Shinsaibashi-Suji

The thing with starting a new life in a new city is that it requires you to buy loads of stuff like beds and doormats and toiletries basket and the like -- a perfect excuse, really, to go out and shop.

It was a clear day, and the hotel we were staying in was two minutes away from Shin-Osaka station.

So today I took the subway to Shinsaibashi, said to be Osaka's best known shopping district. And when I came out of the station, Louis Vuitton and Fendi were the first ones to greet me. But I skipped their invite and headed straight to Shinsaibashi-Suji, a long covered street that features well-known brands alongside quaint shops selling shoes or clothes or trinkets or antique Japanese books. Will I ever be able to read Murakami in Japanese? I wonder.

So okay, the shopping street I went to doesn't exactly sell the things I need to buy, but I was happy nonetheless. There were rows and rows of shops. I loved the Kitkat store in particular. I love being pleasantly lost in places I have never been to.