Day 183 - Osaka Castle

Monday, August 8th, 2016

10th Day in Japan; Osaka

Kick today off with a castle that doubles as an oven. Osaka Castle does both jobs wonderfully. This time I brought my hat, shadow hopping my way between the ramparts. Even the shadows melt. Seems like half the people here are Chinese, a decent chunk are Westerners, and the rest are locals. 

Culture Capacity

We mix in with the shadows, along with our snow cones, until someone found the energy to fight our stationary inertia. It's a nice castle, well built, but I'm nearing my point of being cultured out. See, that's why I chose Cambodia after Japan. I don't actually care about it, but it's supposed to be a nice place to relax. The flights are looking to be a pain from here to there, with a seemingly mandatory layover that's longer than the flight time. Thailand, on the other hand, is less time, cheaper, no layover. Hmm, options. 

Umbrellas rain, sleet, snow, or shine

She's a fine moat

Either way, the decision needs to be made soon, since they will be leaving tomorrow, and we were planning on exiting at the same time. Might push it back one night, which gives a little wiggle room. 

Etiquette

In Western Japan, they stand on the right when waiting on escalators. I think they also pass on the right when walking. In the East, both are on the left. Many times, this has seem confused, leading to people in both sides of the escalator, forcing hurried people to wait. 

There are those Oranges I mentioned

While looking at a map, again, an elderly woman approaches us in the subway, loudly asking us where we would like to go. Around her neck hangs a sign that says English information. She tells us how to get where we want to go, that it's 6 minutes walking, 3 minutes skipping, and to try not to dive into the river. She waves us off and goes in search of other lost looking people. Funny lady.

Xuxu and a Random Mascot

Shop Til You Drop

It's a good thing I've got my phone loaded up with things to read, or waiting around for them to finish shopping would be unbearable. I grab a few souvenirs that are small, inexpensive, and easy to ship, then I'm off to wait in the hallway. Yuzu, in case you weren't aware, is a type of orange as well as my friends name. I found a small bowl of oranges that I think would suit her as thanks. 

We wander Dōtonburi for a while, getting sucked into store after store before I insist we have our first meal of the day. Even deciding on a restaurant takes forever because we wander around to see the limitless options, choosing when I insist, again, that we choose something. Shopping, the real addiction.

We end up at a seafood restaurant, which was cheap. Only ¥100 for a beer (1.20 CAD). Japanese pro baseball is on TV in the background, giving it a vaguely Western feel. It seems like the Japanese really like baseball, maybe as much as the Chinese seem to like basketball. Yokohama even has a dedicated baseball stadium.

This Area Loves Seafoods

Minor Differences

Really. They Really Do.

Something I've neglected to mention you can flush toilet paper here. Also, they separate their garbage into burnable, not burnable, and other categories. In public, it's more like bottles/cans, paper, and other. Also, their straws open differently when taking off the wrapping. Back home, I just slam it on the table and it pops out of the wrapping, but here they've designed it so you can simply pull from both ends and it will tear in the middle. Neat.

It seems like the universally decided-upon closing-time theme is, of all songs, "Auld Lang Syne". As I write this, I'm crouched outside of "Life", the grocery store, as an accordion is playing the song, solo, on repeat to let everyone know it's time to GTFO. I'm hoping my comrades will take the suggestion to heart. 

I love this retro ad on some of the vending machines.
Reminds me of the Circus of Values (Bioshock)

Naming Privileges

Since coming to China, I have named about 5 adults. One of which was today, Shimou's cousin Xuxu, whom I gave the name "Sherry." I give them options based on their Chinese name, but the way they name is different. For Chinese naming, you take two words and put them together for their meaning and imagery, while in English, we sometimes acknowledge meaning, but often go by sound and feel. 

I tried to explain that "who" a name is will vary from personal experience because of the people we've known. A Kevin to me could be an asshole, jerkwad rich boy, while a Kevin to you could be a sensitive, kind, intellectual. I help them as much as possible with as few biases as I can. 

Word of the Day - Japanese Edition

English - Japanese [pronunciation]

What?

nani
[nah-nee]

Editing Music
Bust
Magic City Hippies

Bonus Pics: Friends in Nara

Lynn and Xuxu

Pensive Aurora