Back from Osaka...
Jan. 24th, 2011 09:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pyroyaleSo, I spent the weekend in Osaka.
It didn’t start off in the most successful of ways as I managed to turn off my alarm clock without waking (a neat trick of mine and the reason why I usually set 3 alarms. When I’m asleep, I’m asleep) and overslept by an hour. After a short delay, me![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
aprilisloca and a friend were on the 8:30am bus to Osaka.
aprilisloca was going to a concert in Kobe, so it was just me and the friend who stayed in Osaka. We dumped our bags in Osaka station and headed for the theatre for the matinee showing of Mozart! The Musical. After laughing at the theatre’s upcoming attractions (a musical version of Wuthering Heights in Japanese? I WANT TO GO) we went into the venue and found that our cheap seats had us practically sitting in the roof. Never mind.
The musical was insane. It’s an adaptation of a Western musical so I can’t blame the Japanese for this one, although seeing Japanese actors in 18th century costumes that were typical of European aristocracy was amusing. Adult Mozart showed that he was a rebel by wearing Converse, jeans and a tank top.
Adult!Mozart is a rock star composer – he flirts with the ladies, falls in love and rebels against his father at every chance he gets. His demanding genius is symbolised by Chibi!Mozart – a child actor dressed in typical Mozart clothing who follows him around the stage, scribbling furiously in his composing book and can only be seen by Adult!Mozart. Chibi!Mozart never speaks and just watches Adult!Mozart disapprovingly and storms around the stage after him. It’s cute, but crazy.
Adult!Mozart becomes more and more involved in his personal problems and it drives Chibi!Mozart, his inner genius and talent, crazy. Chibi!Mozart gets demanding and begins to physically pull Adult!Mozart away from women and conversations. In the scene immediately before the interval, Chibi!Mozart fills his composing quill full of ink… by stabbing Adult!Mozart in the arms and writing in his blood.
Whut?
After the interval it gets crazier. Adult!Mozart gets tricked into marriage, his father disapproves of him and he’s in utter despair as Chibi!Mozart starts attacking him and at one point, strangles him until he’s unconscious, Adult!Mozart has finally had enough of it all and welcomes Chibi!Mozart when he stabs him in the heart with his quill and kills him.
Yes. Adult!Mozart was killed by Chibi!Mozart and his composing quill.
I don’t even know what to say. It was insane.
The actor playing Adult!Mozart was really pretty though XD
My friend and I went our separate ways for a few hours after eating as she went to see the Prince of Tennis musical and I went shopping. I did go to h.NAOTO but I didn’t buy anything. I’m on a budget so I’d told myself that unless I saw something that I absolutely fell in crazy love with and OMG HAD TO HAVE, that I wouldn’t buy anything and although I saw a couple of skirts I really liked and could see myself in, there wasn’t that mad love.
After more food, my friend and I went to our super cheap, 1,500yen a night hostel.
NEVER AGAIN. NEVER, EVER, EVER AGAIN.
It looked like something out of an American serial killer movie. I was expecting to see a crazed knifeman stalking down the halls whenever I opened the hotel room door. There were two single beds, pushed together because there was no room for them to be separate, one rusty sink in the corner (cold tap only) and a closet that smelt like it had possibly housed dead people.
Okay, the bed was reasonably comfortable (we both checked for stains before getting in though), the room was warm (eventually) and it was all clean (or, as clean as a room can get when it looks like it hasn’t been decorated since the Meiji era) so I guess I shouldn’t complain. Especially for 1,500yen. We did get what we paid for.
The traumatic night was over and we checked out (and by checked out, I mean ran out SCREAMING). We walked to Tennoniji and stopped off for breakfast on the way. My friend’s day of fail began when the ham and eggs on her toast fell off…. and landed in her coffee cup. Ha! Revenge for picking that damn hotel.
Shitennoniji was lovely. Unlike a lot of shrine and temple areas in Japan, it actually looked and smelt like one that was in use and not just one for the tourists to take pretty pictures of.
