Osaka tales

The weather today, although gorgeous, is making me miss summer and spring.
Hell, it's even making me miss fall, and the not-as-cold part of winter.
Snow is pretty and all, but dammit, i am tired of extreme layering just to stay alive!

Speaking of fall, i still have some unpublished Japan pictures left.
I better post them before my next trip to Japan, don't you think?
Here's a few shots from the Osaka part of our Osaka/Kyoto trip.
We went there to work at a truly horrible tattoo event and because of that experience, i hope this will be my last trip to Osaka in a really long time.

View from our hotel, a faux castle

I can't believe i actually dressed up for this thing

Ok, so i'm wearing legwarmers, but this is still kind of dressed up

The event took place at a faux American diner, outside there were posters of the organizer of the event, there was even a tv playing a slide-show with artsy photos of him

It opened at 7 pm and closed at 4 in the morning, seriously, and there were no booths or barriers of any kind

American newspaper clippings adorned the walls

Only it wasn't cool clippings, it was really lame ones like this, because the people who decorated this place obviously had no idea what they said

Allan's client was sweet, she even started crying when Allan gave her a print when he was done with her tattoo

Mukku was mortified at the total lack of proper hygiene and common sense, and so was i

Hata had tons of fun too, as you can see

That may not look like such a bad night to you all, but believe me, it was.
I was feeling like crap that night, and that never helps.
And we didn't really wanna go to this event in the first place.
Having been to a few of these "tattoo events" in the past, we knew what to expect (i was a little disappointed that the event didn't include poledancers this time, but at least cat eared girl was there) and we also knew that this one was possibly going to be a little worse.
We also didn't wanna spend a fortune on the Shinkansen, so you could say we were set against it from the start.

They started out by playing this uhm... i'm gonna assume it was music, for about two hours.
I was, as often before, saved by my earplugs.
Even Allan thought it was extremely loud and hysterical, and that's saying something.
Then people started drinking.
They got very drunk.
At one point this super annoying dude started getting naked right next to me, which i was sort of ok with until kept trying to to a) sit next to me, b) sit on my stuff and finally c) bump into Allan while he was working (something that always turns me into a tiny Danish she-hulk).
So obviously i got into kind of an argument, only not really since he was completely wasted and didn't understand a word i was yelling.
But words were being yelled and gestures were made.
Allan told me later that Rei and Hata were watching me like little meerkats, ready to jump over and save me should the situation get out of control.
They're so cute.

Now, i'm no prude and i've been to my fair share of parties, so drunk people, however annoying, don't bother me that much.
I'm also more than a little used to conventions by now, and i know that they aren't always as clean as they could be.
So when i say that even the most well organized, internationally acclaimed convention can gross me out occasionally, you can imagine what a tiny event full of drunks and skanks, organized by a narcissistic douchebag in leopard trimmed jeans, would do to me.
At a normal convention i'll try not to touch anything, and i sanitize like nobody's business.
But here... i literally couldn't touch anything!
Even accidentally leaning against a wall sent chills down my spine.
I don't wanna get into the disgusting details, but trust me, i had my reasons.

I believe it was three in the morning when we finally made our escape, vowing never to return to Osaka again.
Ok, maybe someday, but not for anymore friggin events.
Ever.
There were some good things about the Osaka trip though.
Here are a few.

The shinkansen ekiben

The sweet potato Kit Kats... divine

Not staying at the "capsule" floor of the hotel, definitely a good thing

This... seeing this and not having time to eat it was a bit like discovering that unicorns are real, but for some reason you're not allowed to ride them across the rainbow