Bueno
Banned
Narita International Airport, Japan
When I woke up, I looked out the window and there I was. Landed in Japan.
"Whoa, I'm back. I'm actually back. I did it!"
Against all odds and with tons of blind luck, I somehow managed to get my ass back to Japan without the support of my mom. Just knowing that I was back felt weird, but exciting.
Being in Narita was only for about 4 hours since I had to catch my flight to Itami. I was going to meet up with my friend Hideaki and check out some spots around Narita, but those plans had to be cancelled since I was held up so damn long in the immigrations lineup....
"Now serving number 64,326...." - Hot Japanese Airport Attendant.............who's a girl.
After 2 hours of lugging my bags around, I finally got to the front counter.
"Purpose of your visit?"
"Working holiday. Maybe Kamen Rider as well."
":eyebrow: "
The girl just ignored what I said, stamped my passport and sent me off.
Now...you know you're in Japan when THIS is the first thing that you see when you get off the plane.
[HIDE]
"Welcome to Babylon" I thought to myself.
I couldn't find Hideaki so easily and winded up walking around the terminal for half an hour. I did a really stupid move of turning my $700 CAD into Japanese Yen. This was going to cost me later on. You'll see why.
Anyways, after a bit of searching, I met up with Hideaki and we went to Mc Donald's to get some Teriaki McBurgers.
Wow, that was even more unhealthy than the Canadian menu! But it tasted so good! After saying goodbye to Hideaki and failing at styling up some Japanese stewardesses, it was time to catch my flight to Itami.
The flight was two hours but it felt like nothing since I killed the time by watching a Japanese dub of "Four Brothers".
And yes, it is a terrible movie. You've GOT to see it.:laugh:
I got into the main lobby and met up with Ryo. The two of us took my bags to his house which is like an hour and a half away from Itami and I meet his mother who by the way is too kind. After everything was settled, it was party time. Karaoke, drinks, and food that I was going to puke out with later! And let me be glad to say that the first three songs that I sang in my visit this time around were Justifaiz, Cha La Head Cha La, and of course...Jump by David Lee Roth...I mean Van Halen.
The next day I woke up with a humongous hangover...but still had the ability to speak. This was gonna come in handy cause I was about to meet Ryo's dad. A.K.A. my future boss. You see, Ryo's dad owns a leather company (which is just down the street from his apartment by the way) that's been in business for quite a long time. The company's worked out some deals with two other companies in Himeji out in the country, so it was going to go through a big move soon. But that wasn't going to be for another month or so. Ryo's dad seemed like a really nice guy, but I woudn't know what he was like until I worked with him. After Ryo woke up, it was time to get hooked up with one of biggest necessities you'll ever need in Japan...a cell phone.
"Cell phone you need cause everyone have and need call you. I practice English with you" - Ryo
As you know, cell phones in Japan come in all shapes and sizes and can do an insane amount of features depending on you buy. Mine ain't too special really. It's just a prepaid phone from Tu-ka that's cheap to buy, but insanely expensive to purchase minutes for. One card, which is 1000 yen (about 10 bucks CAD/US) lasts only 10 minutes. A buck a minute (the bloody thing can't even do e-mail...). What a deal.:redface2:
However, since RECIEVING calls is free, I usually just get people to call me instead by ringing them up about one or twice and then hangin' up. They get my number on the their screen. And one of the pluses about Japan is that there's no long distance within the country. You can call Okinawa from Tokyo and it'd be just as much as if you were calling locally. I called my friend Casey in Shikoku to tell him that I was heading out to see him in a few days time since I ain't gonna start my job at the leather factory for another two weeks.
Osaka is a really cool place. Not too many Gaijin around and tons of hot chicks. Umeda, the main district of Osaka, is really crowded (as you would expect of the big city) but that was okay with me since I got to see the Umeda branch of the world famous Anime shop "Mandarake".
Towering over 3 stories tall, this place is THE place to find anything that had to do with Anime, Manga, Videogames, and of course....Toku merchandise. And I'm talking about TONS AND TONS of Toku merchandise. Although I wasn't allowed to take pictures of my own in the store, here's what I remember of the Umeda branch:
1st Floor: Gashapon machines
2nd Floor: Manga, Hentai, Artbooks
3rd Floor: Cosplay, Karaoke stage, Anime videos and DVDs, Videogames, Trading Cards, collectible toys, Tokusatsu
And let me add that in a glass casing are a bunch of 1/1 scale Kamen Rider helmets. They're always changing em', but the ones that I saw in the case at that time were Hibiki, Ichigo, Black, Super-1, and Amazon. Craziness. A lot of the toys were used but still in great condition so I ended up walking out of that place with a used Kamen Rider Blade Blay Buckle with all it's cards included ($15 CAD) and a used Blay Rouzer with all the cards ($20 CAD). I love Japan.:buttrock: I talked for a little while to the clerk who rang my purchase though. She was quite a Kamen Rider fan and was going on her break.
