Piczo

Osaka Yo!

I was up at 5, dressed and done with the morning routine. I was still in Nagoya with the Hirosue family (see Nagoya Love) with plans of boarding the 8:30 Shinkhansen (Bullet Train) bound for Shin-Osaka, where I would be meeting my first host family, the Masaki`s. When I was all packed I walked outside my room, where Sae was ready to take me to Nagoya Station, via Subway. She informed me that Yurie was far too sick to be joining me. Then with an extremely worried expression, she told me I would be boarding the Shinkhansen alone. Just for reference, Japan doesn't distinguish teenage years. You are a child from birth to age 20, and an adult from there on out. I'm always being treated like a child, which I don't mind too much. But I can get on and off a train with no problem. At the station, Sae tried to buy a ticket just to show me what place I should board the train. But I wouldn't let her. Sure this was my first time on a Shinkhansen by myself, but I know it can't be that hard. Right? On the train, I found a seat, and emailed Naoko on the cell phone, that I was leaving. She emailed me back that everyone was waiting for me, though due to some excessive fog, they might be running a little bit late. The night before, Masaki Otosan called me to tell me that he would be joining me in Osaka. Apparently that recent Gaijin murder in Northern Japan, shook everyone a little bit into really worrying about me. When I got off at the Chuo Exit, Masaki Otosan found me and hauled me into the other exit, where Naoko gave me a much needed hug. I bought another train ticket bound for Osaka Station, then from their bound for Universal Studios Japan. The train was pretty much a living sardine can, and if I didn't have my backpack, which forced more space for me, I would have surely been stamped to death. The bad part was that everyone seemed to be going to the Universal Studios Japan. I can't say it wasn't expected though, it was after all Spring Break and a Sunday. At the Universal City Station, we exited and were immediatly greeted by the bright colored City Walk. Naoko and I took some pictures with the Takoyaki Dude, who was rather cute. Then we went straight into the gates. While the Masaki's waited on the world's longest line, I went to find a locker to put my luggage in because my back was throbbing. Naoko and I then took some pictures of the famous Universal Studios revolving globe. When the line finally brought Masaki Otosan up front, he bought all the tickets plus some fast passes. I wanted to buy my own ticket, because those were the original plans, so I felt horrible when he handed me my ticket. I even tried to pay him back, but he wouldn't except it. Inside the small version of Universal Studios, the Masakis looked for a place to eat Breakfast. hey settled on pizza at 11 in the morning, and I even had a slice. After breakfast, we decided to use out fast passes to get onto the Spider Man ride. It was only 11:30 in the morning, and already the line was about 2 hours longs. But with our passes, we got on in only about 5 minutes. The ride was really awesome, but I couldn't help having themost fun and listening to everyone's favorite super hero. He is not only strong, cute (Tobey MaGuire that is :)) but he is also fluent in Japanese. So are the bad guys, though. Hmmm... something isn't quite right here. The ride was like one of those 3D adventures, but it was really cool. The ride picture found me looking a total show off. While the Masaki's were screaming their heads off I had my hands up and laughing at them. When we exited the ride, we next headed for the large crowd accummulating by the main square. We then watched the Happy Harmony Parade (how corney a name is that!?!?) Basically the four most popular Universal Studio Venues, Peanuts, Hello Kitty, Shrek, and Sesame Street, had floats and characters driving around the streets. They did a dance to 'We Are Family' and then did individual acts. I know I have said this before, especially when I went to Disney, but when I see a popular charcter, that I had known to speak English, perfectly conversing in Japanese, I get all mixed up. Mostly I just laugh, but hearing Shrek and Charlie Brown, really made me freaked. haha. We didn't stay for the whole parade, because it looked as if about to rain. Rain would mean shutting down the new Roller Coaster, Hollywood Dream, which I had been eyeing since we entered the park. The wait time, 3 hours, was quickly surpassed with out past passes. We actually got on the sucker in 2 whole minutes. Now everyone who knows me, knows that I am crazy. I was 18 months old when I first went on a roller coaster, ever since then I've been addicted. The only problem is that in Japan, big scary roller coasters don't usually exist. But I got lucky today. The ride was short, but quite awesome. I laughed and held my hands up the whole time. Masaki Otosan has this one-of-kind laugh, that he used throughout the ride, while Naoko and Okasan Masaki tried not to be scared to death. When the ride was over, the Masakis announced that even though they always knew it, I truly am mentally insane. And that they would never EVER in a million year go on that ride again. I secretly plotted how to