A lot has been going on in the last few days!!!
On Monday we swapped shifts and worked an early so that we could go and see the Charlatans in concert in the evening. Concerts in Japan are really expensive - usually between 6000 yen and 6500 yen. Because of this, I had to choose one band form the 3 or 4 that I would have liked to have seen this month, and the Charlatans won the toss!
We arrived at the venue (myself, James and our friend Stephen) and we a little shocked to find that the IMP Hall looked more like the setting for a classical concert or a film than a rock concert. It was seated, and though we could stnd up during the concert, there was no going down the front to boogie, unfortunately! We were a bit dismayed to have paid nearly 40 gbp each for a ticket to sit down, however once the concert started, we didn't regret a thing as it was amazing!!!! They are an incredible band live, and gave us a great range of songs - the old as well as the new. I also got a setlist from a sound guy, and almost got backstage, but didn't in the end, as the band wanted to eat dinner instead of meet us!!! My camera was confiscated at the door, but of course, my wonderful mobile phone was on hand to take the pictures here, not particularly high quality, but proof that we were there!
After the gig, we went for some food at "Royal Host", a Japanese family restaurant". Family restaurants are open 24 hours or at least until very late,�@and sell a variety of Western and Japanese foods. the meal I chose, "omu-rice", was typical of Western food adapted to suit Japanese tastes. The dish consists of ketchup flavoured rice wrapped in an omelette, and this particular version had a German meat sauce on top of it!
We then went to check the internet to see if we had been successful in our application to buy World Cup tickets. (We weren't, but we have re-applied!) As our usual net cafe is not open 24 hours, and we needed to be online at midnight to discover the results of the draw, we had to find a new net cafe to join. the one that we found has leather sofas, massage seats, and private booths for either one or two people - very swish!!! As we were so late checking the internet, we missed our last train and had to walk home - but at least we discovered that we live a little nearer to the city than we had thought, and that we can walk home from work in an hour!
On Wednesday we decided that we were desperate to get out of the city and away from all the concrete and neon, so we hired a car and decided to see where the drive would take us!!! We drove up into the mountains, and around the onsen towns of Minou and Arima, seeing some gorgeous scenery along the way, and also encountering wild monkeys running across the road at several points up one mountain! We then drove into central Kobe and back to Osaka. We had a great day out, although it would have been even better if it hadn't been for the motorway tolls!!! It was the first time I had driven abroad, and although the Japanese drive on the same side of the road as the Brits, it can be quite confusing having the road markings in kanji,�@and the traffic lights way above your head! I had also never driven an automatic or a car with power steering before, so I was quite proud of myself really!
I started this by saying that a lot had been happening, but as it has taken me so long to get this written, I can't remember if there was anything else I was going to say! So I'll finish here, and get on with the rest of the site.
Nic.