Solo Travels: Osaka

Saturday, September 05, 2015 by Sheila Catbagan 0 Comments A⁺ a^-

This trip marked my last days in Japan. It also was to be my last big solo trip for a long time. I was determined to try and make the most of it and see why many people love Osaka so much.

Why Osaka? Quite a lot of factors helped me decide. Firstly, our final 理解 class task was to create a hypothetical itinerary of a trip in Japan. A friend I interviewed told me she recommends Osaka because it's quite close to many other places like Kyoto and Kobe, and also Wakayama which is popular for its temples and as a pilgrimage destination. So I looked up Osaka, saw what it has to offer and was eventually convinced by its "Kitchen of Japan" title. You got me by my gut, Osaka.

<This a very long post as I wrote about my 3 day trip in one go, and this time in no chronological order. Lots of photos too to keep you entertained, I hope!>
Admittedly, I planned to see more things around the area than I managed. Wakayama was a good sidetrip and my sisters also recommended Nara. My other planned sidetrip was to Hyougo's Takarazuka Grand Theatre to catch one of their shows. I even checked what was showing, how to get there and the costs. I thought that it's only about 30 minutes away from Nanba where I was going to stay, and I could easily make a halfday trip over there. They also do cheap standing tickets. Easy enough.

As it turns out, I did not plan my trip very well if at all. I had a small list of places to see, a longer list of things to eat, and very little preparation and set budget that went with it. No Nara, Kyoto, Kobe nor Takarazuka. But that is not to say I did not enjoy my trip in this crazy crowded city.

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I stayed in Business Hotel Nissei, located in the heart of Nanba in the Sennichimae area. It's very close to Nanba station and walking distance to the many shopping arcades, restaurants and subway stations. The hotel is quite difficult to find because it's situated in one of the many alleys around the market area, but once you figure it out it's quite easy to go back to. I chose this place because it had complimentary breakfast which I ended up not utilising until my final day. I just couldn't wake up early enough (they serve from 6:30-9:30, I think). It did make me giggle when I finally went to their cafeteria and saw that their breakfast consisted of a basket of boiled eggs, potato salad, variety of breads and spreads, and drinks. That's it. Simple enough, sufficient enough, but still made me laugh. Room itself was alright, a bit tight but that's common in Japanese hotels. For a single room, I thought my bed was pretty big though.

(The only thing was that the staff did not speak English very well. So if you don't speak Japanese, you might have some difficulties communicating with them outside the basic check-in, check-out and other hotel related things. I overheard some staff speak Chinese though. They are helpful enough, and your rooms are always tidied up.)

The places I saw in Osaka are mostly shopping arcades and market, and Osaka Castle. Very few but very enjoyable too. The markets are enough to occupy you for a half a day if you like looking at things and buying them.

Kuromon Market

I took a photo because I thought this was so cheap compared to the ones I've seen in AEON in Sapporo.

This was in front of some hotel whose name I've forgotten. Oddly fascinating.

Wasn't the nicest thing to see while walking home at night.

For most of the trip it was unbearably hot and sunny. So much so that I had to keep going inside air-conditioned shops or ducking inside roofed markets. I recommend wearing a hat or using an umbrella, it makes such a big difference. There are many 100en vending machines too so make sure to buy drinks and keep hydrated. And of course, as Mary Schmich wrote and Luhrmann sang, Wear Sunscreen.

Osaka Castle and its garden take up a vast space which was nice to walk around in. If it weren't raining at the time. It's free until you actually enter the castle and the garden, but I didn't do either and I still thought it was such a pretty place. There are also stepped walls (see above photo of well; behind it it has a stairway-like background), or whatever you could call them around the vicinity which made for a great higher vantage point.

No idea who this guy is. I couldn't read his name. :(

You can see how temperamental the weather was that day. It was rainy but then sometimes sunny or cloudy. To be fair the day I went to the castle was the day it was predicted for the storm to hit. I only found out when I was going home and realised my raincoat is not 100% waterproof. you have failed me uniqlo.
Oh and near the actual castle in one area, there were so many dragonflies. It was quite unnerving but also quite hypnotic to witness. (Not sure if you can see the extent of how much of them were there)

Other places I saw were Shitennoji, Shinsekai, and the Sun Tower at the Expo Park.

I arrived too late when I went to Shitennoji so I couldn't walk around the whole area. But I did see them closing the gates for some of the temples, and heard this eerie music they played. I just assumed it was a closing down prayer thing.

Doesn't that feel a bit ominous?

One of the final places I went to was Shinsekai. It's another shopping area; no surprise there. It also has the Tsuutenkaku Tower which doubles as an observatory deck.

Edit: Earlier I wrote Hitachi Tower but this actually says Hitachi Elevator. The tower is Tsuutenkaku.

View from the observatory deck.

They had some sort of Kinnikuman festival. They also have a shop dedicated to it called "Muscle Shop". Very strange to see but I really wanted to take photos.. for reference. So many muscular (cartoon) figures! Some were even life-sized. In the end, I didn't take any photos. :'(

There are also many kushikatsu restaurants in this area. These are restaurants that do those battered, deep fried skewered everything.

Can't remember all of these but I remember ordering, beef, chicken, aubergine and octopus.

Depending on the place, they would have a sauce dipping rule. This one was a one-dip rule. Sauce taste like tempura sauce which it might actually be.

These were kabocha, sausage, potato and quail eggs.

You order per stick, and it's a perfect drinking snack. Naturally, you'd have beer with this.
To be fair, these can be found in many other places around the city. But Shinsekai is supposedly famous for this kind of food. In the streets you might even see them for as little as 50en per stick. It also depends on what's been skewered obviously. Chicken will probably the cheapest you can find. I didn't try them, but you can also try, I would say less traditional ones like deep fried brownie, or mochi.

Other food delights I tried were..

Of course, okonimiyaki. I asked the shop owner what he recommends and of course he recommended the most expensive one. I couldn't say no, and to be fair it tasted great. And it was HUGE.

Sesame ball.

Famous restaurant/shop that sells Chinese food. More famously, butaman steamed pork buns.

*drools* They weren't mindblowingly good, but they were very tasty. Bit too oily for my liking but I'd eat it again. So good.

Kakigoori. Shaved ice. It looks plain because I got the mizore topping which I think might just be sugared water? Still good but not very photogenic.

I can't remember the name of these, but I found it in Kuromon market. It's like taiyaki but obviously puck-shaped. One had anko paste, the other custard.

Tendon. Tempura bowl. After our Tokyo tempura I'm ruined for any other tempura. This isn't a great tempura because it was oily and soft, but it was still mouthwatering. They even tempura an egg! AN EGG! Would eat again, no doubt.

I'm basically easily won over by any food and would eat and enjoy mostly anything. The good thing about Osaka is that food is generally hearty, cheap and easy to find. Definitely lives up to its title. It's such an interesting place and I could definitely see why people love it so much. As someone who dislike crowded and busy areas, I still found this city quite endearing. There's just something to love about a place bustling with energy and people, small markets and shopping arcades, and a generally relaxed and happy attitude of people. It also isn't so market-like that shop owners will grab at your attention and get you to buy their products, so that worked for me fine. It's a lovely little place and one I would actually love to go back to!

(Other miscellaneous photos)