Okayama

Thursday, June 02, 2005
[Begin: Okayama version]
あぁ、やった！長い間ウェッブに入らなかったなぁ￣。
Yeah! Finally, I`m back to the cyber world. (fuufuu ii nagara)
I`m now in Okayama. People here are really nice to me, esp. Yamada-san and Prof. Saito. Haven`t got to meet the students and colleagues though, and really free right now because Saito-sensei is giving lecture out of town. つまり, work doesn`t start till monday.


[Flash back: Osaka May 29th]
Actually I`ve been in Japan since Sunday 29th. I stayed with Piak and Note, that was so much fun. Osaka is so crowded and modern, once I got into the limousine bus from KIX, I saw the industrial\port sprawl for hours all the way to Umeda which is the northen (as opposed to the southern, to be accurate) center of the city. So many high-rises (not as high as NYC, I guess) but still many many  layers of subways and expressways, and flashy buildings, enormous screen. Piak`s house is in Onohara on the north brink of the city, pretty much beyond the last terminal Kita-senri or Senri-chuo line. (need norikae to bus or 20 mins. walk). The neighborhood is really nice though. (never think of Japanese suburb as spacious and characterless, no way) It`s more serene and cozy, closely packed, semi-traditional style home-like houses =-)

[flash back 2: Osaka 2nd day]
Zannen da naa...I came when Piak was busy, so I went downtown to Nanba (southern center of Osaka) by myself around 9.30 (actually that was really fun, getting around on my own and practice Japanese).  [the bus and subway is sooooo expensive though 4$]. Walking out of Nanba station, I saw a huge  gate and pedestrian way, (again) flashed with neon lights and colors, only to realized later in an hour, these kind of shopping streets almost have no ends in sight. Another surprise is, there were so many people--the young and the salarymen in suits, and even the older office workers--waiting in lines in Namba. They were simply waiting to get into pachinko (slot machine) when they are open. And there were soooo many of these pachinko, almost everywhere in Japan.
Hey, I took so many pictures in my digicam actually but I forgot to bring the transfer cord...couldn`t upload, or even find a new fittable cord in Yodobashi or Nihombashi But now I have a new


[more flashback : May 31st* Kyoto with Por]

[June 1st]
1. challenge--bought a new digicam at yodobashi on my own
2. missed Sukesada-san at Shin-Osaka station

[June 2nd]
1. meet my advisors
2. another びっくりしたこと with Okayama city (is this what you call 田舎(rural)?)

Plus, more photos to c