Sunabe the G.I playground

I never expected the military presence in Okinawa. Despite the many resons and historical obviousness of it all I had kind of forgotten this part of Japanese life and culture. I guess it's due to my mind obsessing with the usual things; food, diving, food and maybe surfing here.

The Sunnabe area has a sizable chunk of ocean and along it a little gathering of bars. Frequented mostly by Americans military, Japanese and some randoms it's almost like a bar area state side. Specially when close to the ocean front or the sea wall as they call it here. Due to the Japanese fear or caution of tsunamis the prime real estate next to the ocean isn't that expensive and many foreigners have their spots here.

Things to do here. Include dining, surfing, diving and bars.
To dive one just needs to get some gear and head out on a shore dive. Do mind the reef getting out though. The diving itself is pleasant but not too exciting. To do some better diving head further away from  this popular beginner dive area. The Japanese like to touch the reef and combined with all the activity the corals aren't in very good condition.
The absolutely cheapest way of getting gear is renting it through the military that way full gear will probably land you on less than 30 bucks. Which is way cheaper than the dive shops around.

For food there are a bunch of options. In all honesty just try what ever place you see and it will most likely be absolutely delicious. Naturally, just like everywhere else in Japan there are a Lawson and a Family Mart in addition the usual range of Isakayas.

Bars, Well here is a list of the ones I've tried.

• Next door

• bounty
• coconuts

Located on the second floor it has a pool table and food can be ordered from

the pizzeria upstairs till 10pm

• hard reef

• plan c
• key largo

The late night bar where everyone gathers when the others bars close. 

Open till 05am. It's small so it will seem full when about ten people is there.

• oh yeah
• oh yeah plus
• infinity
• back drop

A few things to do in Osaka

There are so many fun things to do in Japan and Osaka that it's realy hard to choose a few to do. None the less I've decided to write down a few of the things I really like about the place (almost inexchangele with a few things I like to eat here).

• Getting a cheap bento or onigiri in the morning.

Even such a simple thing like this quite interesting. Coming from a culture where we don't really have premade lunch boxes this style it's a bit exotic and quite well tasting too. The Onigiri is a riceball or rice pack in any small shape really. Having the strong desire to individually wrap everything and eating fresh food, the onigiri wrapping is quite ingenious

• Getting a Japanese Ice Cream

There are many to chose from and maybe one o the most delicious are the mochi ice creams. But don't miss out on the rest of the selection available at all kinds of places like mini marts. A classic for me has always been the "Jumbo"

• Engaging in a cool Kaiten Sushi (conveyor belt sushi)

These places are all over Japan and come in all kinds of sizes and price ranges. Well they tend to be on the cheaper end of the scale. I've visited quite a few places during my time in Osaka. The chepest place serving for about 100yen or maybe even 80yen per plate. Remember that one plate holds two pieces of sushi unless it's a special one of some kind. Specials can reach up to almost 1000 yen for a place depending on what you choose. For me kaiten holds more than just the food. It's packed wioth great memories of great times and meeting cool people.

In fact last time I popped in to a place in the middle of Namba I sat next to this old couple. It's the obachans and ojiichans that have the time to engage in conversations with random strangers more often than not and they are always suprised (happily so) when encountering someone knowing more than a few words of Japanese. In fact my meal ended with me being treated to my entiere meal and forced to try some of the more rare and expensive fish since I just had to try em out. One of the fun this that makes this place in the middle of Namba special is the Jan Ken Poi (rock paper scissors) played against one of the bar staff. You play 3 times and if you win all 3 you're rewarded with a good treat of sushi for free. It's also free to play so when they encourage you to stand up and play. Do it!

• Go splurge in a Hyaku Yen (100 yen) store

These store can be encountered all over japan and sell the strangest things. Sometimes one can find real finds here. More than not it's filled with Chinese made Japanese copies of things but sometimes there's some really interesting stuff.

That's it for now. There are so much more to do in Osaka but then again. I have to have something to show you in my next Osaka post.