"What Kamen Rider theme is your favorite?"
"Why?"
"You'll see, just tell me."
"Ummm, Ryuki."
She gets up on stage and starts singing the theme from Ryuki.
Dramatization
Man....what a store.:laugh:
Takoyaki. The Osaka treat.
Another thing worth mentioning about Osaka is Takoyaki. I could fuckin' live off of this stuff if given the chance. Takoyaki is made up of these breaded balls that have octopus scallops in em'. The balls are then fried on a grill for awhile and are usually doused with Katsu sauce and if you want, Mayonaise. Just watch out for how hot these things can be though...
After getting more drunk, and waking up with another hangover it was time to go on a roadtrip. A tip for those of you that wanna go cross country in Japan. Take the bus. It may not be the fastest way to get around, but it's definately the cheapest. Also, night busses make the time pass like nothin'. You fall asleep and next thing you know you're at your destination when you wake up. My trip from Osaka to Shikoku was about 10 hours, it felt like an hour and a half. All that drivin' for only 14,000 yen ($140 CAD, rountrip back to Osaka).
When I got to Kochi City, it was just as I remembered it...and then less. So much about it has changed but nothin' big. It was like a Japanese Winnipeg.
It didn't really matter that much though cause I soon took a train outta there to Sukumo to meet up with my friend Casey. Out in the country, there's not really much to do. It's cool for sight seeing and enjoying nature, but if ya wanna go to the nearest game center (arcade), it's like a 40 minute drive. And there's not really much of a selection...Living in these conditions has kinda effected Casey's head. While driving, Casey just looked at me with a ****-eatin' grin and said:
"Heh, Bueno."
"Yeah?"
"Heh, you're in Japan!"
"Brilliant deduction old friend."
"It's crazy!"
"Why do you say that?"
"Cause you're Bueno!"
"You gotta get outta the country buddy."
Being on the JET Program (Japan English Teaching Program) set up by the Japanese government, he wasn't really given much of a choice of where to work. He makes good money, but he just has no say in where to go. With that said, it was time to visit my old high school, Meitoku Gijuku
Meitoku Gijuku is known throughout the country as Japan's top school for sports academics. Asashoryu, one of the current top Sumo wrestlers in Japan, is proof of Meitoku's sports prowess.
It felt good to be back on the campus again, and I really felt like practicing some Wushu, so I hit the gym. It just so happened that the girls volleyball team was practicing in there too.
...and no, Ueto Aya wasn't there.
After going through some forms and flashy moves, the girls kept on crowding around the stage. It ain't everyday that you see a guy jumping in the air, kicking his hand, and then landing in the splits. They were asking me questions, serving me tea, and giving me towels. Man it's good to be back.
But then everything took a turn for the worst. My old arch nemesis, Mr. Ueda showed his fugly-ass face...and he wasn't happy. In fact, he kinda looked like this --->:170:
"What are YOU doing here!?"
"I'm on vacation so I thought I'd visit."
"Get out of here NOW..."
"C'mon, me and the girls were about to..."
"NOW Bueno..."
I took my bags and headed to another part of the campus where that Ogre wouldn't find me. The great thing about this school is that it's so big that you can hide almost anywhere. However, I can't really hide that well if there's a flock of Japanese students behind me so I just gave up and hung with them, waiting to be eventually kicked out of the school. When the time came, I said my goodbyes to the girls and the guys bowed in respect to their new found Bancho (leader) named "Be-bop Bueno". Back to Kochi City for me.
It was a beautiful day when I woke up. Sun shinning, birds chirping...a perfect day for a walk and maybe some Wushu at the beach. My bus back to Osaka wasn't until 7 PM so I had tons of time to kill. I got somethin' to eat at a fancy restauraunt and left for the bus station. But then I realized somethin'....my pants felt a little lighter than usual.
:sly:
...my wallet was missing.
-End of part III-
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