Monday, Nov 10

Highlights of the Day:

  • Getting a Costco rotisserie chicken delivered to my door
  • Putting a second comforter on while I lay in bed listening to my audiobook – it was so cozy!

I struggled with the trash separation. Japan is as anal about trash separation and recycling as Korea…but all the categories are different :-\ It’s like burnable vs non-burnable. Three separate categories of plastics. And different things are supposed to go in specific different bags. Then I got it all downstairs…and couldn’t figure out where to leave it cuz the labeled containers are for specific plastics, not “general” trash. I just left my bag on top of those labeled containers. I’m sure that’s wrong and I’m gonna get yelled at.

Stupid Americans.

Tuesday, Nov 11

Today my confidence surpassed my skill. I headed out this morning, bright and early, to a series of train transfers I was sure I understood perfectly.

I did not. Somehow, midstream, while trying to change trains, I was also instructed to change train stations. And the difference between the original station and the new station was like the difference between taking the Long Island Railroad from Massapequa Park into New York City…and taking Amtrak from NYC to California. I felt like I would go seriously off-path if I got on one of these trains, if I could even figure out which one to get on.

So I gave up. Sigh. I went outside and used one of the Japanese ride-share apps, DiDi, to came take me the last little but to my destination. I’d really been So Close!

Fun Fact: in a lot of Japanese taxis, the driver presses a button and the passenger door opens by itself! Fun, right??

Please Mind the Gap. More or less.

Anyway, I was headed to a bus tour of Osaka. One of those hop-on hop-off busses, but I had no intention of hopping. I was looking forward to just sitting and looking out the window. Getting the lay of the land a bit. I got on at the second stop, and I was the only one on the bus. The guide came to give me the schpiel and then we started talking. Turns out he’s Korean, from Korea, and has only been in Japan about a year. It was so nice to hear Korean-accented/inflected spoken language again…it made me homesick…for Korea! I got to use my Korean a little bit, too. Which, while rusty, I still managed to hold my own in a tiny Koreann conversation. He was adorable and we chatted til finally others got on the bus and he went about his guide duties, sharing information about the areas we were passing through.

Now I have a short list of neighborhoods to return to, to just sort of wander (except I definitely want to return to the temple with the statue made of human bones)

The tour lasted two hours, but the time flew by. One of my favorite things is just riding along, looking out the window.

Afterwards, I headed home (Guide Guy told me which station to go to for an easy trip home) – successfully – rested a bit, worked for a bit…and now it’s 8pm and I’m about to get in bed with a k-drama.

Wednesday, Nov 12

I stayed in. Did computer stuff. Napped. Ate cheese and crackers.

It was glorious.

Thursday, Nov 13

For Sally. So many rabbits in Japan!

Ahh, the day started out So Well. I actually got TO my destination with no errors. I caught two things before I got derailed, so that was good. I know that being in the train stations makes me a little anxious. There’s So Much Going On. All the people (So Many People), all the signs in different shapes, sizes, color…overhead and underfoot…mostly in Japanese, with a smattering of English here and there when you can find it. Printed signs and like…digital (? I guess that;s what you call them) signs that keep changing. It’s a lot. And when I get sort of overwhelmed and anxious like in that situation, my brain just shuts down, and I don’t notice things. It’s like there’s a million things to take notice of, but I can only focus on one at a time. And I miss stuff.

But each time I go, I notice a little more. OHH…orange names in Google Maps means my train is on an orange line, so if I’m at a purple line, I’m in the wrong place. I mean, duh, right? Sounds so obvious. But it’s taken me two weeks to realize the colors mean something. Also, sometimes you’re underground and getting on a train…but sometimes you get on a subway. And I can’t really tell them apart.

It was a train vs subway situation today that messed me up. And it really messed up cuz I realized I was in a subway station and needed to leave, like go up out on the street, and find a train station. And that ended badly. I walked and walked and walked and walked…my hips were done, I was drenched with sweat, I was frustrated…and I gave up and had an uber come get me. FORTY DOLLARS. Twenty miles. Ugh. That’s almost half my week’s budget (cuz I finally did a budget for here).

