Day 203 - 21st of March

11:41am　普通電車

天気：風が吹いている

I’m on the local train with Jazz (Jacinthe), Julie, Rachael, Alvaro, Priscilla, and Hugo, and we’re making our way to Den, den town for the Nipponbashi Street festa. It’s incredibly windy today, but the sun is out and it doesn’t look like it’s going to rain; coming up to Hirakatashi now…

11:50am　特急

Now we’re on the limited express to Kyobashi, and from there we’re going to take the subway to Nagohoribashi, and then change lines to get to Ebisucho…

4:12pm　地下鉄

We’re on the subway from Nipponbashi to 北浜 (Kitahama); going to try a different way back home. Kitahama is on the Keihan line, so we can transfer there for Makino; much more direct…

4:27pm　準急

Now we’re on the semi-express to Kyobashi. Julie is going to transfer there for Nishijo, to meet with a friend. The train has stopped for no apparent reason; we’re underground at the moment… well now we’re going again. It’s just Hugo, Jazz, Rachael, Julie and I; Alvaro and Priscilla went off shortly after we got to Den, den town, which was absolutely packed with people. As soon as we got there we were in the midst of cosplay heaven; Rachael was in her element. The whole day, she was running about taking photos of anime and manga characters, most of which I didn’t know; trying to keep up with her was a lot of fun actually. Weaving our way through the crowds, and continuously bumping into people, or getting bumped into was actually very exhausting. First off, we went to watch the parade. It took a while for things to get started, and the first half an hour was mostly stuff happening on a stage right up the end of the street; couldn’t really see much. Getting hungry, I bought some onigiri from a nearby shop, and it was really good. The parade eventually kicked off at about 1:30, and we got to see a marching band (which I later found out to be the Osaka Police Band), a heap of cosplayers, samurai, maids, and some of the sponsors; there was an absolutely adorable giraffe mascot!

4:42pm　京橋

We’re changing over at Kyobashi now… the parade was over soon after it had begun. We decided that we would slowly make out way back up the street and get the subway back from Nipponbashi. Julie wanted to do some shopping, and Jazz decided to go with her. Hugo, Rachael, and I on the other hand went to Makkas for some lunch. It took a while to get there since Rachael kept on getting distracted by all the cosplayers, and when we did get to the front of the store, I had an interesting experience. An old man with a budgie came over and let me hold it, putting some seed in my hand; it was so cool. Then he put it on my head (luckily I was wearing my beanie), as Rachael and Hugo floundered to take photos. Finally in Makkas, I just got some fries, and we managed to get a table on the second floor, getting excited every time cosplayers could walk past; they need food too. After eating, we continued looking for characters, and I was so happy whenever I saw a character from Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy; we even got to see England, and Japan from Hetalia. Throughout the day, we crossed paths with people from uni, including professor Hester, who looked like he was thoroughly enjoying himself, taking photos with his fancy camera. We eventually met up with Julie and Jazz, and after a bit more looking around, and a few purchases at one of my favourite shops there, we made our way further up the street to Nipponbashi station. Coming up to Hirakatashi now…

5:01pm　準急

Now we’re on the train back to Makino. When I get home, I’m definitely going to have a quick nap. Then I have to get ready to go out again; I’m meeting up with Alex, and her Aunt and Nan in Kyoto. I’m going to see if I can find a karaoke place close to the station, so we don’t have to come all the way back to Makino; hopefully I can gather enough energy for the night ahead…

7:01pm　牧野

I’m at Makino station; I rode here in the freezing cold. I’ve just been on the phone with Alex, trying to sort out what we’re going to do tonight. I really don’t want to have to go all the way to Kyoto just to meet her and then bring her back here. She says her Aunt and Nan aren’t that fussed anyway. I suggested that she just meet me here alone, so she’s going to talk to them about it, so hopefully she calls back soon; I guess I’ll go and find somewhere to eat dinner…

7:09pm　牧野

Well it looks like I’m going to Kyoto, to go to karaoke with Alex and her Aunt for an hour, and then Alex and I are coming back here for the rest of the night at karaoke… it’s going to be a long night!

10:23pm　特急

I’m on the express back to Tambabashi with Alex. We met in the central area of Kyoto station and practically threw ourselves at each other; it’s so good to be together again. After unravelling ourselves, she took me to where they were staying (Keihan hotel – how ironic) and I was soon introduced to her aunt, Sandy; I remember her Nan from the going away party. Sandy was hanging out to go to karaoke, but Nan had decided to just stay put. We rugged up (except for Alex of course), and then made our way back out into the night. I didn’t really know where I was going, but luckily Alex spotted a Karaoke place nearby, and we decided to just go for that. It was a little pricy, but we were only staying for an hour, so it was okay. For Sandy, it was all over too fast; she had just started to get into it too. But Alex and I were hanging to get going, so we walked her back to the hotel, and then finally got to start catching up. Before I was even thinking about more karaoke, I had to eat, so we walked a little way down the street to a restaurant chain called なか卯 (Nakao – I think I’d been to one of these before). It used the vending machine ticket system, and there was even buttons for whether you would be eating in, or taking out; so efficient. I ordered gyudon, and Alex just got some karaage. We talked for a while, and then finally got going, eager to start our all night karaoke session…

11:37pm　牧野－カラオケ

We’ve been at karaoke for about 20 minutes now, and I feel great; my voice is so much better now. For some reason, I just couldn’t project when we were at the other place; I don’t know if it was the cold or just nerves. Anyway, here we go…