i didn't want to get up at 6am this morning but i had to in order for all of us to shower again. i went downstairs and the private shower was already in use. damn, not early enough! a lady left the public bath and thanked the manager. then he came over to me and let me use the public bath by myself, wow. i feel really awkward around the staff since our check-in incident. i don't know if he's trying to be nice because of it or what. i didn't want to get in the tub by myself but there's a shower head so i took a shower and i didn't have to pump the handle every 30 seconds either! after i was done, i saw twiddle thumbs in line for the private shower. i told her she could probably do what i did too but she didn't want to. i went upstairs to pack up and was ready before the sisters so i went back downstairs to use the internet. we had breakfast and my mom stayed behind in the lobby to watch our things as i took the sisters on a quick trip to see osaka castle.

festival gate amusement park (closed), as seen from the train station

we used our rail passes to take the loop line. i picked the wrong way on the loop. well, it's a loop so eventually you get to your destination but i picked the longer way. that's ok because now we can saw we've ridden the entire osaka loop. we exited from the station and walked towards osaka castle park, passing by many women holding signs for i don't know what and seeing a small camp of homeless people. we passed osaka-jo hall, which is a concert venue, and i saw the crowd and realized those ladies by the station were holding signs up to buy concert tickets for tonight's show. damn, they're here buttfuck early for the concert. we walked onwards to osaka-jo ("jo" means "castle").

osaka-jo castle

i wanted the sisters to see osaka castle because what we have seen so far does not really represent what japanese castles are like. i think of tall, white structures and that is exactly what osaka-jo is. along the way we saw a monk begging for alms. i saw one at nara park actually as well but otherwise i have never seen monks begging for alms in japan. i guess we just don't have such things in okinawa. then again, these monks are at the tourist areas. maybe those are the only places they go these days. then we started to pass by a couple of young guys and one of them tried to ask me to take a photo of them with his camera phone with hand motions or bad english. of course i started speaking japanese and all they could do was laugh. i think they were so blown away that i knew japanese. i asked if this is the right button and if they wanted portrait or landscape. just standard questions but they were laughing their asses off. seriously guys, it's not that funny or not that surprising. do i have to bust out my passport?

do i look japanese now motherfuckers?

we decided not to go inside the castle as it was a little too expensive and we don't have that much time. there was like a farmer's market going on in front of the castle so we bought some apples and manju to munch on. there was one of those boards with heads cut out so you could insert your face and take a picture. there was a group of italian tourists and one lady was hilarious as she put her head in and imitated japanese. then we took some pictures and browsed the souvenir shop before heading back to the train station to take the loop, get my mom and our luggage, and take the loop once more to osaka station. there we had to transfer trains to get to shin-osaka station and finally change again to the shinkansen (bullet train). we rode the 1:19pm train. we took a lot more time than i thought! that was the last train i had planned on taking in order for us to make our flight when i drafted our trip's itinerary. we did buy a box lunch at the train station before we boarded the bullet train because there isn't much choice on the bullet train. someone walks by with a snack cart and it really isn't vegan-friendly at all. but we did buy snacks again. those damn japanese chocolates! actually, we had some nice lightly salted pringles potato chips on both bullet train rides. i listened to the creatures's album "hai!" on the train since it was recorded in japan. it helped to set the mood a bit.

the real mount fuji

on the bullet train back to tokyo, i noticed we stopped at nagoya and shizuoka. aha, so that's where they are. i really don't know japanese geography other than the basics. i'd fail a test if i had to label all of the prefectures. we also finally saw mt. fuji! it was such a nice, clear day, though very windy while we were at osaka castle. there was hardly any snow on top of mt. fuji and it was sadly disappointing to see so little snow. perhaps that's how it always looks at this time of year or it's a part of global warming, i just don't know. we did get to see mount taranaki in new zealand, which was used a mt. fuji in the film "the last samurai". the day we saw it, it was nicely covered with snow the way i imagine mt. fuji to be. again, one day i'll have to come back and really see japan. this is the intro to japan trip for the sisters.