When I got home, I collapsed on the bed and don’t think I ever really got up again. I’d walked 2.5 miles. That’s a lot for me. And why does it never get easier??

Anyway, I enjoyed the thing I went to do, ha ha. It was such a small part of my day…and I’m going to do a separate post on it.

Friday, Nov 14

Needed a no-spend, no-move day. Spent a lot of time trying to figure out next moves, flights, costs, etc. I’m having a really hard time pulling the trigger on my flight out of here to Thailand in the end of December. I want it to be cheap, I feel like it should be cheap. But every cheap flight has something. The luggage weight is super low (33lbs) and they won’t tell me til I’ve booked what the overweight charge will be. And I’ve heard some horror stories about some airlines on this side of the world, charging just exorbitant overweight fees – like $500!!! So I won’t book without knowing, and they won’t tell me without booking. Sigh.

Or others look good, but they’re “self transfer,” which is like what I had to do in March when I returned to the US from Korea and at my first point of entry into the US (San Francisco, the longest airport in the world), I had to go through all the things, claim my baggage, go through the things again, recheck my baggage…before I could go to the gate. With a 3-hour layover I just barely made it. The Google says a minimum of 6 hour layover for a self transfer. To find one that’s six hours, you end up at like 19+ hours. Layover. That’s not even the flying time.

One is nonstop and cheap, but it has horrible reviews…and the same mystery baggage weight issue.

I want cheap, but I also can’t give myself more stress with all these kinds of things. And there’s just a lot of THINGS. So I spent a lot of time looking today…and finally had to shut’er down cuz I was getting…ugh. And I somehow scratched my bad eye, the inner corner rim and the lid – so it’s super sore and sensitive.

I just want to go to sleep and start over again tomorrow.

Saturday, Nov 15

Convenience store (konbini) haul

Other than taking a short walk in the morning to a different convenience store, I didn’t go anywhere today. Just…piddled. Happily piddled.

Prettiest juice box of sake

Sunday, Nov 16

Today started out as a simple day…and then wasn’t a simple day.

I’d asked ChatGPT for an easy outing…either a no-transfer train ride, or, if there was a transfer, at least no station change. With something pleasant and easy at the other end.

Keitakuen Japanese Garden. That’s where I was headed. Seemed harmless enough. A lovely garden, there would undoubtedly be plenty of benches so I could rest my hips frequently…and it looked like an easy ride there and back.

Okay, so today I learned an important lesson: just because something is right there does not mean I need to walk to it. I did the garden, and then I was like, ‘Oh look, a zoo.’ And then I came out and was like, ‘Oh look, Shinsekai.” And before I knew it I’d walked across half of Osaka.

I usually plan, at MOST, two things in a day – a THING, and coffee or food. Then home. That’s enough. This was a trifecta of pain and exhaustion…and I didn’t even eat! Well, I had a small cup of ice cream at the zoo cuz I had walked MILES looking for the ^*%^! red pandas. I kept almost giving up but I was SO CLOSE. Except that I wasn’t. And when I finally found the red panda enclosure I wished I had given up, cuz he was so sad 🙁 Which made me sad. I really never do zoos. But this was RIGHT THERE. And red pandas.

When I walked out of the zoo I was right across the street from the entrance to Sinsekai which is a warren of alleyways filled with bars and restaurants. And they all try to outdo one another to catch the eyes of passersby and lure them in – huge 3d displays, loud music, etc. It’s a little chaotic, but in the best possible way.

According to the bus tour guide the other day, Shinsekai means “new world,” and was modeled after New York’s Coney Island. I totally see it.

Walking around the streets, I was starving and it smelled amazing…but it was a bit much for my brain to focus on picking a place or something from a menu…so after wandering a bit amongst the crowd, watching the show…I got myself back out to the main street and requested an Uber to take me back to the train station. I knew it wasn’t that far, a little over half a mile, but there would be more stairs, and my hips were done. Then the train home….

And I successfully completed my First Ever Japanese Train Adventure with No Screw Ups. Go Me.

I got home and collapsed on the bed…thinking a hot tub soak would be lovely…but not being able to move.

Two weeks down in Japan. Six to go.

 

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