get them on again. Maybe I really am insane. Our next fast pass was good on the Jaws ride, so we walked to the area thememed like Amity from the movie. This time the line was so long, that our fast passes made us wait a full 12 minutes. But before that we got the obligatory Shark picture, seen below. KOWAI! The ride was a little strange, with just mainly us sitting on a boat getting attacked by a giant automatic shark. It was a relief for my feet, which were throbbing. When it was done with, we went to Jurassic Park and rode the very very awesome rafting ride. The only problem was that it was our last fast pass, and we still had plenty more to do. The dinosaurs actually looked pretty real. But the best part was the T-rex right at the end before the ginormous drop. Naoko got soaked, while I just got a little bit wet. I don't think she forgave me for that one, because I was supposed to sit in her spot. But when it was time to board I kind of pushed her in front of me, when I saw the huge puddle under her seat. haha. When it was done, we took some more pictures, and then a little break. Everyone was getting tired, so Masaki Otosan came up with the idea for us to watch the Waterworld show. Now I've never seen the movie, but I have to say it was better in Japanese! First we waited for about an hour and half, because there were no fastpasses for that. But when we got in, Masaki Otosan insisted we sit in the last row of the 'Splash Zone' His throy was because it was the last spot, we would get wet. When will I ever learn to never listen to this man? The main guy came around with buckets and kept throwing them at kids. Naoko, finally drying from the Jurassic Park ride, grabbed my arm, and said, we are in this together.' And yet, when the main guy came around with a big full bucket, Naoko became a shield. Big sisters are good for advice and water shields.haha. Though we got lucky because I think my gaijinity scared him away. The show was awesome, and like I said it, better in Japanese. The actors were all gaijin, so it was weird to see them speak, but I soon realized that it wasn't them speaking at all. When it was over, Naoko declared it was time for dessert, so we headed for the Pink Cafe in the middle of the park. Naoko and I both got smoothies, while the parents got large Pink Panther Ice Creams. Masaki otosan may as well adopt the slogan 'real men like pink.' After our dessert break, the clock said we had some more time for whatever ride we wanted to go on. Backdrop the Movie only had a 1 hour wait, so we got in line. The wait was long and tiring, and I seemed to be glued to my cell phone in hopes of hearing from my Mom. We all talked about how quickly these past 7 and 1/2 months have come and gone. And we laughed at the fact that when I arrived I didn't speak any Japanese. The Masaki's also told me that they expected me to get off the airplane 100 pounds heavier. That's pretty funny. The show wasn't very interesting, with just Ron Howard, the director of the movie talking in Japanese about the dangers of fire. Then he talked about how he filmed the movie. The last part of the ride, was an abandoned chemical warehouse, suddenly catching on fire and having explosions and stuff. The scariest part was when the roof fell in on us. Even I screamed. By the time the ride was over, the clock was getting late. Late meaning, 8ish is when my Mom planned on arriving at the station. We still had to eat a famous Osaka dinner, and catch the train. We took a big chance, getting in line for the ET ride, which was an hour wait. But amazingly enough, because we went in singles, we got on the ride in 10 minutes. And even better, Naoko and Me got to stay together. BEfore you get on the ride, you are supposed to tell the workers your name, which was weird. But then we got on th ride, and I understood why. ET's adventure took us through the forest adn then onto his home planet. I thought it was too corney for words. And then as you are about to get off, the king alien thing says 'Sayonara (your name)' Except nobody in Japan can say my name right, so this funny little alien said, 'Sayonara Judie!' Lovely right? With more time then we planned, I quickly bought some Peanuts presents for friends back home. Then we said goodbye to park and headed back to the main city walk. The Masaki's found a restaurant selling my favorite food and an Osaka speciality, Okonomiacki. It's true, I quickly discovered, that Osaka makes the world's best Okonomiacki. Since it was being cooked right in front of me, I had to touch it and try flipping it, like I do at the reatsurant back at home. The cooks came over and started yelling me to stop, because it would ruin the goodness of it. Reeeaarr... But it was absolutely delicious, and it was sad eating the very last bite, though I did share a lot of it with the Masaki family. When the man came back with the check, I grabbed it before the Masaki's could. They had spent soooo much on my today, and buying dinner was the very least I could do. So when we were finished, got back in the station, and then to Osaka Station, I was so happy. I had just had a wonderful day with my amazing first host family, and they were coming with me to Kyoto to meet my Mom and Nana.