diamondlife

First things first - thank you, everyone who's left me comments while I've been here! ♥ I'm sorry I haven't got back to everyone individually, but it really means a lot that people are reading and thinking of me! You can never be lonely with an internet! :-*

Well, this morning it was raining, so I decided to, um, not do much. So I actually stayed in the hotel till after 2 - there was some kind of traditional theatre performance on TV, so I watched that, and then Hina's show was on so I watched that too. ^^' It wasn't very exciting, lol, but it made me want to eat okonomiyaki. So I went down to the southern part of Osaka and Amemura, where there are loads of boutiques and cool-looking shops - I've loved wandering round Osaka. ♥ It was cool to just stroll around the vintage shops and think "I bet Subaru and Yasu bought stuff here!". XD It's weird, there weren't many people around at all - they were all on the main couple of shopping arcades, which were absolutely rammed! I was desperately hunting for food, but the food places and the shops aren't really in the same places. ^^' And a lot of stuff was shut at 3pm on a Saturday. (...It is Saturday today, right? ^^;;) In the end I bought takoyaki, but it was a bit too tentacular for me. ^^' Plus it seemed kind of... runnier than I expected. o.O I ended up not eating much of it, so to compensate for my frustration I decided to go back to the Daimaru department store and treat myself to a cake set. :9 That was delicious - nice blackcurrant-y mousse and a lovely cup of tea. Japanese department stores are just wonderful - the food departments are just amazing! *_*_*_*_* I did actually see mangoes that cost 15000yen, too (that's about £75 O.O). That better be made of solid gold! XD

By the time I'd had my tea and cake, it was after 6, but I didn't want to come back north and then have to go out again, so I lurked in a bookshop (reading Oricon Style - I only didn't buy it cos I already have a hundred magazines XD) and wandered more till it was eatin' time. I eventually went to a place in Namba walk, the underground approach to the station, and to be honest my teriyaki bentou was disappointing, so today's food overall failed due to entirely different reasons to last week! ^^;; Oh well. I was in the mood to drink, so I decided to come back to a nice-looking jazz club I'd seen near the hotel. So I did. And it was lovely! The mama (who sang) also spoke English, so I had a little chat with her, and the wine was surprisingly good. :9 Stayed there a couple of hourse and did some work on my jexchange! (It doesn't make any sense, but blargh, better to at least make a start, right?) The price at the jazz place was suspiciously high, even taking into account cover charge for the music, but never mind - it's the most I've spent since I've been here, and it was fun, so I don't mind!

Oh! One last thing, I went in a knock-off JE shop down by the river! XD The Idol Box. :D Didn't buy anything, but they had a load of photos (including paparazzi shots, though no juicy ones XD) and pencil boards and posters and stuff. Not at all expensive! I also nearly bought Yorokobi no Uta, because every time I hear it I feel a certain affection. ♥ I want a theme song for Japan! XD ...Well, I have K8's whole album, lol, but I already had that. ^_~

Other observations from today:
- oh my lord, Japanese people walk soooo slowly!
- but then maybe they're tired, cos there are no seats in the shopping centres. o.o
- those tan guys with big, lightened hair really don't look as cool as they think they do. ^^;;
- the milk here is milkier. And the juice is juicier. :9

Tomorrow, I'm off to Hiroshima~!

[Edit] Oh yeah, and I found out something the other day - carshrimp kurumaebi means scampi. XD I didn't know that! Also, Samurai Blues = Japanese national football team. Of course~!

...Can I take a moment to flail about how awesome Osaka is? I've only been here 3 and a half hours and it already knocks Tokyo into a cocked hat. Or possibly kicks it in the crotch, I don't know. I knew it was going to be good the moment I got off the train in Shin-Osaka station, because there was - joy of joys! - a lift. Tokyo station has no such thing. (I shall curse Otemachi station for a long time. Especially tomorrow when I can't move my right arm above shoulder-height. -_-)

Haha, I've already spent so much money. XD XD XD I bought another shitload of magazines (I'm gonna have to ship these home, my case weight a ton XD) and - OF COURSE!!! - K8's new album. Which I am currently listening to, in a Japanese-style room in Osaka, after eating sushi. I am the coolest person in the world right now. XD

I also drank beer for the first time in what feels like a looooong time. XD It was goooooood. :9 And the sushi people were so nice! When I went in at first it was empty, so I had a little conversation with him. I spent a while just wandering round - I didn't want to come back! Oh! And I found Mandarake too! I found BL manga, but not doujinshi, so I guess I should go back when I'm sober. ^^' I went past a brilliant-looking cake shop too, but I thought "No, I'll eat real food first" and I couldn't find it again. ;_; Oh well, maybe tomorrow~! Osaka seems like a cool place for just hanging out - I hope it's as good in the light of day. ^^'

Hooray! Hooray for everything! :D :D :D Aww, and this song is making me grin like a maniac, just remembering. ^_~

[Edit] Live version of Stereo is better, Ryo. :3 CD version of Ryuwa is just as damn amazing, though. More thoughts to follow, I'm sure. :D