Early winter in Osaka was a pleasantly well atmosphere. The hustle and bustle of Namba Walk and all the train stations seemed to be filled with familiar air. Braving through the cold wind, my cheeks got frozen. Walking around, I was being bombarded by colourful neon lights and billboards with distinguishingly cute Japanese characters. In my mind, it was all I would had imagined...
As the cold temperature penetrates my flesh and bone, my body began to fight hard by burning more fats. In seconds, my eyes quickly decides what I should have. Shopping for food in Osaka and in Japan (in general) has always been a breeze even though I do not speak the language. Tonnes of pictures are utilised for attraction, if not fake mock-ups of the dishes (which sometimes looks way better than the actuals). I suppose, based on the economic culture of Japan, food has become a competitive commodity where every effort made to entice patrons will at least enhance the chances of walking-ins. For a change, I picked a small corner shop selling udon and ramien, without a single fancy advertisement, except the billboard as the name of the shop. The shop was filled with Japanese men in suits, standing up and slurping away. I glanced through what they were having and I ordered my ramien with vegetarian omelette in soup at a very reasonable 250yen. The chilly temperature and the boiling hot soup was the most perfect contrast! Sometimes I wonder, marketing and advertising dollars are spent quite unnecessarily which always the customer who pay the price.
The friendliest and astonishing retailers are a norm here. Although, I would qualify as a GaiJin (foreigner), I felt I was treated like a queen. Was it my dollars that they are interested? Well, I remembered studying the Japanese Economic System and in that topic, it touches on Japanese culture. Giving their best is seen as the most honourary thing to do and I suppose, great customer service is the manifestation of that. Actually, Japanese has always been known for possessing such desire and no doubt, their determination had transformed an agrarian economy to a fully industrialised one in such a short period of time! Another miracle is the South Koreans but I have yet to pay Seoul a visit...hopefully soon.
