２０１４年５月２７日−２９日

May 27th:

On Tuesday, I introduced Maika to Kobe, the western-influenced port city just west of Osaka. Our first goal was to try the world-renowned Kobe beef, which comes from cows that are apparently massaged and given beer daily. Here it is:

This meal cost 2,500 yen. The Kobe beef morsels weigh in at 80 grams. They were very tasty, but I'll stick to supermarket beef from here on out...

Also, our waitress placed these 1st place Kobe beef competition trophies on our table to prove the worth of their meat. And to take pictures with, she said. 

We headed to Harborland, the place I visited with my friends last time. If you want to see pictures of the place, either visit Maika's blog or go back and look at my older post of when I went there for my firs time.
For dinner, I had organized a double date with one of my lab mates and his girlfriend, Motohiro and Sayaka respectively. They took us to a restaurant called Nin-Jin. The entrance consisted of a hatch in the side of some random building in some random narrow street in the downtown area. We were greeted in ninja fashion by our ninja waiter and led to our table, or should I say room -- or maybe more of a closet by American standards... I struggled to fit myself, but the experience was cool. Apparently in traditional Japan, dining rooms were no bigger than about 4 cubic meters. The waiter presented our full course and 2 hour all you can drink dinner in strange mumbles; he was a character.. We also had to use "ni" for yes, and 厠 kawaya (or "river room") for bathroom. Here are some pics from the restaurant.

The restaurant was a maze of staircases and narrow alleyways branched with the tiny rooms where we ate.

Our ninja waiter, my friend, his girlfriend, and the magical ninjutsu dessert we were served.

The entrance to our dinner room. And he's like a foot shorter than I am... I barely fit..

After dinner, my friend had prepared plans for us to hike up into the hills of Kobe to a spot where couples attach locks to this giant structure. Oh! And the view was incredible. Here are some pics:

We have officially left our mark on Kobe. C: Our's is on the right side incase you can't read katakana or hiragana.

Our locks with the city in the background. 

Which view is better, the foreground or the background? 

You can see Harborland in the distance. Its the red tower with the bright white structure to the right.

A great night! Thank you so much for showing us around Motohiro and Sayaka. You two are a lovely couple.

Ok last one. 

May 28th:

We rested up on Wednesday and used the time to catch up on our blogs a little, though it clearly wasn't enough time for me.. I only hope all this blogging is worth my time. I guess if it isn't for you all, it will be for myself somewhere down the road. Anyhow, we took a lunch break at Mos Burger, Japan's most popular burger joint. Here's what we ate..

This was a chili and sausage burger with donut buns.. Strange..

For the evening, we headed up to station nearby my dorm to eat at my favorite ramen shop with some buddies of mine. We had great conversation the entire time, and followed the dinner with some ice cream and a visit the local arcade. The arcade games were pretty difficult, so we went to the puricura machine. Please do yourself the favor and look into this relatively new Japanese fad. Basically, it's a photo booth where your pictures are edited so your eyes become massive and anime-like, and your skin is overly clear looking. I'll try and upload a picture of the print out we got. It was disturbing, but we all got a great laugh out of it.

Here we are at Japan's most popular arcade game. From left to right, Maika, Felix (Germany), and Duncan (New Zealand). Thanks for joining us guys. Maika and I had a great time.

After a fun evening, we headed back downtown. Here's another fucked up salaryman passed out on the train. At one stop, the conductors had to come in to check on him and prop him back on his seat. He just ended up knocking out again, with the broken beer can leaking booze all over his plastic bag. Just too classic...

May 29th:

I was looking forward to Thursday a lot because it was finally an opportunity to visit Nara, a small city famous for its Buddhist temples, and overcrowded, human-friendly deer population. I exaggerate overcrowded. Literally, every city block toward the east of the city has at least a whole heard, wandering around eating special 鹿せんべい, rice crackers made specifically to feed the deer. And if there's something you should know about me, it's that I love animal interactions. Anyways, I'll let the pictures to the talking.

Maika taking a pic of a tower behind me. And of me taking a pic of her taking a pic. And of me taking a pic of the lovely building behind her.

The tower behind me.

My first Nara deer encounter.

Offering it a ricecracker. 

So precious.

Big antlers this time of year.

Here's a video of the deer chasing Maika because she was holding rice crackers.

Nara was incredible crowded with tourists and field tripping students. Normally, crowds can get annoying, but the school kids were so kind. They would ask to take picture with us, and some even dared to practice their English with us. They read their scripts nervously, using simple phrases like, "May I ask you some questions?", "Do you like Nara?", "Where in Nara is your favorite place?", after which they would say "Thank you for your time. Here is a present for your cooperation." and hand us their handmade bookmarks. It was so cute; they didn't even pay attention to the answers we gave them because they seemed too nervous just reading English. I love Japan. They raise their kids very well in school. Here are some more picture:

A massive gate to the temple.

Guardians in the gateway.

Pretty.

The temple, with burning incense at the foreground. 

The type of kids I was talking about. School kids here always wear bright colored hats so cars can spot them.

There tons of lanterns by this temple. 

More lanterns

More lanterns.

Me being cool.

 Before we left, I got to try the famous Mister Donuts. I was not disappointed. The donuts were much lighter than their american counterparts, so you don't feel as guilty after eating them..
We went back to Osaka to eat dinner at my favorite curry udon place that Suguru introduced me to. This place should look familiar.

She finished the whole bowl. I'm proud of her. I guess its such good udon, its hard not to...

After dinner, we finally got to ride the HEP5 ferris wheel in downtown Umeda. Each compartment came with its own speakers that you can plug your phone into, so naturally we enjoyed 10 minutes of Coldplay with an unbelievable view. One of the happiest moments of my life. Tears formed in my eyes at the top. Here are some pics.

We were feeling bliss.