This blogpost covers the day of April 5nd, 2023 while in Osaka.
Had a case of lack-of-sleep going into this day. The previous day ruined it for me, now having to make me struggle for this day. I went off to my Hotel’s Cafe area with the food coupons I was provided, ordered my food, waited slightly before being allegedly told to sit in my seat. I sat down to eventually be scolded to pick up my food at the counter in a semi-rude reminder. Frustrated (and alarmed) I went to grab my food, sat back down, caught up on Twitter & Azur Lane before leaving. The way I heard their request was to sit down, so I sat down. I, instead, was scolded for not grabbing my order over a potential misunderstanding.
It was this Café incident (Cafe di Espresso kohikan) I refused to go there for the last day (tomorrow) in Osaka. Back to Conbini food for a little while longer.
After that weird incident I planned my way to meet up with a fellow KanColle Admiral who desired to show me around Osaka. He messaged me on Twitter to meet up, so we planned a meet-up. I took him up on that offer. Let’s go meet up with him at Namba. It was a destination I desired to visit previously.
Related Blog Posting (Japan Travel):
[Day 1] – [Day 2] – [Day 3] – [Day 4] – [Day 5] – [Day 6] – [Day 7] – [Day 8] – [Day 9] – [Day 10] – [Day 11] – [Day 12] – [Day 13] – [Day 14] – [Day 15]
[Side-note: If I wasn’t all frustrated and riled up yesterday I could have went to Namba instead during that afternoon and evening. I, however, instead went to Osaka Snack Park, and then KanColle Arcade before calling it a night over Universal Studio nonsense. Making up for what I missed yesterday in today’s exploration.]
Even if it was a little awkward, I kept direct messaging my fellow Japanese KanColle Admiral my general location, even curious as to where to meet up. Tried to make sure we were on the same page, even with language barriers having to use translation devices.
Was asked to wait up at the nearby Namba Park, so I went there. I sat down in an empty enough area, away from all the other people. I sat down on one of those sidewalk pedestrian linings. My fellow KanColle Admiral eventually discovered me, even greeted me. He gifted me more KanColle goodies, even showing off his custom KanColle Colorado shipgirl character. A lovely figure, that. [KanColle’s Collorado].
I felt a bit awkward unable to gift any gifts back to him, only knowing how to meet up.
Tori – Tori308179937 (Via Twitter/X)
After having exchanged our greetings, having been gifted myself, posed our figures for figure photography, and even shown his KanColle Colorado figure we were now off on a tour of Namba area. Seeing all these KanColle goodies makes me miss the properly fun Kantai Collection, not the current heart-attack inducing gameplay and nonsense.
I genuinely admire KanColle’s core elements and features of when it was genuinely fun, prior to my migration to Azur Lane. I genuinely admire people’s respect and admiration towards KanColle, even if they (on Twitter/X) refuse to show that same respect in return by unfollowing, or going hardcore fanboy weirdness. It is what it is, and I have to let it be.
I was basically being led to every figure and merchandise store relating to KanColle. If it contains KanColle, I was led to it. I found it a great experience. I even had to visit Jungle Osaka, a place which followed me on Twitter prior to visiting Japan. I 100% had to visit Jungle Osaka, and I had. It was on my list to visit in any order while in Japan. We skimmed various areas, even seeing for Frame Arms, Busou Shinki, and KanColle related goods. I’ve seen many goods, sadly those of which I couldn’t record on my phone for blogging purposes.
What I could however share is me obtaining Asra Nine-tails for the whole ‘Kitsune girl’ vibes.
[Side-note: We spent a good 5-10 minutes in Jungle Osaka trying to figure out what was the difference between this model kit, and the one “special” one. The other one was red, this one was white. I simply went for the white & red paint scheme also because of Canadian vibes. I need to represent Canada, even if it’s a Japanese figure.]
It’s still surreal I’m in Japan, let alone in Osaka of all places. A place I’ve only seen in Anime, on Youtube, and even via Google Maps. It’s genuinely surreal being in a place I’ve only seen on the internet.
[As of this blog posting I still have yet to build my first one from 2015, let alone the ones I obtained from Japan. I have a nasty backlog I need to clear out to build these before it’s too late.]
From one store to the next.
While roaming around various stores I even heard a familiar musical tune. It was either the opening or ending music to ‘A Farming Life in Another World’ (Isekai Nonbiri Nouka), a very wholesome Isekai show.
Hearing this track made me want to nostalgic-cry to this. It brought back great memories, though had one or two more episodes left to finish the show. Good times. Sadly couldn’t point it out to my buddy, he was seeking KanColle products for me to check out.
