I didn’t wake up until 8:00! I was happy to sleep past 5:30, 6:30, and 7:00. This was very likely due to the cave-like nature of this apartment. I got up and opened the curtains and realized there was no use in that; the building is very close to the next one over and very little natural light comes in (plus, not so much with the privacy, either).

Today’s first order of business was laundry (I last had it done in Bali 9 days ago). I spent a solid hour figuring out how to use the single washer/dryer appliance. The detailed house manual provided by my Airbnb host showed “on” and “start” only. I also needed to know how to use the gel packs, and it’s a good thing I looked that up as I would have placed them in the detergent cartridge, when actually they go in the washtub. With this very helpful post and holding Google Translate up to the machine, I figured out what 9 of the 13 buttons were for!

As in New Zealand, I sorted my clothes into tumble dry and hang dry loads as there was a drying line out on the small balcony. I started with the tumble dry load so I could see if the combination washer/dryer went all the way through both cycles automatically.

Breakfast consisted of three of the five black eggs from Ōwakudani, eaten one at a time every so often. I got out my laptop, alternately writing journal entries and getting the laundry done. When the first load finished, the dry cycle did not start right away, but I had learned enough about the kanji on the buttons to toggle through the cycle options using the “courses” button, landing on the dry-only cycle (please please please don’t start washing all over again…). The dry cycle runs in 30-minute increments. After the first, the clothes didn’t feel much more dry. After the second, they were dryer but definitely not dry. I moved them out to the drying line temporarily as I wanted to start the hang dry load. I figured the sooner I get laundry done, the more time all the clothes have to dry before I check out in two days.

There was only one gelpack left, so I needed to go buy more. I looked up convenience stores, and there was a Familymart around the corner and a Lawson (another chain I see a lot) a couple streets over. I didn’t want to be gone long, and I put on flip-flops and carried the bare minimum with me, just my wallet and the key. As I walked downstairs and outside, I couldn’t believe I’d left my phone behind, not only in the way we always feel naked without our phones these days but because I had no translation with me!

I tried the Familymart first and had success pointing to the empty container I was carrying and pointing to the aisles. The clerk showed me the laundry section and gestured to a couple products. Even though I had no idea what any of his Japanese words meant, I knew he was saying, “Sorry, this is the closest we have to what you’re looking for.” I wanted to buy an exact replacement, so I walked to the Lawson.

I stopped at the entry as the store was a bit bigger and I wanted the clerk to see that I was bringing in my own empty container. She was busy, though, and I gave up and went in. I found the same product and counted out the money I needed before approaching the counter (a habit I’d gotten into everywhere in Japan).

The clerk rang up the new box of gelpacks and gestured to the empty box under my arm. Again, I didn’t know her words, but I knew she was asking, “Is that yours?”, and I shook it to show it was empty and she laughed in a friendly way. Despite my frantic waving that I didn’t want a bag, she bagged up the new box. I’ve been surprised, as in Bali, how much plastic is used here.

I returned to the apartment and realized it’s a really good thing I’d memorized the callbox door code as I didn’t have my phone to look it up and the key is for the apartment only. Note to self: always bring phone.

I washed the second load and then switched out the clothes on the balcony, hanging the newly washed clothes and moving the tumble dry back inside for one or two or three more cycles.

I was uploading the detergent receipt to the Airbnb resolution center, where users can request or send money to each other (it was less than $5 USD, but detergent is for the host to provide) when the pocket wifi faltered. I switched to tethering my phone as I’d done on the shinkansen yesterday, and almost immediately received two consecutive texts from T-Mobile, the first that I was at 80% of the data pass I’d purchased two days ago, intending for it to last ten days, and then a few minutes later that I was at 100%.

Somehow, switching between the bad wifi and the throttled data, I was able to complete submission of the receipt. The new task, then, was to log in to T-Mobile to buy another pass. But I couldn’t reach T-Mobile either on wifi or with my phone’s limited data.

I composed a message to my Osaka host, not knowing how I was going to send it, that if a listing says it has wifi, then continuous access is expected. If pocket wifi with limited bandwidth is the only option offered, then the listing does not meet the criteria for offering wifi as an amenity. I don’t reveal that I’m an Airbnb employee when I book listings as a guest because I want the same treatment as any guest. I did so here, though, in the context of establishing that I know what I’m talking about. I let her know that I would be sending a second reimbursement request for additional data from T-Mobile as a result of the listing’s wifi being unusable. By turning off wifi, my phone had enough cellular data to send messages, via both iMessage and the Airbnb app.

