Wrongly Used Ticket

I currently uses 3 different kinds of train tickets that I use regularly. So one day when I'm in a rush, I put in the wrong ticket in... orz And so I got this from the station master in replacement for one time ride from the multiple ride card. So I'm saved! Thank you!

1seg (ワンセグ)

<3<3<3<3 Roy

I was on the train when they air Hagaren. So I watched it on the train. I forgot that I can watch it on my phone until some minutes past. Then, I forgot to plug in my earphone until halfway. Ahh. And I spent sometime to rotate this screen. Somehow it wouldn't rotate... orz

It was descent. It was slightly glitchy towards the end, no signal. But overall, not bad. I love 1 seg. It's complete with special tv menu and subtitle! GPS is also awesome. But I figure I don't need navi that much so I cancelled the 210 yen/month service, saves money.

Noww... I still haven't got the chance to use Osaifu Keitai (mobile wallet).

Tenjin Matsuri

Was in Osaka on 24-25 July. I only went for the 2nd day. Decided to walk to the site since it's close enough from Umeda station.



On the way, got my lunch at Saizeriya. 299 yen. I love this Doria.



On the way there, I went pass a temple, and yeah wished for a wish. There were some people wandering around there.



Sort of an exhibition at the temple.



The crossing bridges in Umeda is awesome. This is the small one.



Doesn't that electric pole look dangerous?



I spot miko! Or maybe girls dressing as miko?



At the end of the closed big street, there was a march from the temple I guess. People were taking pics and stopping there.



After that I go with the flow of the people. They were basically walking in 1 way. So I suppose the next event will happen there.



This is the next event, the bridge is closed... And people were sitting on the roadside.



Nothing was there after awhile. Down on the river, people are getting on the boats.



Then came a march of people dressing up like this. Reminds me of gnomes.



Next, the crowd are moving towards the small road. When suddenly the police asked us to move aside.



And a tengu showed up!! People were watching from their windows too.



Going straight on, there were loads of stands. But I was still full. Ningyo Sukui! As Mikuru requested! I didn't play though.



Then I'm not sure where to go afterwards. Going along with the most crowds again, seems like they're heading to the fireworks place. Some of the roads were forced to be one way walking. There were too many people. And polices shouting "don't ride on your bikes, please go on one way"... Non stop. Must be tough.



We were going right on the side of a big street.



And look at the zebra cross!



More of one way pics. Omawari-san (policeman)!



We're heading towards the bridge.



Look at the crowds coming out from the other end.



Look at the amount of people...



I can barely see stuff and move. There were just too many people.



The boat with the lights up.



The fireworks were a bit disappointing. I've seen better in Aussie, I think. But seems like this is the small one. Each is supported by companies, like this.



There were lots of companies, but all were short ones. And so, it ended. Move with the crowds again.



Decided to go to the stands and get something to eat. I only had coffee while standing and walking for 6 hours.



And I got Tamago Senbei.



The egg is heart shaped. But eating wasn't very peaceful. Lots of people smoking on the free space. And I dripped the egg yolk again!



Say bye bye to the boats, it's time to go home.



And look at the rubbish people left. Even if it's Japan, it still get this dirty. They were scattered here and there too.



I walked with the crowd again. Not too sure where I'm going as long as it's towards a station. Here's Osaka Castle from far.



This one I've been wanting to snap. Liberty statue (upper half?!). Not sure what's that. And again I spilled the melted ice of my drinks (didn't find a proper trash can in the station).

Television

I love the TV here, very modern. It works like you have a cable/satellite TV in Indonesia. You can see the channels' schedule up to a week from today, and also book it so the it'll automatically switch to the channel, or if it's off, it'll turn on and off by itself. *o* The schedule's possible because of the digital broadcast.



There are 4 types of TV broadcast types that I can choose from my remote control. The first two are the 地上A and D (ground Analog and Digital). Then BS, and CS. I'm not sure what's CS, I don't use it. I also don't normally watch BS, it's filled with NHK and I think it's more boring. Most of the shows are on Ground D, where the main channels are, as far as I know. Ground A has some of Ground D channels, but it has such low quality, never watched from there. There's also Gyao, a paid cable TV of some sort. Mine's not working for some reason... orz But even with just normal TV it's quite enough, there are always interesting one to see, except when it gets late on sunday nights. Normally all of the channel goes sleep or switch to TV shopping sessions at around 2 or 3 on sunday nights.



