ikea in osaka

yes, there is an ikea in osaka, and it's actually rather near where i live. i made my first trip there today, and i have to say that while mcdonald's has often been cited as The corporation that brings standardisation and sameness to local landscapes, i think IKEA beats Macs in this regard, in that while Macs does actually localise in terms of menu, slight decor, etc, the IKEA here is exactly the same as the one back home!

as the free shuttle bus pulled into the IKEA compound, i felt as if i were back home and entering the tampines IKEA, because the one here is one huge blue and yellow building in the middle of an otherwise deserted big grassy field too! the decor on the inside, layout, products and so on were exactly the same as well, and i really felt like i was back in singapore. very very weird. the only difference was that there were japanese words of course, but cos all the signs had english too, it didnt feel too much like japan either.

needless to say i had meatballs for lunch, although they did something to the meatballs and they're smaller and less juicy than before! with this deterioration in standard and taste, i conclude that the most truly wonderful thing about IKEA meatballs are the sauce and the soft, creamy potatoes :) i wonder if the meatballs in Singapore have changed too. there was also a smoked salmon salad, and i splurged and had that too, costing me a total of 1045yen for lunch :S off-days are spend-money-days... haiz.

the next time i go back there though, i'll definitely bring along a cooler bag to purchase their cheese - cheaper than the cheese that i see at my supermarket! - and the very delicious looking salmon and crayfish pate. yumm!

 

PS: it has been brought to my attention that IKEA in sweden looks EXACTLY like the one in tampines as well. "talk about synchronicity"!