A trip down memory lane, Osaka

Most of us has good memories and times to adventure to look back on. For many of us collage would be one of those times. For me attending college in Japan was filled win good and sometimes strange memories. It was a great time that I've often looked back upon and enjoyed.
Coming back to Osaka truly hit my with some heavy duty nostalgia. The food, the friends, the places and adventures. なつかしい!

As so happens my good friend Rick joined me on this walk down memory lane as we relived the Osaka spirit. A place we had many a ramen, gyoza and beer was Kai ramen. Located only a block away from or old student dorm with the friendliest ramen master who knew almost no English is was our no1 old hangout. Boasting  highly irregular but customer friendly opening hours of until late or last costumer one could always go there for the 4am drink.

Since we left Kai ramen relocated and expanded. It's still not much bigger than a hole in the wall place and both the ramen and gyoza still tastes great. Viseting we all naturally went for the Taiwan ramen. Despite still being full In pretty much took a breath of ramen and exhaled delight. Think I finished my Ramen in not much more than 11 seconds according to Rick.

Prior to Our contingency of Handai (Osaka University) students invading the Kandai uni area and it's much more conveniently located bar streets there whern't any Osaka uni student's going there. Now many years later they still do the pilgrimage to Wood Village and the bar area. Filled with cheap and not so cheap bars it's a natural hang out for the Kandai Students (Kansai Dai Gaku or Kansai University). Sadly Osaka University which is a way higher rated school has nothing of the kind.

The old owner is still around but naturally most of the bar tenders aren't around any more. Grabbing a few classics like violet fizz while also mixing it up with a few new ones like the ハルク (Hulk) it was very remenicent of the old days. I remember the drunken bicycle rides home in the rain. And the funniest crashes some people had. Wierdly enough my 2 crashes in Japan where while very very sober haha.

Oh well. A night of nostalgia ends but next time I go to Osaka I'm meeting up with another OUSSEP buddy Patrik. I'm excited to see what new adventures Osaka has in store for me.

Woody got Wood

Wanted to try out hitchhiking from Toyo to Osaka but as I really didn't know where to start I ended up looking at a map to figure out what higway I should head for. Needing to be there the next day to meet up with old friends fom the Handai times I opted for a nightbuss. The nightbuss if a budget alternative in Japan and will cost you somewhere from 7-10K yen depending on when you go and what company you go with. I remember sometimes getting 6k yen ticket at the travel agency on Osaka campus 4 years ago. Considering you will save one night of housing which will cost a minuímum of 4k if you stay somewhere else than a capsule hotel or sleep in a manga kafe. The shinkansen (bullet train) that will take you there in a matter of hours will put a dent in your wallet of circa 20k + 1 night of cousing. The uber cheap and super hippe way I guess would be hitchhiking and couch surfing for a price of 0 + 0 yen if you have the resolve to do it. But let me warn you. Communications are an illusion for those of you who rely on wifi. What you really want is a Japanese phone to get in touch with people or someone to led you a 3G modem. A 3G moden to rest from softbak is avialable at 1.5k+ yen a day and is hardly an economical option. Stupid me thinking that I might not need to bring my old japanese phone.

Well in Osaka there is abunch of cool things to do. Like eat for example. Osaka is by many considered the gastronomical capital of Japan and is definetly the center for both Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki. That would be a Japanese style cabbage omelet and the second fried squid in ball shapes. There is a danger here though that most people having eaten takoyaki have experienced. It's hot! Hot, hot hot. Not in spicy terms but in heat. I and almost everyone I know always burn their tough and gums when not having eaten it in a while.

For a flora of options head down to shinsaibashi or namba station and head for dotonburi and the ebisu area. Along the river one can find as many stands as one could wich for. While there don't forget to grab a shot of the very famous glico man as well. Like mentioned before

Japan is a universe of it's own. Machines rule at times and the pervertedness repressed by the asian culture of face has given Japan it's unique qualities. One example are these wending machines selling little dolls. Check out the progress of topic.

