Osaka: Part 2

After we got to her sisters we gave out the kids load of presents (they have 1 daughter, 5 and a boy, 7). They really enjoyed them, the farting dog Mom bought being the most coveted (highlight being when the girl stuck her nose into its bum, squeezed it so it farted and kept saying "kusaiii" meaning, stinky). We had a nice lunch of cold ramen noodles her sister made. Kind of a...noodle salad basically. I never had cold ramen before and it was really good actually.

After lunch we hung around the condo to kill time, since that night we were going to a kind of kids fair at their old kindergarten. Those kids seem to have a an unlimited supply of energy and and I think we were both ready for bed by 3pm. At some point the son ran out and got some friends to come back so suddenly there was 4 kids all playing "Beyblades" as loud as can be. Its like...spinning tops that battle each other in a bowl....

Once 4 30 rolled around we were off to the school. It was a quick 10min walk from their house and we ended up getting their early and had some time to kill. The kids quickly ran off to play with friends while we hung around the gate. We realized we forgot fans, so poor dad went back home to get them for us much to our appreciation.

When we got there it was pretty empty, but that changed fast. In about 30minutes or so it was full of kids and parents everywhere. I being the only "gajin" (foreign person) got quite a few looks from the kids, but I am getting rather used to that. There was not much to do for Naomi and I except eat, so eat we did. There was big tents with a bunch of different foods you could go get. Naomi's sister provided food tickets for us, about 40! Which was to say the least a tad to many (it was like 2-4 for each order, but still). They had a bunch of great food, with a few western ones thrown in as well. I got some big smiles from people sitting near us and surprise when they saw me eating some of this food and enjoying it so much. Guess its not something they see everyday.

In this picture you can see: Hot dog on a stick, Udon soup, Oden (boiled egg, Konyaku [Almost like a ... harder jello like texture...made from a potato..], Hanpen [A kind of deep fried fish cake, soft not crispy, very good!)

This is Takoyaki. Its....like..pancake batter..with octopus inside..and mayo, seaweed and tonkatsu (a kind of sweet sauce) on top. Very good actually.

Yakitori. BBQ Chicken and Veggies.

The food was all really good, and we were stuffed pretty fast. We got some cold tea from her sister and..I dunno if it was from the food or its just how it tasted to me...but I swear it tasted like drinking rum..it was awful. Only I tasted it though..so I dunno what was up with that.

We mainly just sat around trying to beat the heat as best we could the whole time. It was an enjoyable time though. We left a bit earlier than the rest of the family and after everyone was home we sat around and watched cartoons a bit until everyone was ready for bed, then passed out.

Next day was more of an adventure as we all went to Katchoen. Basically..Crystal Gardens. Lots of birds and plants. On the way we spotted a fan favourite back home. Naomi was pretty dang excited about it as well.

Tomorrow we are off to Hiroshima so I won't be able to update for a couple of days maybe. Rest assured many pictures are being taken. As of 2 days ago, about 5 days in, I had 650 pictures. :)