Oh, oh, oh, Osaka!

December 14-17

Our second-to-last flight of the trip was gloriously painless. Officially done with budget airlines, our Cathay Pacific flight included a meal and in seat entertainment (super grateful that I was able to use my Alaska miles to spring for such extravagance). When we got to Osaka, we had to go through a digitized arrival process and then an in person one before we could finally claim our bags, but this all went pretty quickly and we soon found ourselves on the MRT bound for Namba Station.

Now you may recall that our last post left off on a cliff hanger, vis-a-vis my final rabies shot. Back in Taipei, we had researched options in Osaka and made the plan to immediately visit an International Hospital a few stops from our hotel. Based on our research, an International Hospital was most likely to have the vaccine AND staff who spoke English. We set out into the quickly descending darkness of 5 pm (because we are back up north now and have the Big Dark to contend with), and unfortunately were disappointed on both fronts. I spoke with a very nice receptionist at the front desk via Google Translate, who informed me after a few minutes wait that they did not have the vaccine and she was not able to help me find a hospital that did. At this point, I was feeling pretty hopeless. After a long travel day and now 4 strike outs in a row, we were starting to rationalize that maybe 3 shots was enough, right? What's the harm in just being a little rabid?

That night to sooth our worries we found a ramen place right across from our hotel. It was just a small counter with two guys working the stove. You ordered and paid via a machine, then brought your ticket to the counter. For about $10, we both had some of the best ramen of our lives, with the broth thick enough to stand a chopstick up in, and things didn't feel quite so devastating for a bit.

Day 1: The End of the Rabies Saga and Osaka Castle

The next morning, we set out bright and early to get to yet another hospital right when they opened for registration--the best option for a foreigner without an appointment, according to the internet. I didn't have high hopes at this point, but fortunately the registration desk was able to let me down quickly by immediately informing me they didn't have the vaccine in stock. At least I didn't have to wait this time! Our last hope was a travel clinic nearby that Calvin found online. We knew for sure they had the vaccine--they listed it specifically on their website--but did not know if they would treat me, as they clearly state that their purpose is to treat people before traveling abroad, similar to the clinic Cal and I visited in Seattle prior to our departure. The website says they only do preventative/preparatory treatment, so I was worried we would have to talk our way into getting our hands on that vile.

When we walked in, the two women at the front desk called to the back and brought out a women who greeted us in English--it was clear they had seen the two very white people walk in and immediately brought out the translator. I explained that I needed the final dose of my rabies series, and tentatively asked if it was possible for me to get that here. She quickly said yes, asked how many doses I had already received, and then told me that since I did not have an appointment I might have to wait a bit. Immediately relieved, I would have been happy to wait all day, but within 10 minutes the same women came back to collect us and bring us to a small room with the doctor where she continued to serve as translator. After the basic questions--am I allergic to anything, have I ever had a bad reaction to a vaccine, etc.--I got the jab and was shown to a recovery room to wait for about 10 minutes to make sure I didn't have a reaction. While we waited, we overheard another patient who came in the front door and asked if they spoke English, if they had the rabies vaccine, and if he could schedule an appointment for his son to receive his fourth dose after being bitten by a dog in Thailand. Apparently, I'm not as unique as I had thought!

Now fully rabies-free, we stopped back at the hotel for a quick refresh before heading out to start actually enjoying Osaka. We decided to walk to Osaka Castle, which was about an hour on foot from where we were staying. We have found that walking around, especially on the first day in a place, really gives you a feel for the layout and vibe of a city. Oddly, many parts of Osaka look and feel like parts of Seattle, from the architecture to the weather to the landscape. Along the way, we stopped at a 7/11 for a quick grab and go lunch. I think I hinted at this in one of my previous posts, but if you are not familiar with the institution 7/11 is in Asia, and specifically in Japan, you need to know that it is really a world apart from the cheap gas station convenience stores we are familiar with back home. The prepared food section in 7/11 (and its compatriots, FamilyMart and Lawson's) is akin to Trader Joe's--really high quality, freshly prepared, and delicious. Fresh onigiri (rice balls) with a variety of fillings. Sandwiches with fluffy, never soggy bread. Even bao or dumplings hot and ready from the oven! The best part is you can't really spend more than $10, regardless of impulse purchases. In the last, waning days of our budget, we have made 7/11 a regular part of our diet.

Once we got to Osaka Castle, we walked around the expansive grounds and took in the imposing fortress. Huge rocks brought in from quarries far away made up the walls surrounding the beautiful structure, and gates built and rebuilt after fires granted entry to samurai and tourist alike. We have been to quite a few castles on this trip, so it was cool to see how monarchal housing has consistencies and variances across cultures. Similarities between motes, castle wall construction, and even slots in the ceilings of gates for spearmen to attack from were all a familiar martial flavor we saw thousands of miles apart. At the same time, building material (UK's stone vs. Japan's wooden castles), height (two story vs. eight), and the distance between buildings within the walls (UK's most defensible positions are small buttes where space is limited, whereas Japan's most defensible position is being away from the neighboring structure's fire) were all fascinating differences to observe. Unlike Versailles or Stirling Castle, we weren't able to walk through any of the actual living spaces in Osaka Castle. But each floor did have fascinating exhibits on the various phases of Japanese history, and how each leader faced the challenges of unifying Japan differently.

