Registered Aliens

Yesterday wasn’t a total waste. We made a jaunt to Osaka to explore a bit more. This time we focused on downtown. Our goal was to locate the US Consulate. The trip on the Hankyu line is normal. We have traveled on that train several times through Umeda on our way to Kyoto and back, but we have never been out of the station. The station, we have read has a large mall beneath it. We didn’t go there. We crossed the street to the east and went to what is called the Hep Five, another mall.

The Hep Five markets to the college crowd very cool clothes. Chrissy bought me a mug at the three-coin store, no clothes for me. At the top of the mall, on the roof of the seventh floor there is a large red Ferris wheel. No Lie, I think that Ferris wheels are some of the scariest rides ever. I do fine on roller coasters; I don’t even mind getting flipped upside down; I’ve even flown stunts in an open-cockpit bi-plane, but there is something about the slow rise, crest and drop of a Ferris wheel. You put one on the roof of a seventh floor building, Yikes! Then you put one on top of a seventh floor after your read a book about an earthquake that wiped out the region your looking at-YIKES!

Whatever Chrissy tells you, I still consider myself to be a man. I can proudly look at myself in the mirror.

What a view! If I could only read Japanese, or better yet, if you could read Japanese, I could write down what we saw and you could tell me what it was. All I know is, it was cool. The trains below us did look like a little model train set. In the distance, I could see Osaka Jo, the castle built hundreds of years ago when Japan was unified to protect the approach to Kyoto. It was the only structure I could identify. Other buildings stretched off into the distance and smog. Osaka is huge.

Osaka also has a lot of cheap eats. We found a Subway sandwich shop, where you can buy a six-inch sandwich for under 300 yen. There were also a lot of noodle shops, which line the shopping-pachinko parlor lined alley to the south on the way to the consulate. The consulate is simply a tall building in the midst of tall buildings. The only difference is that it has two Japanese guards on the corners, two police vans parked out front, and two plain clothes officers who brought take out back to the small assault force in one of the vans. Oh yeah, inside the lobby are pictures of the big three: Bush, Cheney, and Condoleezza.

Beyond the consulate is Osaka’s city hall. It’s on an island in the middle of the river. On the south bank of the river, we found a stylish and cheap coffee shop. We stopped in and had a cup and some biscuits.

While drinking we saw something in the water. It was small. I can’t say it was swimming, but as the wind blew across the water we both saw something small and white circle and proceed upwind. It continued for nearly a minute, disappeared behind a sign on a houseboat and reappeared before going under the bridge. Its movement was very steady and almost mechanical against the wind. Very strange!

Today, we actually had a task to complete. Sakurai printed out directions to the immigration office in Kobe. Before, she told us where we were going, I recognized the Kanji symbol for Sannomiya, the train station in Kobe. He he he, our explorations are starting to pay off. I knew exactly where we had to go.

She also called Nishinomiya city hall and confirmed that our Alien registration cards were ready. Claudia and I returned home, got Chrissy and went to town. Our Alien cards were easily picked up, then we went to Kobe and walked straight to the office and purchased our multiple re-entry passes. We are now legal Aliens! We can come and go as we please! We are no longer trapped on this island chain. The entire Far East is our vegetarian oyster! Oh yeah! I begin my normal hours on Monday, 8:20 to 4:30. I’ll be busy. No oyster for this alien, yet.