Osaka Nights.

So I made my way into Osaka yesterday, the whole ordeal was marred by confusion though. The trip from Kyoto to Osaka is a very short ride, as the cities are very close. The train ride there was only $5 (450 yen) so I figured I’d ride them rather than the bus. There was one transfer, at Kyobashi, a somewhat major hub of the Osaka Loop Line. I would ride that 3 stops and be at Fukushima station, and my hostel would be just a block away. However, when I got on the train, I noticed it was going the wrong way. Alas, it’s a loop, so I figured I’d just wait it out, and hit my stop when it got around to there. But I didn’t know this train only went half way around, then came back to Kyobashi, before continuing on to Osaka station, which is one stop before Fukushima. However, the train then returns the other way. I got off at Osaka station, as the hostel had directions if you were coming from Osaka staton, and it was only about 10 minutes. I however, proceeded to get lost in Osaka station, and when I finally came out of the station, I just hailed a cab and for another $5, I rode the 3km to Fukushima Station. From there, I followed the instructions, except I walked right past the hostel without seeing it (Doh!) Nonetheless, I arrived at 2:45, and check-in wasn’t until 3pm anyways. I walked up to the 7-11 and grabbed a snack to eat. However, there was no-one in the hostel. I mean the place was barren. My room had all 8 beds checked out, but no one was around. Not having anything to do, I just kinda sat around until around 6, when I went out for some dinner. After some food, I went looking for some night life. The area I am in has a few bars and a few restaurants, but nothing too big, but at the same time, I wasn’t looking for a huge party. I was mostly looking for something that catered to younger people, as most of the bars around were for elder Japanese. I found one called A pocco that had two younger looking waitresses, and a mid 20s something guy at the bar. I didn’t even notice until I sat down that the guy at the bar was actually white–an American from Oregon, who had been teaching in Japan for three years. The bar had a pretty good foreign selection of beer, I ended up trying quite a bit of them, though I stuck with Redstrip mostly. An older couple came in, and I talked to them for a while, and before I knew it, the bar was full. I talked with quite a few of the people there, and was having quite the good time. Sebastian, the other American left to go to another bar, but came back shortly there after. As the bar was quieting down as people left, Kim, a friend of Sebastian–who is a regular there, came in. The name is deceiving, as she was Japanese as well. We all had been drinking pretty substantially, when a pocco hit closing time. Two other friends of the bartenders came in, and we all waited for them to close up the bar, then we headed right across the street to a bar caled “Bar Noisy +plus” Sebastian, Kim and I had a drink or two at the bar, before the rest of the people showed up, then we all headed upstairs to the VIP room. The next 3 hours were full of drunken fun at it’s best. I am so glad everything is working out like this, when I originally planned to come to Japan early, my goals were to visit dive bars, meet locals, and have a good time not being just another tourist. I am so glad its working out that way!