TIM's Big TRAIN Adventure

You know what I did on Saturday?

I studied.


I studied, and studied. All day.

For what? A 20-point review quiz. Stuff I'm already supposed to know.

And I didn't even get halfway through the material.

Hmm...

Methinks I may be in the wrong class. Oh, well. The re-placement test on Thursday will decide that.


In any case. Rather than spend all day Sunday studying as well, I decided to actually get out and do something. The question was, what.

I haven't exactly made a whole lot of pals yet to go cruising around Japan with, so I'd have to go on my own. Using the dreaded public transport system, of which I know nothing about.

But, I figured, what the hell. And decided to go somewhere anyway. (Bravery or foolishness? YOU decide!)

I figured I had three options. Stay in Hirakata, go sightseeing in Kyoto, or shopping on Osaka. Well, I'd done all three so far already, with the exception that my Osaka shopping experience consisted of buying some CAT-5 cable and a USA to Japan plug adapter. So, I decided to give that another go.

Of course, I had been with other people the first time. And one of them had a bizarrely thorough knowledge of the Japanese Transport system, and was able to get us to Osaka no problem, despite numerous confusing train transfers.
How was I supposed to do it on my own?

I figured the only answer was... trial and (shudder) error.

So I braved the Bus again, for the first time since the Big Bus Adventure. And got to the station successfully.

While there, I stopped and had lunch at a little place called Mos Burger.
Their motto is "HAMBURGER IS MY LIFE." Well, I have to say:

Your life sucks.

Okay, that may be a bit harsh. But I definitely wasn't impressed. I guess that's what I get for going to a Japanese restaurant for American food.

After being sufficiently fooded, I decided it was time to stop stalling and head to the station.

After studying the rail system map for a while....
I concluded that I had no idea how to get to Osaka. Hirakata would be easy--the station was called Hirakatashi. But there was definitely no Osakashi.

But I DID spy a stop that mentioned that it was a transfer station for the Osaka Monorail.

That sounded promising.

So, I paid my fee, and got on the train.

Keep in mind that I meticulously copied down the name of the station I was from (including the kanji), and the name of the one I was going to, as well as the number of stops in between.

I nervously counted each one on the way, but finally I was there. I stopped to admire the scenery, then followed the signs to the place where you get your monorail tickets.

I could tell as soon as I got there that I had never been there before, meaning that this was definitely NOT the same way I had gotten to Osaka before. (The pepto-bismol pink trains were a good clue.) But, oh well. Decided to go through with it, anyway.

Wouldn't you know it, there was STILL no stop labeled as "Osaka."

Closest I found was... Osaka Airport. Well... that will at least be IN Osaka, right? It was also the last stop, making it the most expensive.

I bought a ticket anyway.

Once again, I sat through the trip nervously counting the stops (which seems pointless, since I was getting off at the LAST one). Finally, I arrived!



At an airport!


Woo-hoo!

Okay, so yeah. There wasn't much to do at the airport. Luckily, I had thought of this strong possibility on the way, and had taken note of a station that seemed VERY popular (the train practically emptied and refilled completely there, which it didn't do at any other stop). I figured there was bound to be something to do at such a popular crossroads, so I hopped back on the monorail and headed back for it.

I was a bit nervous, because the train I got on was NOT the same pepto-pink variety I had used to get there. Was it... different? Going somewhere else? The "Express" train?

Actually, the only difference was the stop announcements were actually audible in this one, and, get this--in English.

Yes, I counted the stops again anyway.

After arriving, I got out and surveyed the situation.
It DEFINITELY looked more interesting than the airport.

First stop: MISTER DONUTS.

I've heard about this donut shop, but had never been. And I was really jonesin' for some donuts and coffee, so I stopped by. I gotta say, this was the classiest I've ever seen donuts served.
After that, I started looking around. There were stores EVERYWHERE.

But they all seemed to sell clothes...

And I'm pretty sure local-made clothes aren't gonna fit me.

So, I started ranging farther afield, and found a department store. I thought, a-hah. This looks a lot like the one I visited before, that had EVERYTHING. So, let's see. This floor is clothes... let's check out the next floor.
Hm.

Also clothes.

Well, maybe the next floor...

Um, no. Also clothes.

All the way to the top, clothes.

So I ride back down, below the floor I came in on.

MORE CLOTHES.

I finally get down to the basement, and it's a supermarket. -_-

Undaunted, I continued exploring underground.

And found restaurants.

Lots, and lots of restaurants.


And a massive pachinko parlor. My main impression of it was "loud."

So, after wandering around for a while, I came to the conclusion that the only thing people do here are wear clothes, eat, and play pachinko.

I DID eventually find a bookstore, where I browsed their massive selection of comics for a while. That was pretty fun, but I didn't buy any, seeing as how I can't READ them yet, and I haven't even looked at the last two I bought.

About that time, it was getting to be 6:30, and I was getting tired. (Must still not be adjusted to tokyo time. >.<) So, I decided to head back, and managed to get back to the dorm without incident. I EVEN didn't get thrown off a bus. ._. In the end, I didn't explore nearly all of what was out there... I'm sure that if I look, I'll find an area that sells more of what I'm interested in. However, I did get more acclimated to the public transport system, and prove to myself that I can get from point A to point B and back again all by myself, with no hang-ups. I guess next time, I just need to have a better idea of what point B is. >.<

Next time, I'm using a city travel guide.





By the way, I failed the quiz.