8月18日
Osaka, Day 2.
I must have woken up somewhere after 10:00 am. I had slept a lot to make up for the lack of sleep the night previous. I left my room to brush my teeth and said good morning to my friend and his family. His mother was making breakfast and his sister was setting the table, as per usual.
The food, bomb as always. Hot pot veggies with poached egg, rice, fried salmon, with Japanese kimchi and fatty roe. There was also cold tofu with ponzu and katsuobushi, basically dried fish flakes (it tastes a lot better than it sounds). Then I think there was kiwi too? Like wow, so much good food. I think I inadvertently taught my friend’s little sister to eat the skin of the salmon with rice (I wasn’t bout to let crispy salmon skin alone, I’m just not about that life).
I asked my friend what we were gonna do that day, and he said we were gonna do some more touristy things. We visited Shinsekai and had kutshikatsu in beef and okra variations. Took a picture with the Tsutenkaku Tower, then got on our way to some places young people like to hang out.
Osaka, Day 2.
I must have woken up somewhere after 10:00 am. I had slept a lot to make up for the lack of sleep the night previous. I left my room to brush my teeth and said good morning to my friend and his family. His mother was making breakfast and his sister was setting the table, as per usual.
The food, bomb as always. Hot pot veggies with poached egg, rice, fried salmon, with Japanese kimchi and fatty roe. There was also cold tofu with ponzu and katsuobushi, basically dried fish flakes (it tastes a lot better than it sounds). Then I think there was kiwi too? Like wow, so much good food. I think I inadvertently taught my friend’s little sister to eat the skin of the salmon with rice (I wasn’t bout to let crispy salmon skin alone, I’m just not about that life).
I asked my friend what we were gonna do that day, and he said we were gonna do some more touristy things. We visited Shinsekai and had kutshikatsu in beef and okra variations. Took a picture with the Tsutenkaku Tower, then got on our way to some places young people like to hang out.
We went to HEP 5 in Umeda, which is short for Hankyu Entertainment Park Five. There are seven floors of shops, food, and a ferris wheel at the rooftop that makes it easily noticeable from the street.
I think I was still on a search for a hat and/or sunglasses that would fit my head, and searched most stores with this in mind. It was also pretty interesting seeing the differences in Korean and Japanese fashion, as I find that most shops in Korea have a lot of clothes catering to one specific trend, whereas Japanese shops have a small selection of a wide variety of trends. I still wanted some round sunglasses, but couldn’t commit to any. I found a pair that my friend thought looked pretty good, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to spend 1000 yen on it (because I think that sunglasses really shouldn’t be more than like 750? Unless you’re buying designer. I just wanted some dinky no-name round sunglasses). We looked around the many shops, and stopped at a café to rehydrate and catch up a little bit.
I think I was still on a search for a hat and/or sunglasses that would fit my head, and searched most stores with this in mind. It was also pretty interesting seeing the differences in Korean and Japanese fashion, as I find that most shops in Korea have a lot of clothes catering to one specific trend, whereas Japanese shops have a small selection of a wide variety of trends. I still wanted some round sunglasses, but couldn’t commit to any. I found a pair that my friend thought looked pretty good, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to spend 1000 yen on it (because I think that sunglasses really shouldn’t be more than like 750? Unless you’re buying designer. I just wanted some dinky no-name round sunglasses). We looked around the many shops, and stopped at a café to rehydrate and catch up a little bit.
The café was dope. It was near the top of the building and had a great view of Osaka, and the drinks and pastries were doooooooope.
I had an iced Vietnamese coffee and a croissant stuffed with salty sweet milk cream (I think? Idk I can’t read Japanese, the English just said salty milk) but it was tasty. I think this specific place was known for its Pain au Chocolat, but I didn’t care. My friend said he’s noticed that they’ve gotten smaller over the years, but I didn’t mind.
I had an iced Vietnamese coffee and a croissant stuffed with salty sweet milk cream (I think? Idk I can’t read Japanese, the English just said salty milk) but it was tasty. I think this specific place was known for its Pain au Chocolat, but I didn’t care. My friend said he’s noticed that they’ve gotten smaller over the years, but I didn’t mind.
We then went to a store called Don Quixote that just had everything? Like it was multiple floors of just anything that you could possibly need.
