Osaka it to Me, Baby

When I look out my hotel window out at Osaka, twinkling at night, I feel like I am in a science fiction movie in space, where I will see cars flying by my window at any moment. The buildings have bizarre shapes, and although there are mountains far off in the distance, the buildings seep all the way to their bases. It’s quite overwhelming. When we were in Tokyo, we were in a hotel where we were not on a high floor, and we were in our own little world, which felt comfortable. Here in Osaka, we are perched at the top of a high tower, and it can be difficult to feel grounded at moments. Welcome to the first travel wall. Oh, but we have beds, and pillows and couches and chairs! Life is good.

It’s week #4 of travel, and our third week in Japan. We’re tired after all that we’ve done and seen, and this week has been a time of relaxation and well needed rest. Luna’s needed some space to play and run and jump, and we’ve really tried to find places for her to play- although they seem less available here in Osaka than anywhere else I’ve ever been. Yesterday I went and asked the concierge where the nearest playground was, and they looked at me like I had three heads. They said there weren’t any. They looked it up on the internet, and when they found one at the Osaka Castle, they assured me there was one there. When we visited it later, and it turned out to be an area of ground where you play- just an empty sandy area, with not a playground in sight. Luna sat on the ground and wept. We know it’s not such a big deal, but the little differences can add up for Luna.

Here are some of the highlights from our week in Osaka. We’ve visited the Osaka Aquarium, which is one of the best in Asia, but Atlanta wins. It made me proud, in a way. They did have a baby dolphin swimming with its Mama, just 10 days old, and that was incredible to watch. There was another Japanese baseball game that Mom, Dad, Josh and Luna went to- I stayed at the hotel and regrouped. We had high tea at the hotel- yippee! I love tea and having something like tea is rhythmic for me- and they even had green tea matcha scones! We visited Osaka Castle yesterday, where we climbed all the way to the top- the views were gorgeous and Luna loved being inside an actual castle. We had a fun time visiting Universal Japan- which had 11 million visitors the year that is opened- the biggest opening of any amusement park in the world. When the gates opened, people were sprinting through the park to get to the new Harry Potter world that opened in July- we’d never seen anything like it!

Osaka is vast and sprawling, so it’s a bit hard to get a grip on what there is to do. There is so much to see- so we’ve walked around and here are some of the amazing things that we’ve seen. When we first arrived in Asia, the big differences stand out the most- architecture, infrastructure, etc. But now, having grown slightly accustomed to those, the little things are really catching our eyes. Here are some observations:

1) There are no napkins at all in Japan- those towels they give you at Japanese restaurants in the US? Those are your napkins. You just wipe your fingers on them to keep them clean.

2) There are no paper towels in the bathroom, and sometimes there isn’t soap. Sometimes there aren’t any dryers either, so we look like little birds when we leave a restroom, flapping our hands to get them to dry.

3) Japan is the cleanest place I’ve ever been. Here are some examples: No trash anywhere on the streets. Actually, there are no trash cans, either. We often have to hold our trash in our bags for several hours before we come across a trash receptacle. People are very aware of their spaces, and maybe it’s because people are tightly squeezed together. At hotels, the cleaning ladies take off their shoes to come into the rooms and clean them. In dressing rooms at clothing stores, they make you take off your shoes to enter the dressing room. Also at dressing rooms in stores, they also have these head covers, that look like see-through pillow cases that you put on your head to try on clothes. I laughed out loud when they gave me one and had Josh come and take a picture. It’s a very clean place.

4) The people of Japan are very kind. They will bend over backwards to help you if you need it. We’ve had people offer to walk us across a train station to help us get where we are going.

5) Japanese parents are huge proponents of baby-wearing. There are more Egros here than I’ve ever seen before. I love seeing them all snuggled up with their babes.

6) The English language is used to be cool, even if it’s completely out of context and wrong. We were walking around a mall the other night and saw some great stores named Uncessary or Necessary, Midwest, Anatomy of Ear, Bags N’ Nouns, and our favorite- Plain People. We walked by the Panasonic Store and they had a band signing. The name of the boy band? Balls. There are also other bands named News, and Super Junior and Top Combine. Our favorite t-shirt we’ve seen lately said ” I am a motel. My name is Eileen.” I don’t know where to buy this shirt, but I want one.