Then it was off to our next stop. According to the street maps, it was only two blocks away from the station. Forty-five minutes of walking later, and we hadn’t found it. The only thing keeping my spirits up was the prettiness of the Wonda Coffee vending machines that were scattered throughout the streets. Of course, we’d gone the wrong way so what should have been a twenty minute stop off, turned into over an hour.
We found it though!
We caught the train back to Osaka station and then caught the train to Hikone, in Shiga Prefecture (that’s another prefecture ticked off the list. I want to try and get the full set before I leave). The train was one of those wonderful Japanese routes that branches off and decides to go in two different directions just after Kyoto station (we should have just gone to Kyoto!). Of course, we caught the train that branched off into the direction that we DIDN’T want. We backtracked and caught the correct train and finally made it to Hikone.
We didn’t have as much time in Hikone as we wanted (I wonder why?!) so we headed straight for the castle. Like most castles, it’s unfortunately not original and has been rebuilt after it was destroyed. It’s pretty though, like most Japanese castles are. It was also one of those places that reminds you that Japan is so different to the rest of the world because there is no way that castle would pass health and safety regulations anywhere else in the world.
You have to take your shoes off to protect the floor and are given slippers (emphasis on slip). Walking around the castle wasn’t that bad, but it was a four storey castle meaning there were stairs to climb. And by stairs, I mean these near vertical steps that are two degrees away from being a stepladder. You know it’s a bad sign when every flight of stairs has a staff member both at the bottom and the top and their sole purpose is to tell you to take care and take it slowly.
We got back to Osaka and caught the 6:30pm bus back. I think I slept for half of the journey and then had a real struggle to keep my eyes open and alert. I stopped off at a 7-11 on the drive back and swapped my contact lenses for my glasses it was that bad :-/
I made it back safely though – not as poor as I had dreaded and in one piece.
My legs are killing me today though. Whenever I sit down for more than 5 minutes the muscles in my thighs seize up. Next time I do a full day of walking, I’m demanding regular Starbucks’ breaks!
It didn’t start off in the most successful of ways as I managed to turn off my alarm clock without waking (a neat trick of mine and the reason why I usually set 3 alarms. When I’m asleep, I’m asleep) and overslept by an hour. After a short delay, me
aprilisloca and a friend were on the 8:30am bus to Osaka.aprilisloca was going to a concert in Kobe, so it was just me and the friend who stayed in Osaka. We dumped our bags in Osaka station and headed for the theatre for the matinee showing of Mozart! The Musical. After laughing at the theatre’s upcoming attractions (a musical version of Wuthering Heights in Japanese? I WANT TO GO) we went into the venue and found that our cheap seats had us practically sitting in the roof. Never mind.The musical was insane. It’s an adaptation of a Western musical so I can’t blame the Japanese for this one, although seeing Japanese actors in 18th century costumes that were typical of European aristocracy was amusing. Adult Mozart showed that he was a rebel by wearing Converse, jeans and a tank top.
Adult!Mozart is a rock star composer – he flirts with the ladies, falls in love and rebels against his father at every chance he gets. His demanding genius is symbolised by Chibi!Mozart – a child actor dressed in typical Mozart clothing who follows him around the stage, scribbling furiously in his composing book and can only be seen by Adult!Mozart. Chibi!Mozart never speaks and just watches Adult!Mozart disapprovingly and storms around the stage after him. It’s cute, but crazy.
Adult!Mozart becomes more and more involved in his personal problems and it drives Chibi!Mozart, his inner genius and talent, crazy. Chibi!Mozart gets demanding and begins to physically pull Adult!Mozart away from women and conversations. In the scene immediately before the interval, Chibi!Mozart fills his composing quill full of ink… by stabbing Adult!Mozart in the arms and writing in his blood.
Whut?