Camping supplies? Have them.
Expensive Headphones? Yep.
Novelty Japanese Underwear with a slot for your ding-dong? Uh.
(yeah)
I think I was trying to look for oil blotting papers as my nose tends to get oily in these humid Asian climates, and my friend considered purchasing this hair removal cream. I asked him if it was fashionable for Japanese guys to remove their body hair (like legs, arms, etc.) and he said either is okay. I also asked him about the notably darker population here than in cities like Tokyo or Seoul and he said that in Osaka both light skin and dark skin are okay, and people tend to just accept both kinds.
That actually made me really happy. For a long time I’ve felt…not ostracized, but subliminally segregated from Asian populations that only prized light skin. There is a larger discussion of colorism within the Asian Diaspora, but I don’t really think now is the time.
I just thought it was cool seeing more people who looked like me, is all.
Camping supplies? Have them.
Expensive Headphones? Yep.
Novelty Japanese Underwear with a slot for your ding-dong? Uh.
(yeah)
I think I was trying to look for oil blotting papers as my nose tends to get oily in these humid Asian climates, and my friend considered purchasing this hair removal cream. I asked him if it was fashionable for Japanese guys to remove their body hair (like legs, arms, etc.) and he said either is okay. I also asked him about the notably darker population here than in cities like Tokyo or Seoul and he said that in Osaka both light skin and dark skin are okay, and people tend to just accept both kinds.
That actually made me really happy. For a long time I’ve felt…not ostracized, but subliminally segregated from Asian populations that only prized light skin. There is a larger discussion of colorism within the Asian Diaspora, but I don’t really think now is the time.
I just thought it was cool seeing more people who looked like me, is all.
Anyways, we were waiting for his dad because he wanted to take me out to thank me for taking care of his son all this time, etc. etc.
We first went to an Italian restaurant (lol) and spent quite a bit of time there. We ordered multiple appetizers and had a Japanese take on Italian Pasta and a pizza with bacon and mushrooms. It was all really good, especially the antipasto we had that was raw fish in lemon with shaved onion and pink peppercorns, and the octopus in pesto sauce.
His dad asked me a lot about my concentration at university, what I want to do with my life, how I see things, etc. I explained that I’m really interested in promoting and defending the rights of marginalized groups and that if I were to go to graduate school, I’d probably focus on something like that. He also asked me why I didn’t have a girlfriend.
I actually recall my friend’s mom asking me the same thing the night before.
Anyways I didn’t want to be all “lol b/c I’m not straight” because I didn’t think that place was the right time for a discussion on sexual fluidity and bisexuality/pansexuality.
So I basically just said it’s because I’m tryna do me before I go and try to do “us” if that makes sense.
Like, I want to work on my self-esteem and how I view myself as a person before I try and share something like a romantic relationship.
Anyways, my friend’s dad then took us out to a bar in Kitashinchi, which I believe is known for its nightlife (?) and the bar we went to was really swanky and I believe the type where business men go to converse with and spend time with, uhm…the ladyfolk…if you will…
(It wasn’t sexual or anything) it was just interesting. I don’t think we really have something like that in the States, where the women are employed to sort of strike conversation and pour drinks for specific customers. It wasn’t necessarily Hostess Club, but like it? I think I was just taken aback by how swanky it was. I immediately thought of my father and had single malt scotch whisky. I forgot the brand, but it was pretty good from what I remember. I took it straight (because that’s what my father does) and the others were pretty surprised. It only prompted my friend to repeat what he said the night previous about me being strong with my alcohol (again, it’s whatever). One of the girls was a student in Manhattan at SUNY for fashion design, and we talked a bit about New York (as I’ve visited before) and our majors and things like that. When we were about to leave, she gave me and my friend her Line username on a business card.
We first went to an Italian restaurant (lol) and spent quite a bit of time there. We ordered multiple appetizers and had a Japanese take on Italian Pasta and a pizza with bacon and mushrooms. It was all really good, especially the antipasto we had that was raw fish in lemon with shaved onion and pink peppercorns, and the octopus in pesto sauce.
His dad asked me a lot about my concentration at university, what I want to do with my life, how I see things, etc. I explained that I’m really interested in promoting and defending the rights of marginalized groups and that if I were to go to graduate school, I’d probably focus on something like that. He also asked me why I didn’t have a girlfriend.
