Today was a pretty mild day. I had planned to head to the Tempozan Area after arriving at the Kansai International Airport and dropping off my luggage in my hotel. However, my flight was delayed (again) an hour and it took us an hour to get to our hotel. By the time we were in our hotel, the god of airplanes hath bestowed her wretched curse upon us once again, and drained me of any energy that I had. I was sweaty, frazzled, and could not walk one more step. We had gotten there pretty late, around 6, so I freshened up and went out to find something around the area to eat.
The area around Shin-Osaka Station was not a really touristy area, I mean, our own hotel was actually a business conference center. So, there were mostly locals and local-appealing restaurants and shops. Across from our hotel was a fast food restaurant. Fast food like local fast food, and not McDonalds’, burger and fries type of fast food. Nakau Nishinakajima is apparently pretty popular (according to Google reviews) as there were both an equal number of tourists and locals eating inside as well. The seating area was like a bar instead of a dining area; there was a single long bar and stools lining the counter. Ordering was different as well, instead of telling your order to a cashier or server, there was a machine at the entrance of the shop where your orders are selected, a ticket is printed out and then handed to someone on the other side of the bar. She cleaned up the tables and served the food as well so… a waitress? Not sure. There were buttons lining the counter as well to call for help if needed. So basically, a socially anxious teen’s dream paradise.
I ordered an eel and rice bento box with questionable vegetables on the side. I’ve seen this online and in many shows before, eel is a traditional Japanese meal for the locals. It tasted really good, unlike the frozen ones I would have back home.
Although I wasn’t able to go out, I’m glad I was able to have an immersive local Japan experience on my first day in Osaka.
My activity chart:
Ivy In Japan 