Osaka

I've been married for five months and it still feels like a dream - much like our few days in Osaka for our honeymoon. Though we flew into Tokyo, we didn't really explore it until the end of our trip. The day after we landed, we used our Japan Rail passes to ride the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Osaka for a few days of soaking in local life, trying different foods, and getting used to Japanese public transportation.

If Tokyo is the sprawling metropolitan city of the future and Kyoto the quaint capital of the past, Osaka sits comfortably in the present. It's an informal, less pop-culture-y city proud of its food and drink (it's known as Japan's "kitchen"). It's down-to-earth, yet clean and modern.

That description fits our Airbnb as well - an unassuming little (tiny, by American standards) flat with modern conveniences, uncluttered and simple yet still cozy and charming. It was a short walk from the train station, tucked between larger apartment complexes and small counter restaurants. Since it only had one room (studio style), it worried us that we couldn't find the bathroom. There really weren't many places it could be! The shower was right off the kitchen area, but the toilet took us longer to find - until we realized it was behind the door we assumed to be a storage closet in the foyer.

That's my husband, posing on the bed that also served as a lounging area.
The kitchen is behind him; the shower is on the other side of the wall to the left.
The entryway (where the toilet is) is behind me, the photographer. It was the perfect amount of space for us!

Complimentary house shoes! (A trend for our whole trip.)

With the hunger that comes after a day of traveling, we set out to find some comfort food: ramen. We knew we found a good spot when we saw the line outside of the restaurant we chose. Besides the facts that orderly queues are a normal occurrence in Japan and this restaurant only has about 15 seats, if people are willing to line up to wait for the food being offered, that's an indication that it's worth it no matter where you are.

In the ramen queue!

We stepped inside to place our order and pay at the machine, holding onto our order ticket until there were seats available. The line moved rather quickly, and eventually we were seated inside at a small table opposite the counter that ran along the inside of the restaurant, separating the cooking area from the dining area. Our bowls of ramen joined us, and off we were, slurping and scooping to our stomachs' content.

On Wednesday, we visited several temples and shrines, explored the Osaka Aquarium (including the Ferris wheel), and walked through Dotonbori (Osaka's downtown nightlife area). We did a ton of walking, which both kept us warm and made us feel better about stopping frequently for snacks.

Sorihashi Bridge at Sumiyoshi Taisha

Five-story pagoda inside Shitennoji Temple

Namba Yasaka Shrine

Kitchen Alley

Kaiyukan - Osaka Aquarium

One of Dotonbori's most iconic views: The Running Man

Our second full day in Osaka was Thanksgiving in the States. Unsurprisingly, Japan does not celebrate Thanksgiving. They do celebrate Labor Thanksgiving Day on November 23rd each year, which just so happened to fall on a Thursday in 2017. Labor Thanksgiving Day in Japan means giving thanks to workers, and while government buildings are closed, most businesses stay open.

In the morning, we headed north of Osaka to see the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum and for a tour at Asahi Brewery. For the record, noodles and beer are a great way to start any day. Highly recommend.

YES, we made our own personalized cup noodles. Because of course we did.

They gave us each three (3) drink tickets, then apologized since we only had 20 minutes to drink those drinks.

After all the carbs, we took a train back into Osaka and took a leisurely walk through Nakanoshima Park on our way to Osaka Castle. By leisurely, I mean both of us had to use the restroom something fierce (all that free beer)...we ran-walked until we found a public toilet in the park, then stopped to smell the roses, making it to Osaka Castle just as the sun set and they turned the lights on. I can't speak for my husband, but I for one had lots to be grateful for in that moment.

Our final Osaka destination was the Umeda Sky Building, where we got a full 360-degree view of Osaka's skyline at night (plus a rather chilly view of the stars from the Floating Garden). It was the perfect way to say "mata ne" (see you later) as we'd be leaving early the next morning for Nara.

Extra: photos of our first night in Japan!

Feeling Grateful

Today, I'm grateful for home and family. I'm grateful that I can always come here and slip back into country life: board games on the floor, snacks at the table, a queen bed that I share with more than a few stuffed animals. I'm grateful I can come home and make food and eat food and, really, do nothing else. I'm grateful I have that privilege. If this is true for you as well, I hope you're grateful too.

Thanksgiving Travel Tips

Chances are, you're traveling tomorrow. It's what Americans do on the day before Thanksgiving (and on the Sunday after). Maybe you're smarter than me and figured out a way to either not travel over Thanksgiving weekend or to get the travel out of the way before Wednesday's regular rush hour, but if not, here are my tried and true tips for Thanksgiving travel.