instead of riding the bullet train all the way to the heart of tokyo, all of us got off at shinagawa and parted ways. you see, my mother's flight to okinawa isn't until tomorrow. the rest of us fly today. my mom had been trying her best to get a ticket on the same day as us, she was even going to try to get on as stand-by. since meeting her kangen water friend while we were in tokyo, she has changed her plans. her friend lives close to the airport we are going to, haneda, and offered my mom to stay with her tonight. we have to take different trains to get to our destinations in hanedad. she must've took some local train while the sisters and i took the monorail to haneda airport.

arrival in okinawa

we ate dinner at the airport, i took some cash out at the atm, we sent the postcards too, and still had time to spare! the plane was supposed to leave at 7:35pm but left about 8:07pm, then we had about a 10 minute delay in the air to land, and finally arrived at naha airport at 10:24pm. as we got off the plane and walked towards the baggage claim, there was a welcoming party for everyone going to the uchinanchu taikai (festival for okinawans who have moved away from okinawa that is held every 5 years, the reason why we are here!). i'm surprised they were out so late. the staff were not saying the usual welcome of "youkoso" or "mensoure" (welcome in the local dialect) but rather "okaerinasai", which is more like "welcome back home". it is what you say at home when someone comes home. one of the staff members took our picture, thanks! at the baggage claim, i realized that i forgot on the plane my precious buck-tick record that i purchased in shibuya! the staff got it for me, thank you!

we picked up our luggage and were heading out to find a taxi when my cousin johnny came up to me and asked us what took so long. what a relief! we have a ride! we arrived so late that i didn't think any of my relatives would be able to pick us up but here came johnny to save the day, and cab fare! he brought his military friend with him because he didn't know how much luggage we had. it was a comfortable but slightly awkward ride back as neither i nor my cousin talk much. he dropped us off at my grandmother's house and his mother, my aunt keiko, was already there waiting for us. she flew out from georgia to be here for the uchinanchu taikai, he is in the air force and has been stationed in okinawa for years. my aunt will be staying at my grandmother's house too. once my mother gets here, it will be the most of us in okinawa at one time. this will be such an amazing visit to okinawa!

my grandmother's house

my grandmother's house looks so different. it is stripped bare! it took awhile getting used to. i just walked around in awe for awhile. my aunt said she pretty much did the same thing. i know my mom will too tomorrow. my grandmother has been living in an old folks' home for the past few years. my uncle lived in my grandmother's house but he died last year while i was in new zealand. that left the house empty. my cousin, his wife, and their children then moved in. they lived for about 1 year and recently moved out. they really cleaned up the place before moving in! there was such a stink from mold and decay that they ripped it all out. the kitchen is bare. the appliances are gone. all that is left is a sink. then there is a combination of things that i'm not sure if my cousin used or my uncle/aunt put in for us while we stay here: portable gas burner (like for camping), rice cooker, some dishes. the bathroom is so different too. the tub is gone. the sinks are gone. the curtain is gone. is that a new toilet? the floor was redone. a new gas water heater? there is now a switch inside the house! no more going outside to turn on the gas to have hot water for a shower. there is a new door in front of the bathroom too. there is no more mold, no more, stink, no more cockroaches, no more rats, etc. yeah, it wasn't exactly the hyatt. i was nervous about having everyone stay here but i'm glad to see what a great job my cousin did. except, not everyone is pleased with his renovations. [author's comment: my uncle is PISSED! his logic is that his step-son does not own it so he did not have the right to make those changes. you know what dude? it needed it, seriously. everyone else loves it. my mom wants to turn it into a vacation house/coffee shop.]

today's expenses in yen:
¥750 apples (several big ones for all to share)
¥200 manju (shared snack)
¥800 lunch
¥225 snacks
¥400 monorail to airport
¥1526 dinner
plus probably a couple drinks from vending machines throughout the day to hydrate