I arrived in Osaka at 3pm today. I’m staying at the Osaka Shiritsu Nagai Youth Hostel near Shinosaka station. It’s a very well maintained and modern hostel, complete with wireless internet, which I’m using to tell you my stories.

I accepted a suggestion to go check out the HEP FIVE Ferris wheel. It’s a fancy Ferris wheel on top of a 9 story shopping complex. I say fancy because the cars are shiny, red, and air conditioned. Next to this massive commercial building are a couple other very similar buildings, but without the Ferris wheel on top. HEP is a serious shopping endeavor.

After I got to Osaka, I needed a few hours to eat, rehydrate, plan, and relax. I didn’t really get out and about until 6pm. To get to HEP, I took the subway to Umeda Station. I realized I was still hungry, thirsty, and I needed that other sort of drink as well. I went wandering around looking for an exciting bar nestled between the love hotels and hostess bars. I wanted a place that was stylish, intimate, not exorbitantly expensive, and looked like I might be able to get a pescatarian meal. After about an hour, I stumbled across a sign for do with cafe. It looked like it might be all of these and it didn’t have a table or cover charge. Table charges are my pet peeve. You have to pay a fee (about the price of one drink) just to patronize most bars in Japan. And most bars won’t tell you they have a table charge until you’re leaving and your bill is suddenly a lot more expensive than you expected.

I sat down and splurged on a little bottle of champagne. I’ve decided that I’m allowed to drink champagne where ever and whenever I want, without an excuse, but tonight I was celebrating my audacity to take this solo trip. I had a chat with the bartender about myself and then a chat with the cook about my dietary restrictions. I sipped my sparkling wine and perused the menu another time. The menu had glamorous pictures of drag queens. It gave the bar some style points. Drag queens are always cool. The bartender explained that they frequently have drag shows. In fact, there would be shows on Friday and Saturday night. I should come. One of the drag queens would be coming in tonight around 8pm.

Drag queen stopping by, huh? Wait a moment, where am I? It’s one thing to have a drag show guest appearance. It’s another thing to have regular drag performances. You know, I thought the cook looked kinda gay with his prissy ponytail and very wide smile. But how unusual is it to have a gay looking cook? The drag queens, however, were a bit more odd. Queer, you might even say.

Two quite masculine looking men came into do with cafe, handed me business cards with glamour shots, and introduced themselves as Nadja Grandiva and Samantha Anansa. While they tried on each other’s jackets, I started suspiciously at the cards and back at them trying to figure out exactly how much primping they must have to do before a show. Samantha speaks English very well. He invited me again to the show and drew a detailed map back to HEP for me. As I was leaving tonight’s drag queen (Abena?) was arriving in a blue bridesmaid horror of a gown.

The Ferris wheel starts on the 7th floor of the HEP FIVE building and slowly rotates its way up. It’s not like a traditional county fair ride. Rather than creaking slowly around until all the cars are filled and then treating passengers to a head spinning whirl, it moves at a constant slow motion, allowing passengers plenty of time to view the Osaka metropolis below and build up a good acrophobic panic.

I think this is the first time I have been in a Ferris wheel alone. There’s something very comforting about having companions to freak out in front of. Being alone in a little car suspended above the city gave me some dangerous time to think. Exactly why are you traveling alone? Is it because you don’t have friends? Are you not attractive enough? I wondered if the doors would open if I tried. Considering Japan’s penchant for creative and dramatic suicide, I doubt it. Dying by falling is very high (ha-ha) on my list of ways I would not like to die. There’s a stupid saying, “I’m not afraid of falling, it’s the landing I’m worried about.” I’m not afraid of landing, that’s the quick and easy part; it’s the few seconds of freefall terror that concerns me. By the time I reached the very top, I’d calmed down enough to enjoy the twinkling and neon of Osaka.

I like this youth hostel, but it has a curfew of 11pm, so I can’t stay out. This youth hostel is booked on Saturday night so I have to find somewhere else to stay. On Saturday night, my last night in Osaka, I’m facing a tough choice. Sleep at the other youth hostel (also with a 11pm curfew) on the outskirts of the city and completely miss the famed Osaka nightlife, but get to catch a few more sights on Sunday, or stay up all night with drag queens and take an early morning shinkansen home.