Osaka, I hardly knew you

I’m flying home today, although I’d like to stay longer. I wrote a rambling post about my stay last night, but Blogger thankfully lost it. Being in a foreign country is certainly a feast for the senses (including the head on my 6’3″ body, three times-ow!). I also met some old friends and made some new ones.

Favorites of Osaka:

• The Imperial Hotel (best I’ve ever stayed in)
• “Realize Shop” 100 yen store (cheap, stylish housewares like tea cups)
• Covered shopping street (Tenjinbashi Shotengai) said to be five miles long, full of small shops.
• Also Hankyu shopping mall with Sanrio store (Hello Kitty)
• The women (they all dress with style and have such pretty eyes)
• Seeing bicycles as a popular form of transportation
• Tradition of giving chocolate to men on Valentine’s Day (incl. waitress at dinner)
• Japanese chili powder in my udon soup (loved all the food, actually)

I also had some great, and eye-opening, meetings with my new ‘marketing friends’. It is great to feel that I am on a team now, where before a lot of what I did has been in a vacuum. As I sort through my notes, I’ll try to find some worthwhile things to share while protecting my company’s strategies.