Closed Wednesdays

 | 02-May-2018 |  Evidence that we are both here; Pleepleus is not in Asia unchaperoned.

Headed out early this morning to check out Osaka Castle.  It was hazy and bright so the pictures are terrible, but at least it hadn’t started raining yet.

By the time we reached the castle grounds at the top of the hill, the flood of tour groups was coming in from the opposite direction. We took a brief rest at the vending machines where Jeff found one of our favorites from a previous trip: Coolish.  It’s soft-serve ice cream in a pouch (think Capri Sun). This one was piña colada – and who doesn’t want that at 8:30am?

After the castle we headed to Osaka Station to secure our train tickets to Hiroshima. We wanted to go tomorrow to see some of the Golden Week festivities, but the morning trains were completely sold out so we’ll go Friday instead.
 

Tickets purchased, we headed to Yodobashi Camera – a ridiculous shopping experience with all things electronics, phones, appliances, and all the related things. And I do mean ALL THE THINGS. I was looking for a Moomin phone case but was unsuccessful; found a cool camo one though.

As a point of reference, here are three aisles of just iPhone cases. There’s that kind of selection for EVERYTHING.  The headphones and earbuds? Forget about it – you could lose a whole day in that section.
After Yodobashi we waded into the chaos that is the shopping district of Umeda to Disk Union. Umeda is blocks and blocks of shopping malls and arcades, both above and below ground. It’s a nightmare to traverse if you’re looking for something specific.

With the help of the Googles, we found Disk Union without too much trouble since it’s not buried in an arcade. An excellent shop – neatly organized and a good selection. Thanks to our personal wifi hot spot we were able to research on-the-fly, though I had to go outside the store to get a signal. 

Each trip outside to “research”, I was enticed by the amazing smell of the adjacent curry house. After Jeff wrapped up his shopping we popped into the 4-table restaurant for lunch.
Following lunch we hopped the subway again to Shinsaibashi where there Jeff had pre-scouted a number of record stores. It’s a cool area with tons of little indie shops – unfortunately it was raining which made our time there a little more purposeful. We were able to hit several record stores on Jeff’s list, though others were closed.

The fabric shop I wanted to visit today was also closed (though I found this out before we’d headed 20 minutes in the opposite direction!), and B-side Label, a sticker shop I like, was also closed.  Apparently Wednesday is the new Sunday.

I guess we’ll be going back to Shinsaibashi on Saturday.

We took a break at the hotel before going back out for dinner. I found a tiny pizza place, La Pizza Napoletana Regalo,  just across the water from the hotel so we bounced over there for a pie.

Great 6-table spot with a wood-fired oven – awesome pizza and great service.

From dinner we set out for CompuFunk records, a record “store” specializing in house and techno. Located on the 2nd floor of building along the river, this little bar/venue/record store has a KILLER view.  The dude working made some recommendations and Jeff posted up a the listening station for a few minutes. We left with a several interesting techo records – can’t wait to get them home so I can hear them.

Wrapping up this post with my feet on the A/C vent, sipping a Suntory whisky. Not a bad view.

Tomorrow: KYOTO!!!