A surreal vibe with Animate being this felt more strangely rural to me, even if it was in an urban city. I unaware as to why for the surreal rural vibes, it however felt “rural”, even if it’s genuinely urban. May be how the area is laid out, how everything feels; How everything popular is Tokyo, not Osaka.
I tried seeking out Azur Lane cards, to no success. Everything was KanColle, which makes sense.
After a while of window shopping and browsing I was asked if I was hungry. I said “sure”, so we went off to a Ramen place.
I love Ramen! Yes, it’s greasy, and unhealthy, it however hits the right spot. It 80% of the time sends me off to the toilet (as it had many times in B.C, Canada and locally in Ottawa). I was however thankful it kept me in a proper state of mind in Osaka. I was able to walk around Osaka without any of the ‘nature calls’. Everything was proper. I enjoyed my meal.
I made one major mistake. I played Azur lane when instead I should have been conversing with my buddy. I should have used my DeepL translator to talk with him, not deal with Azur Lane.
I noticed he had a text ready noting how nobody steals in Japan because it’s all common goods. Things are left in the bike because it’s something you can easily purchase in stores, answering my curiousities of why Westerners are barbaric and Japanese people are more courteous. He didn’t tell me this outright, though he was waiting to do so. He had a decent wall of text noting it’s normal for Japanese people to treat others with respect and kindness, something I can greatly respect, especially on the traditional Canadian level. Proper Canadians cover one another’s back, it’s sadly not like that anymore in Canada, or less so like that. Everybody steals everything for drug money (Trudeau encourages drug use now more than ever).
My Japanese buddy kept leaving model kits in the bike making me fearful someone would steal that. In Canada that would be stolen so fast for drug money, yet in Osaka (Japan) it was left surprisingly untouched. The bike alone would be stolen in Canada, as it does on a daily and hourly basis. Bike locks get burned, picked into, and the bike itself gets trashed around. I had a few cases of my borrowed bike (roommate’s bike) being scouted out to be stolen. My friend’s green bike was stolen at my previous apartment many years prior to this.
Canadians have a retarded bike-stealing fetish. It’s disgusting.
Right off the bat I was greeted, and even told I couldn’t speak Japanese. I can speak fragmented Japanese, just not actively. Only “hai”, yet everything else takes forever to be recalled. I’m not given any proper chances (or opportunities) to speak even fragmented niche Japanese.
I digress. I skimmed the store’s various clothing and accessory selection noting neat varieities of teaseful, lewdness, and even KanColle related accessories. I bought a few shipgirl related stuff.
“How could you give him a card. You’re taking advantage of him. He’s from overseas, even unable to take advantage of the discount/offers?” – Buddy to the store owner.
[Disclaimer: Paraphrased the above. It wasn’t serious, or scolding. It was all in jest, though the full meaning and context has been lost to time. It was all in jest. No harm, no foul. It’s all fine and dandy 😉 .]
I asked a few times, as politely as I could, if we could venture to Tsutenkaku. If not, that’s fine. We could have gone to other areas, though thankfully he agreed. Maybe reluctantly, we however went onto a new mission – Mission Tsutenkaku!
And yes, I’m afraid of heights. Let’s see how much I’m allowed to do, and how much we can explore. How much are we both feeling? Let’s find out.
Happily being told and explained various things about Osaka, things I’ve tried my best in memorizing. Unsure if my sleep deprivation played any part in any mood kills and low-energy moments, I however tried to be as explorative as I could. I was probably like the cloudy overcast weather trying to be calm, cool, and collected in some form.
[Side-note: If I wasn’t sleep-deprived, nor caught in the moment, I would have taken out my Lumix GF-1 for some slightly better quality images here. I have a few regrets, and that’s one of them. What is done is done, and I have to make the most of what I currently have.]
While we were trying to figure out how to enter the Tsutenkaku I was busy admiring the under-tower art display. Underneath the tower was a neat artistic display.
Once again, my buddy left his bike unattended leaving the contents unattended. It made me highly paranoid, even a slight case of anxiety. I hate how barbaric Canadians are making me paranoid of various theft-related stuff in Japan. I kept noting this to him because it’s a muscle-memory to hide anything valuable, or even slightly valuable such as a shopping bag with groceries, or something.
We waited, even having a picture taken of me. I was caught way off guard I only had one stupid picture taken of me in a very dumb expression. Very stiff. I tried loosening up my guard for any future photography sessions for other tower explorations.
It was also noted Osaka’s greeting is money related:
Moukarimakka
KanColle Admiral & Google.
