Oh, the cuisine in Osaka...

In earlier posts, I talked about places like the Outback Steakhouse, and the Casa Italia as places where I foraged for food during my stay in Osaka.

I ate American early in the meet, going with what I knew--Outback (which is technically Australian), Kentucky Fried Chicken, (left, where I'm hanging out with the Colonel, all decked out in Mizuno Team Japan gear!) and the Hard Rock Cafe. In addition to eating at Casa Italia, I found a pizza/pasta joint within blocks of Nagai Stadium that had some passable Italian food with a Japanese twist.

For the most part, I ate primarily Japanese food, preferring to venture to the many ramen/sushi/teriyaki joints available. Most Japanese staple foods (shushoku, 主食)typically consist of rice or noodles, with a soup, and okazu (おかず) - dishes made from fish, meat, vegetable, tofu and the like, designed to add flavor.

There were several instances where I found myself in trouble at restaurants, notably the ones where you sit on the floor cross-legged, eating off a low table.

But if there was a moment of weakness, it was in my lack of proficiency in the use of chop sticks to eat. I was essentially dead meat; in fact, former Runner's World Online editor Parker Morse had to give me a crash course on the use of chop sticks at the one place we ate at near the stadium.

On one of my grocery runs from the Hotel Chuo, I sucked up my pride and bought two forks; one to carry in my bag, and one to keep in my room for the late night sushi, ramen, and Asahis after the meet while writing stories and editing photos to send to the USA.