The host responded quickly and was confused about both pieces of my message, first the detergent reimbursement request; she said the cleaners should have stocked the apartment with detergent.. I replied they did not. She said the pocket wifi refreshes every other day and should be usable again soon; even if that were true, that is not continuous access. She didn’t understand why I would be sending another reimbursement request regarding wifi. I reiterated that the pocket wifi is insufficient for a listing that says it offers wifi. I explained that I had been traveling for four weeks with very few rest days and planned to explore Dotonbori tonight but I had hoped to have an Internet catch-up day in the listing and it wasn’t working out very well. She understood and said she’d get back to me.

In the meantime, I lost count of how many dry cycles I ran the clothes through in the machine, pulling out items that were finished drying every 30-minute cycle until all of them were done. I’d hardly done any blog writing, my main purpose in taking a down day.

Despite the messages from T-Mobile, tethering my phone data to my laptop seemed to be working well enough, and I spent another few hours writing a post for my first full day exploring Tokyo. When I finished around 17:00, I felt totally gross about having spent a beautiful day in a city I’d never seen indoors on my computer, which might be OK if I actually felt caught up, but I was still 5 days behind in journaling and I hadn’t posted any photos anywhere. Time to go out!

Besides takoyaki, another signature dish in Osaka is okonomiyaki, a savory pancake both topped with and made from batter with eggs, vegetables, shrimp, and/or meats. ‘Okonomi’ means ‘as you like it’ and ‘yaki’ means ‘grilled’. With my slow-ass wifi, I looked up a good place nearby to try it and, thanks to this post, settled on a family-run place in Dotonbori called Mizuno.

Dotonbori is a brightly lit and colorful promenade of shops and restaurants along a canal and arguably the sight to see in Osaka if you had to choose only one. I’d booked this Airbnb largely due to *all* the reviews saying what a great location it is, being a 5- to 10-minute walk from multiple train stations as well as Dotonbori.

It was dusk when I headed out toward the canal. There are walkways at canal-level on either side of the water, and Dotonbori Street runs parallel to the canal on the south end. I followed Google Maps to Mizuno just off of Dotonbori Street. Romanized names are not always present on storefront signs, so I looked for a long line instead. Found it!

There are many ways to order your okonomiyaki. While waiting in the queue outside, I was presented with a laminated sheet showing Mizuno’s top 5 options, all of which either had meat or didn’t sound so appealing to me (fried yams, fried cabbage). When I got closer to the door, I asked a staff member for an English menu and was thrilled to discover the vegetarian option with eggs, mushroom, and green onion. I love all these things.

After about 20 minutes in the outside queue, I was shown through the front door and onto a set of about 5 stairs to wait some more. I could kind of see into the dining/kitchen area, and as I climbed the stairs, I got a better look and realized that my view had been of a mirrored wall, so the restaurant was much smaller than it first appeared. There were 9 seats in front of the grill.

I moved off the stairs and onto a bench against the wall across from the grill and waited a bit more (much like my ramen experience in Tokyo). I was seated in the last seat at the grill away from the front door after waiting about 40 minutes total. In front of me were placed a steel spatula, chopsticks, a small plate, a glass of water, and of course a wet napkin for hand cleansing before eating.

I wondered how the cooks would know which order was mine and worried for a moment that I would need to try to communicate with them, but instead my okonomiyaki was already in progress. The batter at Mizuno is made with flour, egg, Japanese yam and a dashi broth, and the mushroom, onion, and egg were already cooking with the pancake. There was a bit of communication to achieve the ‘as you like it’ part: yes to mayonnaise, yes to mustard, regular and not sweet okonomi sauce (like worcestershire), yes to bonito (fish) flakes, and yes to green tea powder.

Looks like:

I cut off about a third of the pancake, which filled the small plate. Its height means there is more food than is indicated by the circumference! It was super yum, and I ate slowly to savor it but not so slowly as to be inconsiderate of folks waiting behind me. Along with ramen at Ichiran and sushi at Hashiri, another unique dining experience found in Japan!