I actually recall my friend’s mom asking me the same thing the night before.
Anyways I didn’t want to be all “lol b/c I’m not straight” because I didn’t think that place was the right time for a discussion on sexual fluidity and bisexuality/pansexuality.
So I basically just said it’s because I’m tryna do me before I go and try to do “us” if that makes sense.
Like, I want to work on my self-esteem and how I view myself as a person before I try and share something like a romantic relationship.
Anyways, my friend’s dad then took us out to a bar in Kitashinchi, which I believe is known for its nightlife (?) and the bar we went to was really swanky and I believe the type where business men go to converse with and spend time with, uhm…the ladyfolk…if you will…
(It wasn’t sexual or anything) it was just interesting. I don’t think we really have something like that in the States, where the women are employed to sort of strike conversation and pour drinks for specific customers. It wasn’t necessarily Hostess Club, but like it? I think I was just taken aback by how swanky it was. I immediately thought of my father and had single malt scotch whisky. I forgot the brand, but it was pretty good from what I remember. I took it straight (because that’s what my father does) and the others were pretty surprised. It only prompted my friend to repeat what he said the night previous about me being strong with my alcohol (again, it’s whatever). One of the girls was a student in Manhattan at SUNY for fashion design, and we talked a bit about New York (as I’ve visited before) and our majors and things like that. When we were about to leave, she gave me and my friend her Line username on a business card.
We then headed to a Music Bar my friend was talking about where we could jam with others.
What I didn’t know was how old the clientele was gonna be.
If my friend and I weren’t there, then my friend’s dad would easily be the youngest person there.
My friend and I performed a couple of songs, but there was clearly a generation gap.
It was still really fun though, because the people who were there were very talented. It was like karaoke but actual live performances. One of the performances was a duet between these elderly Japanese people but they were singing like operatic German songs? I was so impressed.
Once more people showed up, I remember singing Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly” for the patrons, which they really appreciated. My friend played guitar for a lot of the songs.
When they heard that I was from California, they couldn’t stop the California themed songs. Hotel California, that sort of thing. It was pretty funny. All I could think of was California Love by Tupac (not the kind of song they were thinking, I guess).
When we left, we grabbed a taxi and got back home, where I was greeted by my friend’s dog named Happy, a (happy) Dachsund-type dog. Super adorable. Totally made up for my lack of puppy-attention at the overcrowded puppy café in Seoul.
I took a shower, brushed my teeth, went to bed.
The next day, my friend and I were to explore Kyoto, as my parents had given me a sort of ultimatum.
It was where they said they had fallen in love, and I was happy to share these places with my good friend (who I, ironically enough, jokingly call my husband—it’s a long story that involves a fake marriage proposal and a ring pop).
Nonetheless, we needed to sleep if we were to get to Kyoto in the morning, so I just did a little bit of catching up online before hitting the sack.
What I didn’t know was how old the clientele was gonna be.
If my friend and I weren’t there, then my friend’s dad would easily be the youngest person there.
My friend and I performed a couple of songs, but there was clearly a generation gap.
It was still really fun though, because the people who were there were very talented. It was like karaoke but actual live performances. One of the performances was a duet between these elderly Japanese people but they were singing like operatic German songs? I was so impressed.
Once more people showed up, I remember singing Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly” for the patrons, which they really appreciated. My friend played guitar for a lot of the songs.
When they heard that I was from California, they couldn’t stop the California themed songs. Hotel California, that sort of thing. It was pretty funny. All I could think of was California Love by Tupac (not the kind of song they were thinking, I guess).
When we left, we grabbed a taxi and got back home, where I was greeted by my friend’s dog named Happy, a (happy) Dachsund-type dog. Super adorable. Totally made up for my lack of puppy-attention at the overcrowded puppy café in Seoul.
I took a shower, brushed my teeth, went to bed.
The next day, my friend and I were to explore Kyoto, as my parents had given me a sort of ultimatum.
It was where they said they had fallen in love, and I was happy to share these places with my good friend (who I, ironically enough, jokingly call my husband—it’s a long story that involves a fake marriage proposal and a ring pop).
Nonetheless, we needed to sleep if we were to get to Kyoto in the morning, so I just did a little bit of catching up online before hitting the sack.