Dispatch from Elsewhere: Catching up
Day 9+10: Osaka
Hello, friends! I am starting this post today from my sister’s hotel lobby. I decided to walk the thirty minutes here to take in the sights and not be sardined with people on the train, but the sun is finally out and it is hot hot hot.
I spent most of the morning trying to catch up on sleep and my dramas. I finally watched the finale I’ve been looking forward to and it did not disappoint.
I also figured out how to implement a light box thanks to Jess! Hopefully, image galleries will look nicer and less long.
Quick Interlude
I'm now catching up at the end of the day in my hotel room, and tensions are high. My sister and I had a great day at the aquarium, but my parents' chaos is really catching up to us. All these years, and communication still feels impossible. My sister and I have learned so many words for big feelings, regulation, and coping, and I feel like I've worked so hard on cohesion to no avail. It's just that no matter how much we learn, I still can't translate any of it.
At this point in my trip, I can't help but think of every way I would've done the trip differently if I had my way. Maybe it doesn't matter. Still, I yearn for more curiosity and less blame. This could very well be the last family trip we take as a complete unit, and I find that to be a very bittersweet thought.
All that to interrupt the flow of things and say that I will do my best to recap the last two days, but it's been hectic.
I really loved our sister trip to the aquarium. We took it easy, and meandered through the crowds admiring all the amazing critters. They had a giant tank three levels high with plenty of seats to rest and enjoy. We did a lot of resting and walking and talking and laughing and taking it all in. We both really needed it. Here is a highlight of all the amazing things we saw:
I want to make a supercut of the awesome little videos I made. Despite the busyness, I really enjoyed this aquarium, and I loved seeing the little inspirations Animal Crossing must've taken. The large tank where Jinbei is held is several storeys tall, and my sister and I manage to find seats at different points of the walk to just chill and watch the fish swim by. She can't decide whether she likes the ocean sunfish (she does), and I'm jump-scared at one point by a ray dancing in front of the glass, as if trying to clean it with its belly.
It's super fun getting excited over everything with my sister. We admire the sesame boys and I have some sort of existential moment as I watch the cuttlefish flutter above me.
Near the aquarium is Legoland and a shopping centre. The Lego store is pretty sad, but the shopping centre had a dope gacha centre. I pour in too many coins to try to get a pink bunny for B (I fail but end up with matching buns for the three of us). The guy dropped too many coins for me at the claw machine centres, and it's funny to me that he has the same love language as my sister.
The is when things start to get tense, and most of the following day is me trying to work through things with my mom as best I can. That said, there are still some highlights.
We make tentative plans for dinner with my sister, but this is where another crisis strikes. As my parents are trying to check in for our flight to Macau tomorrow, we learn that the flight has actually been cancelled.
My parents and I spend a good hour trying to connect to Air Macau's customer service, but their stupid chatbots and horrendous website makes things challenging. When we finally get a number to call, we split up to find ways of calling without a sim card (ours is data only and does not have a phone number attached). Mom hits up friends in Macau while I research VoIP and desktop calling options. I throw around the idea of taking the metro to the airport to ask in person. We just needed to know what was happening. Eventually, my mom asks if B has a local phone number. I call my sister to fill her in and to ask: he does. I send her all of the information, and she calls the Osaka branch of Air Macau.
Twenty minutes later, she calls to confirm that the flight was indeed cancelled. In fact, it was cancelled a whole week ago, and we'd been placed on the next flight out on Saturday (instead of Friday). My mom's travel guy just didn't tell us (furiously, she grumbles about firing him).
We have answers, and now we need to find a hotel. I pick one near the airport with free airport transport, and we're pretty much golden. I feel so encouraged by the way my family was able to come together in a crisis, and I think I'm the only one feeling livelier after that whole debacle.
My sister takes the night to herself to regulate, so I take my parents to a nearby sukiyaki place. As we're perusing the menu outside, a young guy with apparently superhuman hearing comes out from inside the glass door of the shop to greet us in Cantonese. We're pleasantly surprised, and he's probably one of the loveliest servers that we've had here (potentially only because I can fluently ask him stupid questions).
Did I mention Japan really likes lemon sours? I kinda love the drinks I've had in general. Everything is so light and crisp and simple. The one I had with my sukiyaki was amazing. This meal was really the most veg I've had in a while, and I loved it. Mom ordered a sesame gelato for dessert, and that rich, creamy, black sesame flavour was everything.
Tomorrow we're headed to Izumisano for our extra day here. It's a small town by the airport, and god I am so excited to get to Macau. The thought of having to miss Macau was devastating--I was already thinking about 祝之三 ( Estabelecimento Comidas Chok Chi Sam) and their macaroni soup.
Overall, I really enjoyed Osaka despite the big feelings and not really getting to enjoy it the way I perhaps wanted to. I'd love to come back and take it easy--pop to more izakayas and visit their plentiful galleries and museums.
Even so, there is nothing quite like going home.
This will be the last time we get to visit my grandfather's house in Macau--its sale will be finalized soon after we leave. It's the place I remember most there--jumping around trying to grow taller, running into my grandparents room and trying to sneak from my grandfather's candy stash in his bedside drawer, watching movies on the couch by myself, breaking the lazy susan in the patio room, singing nursery rhymes while the adults were trying to do karaoke...I know I'm getting some memories mixed up from when we used to live on another floor, but this flat is the only one in my memory.
It's a bit of a scattered couple days, but that's it for now!
Nostalgic Flor, out!