April 18

So, I went to Osu and Sakae today with about five sub-missions in addition to the two main ones; going to the robot museum and the osu flea market. First was osu, and as I found out by walking around (fortunate for me) all of the venders seem to have their own spots and come back every month. That made it easy to find the stall where I had decided not to buy a kimono last month, but changed my mind in the mean time. Luckily, the kimono was still there, and I was able to talk the price down a bit. :D I helped sell a jacket at another stall later by considering it so long that another gaijin snatched it the second I put it down. While I was looking at another stall’s wears, a Japanese guy (who seemed to be around the same age as me) came up to me and started talking to me. He said he wanted to practice English and make language exchange friends and was quick to offer to buy me lunch. I wasn’t really comfortable with it, so we talked a bit, and when he asked if we should look at the flea market together, I gave him another red flag (because I was on a mission of my own!!!). I offered him facebook, but he said he had recently moved from the region containing Fujisan (I forgot the name of the prefecture) and wouldn’t have internet until early May. He was really persistent and tried to plan what seemed like a date for the weekend, but in the end, all I gave him was my e-mail, though he avidly gave me his and his phone number too. Woo, nice try Japanese guy.

Afterward, I set off into the bowels of osu to find three stores; the used kimono store okaasan had suggested, the yen=g store (where price = grams of clothing), and another kimono store listed in my guide book. I succeeded in finding one; the one okaasan suggested, and only by chance. I had passed it every time I’ve been to osu because it looks so much like the (tourist) duty-free store. I’m not sure how many times I walked through Osu looking for the other two, but in the end, I decided the guidebook must have just been wrong or lacking.

After this, I attempted to find the robot museum. That was a big part of the day (from about 2:00 to 4:00). I ended up getting literally lost (I was using photographs of my guide book’s maps) and reading the district numbers wrong around nisshiki by Sakae. I had to ask about five people (a girl on a bike, one convenience store clerk, two watchmen; one of which was the Tiffany’s guard, and a SoftBank clerk). Did I mention that the road-name approach to labeling cities is a great idea? Pretty much, the closer you get to your destination, the more detailed the people’s directions get. First I got, “if you go over there, you get to nisshiki,” then I got “if you go over there, you get to block 25,” then “Tiffany’s is on 25, ask about #20 there,” and so on. In the end, the robot museum didn’t exist!!! The SoftBank clerk (and her iPhone) told me that the robot museum had ceased to be. She didn’t know why though.

While I was lost, I found a McDonald’s and decided it was time to try the ebi-fureo. After accidentally dumping all my coins on the floor, I ordered a combo with melon soda. I’ve got to say, the meal itself wasn’t impressive, but on second thought, when you compare it to what you’d get in the US, it was pretty amazing. First of all, the fries (despite having no flavor) were abundant and crunchy. The ebi burger actually looked like the picture with an un-squished bun, non-wilted lettuce, and actual shrimp in the burger. If it was the US, the bun would be flat, the lettuce would be brown, the tartar sauce would either drench the thing or be 99% mayo, and the shrimp would resemble shrimp as much as cheap cold-cuts resemble turkeys and pigs. It was pretty cool too to sit on the second floor and look out over Princess Street (yes, it’s really called that) from a bowed window-wall.

Having failed to find the robot museum, I decided to look for Otsu dori, what my guide book calls the Akihabara of Nagoya/Sakae. After about two “what’s that, do you mean osu?” reactions, I gave up and ended up going to the design building instead. There wasn’t much to do there (and they don’t let you get near the edge of the floor to look from the 11th story, so I decided to go back to Osu to see if the peddlers were having their end-of-the-day super sales. I had missed them (It’s so weird how Osu closes around five even on Saturdays) but that was okay because I was exhausted.

When I got home, I talked with okaasan a bit and showed her my furisode (kimono) upon her surprise at the low price I quoted. I suspected it was a slightly unusual kimono by the fabric, and when okaasan saw it, she called it mezurashii and fushigi (rare and mysterious). I asked if it was weird, but she said “I wouldn’t say so,” so I hope I can pull it off. I’ve never seen a kimono with bunnies (I like the Japanese ones a lot) on it before, so I think it’s a catch.

At dinner, okaasan talked about her friend and talked with otousan about tomorrow’s plans, so I didn’t get much time to say much about my day. The TV was on too, so it didn’t help with talking. I guess it’s okay though. I was pretty tired from walking for about six hours straight and I actually felt like I could fall asleep at the table while okaasan was cooking fried rice and later when we were drinking tea after dinner.

After tea, okaasan and I watched TV, which became more interesting the closer it came to a wise hour for sleeping. Particularly, there was a show called “Wonder Wonder,” which was a talk show that had a surprisingly high percentage of actual documentary footage. This one was on a cave in Mexico where spelunkers have found huge caverns of multi-meter clear crystals (I’m not sure if it’s quartz). It was amazing and beautiful and I was literally in awe. (look it up, you won’t regret it!!!) There was a part where one of the guests got to try on the suits (with inserts for ice sticks all over it) they wear to go in the cavern (because it’s over 30ºc) and it was entertaining. Earlier, we watched a drama about a Japanese girl whose grandmother was Chinese. She went to China to study and recalls her father’s childhood. In the morning, we watched a talk show where the host (a pretty girl) goes to an aquarium where she gets a tour of the sleeping fish tanks and a craw fish has gotten loose and is on the floor (she thinks it’s a piece of trash). When the guide asks her to pick it up and return it, she literally screams as she barely touches it multiple times and gives up. I was laughing out loud.