I thought there were a lot of people on Dotonbori when I arrived for dinner, but afterward, it was absolutely packed. I wandered west, coming upon the second most famous icon on the street, the giant crab above Kani Doraku restaurant. I kept going until I hit what seemed to be the natural western border of the district, Midosuji Street, and turned right toward the canal. I was just wondering when/how I would encounter the canal’s most iconic sight, the Glico running man, when I stepped onto Dotonbori Bridge, looked down the canal at the view, and there he was.

This advertising sign showing a runner in a victory pose was first installed in 1935 and has been changed 5 times, most recently from neon to LED bulbs. Not even the locals understand how the sign became so famous.

I walked down the steps to the north side of the canal and took photos along with the other tourists. I went back up to the bridge because I decided I wanted a photo of myself in front of the canal. Glico man or not, I loved all the brights signs reflecting on the water.

That’s when I spotted a Don Quijote across Midosuji Street. “Donki”, as the locals call it, is a discount chain store. I was vaguely aware that I needed to check out a selection of Kit Kats while in Japan as they come in a variety of flavors, some fruity, some more savory, like red bean and matcha. I’d read somewhere within the last few days that I’d be able to do that here. And I wanted to bring home some treats for my team at work.

I crossed Midosuji and walked in to Donki and was immediately overwhelmed by all the people, the goods, and what felt like an assault of pink. There was just a lot of… stuff. I walked around the “aisles”, which makes the place sound orderly. It was more like a cluster of shelves here and a cluster there. I perused the liquor and sake in the back but I was there for the candy.

I considered buying a ginormous bag of Haribo gummy bears, but it was like $20 USD! I was also very short on space in my backpack. I found the Kit Kats and was a bit disappointed not to see anything too crazy. There was raspberry, but I went for a bag of the matcha as it’s more unusual and very Japan.

I crossed Midosuji again and gestured to a photo-taker to ask if he would take mine in front of the water. It didn’t come out so well, so I hung out a bit, waiting for some English-speaking tourists to come along and start taking photos so I could ask to trade. The female half of a couple I asked next had some practice at getting photos right, which she said was because *he* was so particular, pointing to the other half 🙂

I took the steps back down to the canal and then up to Ebisu Bridge, where photo subjects practiced their best Glico running pose, with the sign behind them. The north side of the bridge led to the entrance to Shinsaibashi shopping mall, which simultaneously looked to me like an Osaka sight to see and a hellmouth. Pass!

I continued back down to the canal again on the south side, coming upon a small cafe with tables and chairs outside. The drink menu included mulled wine, which, though it was not an autumn night and not chilly, sounded good. I was tired, though, and decided to keep walking along the canal until I reached the street where I’d entered Dotonbori earlier.

I went up the stairs to street level and almost crossed Dotonbori Street to walk home when I changed my mind. It was 20:30, and I had not yet quite gotten my fill of the sights. I decided to get that mulled wine after all.

I took a different route back to keep seeing new things.

I passed by an arcade with a large open window through which onlookers cheered on two people performing (seriously) with a Dance Dance Revolution type game. I was so happy I had come upon this scene and took some video, knowing it would continue to make me happy when I viewed it later, and somehow I managed to instead video the people standing next to me. I was pointing my phone ahead of me and occasionally glancing at the screen while recording, so I really don’t understand how this happened. Ah well, I have my memories (and this remembrance in writing).

I also encountered some quieter back streets behind Dotonbori, one of which was lined with Buddhist iconography: a recessed statue, some fountains, and a tiny bamboo and rock garden. Very peaceful. Another restaurant’s storefront featured a glass display case on one side of its stone facade, decorated with objet d’art, and on the other a glass enclosure through which a large fountain of wide bamboo stalks could be seen and heard. I just love this quality of Japan, the peaceful beauty.

I made my way back to the canal-side cafe and ordered the mulled wine, which turned out to just be red wine that was not mulled at all, which was fine. At the next table over, one of two women had also ordered the mulled wine and found it not be be mulled.. haha. I struck up a conversation with them by guessing their accent placed them from Manchester. That was too specific, but they were indeed from North England.

I drank my wine leisurely and walked back to the listing around 22:00, satisfied with my extra jaunt. I got in bed with my laptop and went to sleep around midnight.