We went back to the mall the next morning to find the stores closed and an indoor flea market in the main open area. We found an open bakery and got the necessary breakfast and more essential coffee. Nothing else opened until 11. On the bright side, they were open until the wee hours of 8 p.m. We hoped this was a Sunday thing. It turns out the flea market was; the odd hours weren't.
We took our time, then wandered by way of shuttle to the actual city area of Osaka. By this time we were ready for lunch, so we scanned a few restaurants and settled on a reasonable enough hole-in-the wall. We sat down, confirmed the man behind the counter couldn't speak English, accepted Japanese menus, and proceeded to order noodles.
Another man entered, ordered a meal and talked to us in English. He explained two things: he used to live in the US, and we were eating Ramen. If that's the truth, this Ramen was magical; it tasted better than any I had before.
He taught us how to say "not spicy" in Japanese, a useful expression in the Miles household. That being said, he gulped down his food and left.
Proud of our newfound knowledge, we tried it out on the guy behind the counter. I pointed to our respective dishes. He nodded and his eyes shone with recognition. "Hot," he said in English.
I said "spicy," then "not spicy" in Japanese as I pointed a second time.
The nod stopped and the shine faded at that point, replaced with confusion. Maybe I should stick to pointing.
If you're ever in Osaka, I recommend that restaurant. It has the best Ramen ever. The name is, uh, hmmm. Well, it's on, that street, you know, when you...
Never mind.
Later we went to the Castle and bought tickets to what turned out to be a park. We confirmed that dogs wear clothes in Japan and occassionally add sunglasses to the mix. I'm not judging, but I find clothes on animals--what's the word? Oh, yeah. Disturbing.
The park was full of families complete with children playing catch or jumping rope. As crowded as it was, a game of frisbee would have been entertaining to watch. Stupid common sense.
Later we saw a tree with pieces of paper tied around the branches. Across the way was a place to buy fortunes. We were trying to figure out what the tree had to do with anything, so we asked two participants if they spoke English. They didn't, but tried to translate anyway. One of them looked at the paper and made a sad face, then pointed to the tree. He then looked at it and made a convincing "I won! I won!" face, followed by putting the paper in his pocket. We thanked him for the translation, then continued our sightseeing.
We walked around the forest area where various picnics and a wedding photoshoot were taking place. One of the former included a large guy with a tiny and continuous giggle. We kept as straight faces as we could, and watched a bit of the latter. The couple were white and wearing Converse. I only mention it because Converse and wearing sneakers for formal occasions are two of my favorite things. Just keeping it real.
Back in the city, we found a Ferriss Wheel, rode it, drank more coffee, hunted in vain for Engrish, then made our way home to rest.
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