaka, so I hadn't actually made great on that promise up until now. I am trying not take those kinds of friends for granted so much... it's like a New Year's Resolution in a way.

Coyote Ugly, Osaka Edition

I know the thought of moving to Osaka without a job or apartment sounds risky, and it was tough for this friend at first (reminiscent of Coyote Ugly, actually), but she's been doing really well lately and just started managing the place she works at (not bad for a foreigner and especially a woman!). Her apartment is also in a killer location (the address literally doesn't have numbers because it's one of the only apartment buildings in such a central area of Osaka) and her workplace attracts a lot of regulars, which can be fun.

When I arrived in Umeda (central Osaka), I barely made the last subway to Shinsaibashi. Some friends were out in Umeda so I was possibly going to stop by to see the on my way, but it was too late. I made it to the bar, though, left my stuff behind the bar, and realized the girl I came to hang out with (the one not behind the bar) was on her way out to a private party. I wanted to stick around for a while since I had just arrived and ended up making a whole new group of friends from Australia. The guys in the group were really funny and wanted to go to this club named Pure. It had a cheap cover and good DJ (I am sure I've written about it before), but the crowd it attracts is questionable at times, so I was reluctant. We ended up going to a different club instead, just sitting around with a cocktail and then hit the karaoke cafe for a few hours of singing (again, totally new group of friends... so random... but I was all over the karaoke) before coming back to find my bartender friend as her shift ended. I ran into a big group of my friends from Kobe on the backstreets of Osaka in the middle of the night, too (recognized one of the girls from her bright pink tights - go figure).... it really can be a small world.

After that, my friend and I made our way back to her apartment and talked for a while before drifting off to sleep. We slept in the next day and ate lunch at an Indian/Nepalese place across the street from her house. I love the lunch sets in Japan... it still wasn't cheap food compared to India, but the curry and nan (bread) was delicious and I can't complain about trying three kinds of curry and getting a lassi (sort of a yoghurt-type drink) for less than $10.

Chinese New Year and Hitting the Ice

I could have stuck around for the rest of the day, but I left the other two girls after lunch to meet up with April, my best friend's college friend who lives in Osaka and whom I have been hanging out with a bit more this year. She is from my state in the US, loves travel, too, and runs the Charity gigs for Osaka, so it's fun to hear what she is planning and always a little adventure hanging out with her... fun girl.

It took me a while to get there, but I met April, her hilarious friend Giovanni (met him at our Kobe charity event) and a group of their Japanese friends from Osaka at the skating rink on Port Island in Kobe. I had tried to wrangle up a group to go to Nagano earlier in the week under the premise that I was getting "snowsick" (homesick to see snow), but just setting foot on the ice definitely brought a smile to my face. The rink is part of a city-owned sports complex on the man-made island in Kobe. It was nice (if not pretty standard for you would expect at home), but a bit expensive once you added up the rink fee, skate rental and mandatory hot chocolate (it's Japan...). Totally worth it, though. I was craving real winter weather and the ice brought me back.

We spent a few hours twirling around the rink, passing couples and small children, as we made every effort not to fall. I took ice skating classes for a few years when I was a kid and have spent a lot of time on the ice through other ventures, but I was definitely rusty and just glad that I was able to leave without a wet bottom!

When the Zamboni came out, we took one last lap and took off for the Portliner (train that goes to Port Island). We headed back into Kobe and made our way over to Kobe's Chinatown for the Chinese New Year festivities!

Gong Xi Fa Cai! Happy Chinese New Year!

When we hit Chinatown, I have to admit, my first impression was one of slight shock. I have been there many, many times, but have never seen the place so packed! The usual food stands had multiplied two-fold, now flowing out past the large Chinese entrance gate and there was hardly enough room to move down the road.... forget moving against traffic and good luck stopping to wait for any of that food! The atmosphere was actually pretty energetic and the large, bright, crescent moon looming over the narrow alleyway (lined with small shops and strings of big, red Chinese lanterns) gave me the sensation of walking down the middle of a Van Gogh painting. It really did capture the feel of the famous Paris cafe pic. The photos I took don't do it justice....

There was a free acrobat show at 6pm, but we had spent a little too much time frolicking on the ice to make it in time. Instead of rushing to catch the end, we leisurely strolled through the food stands and crowds, making it to the main square (open area marked with a pagoda) in time for the dragon parade/dance at 7pm. I have to admit, I spent three weeks in Shanghai during Chinese new year in January 2004 (spectacular experience... the fireworks were endless for over a week... literally all through the night), but this was my first dragon show and I was pretty excited about it. The crowd-control police, yielding megaphones and whistles, wouldn't let anyone stop to watch (which seemed slightly stupid considering the crowds were there for the show), so we circled the area and sort of just watched the dragons jump for a while. I tried a pork sandwich I have been curious about before, but otherwise, the food was pretty standard for Chinatown (a lot of fried chicken, noodles and dumplings).

The rest of the group was going to continue with the ice theme and take a cable car to the top of Mt. Rokko (mountain chains cradling Kobe) to see the "Kobe million dollar night view" and check out the ice sculptures at the top, but I was still tired from the previous night's adventures, so I opted to say my goodbyes, run a few small errands in Kobe and head home to sleep.