December 4th, 2023

Day 1

Today is my flight to Osaka! I have been to Osaka at least once before with my family when I was much younger, to the point that I don’t remember ever being there. Today also marked the 4th time I will be in Japan, with a span of 5 years since the last time I was there. I don’t expect Japan to be completely different than it was 5 years ago. At least I know I’ve changed, though, as I speak some what conversational Japanese now so I at least won’t die in the wind because I don’t speak the language.

As a person with Chinese heritage, we have a some what complicated relationship with the entirety of everything “Japanese”. If you’ve ever taken even one history class, there’s a big chance that you’ve heard of WWII, or as the Japanese like to call it, the “Great Pacific Ocean War”. During this war, and many years preceding it, Japan has slowly but steadily invaded all of Korea and large chunks of China. These invasions were extremely violent, and many atrocities were conducted by Japanese Imperial Soldiers onto normal citizens that left scars deep inside China’s national history.

Even though the Japanese army was at last defeated and two nuclear bombs thrown over there, the damage was still too big. Therefore, despite Japan’s best effort to export its cultural heritage such as its anime and music, and despite there are people there, like me, who appreciate Japan’s culture, there are also more conservative folks out there who dislike everything Japanese. It is bound to happen when the national policy of PRC highly links its political future with their narrative of “Hundred Years of Humiliation”, and setting up an imaginary enemy that is so close to you but will not attack you is the best way to produce the desired effect of “Rally-around-the-flag” thing that more or less makes the citizens more patriotic and therefore more obedient. To say that I enjoy Japanese culture is to slap on the face of the national policy of China, so it is smarter to keep your mouth shut.

But any way, that is my tangent. I don’t get to write political science essays ever since I graduated, so I have to find a place where I at least get to write something political.

I woke up in the morning having everything prepared by the previous night, and had a chill morning. My Dad didn’t want to drive me to the airport, so I had to call a cab. I know that since I will not be driving in Japan, and since I will not be staying at one hotel throughout my entire trip, it is in my best interest to not bring anything too big with me; therefore I chose a small carry-on sized suitcase to put all my clothes in, and a backpack to put all the battery powered stuff in.

During my cab ride, since the driver knows that I am heading towards International Departure, he asked me whether I am heading towards Japan or Korea. I didn’t want to lie to him, so I told him Japan. But, I also know for a fact that some older folks do not appreciate anyone that has anything to do with Japan, so I stressed on the fact that I will be visiting temples and learn Japan’s unique blend of Buddhism and Shintoism. Which is also true, it is just not my main objective.

The driver then started to discuss all the fake buddhists in China, from the buddhist temples that only want money, to fat monks that eat everything and treat the temple as a job, rather as a place where they train for nirvana. He then discussed why he believes Mao Zedong, the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, is a God. He said that when the President of the Philippines brought his son along with him to China, Mao grabbed his son, took a good look, patted his back, and sooner or later, the son became the next President of Philippines. He also claimed that the same thing happened with George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush; Mao took a look at Bush Jr., and Junior became the a president. Interesting.

But anyway, I arrived by the airport. I thanked the driver for enlightening me about how Mao Zedong is a God, and I went on my way. The airport was hot AF. Even though it was December, it still wasn’t that cold; yet, the airport treats some mild winds as tornadoes and cranked the AC all the way to the top. I began to sweat the second I got inside the airport. I thanked Mao (lol) that I didn’t wear my winter jacket, but then realized something horrible: I forgot to bring my winter jacket with me. I know Kansai, where I’m heading towards, isn’t that cold; but I would still like to know that I have something in my backpack that can warm me up if needed. Can’t exactly call a cab back home at that very moment, so I just soldiered on.

The ticketing counter wasn’t very busy, and it was my turn pretty fast. I am guessing that not a lot of people in Dalian are traveling overseas now. I got up there, handed over my passport, got my ticket, and just as I thought everything was going to be fine, the ticketing lady saw my carry-on sized luggage and said that it is too big to be a carry-on.

