We Love K a n s a i

Life: Me v. The Big Bad Virus

12:23 AM

A few weeks ago, I had the unfortunate pleasure of contracting a virus. Well, it ended up not being a virus, but I'll get to that later.

It all started with an innocent dinner with dad-in-law. He likes eating, but he really likes drinking, so we usually end up at a bar or izakaya. This day, however, Shota and I had both skipped lunch, so we were dying for some real food. I told Shota he could choose this time, so we ended up at a local yakiniku (Korean BBQ) joint near the train station. It's located near a lot of shabby looking bars, but I wasn't going to complain since food is usually food.

We got our meat, ate, but left a little earlier than usually because Shota wasn't feeling well. We stopped for some cake at Saizeriya, but didn't stay there long either because Shota was getting irritable and sleepy-eyed. So, we said our good-byes and went home.

Fast-forward to Sunday evening, and Shota has a fever of 37.5C or so. It's a little high, but not terrible, so I give him something for his fever and send him to bed. The next day, he goes to work, but maintains the fever from the night before. I suggest a doctor's visit, but he's stubborn, or doesn't like doctor's, not quite sure which. He puts it off and decides that if he doesn't feel well Tuesday, he'll see a doctor.

On Tuesday, he leaves work early and goes to the doctor. The diagnosis is a virus, maybe. The report I got from Shota wasn't terribly clear, but he gets a blood test taken, some meds, and the day-off work on Wednesday.

Wednesday comes around, and he's looking better. His fever is receding and he appears, overall, more coherent. Thank goodness, because I can't understand feverish, frantic Japanese. Since he's feeling better, we decide to run some errands the next day and just enjoy our day-off together.

By Thursday, Shota is much, much better. He's back to his bad jokes and goofy faces, which means I can spend less energy baby-ing him and get back to my own business. We go pick up my wedding gown early that day, then had back home for a quiet afternoon with out PS3. But by the time we get back, I'm not feeling so well. We eat some lunch, then play a little Dynasty Warriors 6, before I ask for a break and take a nap. I wake up around 7pm to a worried Shota. Apparently, I don't look so good, and I have a fever. Crap..

I pop-in some anti-fever medication, and hope for the best, but by 8pm, my fever has jumped up to 38.7C and I have chills. I've never had chills before, but it's probably the worse thing I've ever experienced next to vomiting (I HATE vomiting). So I'm on my futon, shivering like crazy, with a fever close to 100F and two ice-bottles under my arms. I send an e-mail to my boss and co-worker telling them I probably won't make it to work on friday.

That's the end of the story of how I got this not-virus. Now on to the hospital bit. It's pertty long though, so you'll have to click READ MORE! :)

bullet train

Shinkansen Video & Traveling out of kansai :O

11:39 PM

Absent

12:27 AM

festivals

Summer Sonic Osaka 2011

2:35 AM

My ticket!!(≡ﾟ∀ﾟ≡)

Hello All!
A couple weekends back, I finally bit the bullet, and threw down some money for a Summer Sonic ticket (only Sunday though. tried to honor my savings a little..(　´ⅴ｀)). Summer Sonic is an annual music festival that occurs simultaneously in Tokyo and Osaka. Most of the bands play one night in Tokyo then fly/bus/hike down to Osaka. It's been going on since 2000 and this year's headliners were RHCP and The Strokes, who are two of my favorite bands..! I was totally ready to rock my socks off. In fact, I didn't even wear socks, just in case ( ´ ▽ ` ).

I got friends in loooow plac--.. wait a sec..

In Osaka, the festival is held in Maihama, which is close to the Cosmosquare subway station and the Sakurajima Station on the JR line. They have shuttle buses that run from both stations for a prepaid fee of 600 yen or 800 yen at the bus. Since I went with two other people, we just split the difference of a taxi, which saved us about 300 yen a person. Plus it was much, much cooler in the taxi. Great little "woo-saa" moment before getting down and dirty.

Yui at the Mountain Stage.

We got there a little before 12pm, so there weren't any lines for getting our wristbands. However, because there weren't any big lines, we actually walked right the wristband area and walked all the way into the festival. We then had to walk all the way back, get the wristbands, then go back inside. It was a big loop de loop, so by the time we were next to one of the stages, we were drenched in sweat (=´Д`=).

