Into the Mist

Wednesday

That title may be a bit confusing give the context of this trip but given the events of today, all of which I will delve into later on, will surely do the title justice. Today was great and made for a great interlude into the 4th of July.

Tons of people wear crocs in Japan

The day started off pretty normal, breakfast then lunch before practice, and we decided to try out the McDonalds across the street. I heard back home that the menu at McDonald's is way different in foreign places. Turns out that the menu is pretty similar with the exception of a strange shrimp burger and some other small things. The food was good though and it was kinda cool to have something familiar for a change. After the morning we went to practice and it was hot and humid day. Practice was extra humid today probably due to the storm advancing on our location. The practice went by fairly quickly even though it was sunny and hot, but toward the end we could see storm clouds forming in the distance. Before you knew it the sky opened up, and I mean really opened up because the rain was coming down at an angle and I went from dry to drenched in a few seconds. It was like standing in a pool except outside and wearing all your gear. To be honest it was pretty amazing because I'd never seen rain like that and it wasn't cold. The rain here is pretty warm and not at all uncomfortable to be in. That cued the end of practice though and we turned it in.

The calm after the storm

Dinner on this night was with the team from Kansai, the Seahorses. The dinners just keep getting better and better as the week goes on because this dinner was even better than the last night. After practice we went back towards our hotel and luckily the place we were eating at was a block from where we were staying. We walked from the parking lot toward this high rise building and went up to the 22nd floor. This place was gorgeous and even better they had actual seats so no more sitting on the floor with a tiny  table. Things were better already.

Very cool recessed seating and nice ambiance 

 The meal blew me away as did the first one. Again we were able to cook for ourselves, seems to be a common theme here in Japan, as each table had a grill built into the middle and the meat they brought out was to be cooked there. This time there were more vegetables so I didn't feel as bad eating a ton of beef and other kinds of meat.

Me and my table crew

All of the food was amazing and the table conversation was lively as well. It's always entertaining trying to bridge the gap between languages but I'm impressed as to how much english they know compared to how little Japanese we can produce. Luckily Gowan has service on his phone as uses the itranslate app quite often. Nonetheless it was great food and great company as we watched a gorgeous sunset through the windows of the 22nd floor.

Awesome view of Osaka at night

Everyone

We finished up the meal with some pictures and then headed downstairs. During the evening the guys had spoken in broken english about some kind of bus sightseeing thing that we could do after dinner. We weren't sure if they meant that same night or after the game so it was a bit confusing as we departed the hotel.

That when things got weird.

The hotel was literally a block to our right when we left the building but we went left and the confusion only grew from there. We thought we were going to Starbucks at one point then later a bus depot but we got in the cars and drove away with no idea really what was going on. We drove a few miles one direction and thought maybe we were going to the "big bus room" as one of the Japanese players put it but after driving for a little while I started to think that wasn't happening. Then we made a U-turn and came back toward the hotel only to stop in the parking lot of a building that looked like this.

Thought it was like Dave and Buster's

We walked in and we were all apprehensive about where we were and what this building was. I thought it was a huge arcade and I would've been cool with that. We took the escalator past the first floor of games and arcades only to find that we were in a nicer kind of bar setup. We took our shoes off and the next then we know we're in line to by towels at the front desk. Only then did it click that we were at a spa. We got our towels and walked around another corner to find a back area of hot springs and sauna rooms. Surprised doesn't even begin to describe how we all felt considering we had no idea what this place was.

We all had to strip down because apparently that was the status quo as we saw several naked Japanese men just strolling around willy nilly. The hot springs were awesome though. There were hot tubs and cold tubs and a sauna room that had like 100 proof cinnamon incense. That room was like breathing in cinnamon instead of air and it was really hot. We tried all the different tubs and it was very relaxing. It was a nice way to unwind and get some of the soreness from practice out. Overall it was an experience that I'll never forget and made me appreciate how sometimes the language barrier can be terrifying but exhilarating.

At about midnight we headed back to the hotel and thanked that guys for a great evening. The next day was the 4th of July so we were ready to get some rest in preparation for that. The day was long and grueling but very much so