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Archive for category Osaka

Japan 2009 – Update #5

Oct 5

Posted by Mon-chan in Osaka, Vacation | No Comments

Well, it’s been another 2 months since I last updated so I decided to write another note today. Adam and I have been in Japan for just over 9 months now!! This means that we’ll be home in less than 3 months… o.O I’m so excited but a little bit scared at the same time… things will be very different when we get back…

So what have we been up to since my last note? Well, we saw summer “end” (it’s still pretty warm even though it’s October now)!! I can’t wait until the weather starts to finally cool down though… I’m really looking forward to that! Meanwhile, when we get home, it will be summer again… *sigh*

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Earthquake!

Aug 11

Posted by Rurisu in Osaka | No Comments

I just experienced an earthquake! I heard a short creak in the building, then I felt dizzy for about 20 seconds.There was one yesterday, so I thought maybe this was actually a small quake. I checked online within 1 minute, the quake advisory site updated with info saying one had just occurred! It was 6-lower on the JMA Intensity Scale in the worst hit area. And a 2 in where we are.

JMA Seismic Intensity Scale

6 is described as: Difficult to keep standing. A lot of heavy and unfixed furniture moves and falls. It is impossible to open the door in many cases.

And for us, a 2, as: Felt by most people in the building. Some people awake. Hanging objects such as lamps swing slightly.

And indeed, as I felt dizzy, I noticed the door to the toilet swaying back and forth. Amazing.

The picture below shows the tremor across Japan. We live in the area I’ve marked with a pink circle (not to be mistaken as a level 7), which is filled with blue marks indicating a level 2 was recorded. As you can see, to the east was where the epicenter was, where they felt level 6-.

Earthquake Seismic Chart

Level 3 or 4 would certainly be interesting!

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Japan Update #4 by Mon-chan

Aug 2

Posted by Mon-chan in Osaka, Vacation | No Comments

Well, it’s been two months since I last wrote a diary update… wow! Adam and I have been living in Japan for 7 months now. Time flies when you’re having fun… or so they say… but you know… these last 2 months have felt like a decade to me!! As most of you probably know (because I complain about it a lot!), it’s summer here in Japan now. It’s very hot and sticky… I’m so jealous to hear about the cold, miserable weather in Adelaide… I heard it’s been raining a lot there too! Damnit! I mean… it rains here nearly everyday too… but this type of rain just makes the day more humid… it doesn’t bring relief! It’s so hot here that it feels like you’re in a sauna all day… In the last few weeks, the temperature has been around 32 degrees… but it’s the humidity that is killing us. It’s usually between 70-99%! It’s disgusting! It’s uncomfortable… and our air con never gets a proper chance to rest! I’m not looking forward to our electricity bill next month… that’s for sure!! At times like this, I wish I was living in Tokyo… I hear it’s much cooler there… or better yet… Hokkaido where the temperature is usually below 20 and it’s never humid at all!! I heard this information from my good friend/musuko (=son) Hiroshi. He came back to Japan for the winter holidays to see his family and girlfriend. He was so shocked at the temperature in Osaka when he came to visit me for a few hours before heading back to Adelaide to finish his masters! It was great to catch up with him even though it was only for a few hours (THANKS HIRO)! We had okonomiyaki and yakisoba for lunch… surprisingly… it was my first Japanese meal in ages! Here I am living in Japan… not eating very much Japanese food. Haha. Anyways, next weekend, two other mates from Adelaide, Wilson and Stewart are coming here so I’m looking forward to catching up with them!! Later in the year another friend, Kathryn, will be coming to Japan as well! I’m really looking forward to seeing some friends from Adelaide! WOO!
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Evangelion 2.0

Jun 30

Posted by Rurisu in Anime & Manga, Osaka | No Comments

The new Evangelion movie hit cinema’s Saturday. I ended up going to the Sunday evening showing (being busy on Saturday with work and such). It’s so much better than the first movie in so many ways, can’t wait the 1-2 years needed before the next one hits!

It being in Japanese, I only understood the storyline, and the general flow of conversation from the words I could pick up and my knowledge of the plot. But it was still great fun. I’d gladly pay to go see it again…

They also had a meal deal for the movie, popcorn, drink and Asuka figurine for 1500 yen. All the containers were Eva themed (the popcorn was labeled ‘Calorie Supply System’), so of course I got that.

