Sushi, suspense, and sensory overload.

Back in 2017, Wille and I landed in Osaka babyfaced, open-eyed, and very excited. The city was alive with color, sound, and about 12,000 types of vending machines. The toilets had more buttons than a spaceship, and we had no idea what most of them did.

One night, we wandered into a conveyor belt sushi place. We were starving, but too nervous to touch a single plate. Japan is known for its incredibly realistic plastic food displays, and we genuinely weren’t sure if the sushi on the belt was real.

And we really, really didn’t want to be *those* clueless tourists grabbing fake tuna.

So we sat. And watched. And waited.

Finally, we saw a local take a plate and I swear, we grabbed ours like it was a lifeline.

It was delicious.