Wednesday

Our day starts early, and we had a quick breakfast in our room before leaving. First, we checked out a few shipping options via the helpful folks at the Osaka Tourist Info Center. Next, it had to be ramen for lunch. We found this place nearby and the ramen was a bit odd, but still really good. I had the miso ramen, and the noodles were thicker and softer then I have had before. They put sesame seeds in there as well, and huge slices of broiled pork. Very yummy. Sandy's ramen was not as spicy as mine, but still had a subtle deliciousness to it.

Pretty good ramen in Osaka

All full up of ramen, we set out to spend money. I bought two knives from an old dude in Namba, for less than I had anticipated. They are really good knives, however; I got a vegetable knife and a sashimi knife, both single edged. Now I have to learn to sharpen them without messing up the blade(or better yet, find someone locally who can do it for me).

This awesome lady made us yummy okonomiyaki-esque things for only 120 yen each! We sat on little chairs along the main shopping arcade and ate them.

These things were yums

There is a store in Japan called Tokyu Hands, and I swear, if I lived here, they would have my money. They have everything, all high quality, from kitchen to craft to toys to science stuff. It's just a department store, but how many department stores have a guy that stands outside and fixes your bicycle for free? So many Osakans rely on bicycles on transportation, and Tokyu Hands provides this as a public service; you don't even need to walk into the store. I bought some bento toys and a banana holster.

I keep forgetting to photograph street art. Sorry.

Great stencil in Osaka

After much walking, we returned to our neighborhood. We happened to wander into another local curry house, and it was absolutely amazing. The dude spoke no English, as is the norm, but was totally rocking American country music on the stereo. Like, the 'not good' kind. The curry was unlike anything I had ever tasted, and the cabbage/cardemum pickles served with it was also incredible. Sandy had naan and curry, and I had katsu curry. So freaking good, for serious.

This curry was pure win

We returned 'home' to clean, pack, and get to bed early for our final day in Osaka. Tomorrow, we go back to Tokyo for the remainder of our trip, and we are kind of sad to leave Osaka, as it has really grown on us.

Labels: curry, Japan08, Osaka, shopping

posted by tangentbot @ 7:46 AM 


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Tuesday

Tuesday became our Kyoto day, as Monday did not turn out exactly as we wanted it too. We left our hotel a little late, found a quick train to Kyoto, and ended up in some underground supermarket. Supermarkets in America cannot compare with Japan, so it's unfair to even apply the same term; but that's essentially what it was. They were selling this really great sencha that we had to buy. Seriously though, they totally grok the idea of 'service industry' in a way that I really believe America never will.

Making dango in Kyoto

The Nishiki market in Kyoto

We rode the subway down to the Nishiki market and went on an extended search for food. We eventually got some food at this weird little place that was out of plain rice(!) but had rice-dishes all cooked with the ingredients in them. Very strange, but good. We made our way through the market, looking at all the pickled vegetables(tsukemono), candies, vegetables, fish, baked goods and tea. I stopped by the little knife shop that I wanted to buy knives at last time and looked around. Their knives looked to be of equal quality with the knives I found in Osaka, but at twice the price! I left the shop, and we eventually grew weary of seeing white people everywhere, so we bid farewell to Kyoto. I grew up in a tourist town, I know how the residents of Kyoto feel, and it makes me feel the same way. It was back to Osaka for us...

Osakan whales are angry over nothing

Restaurant ship is a restaurant

...for more shopping! We found even more underground shopping malls, a sprawling network of commerce meets mass transit. Everything was nearing closing time, and we were hungry, so we found this strange little place that serves curry udon. OMGOOSES. It was so delicious;

Curry Udon is win

...and Sandy grabbed something she thought was a napkin, as it was really messy, but it was actually a big paper baby bib! And she wore it! See?

baby bib (blurry for EMPHASIS!)

The Minami waterfront in old Osaka

Okay, so we crashed after that day, and we planned for Wednesday to be our Big Osaka Shopping Day, and we needed to research shipping costs and stuff... so it was early to bed for us.

Labels: Japan08, Kyoto, Osaka, shopping

posted by tangentbot @ 5:43 PM 


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If you will find it in your heart of hearts to forgive me for not posting for awhile... where did we leave off? Oh yeah;

Saturday

I've heard for awhile that Osaka and its denizens are considered to be kind of crazy by Tokyo standards. Let me just say, Aomori seemed more like Tokyo than Osaka does. The people are just more laid back here, a lot like Americans. In fact, Osaka really could be a city in America. People just walk accross the street, regardless of the traffic light (people in Tokyo patiently wait at every light). They stand on the right side of the escalator (the rest of Japan stands on the left). They talk on the trains, constantly, which are usually dead silent. I've been panhandled by a bum already, the city is filthy with litter, and we've seen tons of foreigners. I even walked into the first public bathroom in Japan that was too gross to use! Seriously, this place seems so much like home that it freaks me out.

So today, we woke up early and it was already warm. Gross. I keep the AC running in the hotel all the time. It's supposed to be in the 70s/80s. We set out, looking for this fabulous shopping and food reputation that Osaka has. Walking, walking... we found some restaurants, mostly udon, but next to zero bustle. The only stores we saw were kimono and fabric shops and a bunch of crappy 100 yen shops. We were hungry and tired, having walked for an hour and a half and finding nothing. We saw a tiny Indian restaurant, that had a fairly inexpensive lunch set, so we went for it. Indian food in Japan. It was some of the best I'd ever had (it was no Gateway to India, but it was also kind of in it's own class). The naan was huge and delicious, and they had this really spicy tamarind curry sauce that was amazing. If you get naan, the meal doesn't come with rice, which makes sense, but this is the first time I encountered it.

Indian Restaurant in Osaka

Curry Set B

Curry Set C

Huge naan!

We returned to the hotel, full and ready to research this crazy town. We didn't even know where were we were relative to anything else, so I Google Mapped it. Two subway stops later put us in Namba. Tons and tons of shops, arcades, places to eat... it was overwhelming at best, and I'm not a huge fan of malls in the first place, but they still had a lot of cool stuff. There was an awesome electronics store, a Toys r Us "Select", and some amazing restaurants, so we will absolutely be back. We ate lunch at an udon place; I had kitsune udon, and Sandy had tempura udon. We had coffee at a cute little cafe themed like American Old West.

Kitsune udon FTW

Tempura Udon at a place in Namba

Expensive coffee is expensive

Finally, a trip on the subway that was quick and painless, a stop by 7-11 to pick up some water and tea, and it was back to the hotel for us. We spent the evening planning our trip to Kyoto and our return to Namba, as well as a bit more sightseeing throughout Osaka. After all, there's Osaka castle close by, and a few shrines, so we are not lacking stuff to do. There's also an aquarium that has whale sharks, so we will probably do that too. We still need to find a way to ship stuff home, as it will be a pain to carry all our stuff back. Next trip, we are only bringing backpacks, fer serious.

New contraction

Labels: food, Japan08, Osaka, shopping

posted by tangentbot @ 8:16 AM 


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