Deep thoughts from...me?

Hope everyone had a good Christmas filled with Turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and presents. Mmmm...mashed potatoes....


This has been my first Christmas away from home like this and honestly, it wasn't too bad. I mean, granted there were no presents and normally I'm pretty bah humbug about the whole commercialization of Christmas. Suffice to say, Christmas day was...odd. No lights up, everything was open, and everyone was carrying on business as usual around here. It was also 15 degrees out.

So, on the most joyous of days, a bunch of us Japan orphans (people from our training group) as I like to call them got together and had our own little ghetto Christmas where we Kris Kringled it up and had a smorgasbord of foodstuffs that ranged from KFC to Flan. Good times indeed. :)




The very next day we went to the Osaka Aquarium, or the Kaiyukan as it is more commonly known. The building itself is very unique in shape and is home to a very docile whale shark. To give you some perspective on size, the whale shark is about 3 times the size of a great white. The aquarium had so much to see inside with exhibits on penguins, otters, dolphins and all kinds of crazy fish. The main attraction is the whale shark which is in a huge central tank that spans many levels. You start your tour at the top and it spirals down a few floors so that you can see the fish from every level. Very cool. There was also a whole room filled with Jellyfish that was totally awesome, but alas my camera had called it quits by that point.

Here's some of the cooler stuff I saw!



I think this was a girl penguin in the middle of molting. It was funny because she was the biggest penguin there and nobody would hang out with her. Black sheep! errr...penguin.




A whole crapload of fish swimming in a circle. I don't get it.



Whale Shark! Unfortuneately the aquarium glass is about 30cm thick, so getting clear pictures is kinda tricky. Also, it's hard to gauge the acutal size from the pic itself.



Here's some crabs that are flippin scary. The extra freaky part is that they look like spiders and in the tank they don't move at all. They just sit there...plotting...







After all that fish watching we all had a craving for sushi, but we decided that's kinda wrong. heh. So off we went to find what is reputed to be the best ramen in all of Osaka. I neglected to mention this earlier, but I have become somewhat of a ramenist, which in other words means I'm addicted. Ramen is usuall pretty cheap and finding a really good bowl can be tough. However, when you do find a good one, it can be one of the most satisfying meals you can have. After searching for half an hour we found our spot. The place is Ippodo and yes, the ramen was super flippin' awesome. :) No pics because camera was dead, but I'm sure we'll be going back soon. :D

That's all for now! I think I'm going to Takatsuki the day after which is close to Kyoto to visit a fellow J-Orphan so more to follow! Matane!