The cinema has a small goods shop from which you can buy posters/pamplets/random goods for the movies they’re showing. As such I bought a bunch of Evangelion goods. The ones I ended up getting are in the pictures below (as well as a pamplet not shown).

If you’re interested in whats inside the pamplet, click here, someone scanned in their copy.

All up I spent about 6000 yen on goods (~AU$77).

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Universal Studios Japan

May 17

Posted by Rurisu in Meiji, New Year, Osaka, Vacation | 2 Comments

So on this past Friday we went to Universal Studios Japan (USJ). I’ll leave it to Moni to do a write up some time. Meanwhile, here’s a selection of photos for you all.

Here I am with the tour car from Jurassic Park.

One of the ones still intact anyway. Behind the camera is the Welcome Center from Jurassic Park (well in USJ its the ‘Discovery Restaurant’ but its built to look like it).

Hello Kitty in her show ‘Hello Kitty Dream Weddings’. She organizes a wedding between Aiko and Kevin (two random USJ staff members).

More in the gallery to look at below:

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Koshien Baseball Stadium

Apr 19

Posted by Rurisu in Osaka, Photos | No Comments

Bag CheckOn the 16th of April we went to Koshien Stadium to see a baseball game. The game was between the Hanshin Tigers and the Chunichi Dragons. As usual upon arrival at a stadium, they like to take a quick look in any bags you have for any banned items (this includes aluminium cans and glass bottles, only plastic bottles are allowed).

In-fieldFollowing that we found our seats and sat down to enjoy the game after grabbing some drinks/food from the concession stands below the seating area. We didn’t have the best view of the in-field, but it was good enough to see all the action.

At one point the group in front of us, who appeared to be a bunch of people from the same company on an outing, accidentally bought too many drinks, and so offered Monika and I the extra beer they had. Monika didn’t want it of course but I gladly accepted and thanked the man. They offered me some snacks as well but I politely declined.

In the 7th inning, just before the Tigers go to bat, everyone in the stadium (all the Tigers fans anyway) blow up long balloons, as the first batter is about to goto the plate, everyone lets go of the balloons. They have a small white thing on the end that you blow them up with, that when released lets out a loud whistling sound. So all around the stadium you hear the whistling and see the colour of all the balloons fly up into the air, its quite the sight. Immediately after you can see a bunch of guys on the field picking up any balloons that ended up landing on the grass.

Line for the train stationThe game ended with a victory for the Tigers (4 to 3) meaning everyone was in good spirits as we left the stadium. Huge crowds everywhere of course, which you can see in this photo of the line for the train station. That’s just the crowd ahead of us of course. More people behind us, and just as many beyond the ones in front already inside the station.

All in all a fantastic night and we’ll probably end up going to another game some time.

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Hanami

Apr 6

Posted by Rurisu in Flickr, Osaka, Photos | 1 Comment


We went to have lunch at Osaka castle and take a look at all the Sakura trees. It was quite nice :) . I’ve put a bunch of photos up on flickr, a selection of the bunch we took anyway.

Hanami flickr set.

Anime Cars

Mar 22

Posted by Rurisu in Flickr, Osaka, Photos | No Comments


Yesterday while in Denden-town, we came across a gathering of people in the central car-park. It was a group of people with anime decals all over their cars, some of them were pretty cool. Took some photos of them all, and a video of the rear window of one car (for obvious reasons). Enjoy!

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Kaiyukan Aquarium

Feb 20

Posted by Rurisu in Osaka, Photos | No Comments


We went to Kaiyukan Aquarium on Sunday the 15th of Feb. Tonnes of fish, manta rays, stingrays, penguins, dolphins, otters, sardines, crabs, octopi, sharks, jellyfish, everything. It was heaps of fun, I’ve thrown 11 photos up onto flickr of the night there. Enjoy!

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Touchdown

Dec 29

Posted by Rurisu in Osaka | 2 Comments


Well we made it safely enough to Japan. I’m typing this from our room in the hostel we’re staying at in the Fukushima district of Osaka. After we finally got to the room (long train ride from the airport), we took a walk to Osaka Station where Yodobashi-Umeda is (Yodobashi is a large electronics/pc/toy/cd/dvd store) to have a look around.

On the way back we grabbed some food from a supermarket and cooked ourselves a quick dinner in the hostels kitchen. Next up is getting some sleep as we’re visiting one of Moni’s friends tomorrow sometime.

More exciting things and photos and such when we have time to get around to it :P