OWL CAFE

YES!!! I WENT TO AN OWL CAFE TODAY!!!
This is what I needed a printed voucher for, by the way.
It was so neat! You have 50 minutes to pet, hold, and take pictures of a bunch of different kinds of owls. They all had adorable names and it was encouraged that you wave hello and/or call their name before petting them. ADORABLE.

 Getting there was a bit stressful due to people arriving at the designated location at different times, always losing someone, taking different routes, and this one person complaining all day (including throughout what we did after the Owl Cafe). However, the actual cafe experience was really neat.

The 50 minutes flew by and I kind of wish I could go again. Most of the owls were surprisingly light and extremely soft, with fluffy feathers. You could hold them on your arm, shoulder, or head (I stuck with the arm and focused on pictures). They ranged in sizes from ones that could fit in the palm of your hand to ones that we weren't allowed to hold because they were too big. Thankfully, I was able to take pictures, just had to keep the flash off and could not video-record. There is another owl cafe in Osaka that may be a bit bigger than this one, but I think it is more expensive and prohibits photography.

The owls were pretty quite, although, two small ones would either chirp or hoot every now or then (adlfkjadlkfadskj - so cute)

Since we made reservations, we were able to get "free" drinks (I'm pretty sure they were just included in the price, but discounted). The experience was about $17 and I believe it was totally worth it. (The menu said the drinks were about $15 a piece).

It was amazing to see, hear, and interact with so many different types of owls.

To the right was Momo (Peach) - the largest owl you could hold. The cafe had some spare Harry Potter Hogwarts robes and ties for customers to wear while they held owls. I felt cool but, looking back, my multi-layered outfit with a German-flag buff kind of clashed with the costume. Yet, it was really cool to hold the owls and I had a little confidence booster when one of the handlers said I was strong to hold Momo on my arm for so long XD

I would love to keep posting pictures of owls, but a lot of the pictures I took have people in them and I am running out of things to say about the owl cafe other than how much fun it was.
On the left are some sleeping barn owls. There was a section of the cafe where owls were on "break." Pictures were okay, but talking to and holding them were temporarily prohibited. They were just so graceful!

(Leaving my owl cafe section of my post is as sad as leaving the actual cafe)
After the cafe, excluding one person who had to leave due to bicycle issues, we all went to Den-Den Town. Den-Den Town is like a mini-Akihabara located in Osaka, where a lot of neon signs, technology supplies, and anime merchandise can be found. We did a l.o.t. of walking, which turned out to be quite enjoyable since we were able to explore more of Japan's urban areas and saw some interesting spots that are not on tourist maps.

Once we actually got to Den-Den Town (passing by a cat shrine (one day I'll try to go back), Doguyasuji (apparently the best place in Japan to buy kitchenware), and many interesting buildings, we decided to eat before exploring. I had my first taste of Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki. These are two very famous Japanese food and, especially Okonomiyaki, are known to be the best in Osaka. I was ecstatic to finally try these. Okonomiyaki has been described as a Japanese pancake or pizza, but I found it to be neither. It was kind of like an interesting cole slaw that was then cooked and slightly
fried on a slate, topped with delicious sauces, and added with whatever meat you choose. I wanted to keep a marine cuisine and chose squid. Furthermore, it was topped with "fish flakes" that move when exposed to heat. The takoyaki were warm spheres of fluffy deliciousness with bits of octopus in them. I bought this in a set rather than individually, so this takoyaki did not have the famous takoyaki sauce.

Den-Den Town was quite interesting: colorful buildings pressed up against each other, fighting for attention with their neon signs and billboards,yet interconnected by layers of electrical wire. We examined almost every gacha machine (gacha being small toys, key-chains, glasses-cleaning cloth, etc. in small vending-machine like dispensers). We walked through several small anime shops as well as a big one known as "Animate." It was really cool and a new experience. Unfortunately, I did not see much that interested me or much of series that I like. There was an exorbitant amount of One Piece figurines and Yuri on Ice merchandise as well as rows upon rows of other figurines. I am honestly not really into figurines (or Yuri on Ice for that matter) and was hoping to find a lot more diversity in genre and form. I am happy that I went though and I guess it's a good thing I didn't see anything I wanted because that meant that I didn't spend extra money.

Just before coming home, we stopped by Dotonbori, close to Den-Den Town and an extreme hot-spot for tourism in Osaka. I was able to take a picture of the famous Glico neon sign - a sign of a Japanese candy that supposedly gives you energy to run 300 meters with each piece. The neon sign has also been an important piece of Osaka since it was first put up in 1935.
 I was able to use the subway system of Japan today! Just like the train system, it's actually pretty easy to understand. Also, because it is culturally inappropriate to talk on your phone or talk with other people on the train, you can actually hear what the announcer says! It seems that groups of young people tend to whisper to each other, but I've only seen other groups of students doing it so I wonder if it's an age thing, a maturity thing, or a generational development.

Anyway, I was able to eat a lot of tofu, more gobon, rice, cucumber salad, and Katsuo (kind of like small tuna) with my host family today. Moreover, my health insurance card came in the mail so I was able to check that off the KGU to-do list.

Today was a lot of fun and an interesting experience. I am not sure what will happen tomorrow, but Monday we have another field trip planned (so be ready!).