Day One in Osaka

The first thing to report today is that the drugs didn’t work – and I’m not really surprised.  I think the tablet did something very bad to me but I recovered and I’m here telling you about it, so it’s all good.  I was attempting to doze off and I suddenly felt very dizzy short of breath and broke out in a sweat.  If I’d been standing, I’m sure I would have fainted.  I felt a bit panicky, but just took a few deep breaths and got past it.  That’s now officially my last attempt to fight the fact that I can’t sleep on planes.  The Temazapam’s going in the bin and I’ll leave it to nature in future.



Graffiti is not a common sight - but this one is typical Japanese

Despite the frightening thunderstorm which hit about an hour before we departed, the KL to Osaka flight was good.  The worst thing was arriving in Osaka and joining the HUGE queue for passport checks.  Once I got through that, it was only a 10 minute wait for the train into the centre of Osaka and a short walk (without my navigator!) to the hotel.  I was so close to going down the wrong road, but I’d marked the McDonald’s on my map as well as a couple of other shops and managed to line it all up and head the right way.  Yes, I know it’s a bit sad to use McDonald’s as my landmark, but that’s all I’ll use it for.

How much is that doggy in the window?
  I think this is a dog training school

As I write I’m absolutely exhausted.  I started off by buying a few essentials that can’t be taken in hand luggage (scissors etc.) and then going to the main Osaka Station to organise tickets to Kanazawa for myself and one of my classmates for Sunday.  That’s all done so we’re all set to go on the ‘real’ part of the adventure.  I then spent most of the morning just strolling around the Umeda area, checking out the shops and the activity.  Part way through the morning, I realised that I no longer had the little bag of ‘essentials’ previously mentioned.  I remembered hanging the bag on a hook when I went to the toilet, so I decided to try to find my way back.  The Osaka/Umeda Station is a sight to behold.  It consists of the main Japan Rail Osaka Station, two private lines, two subway stations and hundreds of shops.  You could walk in the door and never be seen again.  In fact, I’m sure I saw a few tourists who looked like they’d been there for weeks trying to find their way out.  But against the odds (particularly as I’m without that navigator), I found the toilets - however, no bag.  Next stop was the ticket office where I bought the tickets.  After a bit of scrabbling around, the bag was recovered.  That’s how things work in Japan.  They don’t seem to think about walking off with other people’s property.

My lunch spot

So, by then I was getting really tired and my feet were killing me.  I’ve always said that you could stand anywhere in Japan and spin around in a circle and you’ll find a convenience store and a vending machine.  But it seems that this doesn’t hold true when you have sore feet and you’re tired.  I have never walked so far without finding a ‘konbini’ as I did today.  The good side of this was that when I did finally find one, there was a very nice little park just across the road, so I was able to sit there with the birds and trees and flowers and a few other relaxing people and eat my lovely bento lunch.  It consisted of a few rice balls, some egg, noodles, and some fried ‘somethings’.  It was really nice.

Osaka Prefectural Library

The break didn’t really help my sore feet, but I had things I wanted to see and do.  Back at the station, I took the subway to the Yodoyabashi Bridge area.  There is a long island between two rivers and several nice buildings and gardens are located there.  There’s a very well-kept Rose Garden, but unfortunately, it’s the wrong time for them to be flowering.  I did a bit of a photo shoot, including the library, but didn’t have the energy to go in.

I then hobbled back to the station and back to my hotel in Nanba.  On the way, I suddenly remembered that I’d need tea bags as the hotel provides two types of powdered Japanese tea, but as much as I like to do things the Japanese way when I’m here, I do need a cup of English style black tea.  I was very disheartened when the first konbini didn’t sell them, but I limped into the one near the hotel and there it was, hidden in the corner with other stuff they don’t sell much of.  Thanks Mr Family Mart.  You saved the day.

Interesting name for a cafe!
 

I had every intention of going out for dinner to find our friendly noodle man that we met on our last visit, but I know my feet wouldn’t make it – and I have a lovely deep bath only a few steps away from me.  There are several noodle bars etc. nearby, so I went for a noodle dish followed by a savoury rice ball and a pineapple yoghurt.  All very nice! (I think the staff at the noodle bar were a bit surprised to see me, but relaxed a bit when I ordered in Japanese).

Just finishing off my Skype call with John, then it’s a soak in bath and 8 hours of unconsciousness.