![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.i8u.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/IMG_1796.jpg\" "\\"IMG_1796\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nAnyway, I had no idea what I was doing so the first thing I did was head towards Hep Five. And what did I run into? Whity Umeda!<\/p>\n
And the first things I saw in Whity Umeda? Beard Papa and Baskin Robbins! (Actually the first thing I saw was a store selling traditional Japanese sweets, but that doesn’t make for as good a story.)<\/p>\n I didn’t actually go INTO Hep Five, because, well, I’m an idiot. And I had more time to kill. While I was there, I thought I’d try looking for our favorite green tea sweets shop. But what I found were new restaurants with a new underground river! Turns out the store I was looking for is BEHIND this store. It’s still there.<\/p>\n So this is in the northeast of the underground and I thought I’d go to the southwest where I was two days ago and where it was all shuttered up.<\/p>\n But I started getting tired and stopped at Chococro, in the middle of everything (pretty much) and had a coffee. I had to ask the woman like a retard what the strongest coffee was and she just didn’t understand what I was asking. So, for the second day in a row, I felt like I was getting in an argument about something completely stupid. I just didn’t want a weak-ass cup of coffee (again). I was in a much better mood after the coffee (especially since the girl running the coffee machine gave me and the girl on the cash register some advice on coffee).<\/p>\n Turns out the area towards the southwest isn’t shuttered up during the week. Lots of businessmen and stores.<\/p>\n Hell, I don’t know where I’m taking pictures any more. I think this is where I decided that I was going to follow the road to the far northeast again.<\/p>\n Sometime in the middle of all of this, I went back to Hep Five and, stupidly, sent Facebook messages to co-workers and got some information about next years insurance changes. You have to do it now, and I don’t know how you’re supposed to get it done when you’re on sabbatical. I also heard about some customers and I shouldn’t have asked. Fortunately there are plenty of things to distract you in Japan. Like a giant red whale in Hep Five. And women trying to help direct you to the proper boutique while wearing ridiculous uniforms.<\/p>\n I thought I’d get some lunch and by the time I got closer to the hotel and found a place to get some lunch. The Wired Caf\u00e9 sounded annoying, and of course, it was. My phone stopped connecting to the cellular data network and I couldn’t get onto the “free” internet.<\/p>\n Fortunately, the taco rice (not tako rice) was pretty tasty.<\/p>\n I got back to the hotel around 3 or so and decided to take a nap. In fact, I didn’t do a whole lot more today. But I did get into my head that I wasted to get some tonkatsu. I asked the front desk and they sent me from the west side of Umeda past the northeast corner of Umeda to Chayamachi. I could swear they said Katsukura was in the Apple Rose building. Turns out it’s in the APPLAUSE building.<\/p>\n It was a serious tonkatsu restaurant. They give you goma (sesame) in a mortar and you grind it.<\/p>\n Then you add two types of sauce. And no matter how hard I try, I take a fuzzy picture.<\/p>\n On the way here I was thinking I haven’t had much seafood. I won’t point out the baby octopus in one of my previous pictures, but that and some fried shrimp are probably the only seafood I’ve had.<\/p>\n I had this exact same combination in Tokyo but I think this was a little better.<\/p>\n Tomorrow I’m meeting some old co-workers. The company that Mitsubishi turned into through mergers of several different companies is finally cutting back on all the factories they own and a lot of them are quitting or getting laid off. This may be my last chance to see a lot of them! In any case, I don’t know what else I’m going to do. Maybe see the Ando instant ramen museum? Or see what my cousin’s kid’s new house looks like?<\/p>\n Apart from the arguing, I do like Osaka best.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I was dragging again today and it was a rainy day anyway. My mom suggested that I hang the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door and go back to sleep. I figured I’d go walking the underground a while. One of the first things I saw was people lining up in the basement of the Hanshin Department store to get the cheap cake. I forget why there’s cheap cake, whether it’s oddly shaped or if they just sell a bunch of them for cheap. Anyway, I had no idea what I was doing so the first thing I did was head towards Hep Five. And what did I run … Continue reading Japan Day 34<\/span> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n