Now, I’ve flown through my fair share of international flights and domestic flights, this is the first, I mean first, time I’ve ever heard that my carry-on sized carry-on is too big to be a carry-on. It has flown with me to Japan (2018), China (2018), US (2018), China (2019), US (2019), China (2019), US (2019), Korea (2022), China (2022), US (2023), Korea (2023), and China (2023). This exact same suitcase travelled with me to all these different places without ever being a problem, but somehow it became a problem when I am on a cheap airline.

They told me that I must check this luggage, and since my ticket doesn’t come with checked luggage allowance, I will have to pay 270 RMB of extra luggage fee to check the bag. I see how they are playing this game, and unfortunately, I don’t have the upper hand in this crooked game of theirs. Didn’t want them to ruin my day, so I agreed to pay, cursing them out on the inside. However, I asked them the price to upgrade to the next class, and it was 350 RMB. So, if I pay 80 more, I get to be in their “super-economy class”, which not only sits in row 1, also comes with bigger carry-on allowance and checked luggage allowance up to 30 KG. I mean, I was going to pay anyway, might as well go big, right?

As I paid to get me upgraded, I went to the security check and asked them if I am allowed to go to the Business/First Class security check, and fortunately, the 350 RMB upgrade allowed me to go to the faster security check line, and I finished in no time. I also noticed that when it’s with Business/First Class security check, the people working there are a lot nicer to you compared to the economy class ones. How money works eh.

The Super-Economy Class on my plane still doesn’t come with food, and it was lunch time, so I was going to buy KFC and bring it onto the plane. Dalian has an incredibly small airport and the international departure area was especially tiny. The only restaurant there is a Subway. Ordered my first tuna sandwich, ever, and brought it onto the plane. Of course, I was allowed to board first, since I am special. I love being special.

Since the super-economy class is basically the first/business class on my plane, I was seated in the 1st row. The flight attendant came to me with a bottle of water and a wet wipe and reported the plane’s information to me. I see that they do it to people who paid. Now that i’ve paid, it was fun. When the plane got in the air, I unwrapped my sandwich and devoured it. The leg room was considerably spacious, well, I’ve paid. However, since it’s a cheap airline, the seats do not recline, meaning that it was stiff AF and I can’t move my body any other way.

When the plane landed, I got up and walked off the plane first. It’s one of the perks of paying to be special. I know that I’ve mentioned “paying to be special” a lot here, but since I never pay to be special, it’s pretty special, you know. However, I’ve soon discovered that getting off the plane first in Japan wasn’t such a good idea. I know that in Korea and Japan, on escalator rides, people who are not in such a hurry typically stands on one side of the escalator and people who are in a hurry walks on the other side. I know people in Tokyo stands on the left, and I’ve heard that people in Osaka stands on the right. I wasn’t sure that my knowledge was up to date, and I didn’t want to be the idiot that stands on the right when it was supposed to be left. Didn’t know what to do, I stood on the right. When I looked back, everyone stood on the right like I did. That was a relief.

We then made it to the entrance area, and we lined up to get our passport and our fingerprints scanned. It was a painless process, it just took a while. Finally, we reached the customs declaration area and I had to fill out a form. I’ve already done a digital version of that, but since I didn’t know any better, I thought it was a different thing, so I sucked it up and used a pen to write down everything on a paper again. I used a declaration form in Chinese. I was going to do one in Japanese, but I couldn’t find either English or Japanese, so I had to do Chinese. An older lady next to me saw me using the Chinese form, and asked me questions on what to write. Me, being the nicest guy there is, helped her. When I finished, she finished too, and we lined up together. I saw that she brought pineapple cakes, and those are a famous delicacy from Taiwan, so I asked her if she is from Taiwan. She is, she told me that her son is going to school here. She speaks 0 Japanese, and she will have to ride the metro without knowing where to get on and where to get off, and most importantly, how to buy a ticket.

We moved along, and the customs officer thought we were together and proceeded to speak English to me. Since it’s been a while since I spoke Japanese, I was a bit nervous, and answered his questions asked in English in Japanese. In hindsight, that demonstrated the fact that I can understand English and I can speak Japanese. Must be cool.

When I got out of the customs area, the lady was waiting for me. I was going to use the bathroom, but since I am super nice, I held it up and went with her to the metro anyways. We reached the ticket selling place. At that point, I didn’t know that I can just tap my watch on the IC Card Pad, so I went to the ticket vending machine with the old lady. Her stop is at Shinimamiya, and my stop is at Namba. Turns out, we will ride the same metro, with her stop being right before my stop. That was quite a coincidence, so I bought my ticket, helped her buy her ticket, and we went to the metro together.

