Weaving Beautiful Asia: Dansu

Another afternoon in Osaka. Harry dropped us off in Umeda, one of the downtown areas. It is very popular in the day time because of its great department stores and malls, as well as the Umeda Sky Building. We had several hours to kill but stayed within a one block radius. It's amazing the amounts of things to see in this crazy Japanese city. We went on a ride on a big red Ferris wheel and a stroll through the nuttiest shopping mall I've been in, Hep Five. The view from the Ferris wheel was splendid. And the sky was so blue. We could see all of Osaka, including Osaka-Jo, right in the middle of it all. This city is gigantic, it's all you can see in every direction.

It was all so perfect.

It all ended with Nowhere. That's the name of Harry's band (he's the drummer) and the reason we were in Osaka in the first place. They are very big fans of the Beatles, the guitarist is nicknamed George. They only play covers of American songs, and mostly Beatles. We knew every single song they played and they were pretty great. Harry had previously asked if I like to dance and he seemed to have told the entire band so that's what they were expecting of us. They even rearranged the few tables in the modest sized bar so that we would have room to dance. The lead singer, Katie (also the owner of the bar), kept making comments in Japanese about how she was nervous because we were there and how she wanted us to dance. Finally, we caved under the pressure from Harry and the band and a few beers. We danced. We were the only ones who did so and we had the eight person audience in awe.

Other highlights of the weekend include takoyaki, discovering a greenhouse and bringing home an orchid, and a lovely picnic in Yamadaike park. Takoyaki are octopus balls and Osaka is known for them, and hearty cuisine in general. They are delicious! Fried little balls made of egg, flour, soy sauce and octopus. As soon as Harry fond out we hadn't had any yet he stopped the car immediately and ran to his favorite place and bought us an order of them to eat in the car on the way to Osaka.

He's an amazing host. Always taking care of us and showing us good places to eat and get coffee. I think he also worries that we aren't competent getting around Japan on our own. He always gives us very detailed directions, calls to make sure we're on the right train and sometimes seems surprised when we tell him of the things we've accomplished. He also makes us laugh, a lot. He made sure to tell us not to mention to his band mates that he's my boss because they don't know what he does as a profession. He also mentioned that they were all shocked to learn that he speaks English.

Another amazing weekend, even if it is starting to get really hot and humid. Being in Osaka right now is comparable to being in a sauna. We've decided to start using the A.C...