But something that we laught at so many times was the fusion of east and west. One could go on and on about it in a range of areas like fashion, culture and economics. But more fun is just showing you this picture.

Chiba the Shadowland of Black Medicne

In Japan, sleep deprived and exhausted I needed to set things right. Remembering this "In Japan, he'd known with a clenched and absolute certainty, he'd find his cure. In Chiba. Either in a registered clinic or in the shadowland of black medicine. Synonymous with implants, nerve-splicing, and microbionics, Chiba was a magnet for the Sprawl's techno-criminal subcultures..." I set my path towards Chiba.

Though modern day Chiba is strangely riddled with love hotels and morally unprude little shops blasted in in a dense semi suburbia my vice of choice was Lemon CC. Lemon CC is a drink mainly sold in Japan and is basically a vitamin C bombarded lime sofa of sorts. I haven't had one of these for about five years now and sipping on it as Iw alked down the street it really hit me. I'm in Japan again. Japan the land of inverse rules. Where things randomly makes so much sense and at the same time not at all.
Every time I come here I'm alawys plesently suprised by the politness of people and also not so plesently suprised with high prices of transportation.
One of these interesting things is that despite having an incredible internet and mobile internet penetration Wi-fi was easier to find in Africa and in remote parts of Indonesia. I do have to admit that if any country would be the first to be taken over by robots and zombies of zenchnology it would be japan.

In fact I think it's pretty munch self explanatory once one has checked out the rice cooker/transformer/robotic wife..

But back to the fixed of reality and less of the cyberpunk universe of the apocalypse which turned out a bit diferently that expected. But not that differently (Fukushima..)

Hello Food!

I'd like to say hi to along missed friend of mine called ramen setto! for a mere 680 yen dug on three plates of food or rather two bowls and a platter. This being a bowl of Ramen, a bowl of rice and a platter of gyoza. Although my home town of Stockholm boast with a godzilllion sushi restaurants it's desperately lacking on the other Japanese departments. So Yay for food.

For balance I'd like to share my experience with a Calpis Kiwi cocktail that was surprisingly good. Not being a big fan of calpis which in Swedish sounds way to similar to veal piss I was not expecting anything remarkable. At lest not in the good direction. I was happily surprised. The kiwi made all the difference and the coctail was remarkably fresh although not much of the white rum was coming out in the drink.

Land of the Rising Sun

Ok I'm off to Japan and Tokyo. I know I haven't written anything in a while and that's because I've been emerging myself in the ordinary life back in Sweden. At least if the ordinary life it doing lots of random chores like building things, cleaning things, moving things, chopping things up and selling used stuff.
Somehow I managed to refill some of the empty purse and so, I'm setting sail for Japan.

I have 30 Days or so and this it my quite flexible plan for it.

My Itinerary will look something like this.
Land in Tokyo. Spend a few days there.
Head over to Osaka for the first weekend. Possibly by hitchhiking. Never really done that before so why not.
In Osaka hang out with Rick Garza and the Ballenties (Old friends from when I lived in Japan, long long ago). Also do wood Village like in the old days =D
Catch a flight on Monday 7 for Okinawa to see what the Japanese beach life is worth. Naturally I'll spend way too much coin on doing some diving here, ouch.
Ferry to Kagoshima somewhere around the 14th or so. Will then travel randomly east until I hit Tokyo again. This should happen either around the 23rd or around the 28th of November.
Guess that's it.

So things I want to do.

• Onsen
• Climb Mt.Fuji
• The Ramen Museum in Osaka
• Eat lots of Japanese food
• Dive Yonaguni, the Okinawan underwater pyramids
• Dive more
• Eat more Japanese food.
• Take some Pictures
• Meet some cool people
• Eat some delicious food
• Buy some souvenirs (most likely all Japanese chefs knives)
• Get me a pair of Japanese builders trousers

Ok see you in Japan