The ticket price was 970 JPY, which is kinda expensive; but considering how expensive cabs are in Japan, it’s not that bad. I stuffed a 1,000 Yen bill into the machine and it gave me 3 coins back. The old lady offered to buy my ticket for me since I’ve been such a help, but I declined. I help only because I am nice, not because I want something back. It’s a moral principle lol.

We got to the train, and the doors stayed open for a while. I put my stuff on the metro, and just to be safe, went down there and asked a staff member if this is the train that goes to Namba, got a nonverbal confirmation, and got there and sat on my butt to wait for the train to start moving.

When we got to the train, it was empty, so we just got on a seat and sat there. Soon, it was filled with people, and some people couldn’t sit at all. We were seated adjacent to a group of girls who are stopping at the Tengachaya, who has like a ton of large ass suitcases with them. I’ve heard that it is inconvenient to bring large suitcases with normal Metro because it gets in the way of the locals, so I’ve refrained from bring big ones. But damn, those girls brought 2 large suitcases each, and it filled up the place where me and the old lady sat at.

The train left the station exactly the time it announced it to be, and we were on our way. I’ve only learned later on that the train only starts at Kansai Airport, and its final destination is Namba, where I am getting off, that’s why it stayed stationary for a while. The train ride was uneventful, the girls got off at Tengachaya, the old lady, with my help, got off at Shinimamiya, and I got off at the last station, Namba.

Immediately after walking out of the station through a lengthy corridor, I saw protesters waving Palestinian flags chanting stuff like free Palestine or stop the war. I laughed, didn’t say a thing, and walked away. Don’t want to initiate a rather long and boring conversation with someone who probably only learned their history lessons through TikTok.

The hotel that I am staying at tonight is very far away from the station, which was to be expected. I specifically booked this hotel because it is very close to the Shinsaibashi bridge of Dotonbori, a place that was modeled in the game Ryu ga Gotoku 0 (Yakuza 0). It was my favorite game of all time, it is also the first game that I have the drive to actually fully finish every side quest. All the subsequent games that I took the time to finish fully were RGG 2 Kiwami, RGG 6, Judgement, and Judge Eyes, all developed by the same game studio and all in the same settings.

Back in 2018, with my cousin, we visited Kabukicho, the main city where the game is based from. I’ve had a lot of fun there, the game map was a 100% scaled model of the actual city, and visiting every corner that I’ve visited from the games was eye-watering. Kabukicho is in Tokyo, and Dotonbori is in Osaka; therefore, my first visit is bound to be Dotonbori.

I dragged my suitcase all the way to the hotel. I followed Google Maps all the way, but I couldn’t find the hotel. Turns out, Google Maps took me to the side of the building instead of the main entrance, and it took me a while to figure out that I need to turn right to get in.

Hotel Name: Vessel Inn Namba

Address: 2-2-18, Dotonbori, Chuo-ku, Osaka

Price: 490.74 RMB (68.66 USD)

Verdict: ★★★☆☆

The hotel lobby was located on the 2nd floor, and you need to ring a bell for the staff to greet you. There’s also a new hotel tax, that is not included in your hotel rate charged online. You will have to pay 200 Yen per person in person. Of course, normal hotels take credit cards, so of course I let it be charged on the credit card.

When I got to my room, though, I was completely shocked. Culture shocked. The room was tiny AF. It did, on the listing, listed clearly that the room is only 13 meters squared. Me, with my sucky math and my sucky spacial awareness, did not know how big was 13 meters squared. I didn’t take a picture, not because I don’t have the space to reach out my phone, but it was not worth it. Let me just paint you a word picture. The room was so small, I couldn’t put down my small carry-on sized suitcase. The room did have a corridor that leads to the bedroom, but the bedroom didn’t have any room for you to stand. It had a small table, a cabinet, and a bed, which took 2 corners.

I sat down, still couldn’t believe how small the hotel is, and decided to get dinner. I’ve been in small hotels before in Tokyo, but I didn’t expect it to be this small too in Osaka, considering that I paid 490 RMB for one night.

