Sonali does Japan

First impressions of Japan: it's awesome! But let me elaborate. Here are my favorite takeaways.

1. The food is so good! You can walk into any place and you'll be assured a delicious meal. That being said you prolly want to stay away from the pricey establishments because you're never going to feel like you've got your money's worth. 

2. They've got transportation down. We thought it would be hard to navigate the system but thankfully signage in English exists. 

3. People are friendly and I mean really friendly. They go out of their way to help you. Also waiters at restaurants do a bang up job considering Japanese don't believe in tipping.

4. I'm loving the tatami mat/futon bed situation going on at the airbnb were staying at. It feels simple, humbling and wholesome. 

5. Most train stations have delicious food and drinks aka these are actually places people want to eat at unlike the U.S. 

Here are some recommendations so far.

1. Although we completely chanced upon it on our way to the bunraku theater, the Kuromon Ichiba Market in Osaka is amazing. The hustle and bustle really only lasts for a couple of hours( 10:30-12:30), but it was well worth it. My boyfriend and I basically ate our way through the market: takoyaki( octopus fried balls), fresh sushi, scallops torched with soy sauce, toro sushi( fatty tuna), picked cucumber and green tea red beans mochi. 

2. Naniwa Curry serves delicious pork cutlet curry and curry udon! They actually use garam masala, what? The husband wife team were so nice and this had nothing to do with him complimenting me on my excellent Japanese lol

3. For ramen lovers out there, Ippudo is a must. The wait wasn't long (20mins). The service was so quick and of course the waiters were über nice. They had a little basket under each seat to store your stuff- genius! But coming back to the food, get the akamaru ramen special( pork in tonkatsu broth and a coop of red "umami dama" miso paste with mushrooms, eggs and all the good stuff). The Gyoza was actually mouth sized and melted in my mouth! 

4. I'm not a fan of green tea but green tea ice cream is the bomb.

5. Carry a coin purse! You'll be dealing with a lot of change(yen being weak and all).

Other things.

1. You'd be hard pressed to find public trash cans in Japan. So we ended up carrying our trash for miles before finding one! To quote my boyfriend, "Japan has made a trash can out of me". What's interesting is that the city is super clean! How do they do that? Who are these trash removing fairies? 

2. The cyclists drive with a vengeance to take you out. So watch out for them.

3. Yes. bidets are in every Japanese home. While the old me(living in India) would have loved it growing up, present me doesn't care too much for it. 

4. Local bars and restaurants don't have English menus and don't really know English. An app might help you out but be prepared for some surprises :)

5. Japanese women sure love their makeup(and this coming from me). Exaggerated eyes, false eye lashes and of course red lipstick. I saw a girl take 20 mins on the train to apply her makeup. It made the train ride interesting for sure. 

6. There are drug stores at every corner carrying your essential toiletries, snacks, mess, cosmetics etc. These are brightly lit and every item in the store is crazy bright and colorful. However we are yet to find a grocery store hmmm.