After a very early breakfast of convenience store goodies, I started to get peckish. Since it was only 10 am, I stopped at a Starbucks to refuel.

The Starbucks at Yodoyabashi Odona was quiet and classy. The glass display case was full of the usual items and some extra decadent treats. I skipped those as I figured my drink would have plenty of sugar already.

The friendly barista greeted me, and I placed an order for a medium soy chai latte. My go-to size is a small, but in Japan I get a medium. This isn’t because of the minuscule difference between Canada’s mL sizes and Japan’s cc sizes. It’s because a small is interpreted as a Tall in Canada, and a Short in Japan. Yes, I’m the annoying customer that forgets to use Starbucks’ official size names. I get flustered enough trying to remember my order and to ask for soy milk. While waiting in line, I always wonder if I should say soy latte or latte with soy milk. The first sounds better, but the second emphasized the soy more and might be more in line with the register process.

I was extra nervous about asking for soy milk in Osaka. When I previously asked other restaurants in Japan if they had soy milk, they would only catch the word milk and excitedly say yes. Even though I made a mental note to say ‘soy’ instead of ‘soy milk’, I accidentally blurted out chai latte with soy milk.

Turns out I was worried for nothing. The barista clearly understood my request, and even handed me a cute soy milk card to ensure I was given the right drink. I quickly snapped a picture of the card before my drink was ready. Then I snapped another of the condiments bar. There were multiple sugar options (which I skipped), including: white & brown sugar, liquid sugar, and even orange vanilla sugar. There was also something called coffee powder, which looked like finely ground coffee that may or may not have been sweetened.

I enjoyed my soy chai latte on a gorgeous red velvet chair, and got to planning the rest of the day.