(“How’s Business?“, or “Are you making much money?“)
Recalling my Café incident of being lightly scolded to grab my order, and even of my Universal Studio nonsense the day prior, that indeed does seem true. Money! Osaka allegedly only sees money, and that’s sad. It’s true of Japan as well, yet it appears more pronounced in Osaka. Crudely flaunted? If you look at Osaka’s architecture it makes sense in various ways and manners.
Even the school girl thanking an older business male for doing sexual favours. Yeah.
Yes, I’m afraid of heights, yet I had a mission to accomplish.
- To visit the Osaka’s Tower
- Stamp! (ink stamp for my stamp book)
- The experience
[Side note: Was wondering if my buddy desired to be in the image for a selfie, though never asked. Assumed he simply desired to be a tour guide. He seemed to only desire to help me see Japan, to see KanColle, and nothing else. Granted, I should have asked him if he desired to be in an image.]
Thanks to my buddy he explained the various deities and the stamps related to them. How they hold different meanings, offer various blessings, and have special meanings to them. I’m genuinely thankful for this. He was explaining everything he could to me to the best of his abilities.
[Side-note: I wish Sony stayed Japanese. Once it turned American it became such a horrible company, worthy of every hacking and assault aimed at it. While Japanese it held various moral and integrity, yet sadly losing all that once it turned American. Shame. Lesson? Stay Japanese, or suffer a slow and painful death as a corrupted company. Granted, Japanese companies tend to suffer when sticking to overly traditional standards causing them to perish from outdated and harsh workplace practices.]
My buddy happily took a picture of me, something I offered to do the same, or so I recall.
Bought some mementos for myself, even thinking of my friend in Vancouver. Shame I couldn’t find much for my Vancouver friend.
Being led to “downtown Namba” (Dotombori area); To the Dontonbori Glico pose sign.
Had fun trying out a gun shooting game. Missed my first shot, yet shot two perfectly obtaining a neat treat from the adventure.
“Tanoshi!~”, I said to the counter girl.
Yes, it was fun and entertaining. I always wanted to shoot those festival-related guns. I had a serious stare down the scope hitting my shots nicely. I loved it. <3
Insane amounts of people.
My buddy had to ask a few locals to politely clear a way for us to allow me to get in a Glico/Osaka pose in. I’m all for it, just as long as the opportunity presents itself.
[Please do not Jump!, Because people actually jump into that canal after a baseball game. People have actually jumped into it to the point police treated the area as a terrorist attack with the large amounts of police officers protecting the area. On my visit? Simply busy, packed, and “peaceful”.]
[Side-note: various tourists annoying the heck out of me. I simply desire to take images of ‘POI’ (points of interests), yet they have to clutter and hog various places. Let me, and others, take pictures in peace and in a respectful way. Looking at the camera shows you have to class, nor respect.]
Was also being guided towards one last shrine before heading off. We were going to visit ‘Hozenji’ shrine.
I was being nudged to pay my respects, so I viewed how the locals prayed. I attempted to view tutorials, and quick guides on how to pray eventually gaining the courage to do so myself. I waited until nobody else felt the need to do it themselves. If I’m to do something I need it to be at my own pace as to not potentially butcher things.
I was constantly being reassured it would be fine, so I trusted my Japanese buddy. I trusted him following how other people had done so. He even explained how the shrine operates, why statues are mossy (all the water hitting the stone statues), and how to pray in a simplistic manner.
With that belatedly concluded we pondered about what to eat. Hastily, yet loosely, I noted Sushi.
“SuSHIIIIIII?!~ You came to Osaka for sushi?!” – Him
“????????” (huh?) – Me
“Pick something Osaka related; Osaka specialty foods!” – Him
*Searching on phone* – (tako-yaki, okonomiyaki, ramen and kushi-katsu.) – Me
“Okonomiyaki it is! Right here! *points to corner*. – Him
We wait for our turn; We go in once our turn is up, and I fear for my second-hand embarrassment from the loud vocal “SUSHI”.
We sit down, we decide what to order, eventually awaiting our order.
Kushikatsu Daruma – Namba Main Shop:
Being exhausted (tired) I made the mistake of drinking beer before cheering my buddy. Sadly, he vocally (loudly) noted – “NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!” – to which I was given a secondary public shock of second-hand-embarrassment in Osaka. Yikes! No disrespect, yet I genuinely screwed up. I was genuinely shook up. All that Anime I’ve seen and I failed to recall the basics of drinking beer in how you have to ‘cheer’ a person before drinking. You know, ‘kanpai’.
