Short bus ride into my 3rd stop - Osaka. Unlike many places in Japan, I can't say I've been there done that. Previous visits were more stopovers than stays. I hope to change that.
Early recon of my hostel was a failure. When I say early, I meant like six-thirty in the morning. After all, the night bus arrived a little past 5am. The hostel was nowhere to be found. But I found a coin laundry and a nifty little café next door that only serves coffee and tea. As stores began to open, I finally found my hostel along the road that I walked up and down many times earlier.
The front desk girl is a tall lanky local who's very friendly, so I had another chance to practice some Japanese. At this point, I still have absolutely no plan.
I returned to Namba and found a green tea café hidden in the labyrinth of Namba Parks. I planned for the next 4 days while savoring a GTL.
First stop of the day: the history museum.
Wait... what? The history museum?
During my first hour in town getting lost on the subway system, I saw an ad for a special exhibition - Japanese knife and sword making, inspired by Evangelion. That's right, another activity due to an anime. Why else would I go to the history museum?
The blades' craftsmanship is amazing! Some are Evangelion themed, some are scaled replicas on blades from the anime (in case you live in medieval times, Evas are huge skyscraper-sized mechas), all made by master sword makers. Even the Spear of Longinus was recreated.
Next stop's Osaka Castle, a short stroll away. The castle itself is small, compared to the park and grounds around it. Back in feudal days, it made sense to have large buffer areas and moats for defensive purposes. Now, it just makes for another painful trail of tears.
The castle was mediocre; Himeji easily puts it to shame. Exhibits were just lacking. However, I played an carnival archery game and got 3 out of 5 target hits, thanks to tips from watching "Top Shot" back in the U.S. I won a toy archery set, but I gave it back and had the girl give it to the next kid.
After check-in and a quick nap, I set off for a shrine visit. There's apparently an area near Nipponbashi that has a concentration of small shrines. Thought it would be interesting. After another fiasco with the wrong subway line, I discovered that the place's only a few minutes away from the hostel, by walking. So it's a waste of subway fare. On top of that, it's another disappointment.
Earlier, the front desk girl suggested that I check out Dotonbori, which is a popular entertainment area with lots of lights and wacky billboards and displays (such as the Glico Running Man). Of all places I could pick for dinner, I chose... Osaka Ohsho.
Osaka Ohsho is abound in Japan, even in Miyako. I went purely for the novelty of namesake; I would not eat there on a normal day. It's not the food is bad, but it's just stereotypical Chinese food at Japanese prices. I noticed the kitchen's mostly staffed by Chinese people. And Dotonbori actually felt more like SF Chinatown, except that the tourists and workforce's nationalities are reversed.
Rest of the night was uneventful. I also walked around the adjacent Shinsaibashi, and turned the evening into a third trail of tears on this trip.
All that walking today gave me time to think though. Whenever I see couples, I can feel the hate rising. In most cases, there's nothing wrong with them; I'm just having sour grapes syndrome since I'm unwillingly single. However, my current predicament means that it would be socially irresponsible for me not to hate on them. Thus, I had my epiphany.
Alright, enough philosophy, early day for Kyoto tomorrow.
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