This one lists the programs that I booked. And the list is full. A bit lame, I couldn't add more... ;_; Oh, you can browse the schedule by genres (anime, drama, variety, etc) and by time, neat.



On BS and CS, when you press "d" button, this kind of screen will show up. Kind of like a website. It differ from channel to channel. From there you can see the news, and local weather. Notice it doesn't only say Osaka, but also the suburb I'm in. Cool.



When the channel has a "data broadcast", it'll have this kind of special menu. For Fullmetal Alchemist, you can see the summary for current/previous episodes, character, opening/ending song info, and a barcode linking to the mobile website.



The image above has Japanese subtitle. Sometimes it'll have color and symbols and placed neatly, but sometimes it can get annoying and cover the pics or get really lagged on certain programs. But it helps me understand better, so... Still, isn't it awesome?! Subtitles!

So yeah, this'll end my post about the TV for now.

Harry Potter @ IMAX

There are only 3 IMAX theaters in Japan, 1 of them is in Osaka. I've never been to IMAX before, so I'm not sure what to expect, except for hearing that the screen is big. Osaka's IMAX is at Minoh, 109 Cinemas. I took bus to get there.



109 Cinemas is located in Visola. I like the bridge design. It was such a hoooot day.



The entrance door is so small and cramped with people waiting inside.



The queue wasn't that long, I arrived around 40 min before the movie starts. I've been checking the seats online. Wanted to get it online, but it requires credit card. I don't want to be charged with extra charges, 2200 yen is expensive enough. It seems like lots of people has bought the tickets in advance, but I figured 1 person's seat would be okay.



Everytime I checked the site, this particular seat number always come up. And guess what, it ended up to be the seat I'm getting in the end. ^_^;; Maybe it's the only left?



This one is the brochures I took and given. The glasses to see the 12 minutes special 3D scenes are given at the entrance. I'm not sure why they gave me that sticker. Not sure what movie is that from. They also sell movie pamphlets. I peeked at a person who's flipping it in front of my seat, but I figured it'd be too expensive for 800 yen?



This time, they checked our tickets at 1 gate, hmm. So maybe it's possible to switch around to other theaters? I've never done it back in Aussie, though, but it's possible I guess. The seat is more comfortable than the previous one, but still, narrow!! I was sitting with a couple on my left and right... agggh. And my bag barely fit the chair width. ;_; And also dropped my glasses in the middle of the show, and people turned over and looked at me... ///// After the show, most people also stayed until the credit is over. I ended up staying as well as I need to take the glasses under the seat in front to return it to the staff... orz



After that I wandered around a bit, it's a pretty nice place actually, near the hills, but I don't feel like eating dinner there, and so ended up going home early.



Ice Chai (¥160) that I had for the day, I think I'd prefer it hot.



Bought some dessert for that night (around ¥300) in Visola. The biscuit of the cheesecake was so goood. It must be put to a fridge in 1 hour though, so I quickly rushed home afterwards.



My dinner for that night? Katsu-don, ¥630. Was scared with an old man who sat next to me just after I finished this meal, but the Katsu was so thick and yummy~

Unagi Day

In Japanese, it's called doyo no ushi no hi (土用の丑の日). It falls in the middle of summer. It's one of those tactics by people to sell more of their stuff, and dates back to 2 centuries ago. On this day, you eat Eel (Unagi), and believed that it'd keep you healthy to go through the rest of the hot summer. This year, it falls on 2 days. One of them is 19 July. I had one this afternoon. There has been advertising of the Unagi day since few days ago, in konbini and supermarkets. I don't think they lower the price at all, except for one restaurant I know, 790yen to 690 yen.



In supermarkets, they have special corner for Unagi. This one is the unagi only, not the bento. There are two types, Japanese products and Chinese products. The Chinese one costs half of the Japanese one. There's been cases of food poisoning from Chinese products, hasn't it. Wanted to get the Japanese one, but ended up buying a cheap Unagi nigiri (sushi shaped one), 398yen.



So I'm not sure whether it's a local one or an international one. orz