Thursday, January 03, 2008

key differences between tokyo and osaka

1. uncovered drains in osaka are common; almost unheard-of (unseen?) in tokyo
2. cats rule in osaka; no wild cats in tokyo - ive only seen less than 5 in my entire time in tokyo!
3. bread is available in 8-slice loaves in tokyo; loaves in osaka r 6 or less thick slices.....ughh, all that carbohydrate...
4. air is clean in tokyo; air in osaka approaches penang-level (read: polluted)
5. things in tokyo r uniformly expensive; prices in osaka fluctuate like crazy
6. good orange juice can b gotten for 105 yen in toyko; juice in osaka tastes like shit n is generally more expensive (for the same brand)
7. more hot gals on trains in tokyo; more giggly gals on trains in osaka
8. tokyo schgals hv nice short skirts; osaka schgals hv long ugly skirts....hehehehe
9. u can stay out until 11 or so in tokyo n still make ur way home thanks to its transportation system; u can start to go back at 9.30 in osaka n find u juz missed the last bus...
10. lots of cheap (~1500yen) tabehoudai in tokyo; tabehoudai in osaka usually costs 2000 over
11. ppl r unfriendly in tokyo, or so ive heard; ppl r weird in osaka
12. tokyo gaidai is the best uni in japan; osaka gaidai is....well.....
13. i like tokyo; i dont like osaka so much
14. tokyo uni is for stuck-up achievers; osaka uni is for stuck-up underachievers
15. u can save on transportation costs in tokyo by cycling everywhere, n get sum exercise while u'r at it; in osaka, cycling is impossible becuz of the slopes and bad air
16. total cost for transportation to shinjuku frm place of residence in tokyo: 190 yen. total cost for transportation to umeda frm place of residence in osaka: 490 yen (- -"")
17. kare-raisu (curry rice) in tokyo is sweet; in osaka its tasteless
18. otsuka ai was born in osaka; otsuka ai left for tokyo to pursue her singing career (wise move)
19. crowds in tokyo r impressive and annoying; crowds in osaka r annoying without the impressiveness
20. garbage in tokyo is sorted into combustible, non-combustible (plastic), glass, PET, etc; in osaka there's a 'combustible' tag but no 'non-combustible', so u chuck the plastic n all into combustible garbage....hmm....burning plastic, never a good idea
21. in tokyo u pay when u get on the bus; in osaka u pay when u get off
22. there is one cheap fruit in tokyo: bananas; in osaka theres no such thing as cheap fruits n the bananas rot pretty quick
23. public toilets in tokyo r as clean as science fiction; public toilets in osaka generally match penang's in terms of 'delicious' odours
24. beef chunks for making curry r cheaper than many other kinds of beef in tokyo; no such thing as cheap beef in osaka supermarkets
25. ppl dun (rarely?) smoke while walking on the streets in tokyo, which probably contributes to its clean air; in osaka i sumtimes wish for a gas mask when walking around more populated areas, even the open spaces
26. (in response to a comment) house rent in tokyo is expensive; house rent in osaka is slightly cheaper so the landlords make up for that by charging an exorbitant amount of shiki-kin, rei-kin etc ("key money" n all that stuff)...hence, living in osaka is actually MORE expensive for the first 1 or 2 years
27. ppl in tokyo wait for the traffic lights even tho there r no cars in sight; ppl in osaka cross roads malaysia-style 70% of the time

well thats it for now, wud dearly like to make it 20 but ran out of time n brainpower to think...neways, will b updating if i think of anyting 2 add later on heheh.

disclaimer: this is a completely biased, subjective view of the differences between 2 cities as observed by an extremely biased and prejudiced foreign student, hence they do not necessarily reflect actual conditions. ppl deciding to visit either city shud not use this as a guide or let it influence their preconceptions of either city, n obviously the municipal council of either city shud not sue me for inaccurate descriptions

(updated 3x)

4 comments:

phyee86 said...

U didn't write osaka has more delicious food.
Hmmm.... and osaka has cheaper house rent also.
Haha.....

Kryptos said...

Considering that I spent my time in Osaka mainly at Umeda, my judgment on Osaka is (most probably biased and) basically based on observations made in Umeda.

This is what I've got to say, anyway: I thought Shibuya was dirty; but Umeda is worse.

Terrible traffic; thus the dirty air.

People don't even have the self-discipline of refraining themselves to light up a cigarette while waiting for the traffic light to turn green.

While, on the other hand, to put it in my foster mother's words, "Tokyo people are more elegant." And you may want to add, "snobbish", judging from that statement.

Anyway, I just wanna say, Osaka (or at least Umeda) is a piece of C-R-A-P.

Btw, there's at least one thing in the list u've got to get it right. Garbage collection. Since it is managed by the municipal council, it varies from place to place. All this while, plastic has been non-combustible. But starting last October, they're treated as combustible in most places. Some sort of upgrade in their technology. And since plastic is made from petroleum, it's a good source of energy. Anyway, plastic has been treated as combustible all this while, in most of the other cities other than Tokyo.

Kryptos said...

HYee>>
On "osaka having more delicious food."
>Not really. At least I can't tell the difference.

On "house rent being cheaper in Osaka"
>Well, it is. But then, a factor that decides land value is the location. You can get a place with cheap rent too in the suburban Tokyo. Except that you'll have to spend maybe 490 yen to Shinjuku; or head home at 9.30 just to find that you've missed the last bus. But well, you can get a 80k room for two persons even in the 23 wards.

Ah okay, I admit I'm more of a Tokyo guy.

raptor_ravenlord said...

the food in osaka is definitely no more delicious than that in tokyo. theres no difference, period. mebbe it was so in the past but not today...

only difference is prices; in tokyo eating out is almost uniformly expensive while in osaka u can find sum cheap places tucked away in places like the inaka we'r staying in...