This is like Vancouver all over again where my friend scolded me for not knowing ordering and eating etiquette. I’m just not used to hanging with people either; Everybody making up excuses as to why they can’t hang out with people. This is rare for me. This, on top of being – No-no-no’d – in Hiroshima for crossing the tram tracks to run into Hiroshima station. I’m full of errors, now in shock, or at least embarrassment.
I even embarrassingly looked around to see if anybody stared back at me, and they had. Female waitresses, a few patrons. They tried to keep their gaze at their own social bubble. I shrunk. I ate, and I tried being respectful, yet felt a lengthy weird aura in the air.
I want it to be known I have no genuine disrespect to my Japanese buddy. He may be vocal, he is who he is and I’m just a guest in Japan constantly making mistakes as a Canadian recluse. I’m a loner, yet I try to do things properly as much as I can. He meant well. I’m just an ignorant foreigner. I’ve even forgot the basics. He apologized via Twitter/X and I accepted that. He meant well, I understand that fully. It is what it is and I need to learn not to replicate that error again.
It was time to also part ways so we grabbed our stuff, ventured a certain direction for our trains, and we parted ways.
I arrived back at my hotel to drop off my stuff to swiftly head back out to a nearby park to record some videos for Twitter. I stupidly forgot my power bank back at the hotel preventing me from staying out for prolonged periods of time. I was only allowed a brief moment to venture to a nearby park (and river) before I was forced to head back. Roughly 30 minutes to 1 hour, no longer than that. My error. Too many errors!
Attempting to take scenic nightly shots in an slight artistic manner.
While in Osaka, and viewing stuff on ‘Steam’ I noticed people were being stupid again in the ‘Rising World’ gaming forum. I felt the needless desire to make a video noting how everything is always my fault (twice), yet overly thankful my video may have failed to upload onto Twitter twice. I left it be. My phone was also dying with a low charge.
I stupidly forgot my power bank for my phone at the hotel, yet brought my portable wi-fi gadget with me.
Not relating to today, nor tonight, I however had a slight mental break down. My mind broke down in depression causing me simply “stress walk” from one park to the next, and back again after forgetting an important gadget for my phone. First park being next to my hotel, and the second one being this river pathway. I was depressed, and potentially lonely not having a partner with me. I genuinely desired a partner, assuming that’s where my depression came from. I’m simply not allowed to have one because society demands it to be that way. I simply wasn’t emotionally feeling great, yet thankful for how neat Japan is; How gorgeous the Sakura tree is. My mind was a mess.
Scenery can’t betray you. And again, my depression wasn’t related to today’s events, it’s more of my inner demons and society-spawned demons causing me to constantly fight them on numerous occasions. Sometimes even daily. If someone desires to claim it was today’s events causing depression I won’t argue that either, nor would I defend that thought. It is what it is, and I’m only noting it for blogging purposes.
As strange as this is to note, I even admired the small perspective of passing by a laundromat seeing Japanese locals doing their thing of washing and drying their laundry. It brought an interesting sense of serenity to this nightly night scape. Even having to figure out how to cross this awkwardly designed road to make my way across the street.
Walking my way back to my hotel while having to make a stop at a nearby conbini prior to my stop. Had to purchase some beer, some food, and snacks. Unsure what I bought, I was depressed my night to stress-walk was cut short thanks to me forgetting my power bank at my hotel.
In Conclusion:
Other than a few mishaps, and a few public embarrassments, I have to say it’s been a fairly rewarding and enjoyable day. Maybe I’m not meant for Osaka, yet admired everything I could that day. More figures, more merchandise, and lots of goodies from previous days and into today. I disliked the Cafe’s attitude, and some mishaps, yet that’s life, I guess. I was slightly out of my element that day, if at all.
I’m thankful for a fellow KanColle Admiral for touring me around Namba to show off various KanColle goods, for Osaka’s historical side, and even touristic memories. I’m genuinely thankful and grateful to him for touring me around Osaka. A genuine “Thank you!” for showing me eveything in Osaka; For things both prior and after Osaka to guide me along my KanColle-filled travels around Japan.
Sadly, I had a depressive episode when visiting the two parks. Everything that’s easy for other people tends to be harder for me in a weird curse-like manner. I was simply hit hard, and it wouldn’t be the last day for that either.
I digress. Osaka sure is a neat place, if rough around the edges, or at least for me. I’m certain if you desired something it could potentially be achieved there. It takes some getting used to, yet I enjoyed my time there, whenever it allowed me to do so. I enjoyed whatever I managed to accomplish. I have to be happy with what I have, not with what was out of my reach. I’m happy with my memories. I need to cherish my memories.
Thank you for allowing me to have memories in Osaka.