Wednesday Night

After the Shinkansai Activities Fair, T-san, H-san, and I went to Softbank in Sumiyoshi to buy a cellphone, but I wasn't able to since I'm too young and would need a parent's signature. After that failure, we went an izakaya (居酒屋) to eat dinner. The izakaya was a very Japanese experience.

I finally got a picture of a train.

The train station platform.

T-san, in the izakaya. In the background you can see the Western style tables.

Most of the customers were male. We were all in the Japanese style seating on the raised platform with short, low tables and cushions to sit on.

The kitchen.

These are the complimentary dishes, and our drinks. Mine was a mango lychee drink. It may have been alcoholic. I had switched seats with T-san so that I'd have room to stretch my legs, as the seiza sitting position is difficult for me to keep for very long.

Here's a quick drawing I made in Paint to show you what the seiza position looks like. Your legs usually fall asleep and/or your knees hurt by the time you stand up.

Potato salad?

T-san and H-san. I guess people hang their coats up on the walls, although we didn't.

Darn, I blinked. Me and T-san.

Tamago (egg) with fish roe.

T-san and H-san ordered too much food. The eggshell is from the raw egg that T-san mixed into the donburi (rice bowl) at the top of the picture.

The izakaya's specialty was yakitori (chicken grilled on a skewer), but they grilled pork as well.

Everyone takes off their shoes and sets them against the edge of the raised platform where the Japanese style seating is.

A close-up of my drink glass. Kirin is a popular drink brand.

I only noticed these cushions after some customers vacated them and we were about to leave.

We left the izakaya.

And we stopped at a convenience store so I could buy food for later.

I was surprised to see a little shopping basket.

The small one is half the size of the big one. Compare to America, where the two choices are a cart or a big basket--Japan really is more of a public transportation oriented society, where you buy what you can carry.

There was a little restaurant area, not unlike some I've seen in stores in America. It was closed since it was late.

High Color (if I'm reading the katakana right) Melon Bread. It looks like a nerf football.

Sushi, in shapes I've never seen before.

Is that...okra?

Dumplings.

Cheese.

Endless amounts of bottled drinks.

That was a pretty busy day, because after stopping at this convenience store, we went to go meet and hang out with some friends, and ended up at another convenience store.

I was surprised to see sake in jars and...juice boxes?

The people I was with wondered why I took a picture of this, but I personally find the "Come eat this; it's CRAZY good" expression a little frightening. Especially since it's just caramel corn.

I was surprised to see so many American brands. Although their offerings seem a bit different.

Green chocolate chip cookies that are "American soft." An interesting concept. I should've bought some to see how soft "American soft" is.

A popular female idol group.

Food that comes with board games.

Instead of Pringles.

They have dried everything.

The name of the store.

After buying snacks and drinks, we, plus some more people, went to H-san's apartment to hang out. I walked home with S-san, a Korean girl who speak very fast in both Korean and Japanese and who lives on my floor.

End second full day in Japan.

To be continued in Thursday, First Orientation and Sannomiya....