I went to the Osaka Aquarium this weekend. They have a whale shark. It was not as big as I had imagined a whale shark would be. I think it was a baby, but still it was by far the biggest animal in the aquarium.
The Osaka aquarium is rated as one of the best aquariums in Asia. I had put it on my list of places to see since before I left the US. I has been saving it for a day in the winter when the weather was bad and I had nothing else to do. That day came Monday.
I had planned to go to Horoyuji, which is supposed to be the oldest wooden structure in the world. It is the last temple I feel like I actually want to see in Japan (I have seen so many, and they all remind me of each other) However, when I woke up it was pouring down rain. I decided early on in the morning that I was aborting my trip to Horoyuji. I went back to sleep for a while and reconsidered my days plan.
I was slow to get motivated but eventually I got up, and straightened up the apartment a bit. Around 3pm, I finally made the decision to go to the aquarium. I finally got out the door around 330-4. It takes about an hour to get there from my place, but I forgot my umbrella on a train, when making a transfer, and had to run back on to grab it. I was not swift enough to get back off the train again though, so I had to go to the next station and then catch the next train from there, back to where I needed to be. This hiccup added a bit more time to my trip, but I was in no hurry at all so i didn’t mind.
I made it to the station by the aquarium around 5. It was raining even harder than it had been at home. I had to make about a 10 minute walk to the aquarium. That walk would have been horrible if I had not went back for my umbrella. Even though I was not upset about the little detour for my umbrella, being dry for that walk from the station, took away any sort of regretful feeling I had hidden in my subconscious.
So the aquarium. It was pretty cool. I had been looking at reviews of it online and people kept saying how awesome it was. I was pretty hyped up about it… Maybe a little too hyped. It was definitely a really cool place, and there were a lot of really cool exhibits, and they did have a whale shark too, which I really felt bad for after a bit. He was huge, and could only do a little lap around the tank.
The Deadliest Catch
I have always liked smaller aquarium exhibits though. The smaller coral reef set ups have been my favorite since high school when my friend had a tank at his house.
The aquarium also had penguins, seals, dolphins, and a tank where you could pet some rays and sharks. It was a good days activity, but I think I was spoiled early in life with visits to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. I did get this one “to do” checked off my list though.
Monday’s visit to the aquarium was a lot of fun, but I don’t think that was at all the highlight of my weekend.
Saturday, I took off work a couple hours early and went to see the Yamayaki in Nara Park. The festival happens every year in January. They light fireworks and then set the hill on fire to keep trees from growing. You may remember some photos I posted last week of the grassy hill before the fire.
The fireworks started around 615. It was the best fireworks display I had ever seen and from what I heard it was not even a “famous” fireworks event in Japan. With the word “famous” seemingly being thrown around like a basic article (a/the) here, I was shocked that this event did not get the not-so-coveted recognition. I am now really upset I had to work during the summer fireworks festivals. I am sure they were amazing. Japan knows how to do fireworks. There were even a few fireworks that exploded into the shape of a deer head.
After the fireworks, they took the fire from several small bonfires around the edge of the field and lit the mountain on fire. It was over in less than 5 minutes, but it was really cool to see. The whole field was a sea of fire. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any really good pictures of that though.
After the fire ended I headed to Osaka and got some dinner. I had to run some errands the next day, so I figured I would come the night before and hang out instead of just sitting at home alone.
Sunday, I took my watch to get fixed. It had broken in November, but I haven’t really been too concerned with fixing it, but it worked out this weekend. I also bought a nice kitchen knife- which was something I had been wanting to buy here. I bought a few other things I had been needing, then headed home.
I had made plans to go to my friend and student Keiji’s house for dinner. Keiji took Elizabeth and I to a basketball game a few months ago, and we have been trying to arrange another time to get together since then. He is older than my parents, but I feel like he is a good friend here. He works for a big international packaging company, which is how he got the basketball tickets. His wife takes care of things around the house and does not work other than that I believe. I met his wife after the basketball game and she was really nice. In fact she was the one who originally suggested we get together for dinner. I thought it may be a little bit of a struggle keeping the conversation going throughout dinner since Keiji is not my highest level student and his wife is not really any more fluent.
Keiji picked me up at the station around 5 and took me to his place by car. I was comforted when I walked into the dining room and saw that they had their picket translators already positioned next to their seats at the table. We didn’t really need them much. The conversation was slow at times, but we talked about a lot of things. Also, Keiji continued to pull out various beer, Japanese sake, and wine for us to drink, so that helped boost the social atmosphere a bit as well. He showed me a bottle of his favorite sake, which had gold flakes floating in it. The look of it reminded me of Goldshlaeger (sp?) the German peppermint schnapps with gold flake in it, but the taste was something worlds apart. Sake is not my favorite drink, but I enjoyed this one, and Keiji continued to refill my glass until the bottle was nearly finished and he decided we should move on to red wine.
For food we had Tamakizushi (handmade sushi) we had rice, wasabi, nori (seaweed wrap) and a huge plate of various fish to roll ourselves. There was also some Japanese fried chicken, and salad as well. Everything was delicious. I had never rolled my own sushi before so it was kind of fun too.
make your own sushi
It was really a fun night. We talked and ate for quite a long time. I didn’t end up leaving until about 9:30. I think we all had a good time. I think we will make plans to do it again sometime soon.
I went to sleep soon after getting home. Monday I woke up late and went to the aquarium. Today was really rainy but basically a normal day at school. I went to one of my favorite noodle shops for dinner and gorged myself. I am now feeling fat, sitting in my bed finishing up this post ready to pass out.
My go-to
Next week I have no plans. I will probably watch the Super Bowl, but it is at 830am and I don’t like either team so it may be the first time I ever miss the big game. We will see.
As usual, thanks for reading everyone. Have a great week.
A big bowl of noodles sounds yummy!!!