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Daily Journal
Monday, November 20, 2000 Faster than a speeding bullet-- it's Super Rosen!
 Today was bullet train time-- off to Osaka. The Shinkansen is the train that connects the major cities of Japan. When we arrived on the platform for our train to leave, we noticed ladies dressed in pink standing every 12 feet or so. They were armed with cleaning supplies. As the train pulled into the station and came to a stop, all the pink ladies rushed into the train and started cleaning.  Within five minutes, they had turned the seats around to face the other way, changed every cloth on the headrests, swept the floor, emptied the trash, and anything else they had to do. The efficiency was amazing. The seats were roomy and comfortable. During the ride, train stewardesses walked the aisles selling Shinkansen souvenirs and snacks. I was happy to be out of the city and watch the mountains and fields as we sped by. Arriving in Toyonaka, a suburb of Osaka City, we first visited a
community recreation center. We were in for a treat. Kendo is
Japanese fencing. Naginata is another martial art that uses sticks as
weapons. We also watched Japanese archery. We watched older women
(they looked like retirees) practicing these martial arts. They were
very scary. My friends took video of this and they will give me a
copy to show you when I get home. You will be amazed.
 �  �  Next stop was an ancient Japanese burial ground and then on to a
hundred year old schoolhouse. The school was originally built in the
midst of a bamboo forest, but it is now surrounded by busy city
streets. It is one of the few wooden school buildings left standing
in Japan.
 Another food adventure for dinner. Our fearless five must have all
been very tired that evening because we all left the hotel without
our translation books. Back in Langhorne, I was told that I needed to
eat okonomi-yaki while I was in Osaka-- they were known for this.
So we were off to the okonomi-yaki restaurant. Now up until now,
every time we were given a map with a restaurant on it, it took us 20
minutes to find. You see, most of the restaurants are in buildings on
different floors and finding them is like trying to find the
dentist's office in a medical center. Of course, having a name
written only in kanji letters doesn't help. We tried to match the
Japanese from our map and after asking three people, we found it. One
problem: no food models or photos for us to point to, and no
English speaking employees or customers to help us. After many
attempts to communicate, we started to leave. The owner came after us
and said, "sample". He wanted to give us a sample of their food. So
we went back in. What did we have to lose? He spooned the batter on
the grill and we knew we were in the right place.
  
Okonomi-yaki
is a pancake, but actually it looks more like a giant omelet. He
cooked us one of those things and also noodles (soba) with vegetables
and squid. We all shared. It was delicious. We ordered one more of
each and gobbled that one also. We went to pay, a little nervous
about the cost, and the owner would not accept our money! He said,
"no-- sample!"
He motioned to us that we could pay next time we came back. We told him we would bring others back next time. I don't know if he understood, but we did return the next evening with all twenty of our group! |
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