"Idiots don't catch colds."
- Opinionated Night Owl
- Sep 25, 2019
- 4 min read
("Baka wa kaze wo hikanai.") Despite this popular Japanese saying, plus with some western superstition, I do feel like an idiot for catching a cold. And why is this? Because I caught a cold by blasting the air-conditioner in my room and it was Friday the 13th.
I spent 5 days in bed doing absolutely nothing but sleeping, coughing my lungs inside out and using enough Moomin napkins to plaster the whole room in Moomins. I did get out of bed to trod over to the nearest vending machine (on the other side of the street) to buy something to drink or the konbini (24/7 open convenience store) to buy cup noodles or toast. Oh yeah and I did manage to pop at the KFC once too. (I was actually trying to buy 2 chicken BURGERS, instead I got 2 BOXES of food. I'm blaming my fever for this miscommunication...)
It is absolutely miserable to suffer from fever, a runny nose and a sore throat in +30/+35 degrees, without using the air-conditioner and the lozenge tasted awful, like salmiakki, absolutely awful. (Yes I dislike salmiakki despite being Finnish.)
Well, after suffering those 5 days, the fever and other symptoms eased up, allowing me to actually leave the hotel room to meet up with a friend. She's an exchange student in Kyoto, so she came over to Osaka to hang out with me. We chose to meet up at Osaka/Umeda train station, but both of us kind of forgot how big the actual place is and yours truly still not having internet connection meant that trying to meet up was utterly impossible.
In the end I decided to not to think about my next phone bill in Finland, and just called her with my Finnish number, finally being able to pinpoint each of our locations and actually meet up. From there we planned to walk to Namba, look around and return when it got dark to go see the panorama view from Umeda Sky Building rooftop. It didn't go exactly to plan.
On our way we stumbled upon this absolutely beautiful and vibrant shrine, called Tsuyu Tenjinsha (Ohatsu Tenjin) in Umeda's Sonezaki. The shrine was famous for match-making and finding love, so obviously there were a lot of o-mamori (protective amulets), ema (wooden wishing plaques where you write prayers and wishes) and other pretty trinkets for befitting the theme.
The wind-chimes were absolutely lovely and the red colored torii, meticulously cared for yard and pavement as well as the vibrant atmosphere made the experience very different from my previous shrine visits.
We drifted towards the shrine store selling the amulets and other goods, and milled around unsure whether either of us had the guts to actually ask what other amulets they were selling besides match-making, and such. In the end, I did, and I was very pleasantly surprised that the old man selling them started up an actual conversation with me in Japanese. We talked about the shrine, universities, our plans for the year and in the end even about the amulets a bit. (I ended up buying one for luck (un), because of catching the cold on Friday the 13th.)
After leaving the shrine, we decided to just wander. We were in no rush and no particular plan so we went with the idea "let's go down the streets that look interesting." And so we did.
Around 5pm, my friend stopped in the middle of a road, half- trying to contain her laughter and half- trying to get her phone to immortalize what we were seeing. It was a restaurant. Very plain, nothing special really. Except the name. It read in impeccable Finnish "Keitto Ruokala" (Soup eatery). We could not contain our curiosity and thus our dinner spot had been decided.
Dinner was a three course menu (for the celebration of 3rd anniversary of the restaurant.)
First meal: gravlax, raw beef, pieces of baguette (<-- forgot to take a pic of that one) with an actual salad of onions, cherry tomatoes, salad leaves, radish, paprika, orange and white fish.
Second meal: salmon soup with carrots and cabbage (why the hell was there cabbage in Finnish salmon soup I couldn't comprehend) as well as fried salmon with cream potatoes and this one green bean-like vegetable that I have never seen before (yeah that plate went also without being photographed...)
Dessert: pear pie and orange juice.
The food was Finnish-ish, the seasoning though was very Japanese. I do recommend the place! Service was great, indoor design was quite Finnish and all pottery and furniture was either Arabia, Marimekko, Iittala or some other famous Finnish brand.
What actually crowned that night though, wasn't the food or great service, but the company. Of course my lovely friend, but also the other restaurant customers. There was actually a group of Japanese holding a nomikai (a drinking party) on the deck outside and they invited us to join! Apparently they were Finland-enthusiasts, and were super excited to meet actual Finns and talk about Finnish stuff. Who were we to refuse? The restaurant even served Finnish alcohol, Hartwall's Original Long drink (Lonkero, as is literally written on the menu too), so the evening continued smoothly.
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