After the interval it gets crazier. Adult!Mozart gets tricked into marriage, his father disapproves of him and he’s in utter despair as Chibi!Mozart starts attacking him and at one point, strangles him until he’s unconscious, Adult!Mozart has finally had enough of it all and welcomes Chibi!Mozart when he stabs him in the heart with his quill and kills him.
Yes. Adult!Mozart was killed by Chibi!Mozart and his composing quill.
I don’t even know what to say. It was insane.
The actor playing Adult!Mozart was really pretty though XD
My friend and I went our separate ways for a few hours after eating as she went to see the Prince of Tennis musical and I went shopping. I did go to h.NAOTO but I didn’t buy anything. I’m on a budget so I’d told myself that unless I saw something that I absolutely fell in crazy love with and OMG HAD TO HAVE, that I wouldn’t buy anything and although I saw a couple of skirts I really liked and could see myself in, there wasn’t that mad love.
After more food, my friend and I went to our super cheap, 1,500yen a night hostel.
NEVER AGAIN. NEVER, EVER, EVER AGAIN.
It looked like something out of an American serial killer movie. I was expecting to see a crazed knifeman stalking down the halls whenever I opened the hotel room door. There were two single beds, pushed together because there was no room for them to be separate, one rusty sink in the corner (cold tap only) and a closet that smelt like it had possibly housed dead people.
Okay, the bed was reasonably comfortable (we both checked for stains before getting in though), the room was warm (eventually) and it was all clean (or, as clean as a room can get when it looks like it hasn’t been decorated since the Meiji era) so I guess I shouldn’t complain. Especially for 1,500yen. We did get what we paid for.
The traumatic night was over and we checked out (and by checked out, I mean ran out SCREAMING). We walked to Tennoniji and stopped off for breakfast on the way. My friend’s day of fail began when the ham and eggs on her toast fell off…. and landed in her coffee cup. Ha! Revenge for picking that damn hotel.
Shitennoniji was lovely. Unlike a lot of shrine and temple areas in Japan, it actually looked and smelt like one that was in use and not just one for the tourists to take pretty pictures of.
Then it was off to our next stop. According to the street maps, it was only two blocks away from the station. Forty-five minutes of walking later, and we hadn’t found it. The only thing keeping my spirits up was the prettiness of the Wonda Coffee vending machines that were scattered throughout the streets. Of course, we’d gone the wrong way so what should have been a twenty minute stop off, turned into over an hour.
We found it though!
We caught the train back to Osaka station and then caught the train to Hikone, in Shiga Prefecture (that’s another prefecture ticked off the list. I want to try and get the full set before I leave). The train was one of those wonderful Japanese routes that branches off and decides to go in two different directions just after Kyoto station (we should have just gone to Kyoto!). Of course, we caught the train that branched off into the direction that we DIDN’T want. We backtracked and caught the correct train and finally made it to Hikone.
We didn’t have as much time in Hikone as we wanted (I wonder why?!) so we headed straight for the castle. Like most castles, it’s unfortunately not original and has been rebuilt after it was destroyed. It’s pretty though, like most Japanese castles are. It was also one of those places that reminds you that Japan is so different to the rest of the world because there is no way that castle would pass health and safety regulations anywhere else in the world.
You have to take your shoes off to protect the floor and are given slippers (emphasis on slip). Walking around the castle wasn’t that bad, but it was a four storey castle meaning there were stairs to climb. And by stairs, I mean these near vertical steps that are two degrees away from being a stepladder. You know it’s a bad sign when every flight of stairs has a staff member both at the bottom and the top and their sole purpose is to tell you to take care and take it slowly.
We got back to Osaka and caught the 6:30pm bus back. I think I slept for half of the journey and then had a real struggle to keep my eyes open and alert. I stopped off at a 7-11 on the drive back and swapped my contact lenses for my glasses it was that bad :-/
I made it back safely though – not as poor as I had dreaded and in one piece.
My legs are killing me today though. Whenever I sit down for more than 5 minutes the muscles in my thighs seize up. Next time I do a full day of walking, I’m demanding regular Starbucks’ breaks!
