(Day 9) Osaka Lover

Good Morning, people of Kyoto! We have arrived. Although we weren’t staying long since we were on the train to Osaka by 10:00 AM. My last time visiting Osaka, I left quite a bit less than thrilled. (You can read about it here.) Being the persistent bugger that I am, I want to give it another shot. This may or may not have anything to do with the fact that my celeb crush-o’-the-moment hails from Osaka (I’m talking about you, Ryo-chan.) Shall we go?




Mmm, Meiji candy…chocolate…


”Ohh, ohh, Oh saka…”

One of the top things I was looking forward to in coming to Osaka was a little restaurant introduced to me by my oldest pal, Jen, on my last trip to Japan, Baqet. She told me there was one in Osaka’s Yodobashi Camera on the restaurant floor. Hot off the train, I made a beeline to find said Baquet. Since I have the same skill set as a Bloodhound (not to mention that Yodobashi Camera is kind of hard to miss), it was found immediately.



Since it was still a bit early to eat, we wandered around the 10 floors of Yodobashi Camera and I bought some postcards to send to people. I also observed a rather poignant sign (the first of many to come).


Yes, please do.

And then, it was time for lunch. You see, Baqet is a lovely bread buffet restaurant where lots of ladies go. Ladies love carbs, around the world people! The breads are small, delicate, and hot from the oven.


I really do wish I was there right now.

After we had stuffed (and I do mean, stuffed) ourselves on delicious bread delights (I think I had 9 or 10…yikes), we got on the Loop line that scooted us to the Osakajokoen station – Osaka Castle Park. Sounds like an amusement park! But no, we are here to see the real deal, Osaka Castle.


The moat.


Can you spot me in this picture? Hee hee! Just me, chillin’ with Osaka-jo.



So beauteous, yet foreboding. We admired it for a while until the children screeching from the observatory became too much to listen to. It was also incredibly warm and humid, so we were stopping frequently to cool off. Bah. We did end up coughing up the dough to go inside and soon it was me screeching from the observatory. Joking!


This is Osaka-jo Hall, where one of my favourite Japanese bands, Kanjani 8, performs sometimes. But not today. Boo hoo.


Here is a part of the Osaka cityscape; can you spot the Hankyu HEP Five ferris wheel on the top of the department store or half of the Sky Garden Observatory? I blogged about those back in 2007…but I’m sure you don’t remember. I do!

We ran into an extremely friendly Osakan man who welcomed us to Osaka and chatted with us for a while – probably wanting to practice his English. Everyone I meet who wants to practice their English likes to brag about how they’ve visited all 10 provinces of Canada. Good for them. He insisted on taking our picture with my camera – ok.






I like shiny things.

When it comes to using a public washroom, I must admit I prefer using the handicapped washrooms because they are giant, separate and usually extraordinarily clean. Since I am not handicapped (that I will admit to myself), it is generally frowned upon to use it if you aren’t. Occasionally though, I’d sneak in anyways. The handicapped washroom at Osaka Castle had an interesting feature that I’d like to share with my North American friends – an SOS button. I wonder what situation would warrant this? I guess if you fall into the toilet or your arm gets twisted in the toilet paper dispenser or something even more fatal comes up, this would prove an endless worth.




Let’s play the game again! Can you spot me in this picture? Yay, I’m tiny!

As I mentioned previously, my celeb-boyfriend is from Osaka and he recommended that tourists visit the area of Osaka called Shinsekai – so we checked that out next. Interesting how they spelled the sign incorrectly to the place it’s leading to…but maybe it doesn’t make a difference to them because they don’t know the difference.






Tsutenkaku Tower



Only after visiting Shinsekai and now in preparation for blogging about it did I discover that it is Japan’s seediest neighbourhood…thanks Ryo-chan. To be honest though, I didn’t feel the least bit worried when we were there – like most of Japan, the feeling of safety is usually implicit no matter where you travel; perhaps artificially so. I thought it interesting although we didn’t stay long. Our next stop awaited: Namba Parks.



I want to feel nature! This was easily done as Namba Parks is an outdoor shopping mall. The usual, overpriced stores were present so we wandered a bit before heading to the restaurant floor.



We almost ate at ‘To the Herbs’ simply because this is where Jen and Chris ate when they were in Osaka so long ago, but I opted instead for a hearty tonkatsu dinner. Itadakimasu!


Welcome to my dinner for October 6th. Here we have a lovely piece of breaded pork cutlet (tonkatsu) with a dollop of daikon radish on top. There is a salad of cabbage immediately beside the pork. We also have miso, rice, and otakuan and shibazuki (Japanese pickles).

It turned dark quickly so we headed toward the brightly-lit streets of Dotombori in Osaka’s downtown.






This is a beautiful – the lights reflect on the canal immediately below – if you ever in Osaka, please do see it.



We strolled down the endless alley of shops of Shinsaibashi-suji until they closed at 8:00.



I found one shop a few minutes too late…they had just closed.


Nooo! Oh cruel fate! This is Vivienne Westwood.

We dragged our now-tired bodies back to the Loop line and settled in for the ride to Osaka station to catch the train back to Kyoto. I replayed over and over on my iPod the song Osaka Lover by Dreams Come True – I was determined to make it my theme for the day.

We arrived back in Kyoto with enough time for snacks from Lawsons (of course we did).



Tomorrow we travel nowhere on the train and instead explore the lush surroundings of Kyoto.