I got up a little later than I had planned, but at least I was rested. I showered and cleaned up and then met up with Mike, Britta, and Theresa to see the Osaka Castle.

My buddies and I at a baseball game! (Dave, Me, Mitch, and Jono)

We took the subway to get there and then walked around the park for a while. The cherry blossom season was just coming to an end and there were tons of people at the park to celebrate. It also happened to be a Sunday so people didn’t have to work. We walked a ton, ate some Ice Cream, tried some weird cooked balls with octopus in them and just enjoyed the nice day.

The grounds of the Castle were very pretty and the walk itself was very refreshing. At the base of the castle we met a bunch of Canadian Missionary clowns who were raising money to help starving children across the globe. It was pretty amazing to see how these individuals could just dedicate their entire lives to helping others. I talked to one of them for a little bit and he told me that the Japanese usually donate a good amount of money. The problem is that it is hard to find places to collect donations because they would get thrown out of most parks by the mafia unless they paid them off.

The Keg Lady bringing fresh beer to all!

After we got finished talking to the clowns we sat down and had some lunch. I wasn’t really that hungry at first, but when the girls and Mike couldn’t finish their meals I dug in. I was happy to get some free food for once. Japan was by far the most expensive place that I’ve ever been to. This made me watch my budget more than ever, and made getting around a little more difficult.

Once we got done viewing the castle we decided to go find these twin towers that Mike was talking about. We walked for about 45 min. without any luck and then randomly came upon some sort of music festival that was going on.

The first band that we watched was some sort of Death Metal band and was a little too violent for my tastes. The second band that we watched was your typical Japanese pop band.

Japan knows the size a beer should be!

It had a female lead singer and its fans were all little Japanese schoolgirls. The band was called Punky Lips and they rocked! Well, not really but that’s what Mike and I kept yelling. It was all really funny to watch, but I couldn’t take it for to long. That’s what’s popular in Japan though. I feel a little sorry for them.