After the castle, we made our way back to Namba to find dinner. We discovered a tiny sushi place right around the corner from our hotel. A few tables in the back, 6 chairs at the counter, and one guy running the show. When we first walked by, the place was empty, but when we doubled back about 10 minutes later he had already gotten swamped. We sat at the counter and ordered the special--chef's choice sushi with a draft beer for ¥1100 (about $7). The guy kept apologizing to us in broken English that it was taking so long, and we kept trying to tell him that it was all good, we were just happy to be there. When he finally got around to preparing our sushi, he asked us where we were from. I said the US, and he asked, "New York?" and I said, "No, Seattle." To which he enthusiastically exclaimed, "Seattle?! Ichiro!" Then, the guy sitting down the bar from us joined in with his own, "Ichiro!" At which point, I had to give my own, "Ichiro!" as well. It was a precious and lovely connection, and the sushi was fantastic.

After dinner, we walked around a corner to a bar we had passed earlier but hadn't been open yet. The place was small, with a few patrons already at the bar. Bright umbrellas hung from the ceiling, and a video of an early 2000s Scorpions concert played on the 3 TVs around the room. We were the only foreigners in the place, and the sole bartender took great care of us. I got some kind of cocktail with pickled ginger (like the kind that comes with sushi back home), and Cal got a Japanese Whisky highball. We stayed for 2 rounds, even though we can't really afford it, and Cal decided he's now a Scorpions fan. After a stressful start to the morning, we really had an incredible first day in Osaka.

Day 2: The Mint Museum and Hitting the Streets

After getting up bright and early on Day 1 to try to get to the hospital when it opened, we decided we had earned a bit of a lay in on Day 2 in Osaka. We got breakfast in our hotel around 9:30, then head out to one of "the best free things to do in Osaka," the Japan Mint Museum! Calvin is about as much of a coin collector as you can be without actually collecting coins, and I'm always a sucker for a good history museum. We got the English audio guides (as all the signs were in Japanese) and explored the surprisingly fascinating history of Japanese coin making. Some of the first use of coin currency was in China back around 1000 BCE, which eventually came over to Japan through trade. Each region of Japan developed their own currency over time, with some regions simply using Chinese coins instead of a local currency. At various times the unified Japanese government issued official currency, but each was used in tandem with local and Chinese currency up until the Meiji period in the late 1800s, when the official mint was built in Osaka. Some of the most interesting objects we saw were basically enormous, palm-sized one-off gold coins. These egg-shaped monsters would be inked with their face value, and a single one could be used to purchase various day to day goods, like, say, an army or a castle. Not a coin you'd want to lose in the wash! Another fascinating coin was what amounted to a rectangular plate of silver bludgeoned with an authenticating stamp over and over again across the entire surface. This bar could be traded at the value of all the stamps combined, or parted off bit by bit to create decidedly non-uniform but still official change. Imagine tearing a dollar bill up to give someone 25 cents! All this, among lathes, pantographs, and precision manufacturing equipment made Calvin a happy boy.

From the museum, we found our way into one of the many shopping centers that occupy the spaces above MRT stations. These shopping centers are essentially covered streets lined with shops that go on for blocks and blocks. Different centers have different focuses--some are food markets, others clothing--but all have a combination of retail stores and street food stalls. We spent our afternoon winding our way through a few of these markets, mainly stopping in vintage clothing stores to see if we could find Cal some Japanese denim (no luck in Osaka), and stumbled upon a store that specializes in objects lost on the metro! This was a funny contrast to a similar enterprise we found in Berlin--a vending machine brimming with anonymized undelivered postal packages. Although we didn't take our chances in Germany, this time around I made out like a bandit by picking up a triceratops ring. How anyone could risk losing this bad boy I'll never know. This concluded with us making our way to the famous Dotonburi Canal district, with its vibrant neon and dramatic signs.

We finished our night at an Izakaya, which is kind of like Japanese tapas. We ordered Wagyu beef, fresh stir fried okra, gyoza that we watched being made on site, and a truly magical okonomiyaki. We weren't too sure if we'd made the right choice in ordering until we watched as our food was prepared and served, wondering why there was so much of it. Had we accidentally ordered twice? Turns out, the pair of locals just to our right at the bar ordered the exact same meal as us! Our culinary choices reaffirmed, we chowed down on some truly great grub.

Osaka is a cool city. I'm not sure if its because it felt so similar to home or if we just liked the vibe, but both Cal and I agreed that of all the places we've visited, it is one of the cities where we could actually see ourselves living. It has the right blend of big city, while also being welcoming and easy to navigate. Each of the small shops and restaurants we visited felt personal and local, like they would have been at home in a small town. Our time in Osaka was wonderful, and we are eager to see what else Japan has in store.