Oof, it's been a while! It's October in Osaka, which means it's finally not crazy hot and humid during the day. The weather is really nice right now, a comfortable high of 70-ish with a slight breeze, so wearing pants and socks and shoes is comfortable but you still don't need a jacket. Hopefully this kind of weather will last longer here than it does in Chicago.
I've been here for four months, which means this contract is 40% done. Whoa! This place is really starting to feel like home, but at the same time, I'm finally starting to feel a bit of homesickness. I still love it here, but I'm also looking forward to the next time I'll live in a place where I can speak the native tongue and see my family and friends from home.
One of the things I love about Japan is the fact that beautiful parks and scenery are closeby and easily accessible from even the biggest cities. I decided to check out Minoo Park, which was just a short train ride away from Osaka station.
To get there I took the subway to Umeda, then transferred to the Hankyu trains and took that to Minoo.
An ad on the train
The town of Minoo itself was super cute
Lots of winding roads through the town that led to the park
There were many little street-side shops selling produce, snacks, and souvenirs
I don't know what the deal was with this little orange-head guy, but he seemed to be the mascot of Minoo, because he was everywhere
Hey look, an alcohol vending machine!
There were a TON of huge spider webs with big ass spiders hanging on them in this park
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I found a little path to a shrine
Last night a few of us went out for some Mexican food (which I had been CRAVING like WHOA) at El Pancho in Shinsaibashi, and we and followed it up with some karaoke!
YUMMMM. It's good to know this place is here whenever I need it (which I'm guessing will be somewhat often)
There was even live music!
Also, you could write on the walls, which reminded me of Gino's East in Chicago
I ordered a banana margarita and the shrimp fajita combo platter. Hoooooly shit, the food was so gooood
After dinner we decided to do some karaoke!
Clearly, it was a super fun night!
Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm bizarrely obsessed with tennis, and there's a women's tennis tournament going on super close to my home in Osaka this week, so of course I went to watch some tennis on my day off today!
First match was Japan's own Misaki Doi against Romanian qualifier Ana Bogdan
Misaki Doi came through in three sets, much to the delight of the home crowd
Next up was top seed and defending champ Sam Stosur against home favorite Misa Eguchi
Sam Stosur is a boss, y'all.
Sam was too good for Eguchi, as she wrapped it up in straight sets
Oh hey, Heather Watson and Christina McHale!
Third match saw American Coco Vandeweghe take on Kristina Mladenovic of France
Vandeweghe saw off Mladenovic in two easy sets
You guys! I got fan mail! Someone sent this to USJ for meeeeeee!
The note they wrote for me was so wonderful! It was anonymous, so I have no idea who wrote this, but I'm so glad to bring this person such joy!
Awwww, so sweet! Thanks, superfan! Whoever you are!
This post's odd snack is shrimp chips!
It was a bizarre taste at first, as it really does taste like shrimp, but a few bites in I was super into them. Probably not great for you, but taste-wise, I'm down!
I really hope I won't let as much time go by between posts again, but we'll see. I'm definitely going to the tennis tournament again tomorrow and to the final on Sunday, so expect to hear about that soon, if nothing else. Matanee, y'all!
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