1. Pack early. Do whatever it takes to get yourself organized before Wednesday morning so you're not rushing out the door to catch your train to your bus to your mooched ride from your younger brother. Hopefully you're packed already and not throwing sweaters and leggings into a bag while crossing your fingers that past you left a pair sweats at home the last time you were there.
2. Pack light. Only bring the necessities so you don't pull a muscle toting around all your wardrobe changes. Mom and dad should have things like toothpaste and soap, so don't worry about those. You don't need four pairs of shoes. You definitely don't need three books, but bring those just in case. In case what, you ask? I don't know.
3. Pack a snack. Ain't nothing worse than a hungry traveler. (read: I am the worst when I'm hungry.)
4. Buy your bus ticket ahead of time and print it out at home. That way when you travel on the first and second busiest travel days of the year you'll have physical proof.
5. Bundle up, in layers. The bus could be as roasty as a convection oven or the heat could be broken. You won't know until you board. If the windows are steamy, you'll be glad you have several jackets and sweaters to take off. If the windows are still frosted over, you'll be glad you have several jackets and sweaters to hunker in to. Added bonus: bundling means you have more room in your luggage for books. Second added bonus: bundling makes you appear larger, which deters would-be seatmates from trying to squeeze in next to you. Which leads me to:
6. Make yourself seem both large and undesirable as a person. Who cares what the rest of the bus really thinks of you as long as they don't want to sit next to you and you get two seats to yourself. This is, of course, assuming that not everyone will have to buddy up. More likely the bus will be full to capacity, in which case:
7. Make yourself seem both desirable and not crazy. You're gonna want a normal person to want to sit next to you for the next three hours. Normal attracts normal. Still,
8. Headphones are your friend. You can catch up on Serial. Pretending to sleep is also an effective way to not interact with your seatmate. Or maybe read one of those three books you packed.
9. Enjoy the ride. Hey, it's three hours (for me) that you (I) don't have to do housework or respond to emails--savor it! Take some time to clear your mind and let go of city life as you escape north for a few days.

I can't promise you'll have no snafus or stresses during your Thanksgiving travel, but I can promise that if you follow my tips you'll end up in Madison on Wednesday afternoon waiting patiently for my brother to pick you up. :) Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks.

Thank you. Two of the most simple, yet most effective words in any language. We all have lots to be thankful for, both material things and intangibles (which are usually absolute necessities). Take a minute and think: what makes my day(s)? Who helps me, who has made me into who I am, what things do I have that get me from morning to night? I'm guessing it won't take you long to come up with a nice list. Like this one:

1. A bed. Not just my bed at the Naw, not even just a bed--but feeling welcome at so many places and knowing I have a place to go wherever I might find myself.
2. My health. My appetite.
3. A good hair day. These aren't always guaranteed with hair like mine, so when they come around (like today!) I'm all about it.
4. Going back for seconds and thirds.
5. Football, even when it doesn't end how I want it to.
6. Not having to shop today or tomorrow. (Except for food!)
7. Lists that don't go on too long.

Many Thanks

I know I'm a week late, but I say we can give thanks whenever we want. Here's what I'm mindful of this year:

Abundance of food in my grocery stores
Bike lanes
Finding farts funny at age 24
Patterns
Low maintenance family who doesn't mind there was no turkey on Thanksgiving
Clean sheets
Recipes
Having a list of things to be thankful for
Chapters ending, chapters beginning
Waffles
Technology, for the most part
Washer/dryer 10 feet from my bedroom
Thrift store treasures
Leftover Halloween candy
Tea
Book clubs of two
Arts & Crafts
Coupons
Borrowing wardrobes
Giraffes

I know, a lot of these were kind of silly--but I think the really great stuff is in the silly things of our lives. I hope I'm living my life in a way that shows gratitude always (I just typed gratefulness & stared at it for a hot minute until I remembered the right word, so thanks universe for the confusing English language). Of course many thanks are due daily to my family & friends, who keep me sane/drive me crazy in a strangely harmonious way.

A MercyWorks Thanksgiving

This past week has been one of cleaning, cooking, eating, and more cleaning...followed by a continuous strain of eating leftovers.

Wednesday night everyone helped to clean up our apartment.Thursday morning we were at it again, making sure we had enough table space and chairs, going on last minute grocery runs, and full-fledged cooking: 3 turkeys, 4 varieties of potato, stuffing, broccoli salad, succotash, greens with ham hocks, baked macaroni and cheese, jello salad, green bean casserole, cornbread casserole, tofu, salad, tamales, 5 pies, brownies, cookies, pound cake....enough to induce a food coma for sure.

I love celebrating with my roommates, and as Jillian said, we are all so blessed for it to be impossible for any of us to spend Thanksgiving alone. We all went around the table to say what we are thankful for and we spent the rest of the night switching off between eating, resting on the couches, cleaning, and conversing.

On Friday I went to the Christkindlmarket downtown. It's an outdoor market featuring lots of German products (potato pancakes, etc, plus German crafts/clothing/gifts/Christmas-y things) and some things from other countries. There is also a giant Christmas tree there, made from several trees combined. The smell of roasted nuts mixed with evergreen and German accents filled the air...basically I felt like I was at the Wausau Mall.

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I also got to see the Macy's Christmas windows, which this year tell the story of Virginia. All of the decorations in the windows this year are made out of tons of paper in all colors. It's a pretty cool effect.

the Macy's trumpets on State Street

I'd call this year's Thanksgiving a success...except we still haven't gotten snow!