It’s been a while since I’ve wrote... when I say a while I guess it means only a couple of days, a week, tops. I guess it was because I was in a transition mode – planning ahead, deliberating with myself and, mostly, resting and enjoying my time with Esti at her place. How much enjoyment for me was unknown till it struck me like a brick. I guess the feeling of loneliness had to hit me at some point, and it did, the night after I waved Esti Good-bye at noon the same day. It was treacherously cold and I was so depressed by the grim surroundings of the hostel I chose in Osaka that I actually locked myself up in my freezing room, helplessly clutching the foot warmer for the mild warmth it emitted, watching the numb-minding television at some silly comedy talk shows, not understanding one bit. But I knew that I had to rest, for tomorrow was going to be a long and tiring day. And what a day it was.
I started by looking for a post office, to mail all the extra baggage off of my back. Apparently, post offices in Japan have the tendency to be camouflaged, so it took me while to spot one out. But then of course, they didn’t accept my credit card and after I found out I forgot my bloody PIN number I had to locate a Bank in order to get some money out all the while the post office was holding my package as hostage. This whole monkey business took me more than 3 hours, and it wasn’t over yet. I still had to book a spot on the Ferry to Okinawa.
Now booking an airplane is quite easy. They have the English menu and the lovely almost English speaking clerks. But booking a ferry is way more complicated. Apparently, its not designed to accept foreign customers, and when they accidentally do get them, they try to ignore them rigorously, like they are not really there. Luckily, I was granted assistance by one of the workers at my hostel, who actually knew some English and In return, he took my picture (don’t ask me why).
Free from the troubles of the world, I decided upon doing some good ole` walking, and I toured around the main arcade in Osaka, which is actually a huge arcade, but there was nothing really new that had caught my eye… same Pachinko halls, same fashion and clothing shops, and so on…
However, I did find some interesting structures worth mentioning. One is of a new huge Bowling arcade, which looks pretty grand. The other was of, well, a house-ship.
I started by looking for a post office, to mail all the extra baggage off of my back. Apparently, post offices in Japan have the tendency to be camouflaged, so it took me while to spot one out. But then of course, they didn’t accept my credit card and after I found out I forgot my bloody PIN number I had to locate a Bank in order to get some money out all the while the post office was holding my package as hostage. This whole monkey business took me more than 3 hours, and it wasn’t over yet. I still had to book a spot on the Ferry to Okinawa.
Now booking an airplane is quite easy. They have the English menu and the lovely almost English speaking clerks. But booking a ferry is way more complicated. Apparently, its not designed to accept foreign customers, and when they accidentally do get them, they try to ignore them rigorously, like they are not really there. Luckily, I was granted assistance by one of the workers at my hostel, who actually knew some English and In return, he took my picture (don’t ask me why).
Free from the troubles of the world, I decided upon doing some good ole` walking, and I toured around the main arcade in Osaka, which is actually a huge arcade, but there was nothing really new that had caught my eye… same Pachinko halls, same fashion and clothing shops, and so on…
However, I did find some interesting structures worth mentioning. One is of a new huge Bowling arcade, which looks pretty grand. The other was of, well, a house-ship.
The third actually was the most interesting, since It had the Hebrew word SHALOM written all over it. I was very curious about the design so I decided to enter and question whoever is inside. A dear old man greeted me at the entrance, and the conversation was pretty much as follows:
Me (practicing my horrible Japanese): Hello! Please, why is SHALOM, Hebrew, on store, please?
Nice Old geezer: Ahh, Shalom, yes!
Me: yes please, Hebrew word, please… Why?.. please?
Old geezer: Thank you! Excuse me please? Hebrew?
Me, again: YES! Please! Why? Shalom? PLEASE?!
Old and getting on my nerves Geezer: Ahh, Yes Yes! I’m Christian! Please, and Shalom is from bible! Thank you.
Me, now in English: ohh, so Hebrew bible… an Idiot. Ahh, please…?
Old Idiot Geezer: yes, please, thank you!
Me: anytime old chap…
Well… I didn’t exactly tell him he was an idiot… I just thought about mentioning to him, but he was so sincere, so I let it pass.
So that was day 2 at Osaka. Mainly it was me walking around, trying with out any success to
save money while spending tons of it on post offices, tickets and the like, but these are a necessity. One of the ways I tried to save money was buying prepared food at a very cheap store I found on my wanderings. The problem was that every time I bought something I got a new surprise… while the rice you buy may seem innocent and yummy, don’t be shocked after discovering its full of tiny microscopic fish heads… and I don’t wanna talk about the meat.Finally, the day has come and I got on the ferry to Okinawa. There’s not much to say about the cruise… it was mainly boring because I had no 
one to talk to. And when I did, it just backfired on me… there were two lovely old ladies on board with me, and they tried to talk to me, and I tried my best to understand, even though their dialect was Okinawa-Japanese, which is like Japanese, but no one can understand what they are saying. But they were nice, and asked me right away if I was married… two minutes later they gave me a candy, which was the most disgusting thing I have ever eaten in my whole life – some sort of greenish slimy raw dough with some sort of sweet beans inside, and it was HUGE!.. unfortunately, courtesy made me eat the whole thing in front of them, and even say “ummm!!!”
one to talk to. And when I did, it just backfired on me… there were two lovely old ladies on board with me, and they tried to talk to me, and I tried my best to understand, even though their dialect was Okinawa-Japanese, which is like Japanese, but no one can understand what they are saying. But they were nice, and asked me right away if I was married… two minutes later they gave me a candy, which was the most disgusting thing I have ever eaten in my whole life – some sort of greenish slimy raw dough with some sort of sweet beans inside, and it was HUGE!.. unfortunately, courtesy made me eat the whole thing in front of them, and even say “ummm!!!” thank god I kindly refused the next given meal, which was some sort of straw-berry and beans sandwich, and very promising to be revolting.
But other than that, and the meeting at the restroom later on, it was quite and boring.
And so it happened that after 2 long days of boat ride, I saw the promising land of Okinawa!
But other than that, and the meeting at the restroom later on, it was quite and boring.
And so it happened that after 2 long days of boat ride, I saw the promising land of Okinawa!
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