Golden Week Trip Day 3: Osaka

On Monday we started off with a trip to the Osaka Pokemon Center! It was madness with all these little kids (and grown ups) running around. I could only settle on a Togekiss plushie and could not find the will (or energy!) to browse other merchandise. But I will be going to the Tokyo Pokemon Center next week with my friend Shannon to reserve tickets for the new Pokemon movie (5th gen! so fast!) and shop while all the kids are stuck in school.

Togekiss and new Tako friend. :)

Afterward I got to meet up with the girl that I met at my summer camp job two years ago. She is now 11 and so much taller! We met up with her, her mom, and her English teacher (and mom's friend). They were very very nice and treated us to an amazing afternoon of food!

First we went to a restaurant where you make your own takoyaki. It was really fun and super delicious. After they ordered okonomiyaki - one regular and one topped with a bunch of cheese! Really good!

Before

They look like mush now but were soon converted into edible fried octopus balls!

They then asked us if we wanted to go get cake. I was already stuffed, but I figured cake is cake. We went into a department store and walked by this crazy looking restaurant with the most beautiful cakes I had ever seen.

And then we went in.

Oh my goodness! And those are mango roses! :O

We didn't try the above mango madness but we did have a selection of other really nice (looking and tasting) cake slices.

After saying goodbye, we headed over to the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, home of the Whale Sharks (or ジンベエザメ). We had to wait for about an hour before getting to line up to go into the aquarium, and the aquarium itself was super crowded. But it was exciting to see all of the exhibits and animals - especially the giant whale sharks.

Stud penguin posing for pictures.

美味しそう！

Me and Elizabeth thought the giant crabs would make tasty crab legs. Some Japanese person behind us thought the same thing (and said it out loud) - we weren't alone!

Golden Week Trip Day 1: Nara

The night bus. It was hard to sleep but somehow I felt energetic enough when we got there. 10:40pm-7:00am (but it turned out to be 10:00am).

Bunny waiting with Anna.

We ended up getting to Osaka 3 hours later than excepted. D: But it was okay because we were able to check into our hostel right away. We then set out for Nara - the land of deer, giant Daibutsu, and crazy mascot combining the two Sento-kun!

After wandering somewhat aimlessly and lost, we stumbled upon a garden that Elizabeth had looked up. What luck!

Yoshikien entrance

After lots of snacking and walking around, Anna and Elizabeth played with the deer. I stayed away due to past allergy experience.

Cheese!

Shika sembei were a hit.

They turned out to be pervs because one of them kicked Anna on the thigh. Elizabeth has an epic video of them - stay tuned to see it later.

 

A snack for us! Okonomiyaki. It looks gross here but it was huge and yummy!

5 story pagoda!

On our way back to the hostel, we jumped on the first train we saw on the platform assuming it was on the right train line. We were wrong. The result: stranded at a ghetto station in the middle of nowhere. Little lighting, no one regulating tickets, not a soul in sight. After some candy condolences and a long time waiting, a train finally came to rescue us from our miseries. One certain doors on the train opened to let us on and off. Never again.

 Lost! D:

Today we're going to Kyoto! Shrines and tourist galore!

Yokohama

Last Friday me and the usual culprits went to Yokohama for a day trip. We started around China Town and embarked on another progressive snacking tour with xiao long bao, sesame seed balls, and a giant meat bun. We then migrated to the north shore and had a date with the golden gates of McDonald's. I munched on some crispy fries and in the process made a new friend.

New Boyfriend!

Then we got sidetracked by this cute attraction:

Although I don't agree with leashing bunnies, it was super cute! An A+ tourist attraction.

To work off our growing food bellies we walked over to an awesome place called Oosanbashi Pier, which is a crazy long dock with lots of slopes and curves. It looked like perfect rolling conditions but there were cameras everywhere. So we decided to pretend.

 

Afterward we headed over to an area called Minato Mirai 21, which is a big shopping area. On the way we ran into a Flower Garden display! All of the flowers were very beautiful, and to match the mood a vendor was selling heart shaped croquettes.

Looks like a magazine!

Made with love.

Next we headed over to a nearby mall where we did some window shopping and, of course, eating.

Curry bread (spicy curry inside), beef katsu bread, malasada! Anna's Hawaiian senses detected the Leonard's stand from across the food market. It's a Portuguese donut that's covered with sugar and sometimes has a cream filling.

When the sun went down the Yokohama Cosmoworld amusement park lit up. The humongous Ferris wheel was stunning! And it also conveniently told the time. Although the park was pretty empty we walked around looking for UFO catchers and ended up taking some purikura pictures.

Very tired after but it was a fun trip. Oh, and happened to stumble across the Yokohama Pokemon Center. Good thing it was 5 minutes before closing. Next time!

Bunny - Okay!

We had some pet drama the other day that involved our dog and rabbit. The rabbit room is normally fenced off to prevent the dog from messing with her, but this time the dog managed to get through the kitchen gate and knock down a second gate to get through. Once through the gates, dog can easily get through the fences around the rabbit cage (because they are made to keep bunny in and not dog out). According to my younger brother, dog was ready to pounce on bunny and a minute later things would have turned ugly. Thankfully, my brother was able to save bunny right before dog could maul it. In an act of heroism, he picked up dog (who was probably all worked up) and tossed him into another room. 

Bunny, however, was in some serious shock. We took her straight to the vet where they gave her some shots and put her in an oxygen enhanced box. The vet told us that rabbits are highly sensitive to stress, and even something minor such as a barking dog or drawing a blood sample could stress a rabbit, literally, to death. When we left the vet we did not know if bunny would make it – she was not really moving and her color was still bad. We decided to let her stay the night at the vet because we did not want to risk her becoming more stressed from transportation. It was strange to imagine that bunny could be alive one day and dead the next. Thankfully, the vet called today and said that bunny was moving, eating, drinking, and, my favorite, pooping so we were able to take her home.

I think it is easy to throw blame on the dog or even a person for all of this happening, but one thing that kept me calm was not dwelling on the “could” or “should” have’s. Dog is dog and we can’t change his instincts. What one person did or did not do also cannot be changed so we can only look forward and do our best in the present. I’m glad bunny is okay – this incident has made me appreciate her more.