Seeing Dotonbori Beyond My Phone Screen

I lost my phone in Osaka's largest shopping district.

Which means, I was having such a hard time trying to track down my phone, searching in places I went to before its unfortunate loss. The search ended after we went to the police and then called it a day. It was such a tragedy. How come I was so clumsy I drop my phone or left it somewhere I couldn't even remember it?

This is so far my very first experience and encounter with the police department in Japan. All I could say about them: they are truly helpful. People told me to go to the nearest police box near the Dotonbori bridge and I did. There was no one inside the police box (I guess they were currently patrolling) so we searched around the area and met an officer (perhaps he is some kind of security officer), and he helped us making a phone call to the patrolling police officer. It took us some quite time before the police officer to came, and she (a policewoman! All I can remember about her is she's as cool as Judy Hopps from Zootopia!) quickly made us report about the loss. I never thought reporting a lost phone will be this easy.

She asked, perhaps, the other police boxes within the area and district if they found any lost phone with the same characteristics as I told them. There were none. It was an hour since I realise I lost my phone, and I wasn't giving up. I decided to turn on the Find My Phone application in my mother's phone and enter my account there. My phone is still in the area and not moving. This means two: Someone found my phone and he/she haven't leave the Dotonbori area, or, I dropped my phone somewhere and someone haven't find them.

Two hours passed and I finally learn to let go my phone. It was a long day already, I shouldn't be thinking about it too much. Letting go something and be patient could mean something better will come, my parents often said.

Walking around Dotonbori without my eyes attached to the phone screen, was indeed, beautiful. When I was in the police box, a Japanese man came to report a phone that he found left in the ATM. He stayed longer that I did, even though he was only there to report a stranger's phone. Then, I saw two high school girls giving a homeless man lunches. This is the first time ever I watch the city lights and the city signs illuminates so beautifully. This is the first time I counted there were lots more Koreans I met in Dotonbori rather than Japanese. This is the first time I laugh louder than I should. This is the first time ever I played in the rain, after all this time thinking it 'too childish'. I realised to see things closer.

If this event regarded as a memory ball like the one in Inside Out, it will be a blue ball, that slowly turned yellow. This will never be a part of bad travelling experience. I am, still, grateful for this to happened. Thank God, thank God, for letting this happened I could learn something from it.

Saturday, 16th July 2016

Claudia Novreica, 2 days without her phone, contemplating about her life.

Note (18/07/2016): My apartment host in Osaka found my phone after she searched it all the way to Dotonbori. She called a gaming arcade I was in the day I lost my phone. I knew someone's taking a good care of my phone since I don't lose it tracks when I lost it. Thank you Hiromi, and whoever take a really great care of my phone. I am so grateful for your presence.