We hung out by the Mountain Stage a for bit, listening to YUI, and contemplating a cool drink, but the lines were so long back there, that we headed back out to the main food area.

Does it look hot to you?

The food area was just a wide flat space lined with tiny food venders (the Mountain Stage was on top of a hill behind it). I think one of the nice things about Summer Sonic is that you can bring your own food and drink and just kind of camp out anywhere on the grounds (=ﾟωﾟ=), which is also probably why there were lots of families there too. Next year, I'll probably do the same too and save a few yen.

So we popped a squat off to the side, trying to steal a little shade and enjoy our drinks. It was really too hot to enjoy anything like yakisoda or takoyaki, which was there, or have a cup of Jack and coke, which was also there ～(´ー｀～), so I stuck with my tea and water.

The Ting Tings @Ocean Stage

Afterwards, I made my way over to the Ocean Stage, which is the biggest stage, officially ready for some good music and good times. The crowd was still pretty sparse since the band on stage wasn't so popular, but the music was pretty good and there was space for grooving. I decided to inch closer to the front so I could get a better view of the stage, but my two comrades weren't too keen on sunburn, so they stayed toward the back in the shade.

After Viva Brother, The Ting Tings came on. I've only heard one of their songs, but there set was pretty lively. Great music for dancing, so I took advantage of the space I had shook my booty (=^ωﾟ)ﾉ.

Once they were done, it was time for a set change, so many people pulled the same move as this guy. It was still pretty close to high noon (well it wasn't noon, but the sun sure was high up), takin' a squat down in the shadows out of the sun was a nice way to escape the heat and keep your space near the front.

Unfortunately, the next act was Kimura Kaela, who is a pretty big name is Japanese music, so the front got really crowded. The Kaela fans were actually kind of pushy, so while I was pushed toward the front, I also got knocked into some big sweaty dudes (who knew big sweaty dudes were fans of such a tiny, cheerful lady （´･∀･`）). I was able to enjoy her performance behind towel and sweaty backs and as you can imagine, it was awesome (;´▽`)y-~~.

Sadly, my phone had kicked the bucket by now, so I wasn't able to take any more photos. And this was right before KoRn was about to take the stage. You can imagine my disappointment (;´Д`). But since KoRn and Kaela fans don't mesh so much, I was able to get a little breathing space before they got on. After they unveiled the H.R. Giger mic stand though, it was back on. People were rushing the stage again, but this time they were metal heads.

The metal heads were pretty nice, everyone left enough space for some good head banging to occur, though at the times people tried to mosh. I think Japanese shows have a pretty strict policy with moshing and crowd surfing, but people still tried even though you risked being pulled from the front.

After KoRn's show of bada$$ery, it was time for another band I'd never heard of called Beady Eyes. More KoRn fans started clearing the area, so I was able to scoot right to the front against the bars, but Beady Eyes fans started moving in as well, so space was still precious.

Beady Eyes seemed like a pretty mellow band, they kind of reminded me of Rooney, so I don't remember much of their set （　´∀｀）. But after them, it was time for The Strokes!!

I'd only been to one other Strokes show, but their sets are pretty elaborate (lots of light work), so it took longer than the allotted time for them to get set up, and by the time they went on stage, it was already 8pm! That was the time I was supposed to be meeting with my friends so we could head back downtown together （ノ*ﾟДﾟ*）. I stayed for a couple songs anyway, because I really wanted to see them, but then I abandoned my spot so I could meet my friends...

I kind of regret leaving because.. in the end, I couldn't find them. Without my phone, I couldn't call them either, and later on, I found out that they had changed the meeting place..(ﾟДﾟ;）! So I missed my friends and most of The Strokes..ヽ(；´Д｀)ノ! I was pretty dejected about that, so I just wandered back to the taxi stand and headed back to the train station.

It was a pretty long day, surviving on fluids alone, but I would say it was worth it (=´ω｀=；. I've never had a spot so close to the stage, and the crowd wasn't that bad. I'm definitely planning on going again next year, to both days. And I'm also on the look out for any more music festivals in the kansai area. The next one I find, I'll definitely post on here..!

★Peaces★