First week in Japan 2015

Aside from the great food and company, the weather has been gorgeous. Shopping has been steady, as there is a lot to buy, we nearly go out every day to do at least a little bit.

Normally I am especially keen for just enjoying the sights and am happy to be out in a foreign land and walk around admiring stuff that’s different. I’ve been able to do that every time that I’ve come here, even though for the most part I’m set in my tracks and often do the same things each trip. I have been very conscious that I am not ‘taking it in’ as much as I nomally do though, because this time around Osaka feels weird — but I’ll elaborate on that in a future post.

I’ve put together a shopping list for sake based on recommendations I read, but it seems daunting — or perhaps unrealistic that I can complete it. The world of Sake is much different than I expected. Jizake or ‘local sake’ is the stuff hyped up by the books I have, but it’s only really stocked by Jizake shops or bought online. Fortunately I found one such shop in Den Den Town underneath Melon Books — and I bought 24 bottles at once. I’d have bought more but I already was out shopping for the day, legs were tired, and I was now carrying 20 to 30 pounds of sake in a box during the tail end of rush hour. On top of the stuff that May’s dad buys, and the beer I ritually drink at the dinner table, and wine, and shochu… I have my work cut out for me — but it will be fun.

By bullet point, here are some highlights so far:

• Sitting down for gyokuro in a teahouse while waiting for namba to open
• Buying a shino yunomi in Daimaru, and coincidentally meeting the same lady who helped me with my Bizen yunomi last year
• Randomly attending an Ikebana event with over 50 exhibits
• Seeing a chubby bar
• Seeing an old guy on a train look for escorts in the newspaper
• Learning that the cookie I love is called rangdosha
• Actually playing with Alice
• Shopping, especially for books. Japanese reference books are really special in the amount of detail they go into. I bought one for latte art, and one for the colour palate of old Japan.
• The search for a tetsubin has been sort of a pain in the ass, but its memorable, and I hope to complete it.
• Finishing up my nights by watching the LoL world championships
• The kids play area in Sakaihigashi’s Takashimaya, albiet expensive, is the best kids area I’ve ever seen
• Eating — oh man, I am eating a lot, who knew maple syrup was so good?

Tomorrow I am off to Okinawa to sit in a typhoon for 4 days and drink Awamori until I cant stand up anymore!