Before dinner though, I had to take a look at the river of Dotonbori.

Vessel Inn is not located in the most busy part of town, therefore there weren’t much foot traffic there. After taking the picture, I showed it to my friend Flora, who, like me, is a hardcore RGG fan. She got jealous, which was to be expected. I did take the picture to make her jealous, so my plan worked perfectly.

Then I started to search for dinner. I made a pact with myself to never eat the same thing in Japan twice, because it had so many good food, it would be stupid to waste stomach space on the same type of food.

Next to the hotel is a Takoyaki place. I’ve read online that all I had to do is go to places where people lineup to get good food, and this place had one person lining up before I did, so I thought that would be considered “a line”. I didn’t know any better. I got a 8 pack and handed over a 10,000 Yen bill. I did so because I need to break it up. The waiter did not have the best service attitude, at least in the context of Japan. He had no facial expressions, and did not seem to like his job. I didn’t let that bother me, and got my Takoyaki. I chose to dine in at their tables behind the shop.

It was not the best. I’ve had better, so I’m just going to leave it at that. I did have a subway sandwich on the plane at around 1ish, so I wasn’t too hungry because I don’t typically eat dinner. I had 6, before I threw the last 2 away. I thanked them for the food and went on my way.

Restaurant Verdict:

★★★☆☆

Next, I headed towards Shinsaibashi, the bridge that was remodeled 1:1 in the game. I inputted “Shinsaibashi” onto Google Maps, and it took me to Shinsaibashi Suji, the shopping district right before the bridge, instead of Shinsaibashi, the bridge. This is when I knew that my hotel was rather away from the busy area; it was filled with people, not just any people, Chinese people. I simply can’t believe how much Chinese I am hearing from just this tiny walking district. Most are there to shop, which is basically what Chinese tourists do. Again, I didn’t know better; I honestly thought that Osaka would be just filled with Japanese folks. I was so wrong. Osaka is filled with people from everywhere, but mostly Chinese and Korean people.

After walking for a while, I reached the real Shinsaibashi, where it was filled with tourists. I texted Flora that in the gameplay, I always get annoyed by the NPCs on the bridge who took up precious running space and forced me to slow down. Now, I am one of the people who is taking up the precious running space. I had to angle my camera specifically in a direction that shows less people.

The bridge was also filled with performance artists, one such example is the spider-man clone standing on top of the bridge.

I was very excited to see the bridge in person, after all. I had a wonderful time walking around, and got to the other side of the bridge for more walking around. I saw the big giant crab from the famous restaurant Kani Doraku, and the Gyoza place. The one thing I have a beef with the game is that the game did not do a 100% scaled model of Dotonbori like how it did with Kabukicho. Dotonbori is considerably larger than what the game presented it to be.

It also had a shop called “The Taste of Dalian”. I found it funny because not only is it not Japanese, where it really should be because the street faces heavy foreigner existence; I just flew from Dalian. Now in retrospect, maybe true foreigners, white guys and black guys, won’t tell the difference from this and Japanese food.

Dotonbori Verdict:

★★★★★

I snapped a few more pictures of the famous Glico sign before heading back to the hotel. Unlike hotels elsewhere, Japanese hotels seem to have amenities next to the front desk. Stuff like hairbrush, moisturizer, and cotton swabs are not automatically left for you in your room, you have to get it from there. I don’t understand the logic, but it didn’t significantly hurt my interest by asking me to pick it up myself, so I didn’t really care.

I thought that maybe they didn’t have stuff like shampoo and body wash in the bathroom, so I picked up some of that too; turns out they have those basic stuff in the bathroom already.

Before going to bed, since I know tomorrow was going to rain, I didn’t bother going straight to Himeji Castle like I planned for the next day. Instead, I chose to stay at Osaka for another day and visit the indoor stuff. I booked my next hotel which isn’t far from the hotel I have now.

I also wanted to try out the crab thing from Kani Doraku, so I booked through their website for lunch at 11:30, which is the only time slot they have left.

After taking a hot bath, I slept, although not well. Even though the hotel is not located at the busiest district of Dotonbori, it was still very noisy from all the loud music playing at night. I couldn’t sleep at all.

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