beenalready: Kyoto (4), Osaka, Japan

Kyoto/Osaka, Japan

DAY 6

SITES: Nijo Castle, Osaka Street Food

2018-08-12, 11:59, JASON

BUDGET, STAY: AirBnB

We decide to see one more thing in Kyoto before leaving, that is the old Nijo Castle. But before that, a brief talk about breakfast.

There's this Japanese breakfast where you break a raw egg on top of rice, mix it up, put some soy sauce on it, and eat it with some natto -- fermented beans -- and seaweed. Often, there'll be a small fried fish on the side as well. I really have no idea what the appeal is to me, but there's a hidden genius of cracking an egg on top of rice and serving it as meal. It's both nutritious, riceylicious, and delicious. In the morning, I make a habit of finding a Japanese chain store and ordering one of these set meals. They usually are pretty pocket friendly as well.

Subtle breakfast of champions, pioneered by the Japanese.

Alright, now, Nijo Castle. Laid out like a temple, but less religious and more serious. A lot of white as opposed to the orange temples we were used to, but still nice walking space and an opportunity to casually relax. Here's the picture dump.

Inside Nijo Castle, some structure of a thing.

Confused about this place but trying to model through it.

The Japan Rail (JR) Pass allows you to take any of the JR lines for 7 days after paying a hefty fee of about 300 or so USD. But, this is cheaper than if you were to buy the rail tickets separately anyway. So, using our passes, we head to Osaka, our next destination. We think it will take about an hour to get in, but 20 minutes later, we arrive, with barely enough time to finish our bentos.

View outside the train - Industrial Japan.

First impression of Osaka is that there's more charm to it; a certain coziness. The markets are packed tighter, and there's more going on in terms of small food stalls. When you walk out of the station, there are many alleyways and within them, small restaurants with 6-7 tables. Sometimes, even only 6 to 7 seats. We talked to some of our hostelowners about the appeal of Osaka over other larger cities like Tokyo or Kyoto, and they said it's a much more liveable city and there's much more going on in terms of nightlife. I can see why -- it escapes the bustle and arrogance of large cities. Moreso, its counteroffer is a more relaxed city that still satisfies the basic necessities of work, living, and food. Think of the comparison between Taipei and Taizhong; or, perhaps, between Shanghai and Chengdu. Both the former are more uptight cities, the latter more relaxed. They've escaped the urban spiral and have subsequently been able to flourish in their own manner.

Back to the food though, where do I start? I wish I could come here for a month just to try all the small restaurants. If only time and money weren't so limited. Osaka is known for a variant of okonomiyaki which is essentially an egg omelet. We duck into an alley, follow the maps, and come across a small okonomiyaki house. When we walk in it's an absolute bustle. They try their nicest to shuffle us to a seat and suggest us something to order because we are clearly tourists.

The process goes like this. You (duh) order your dish, they will give you all the raw ingredients in a bowl together. If they're not busy, they'll stir it for you, but if they are they do a mad stirring motion with a smile, encouraging you to try. Here's the raw ingredients:

When looking at it, I did not really get it. It's eggs and raw vegetables and your meat of choice, but they charge a lot for it. But, apparently the secret is in the sauce. There's this magical creamy sauce they blend into it that after you fry it it tastes like magic. So, we blend like mad, and since it's a rush tonight, the lady says, "Pour, ok? Wait 5 minutes, ok? Then (she does a flipping motion)." She smiles as a bead of sweat falls from her brow. Looks like we're going to be making out own okonomiyaki tonight.

Getting ready to flip that bitch for the last time.

Final product, served to you by a man who has reappropriated this food!

So, that was fun. Here's a picture of the restaurant if you can ever find it. It was reocmmended to us by our hostelowner. Not bad. And, we can say that we learned how to do it ourselves. Was a bit shy at first since we didn't want to mess up the flip but then we realized, it's OK, we're tourists, we're allowed to mess up. That's part of it. That's how you okonomiyaki

At night, we grab a small coffee and then walk to another nearby sento to take our shower, just like a habit. Tomorrow, we will go to the Osaka gym, just like habit. Third city in Japan, third city for experiencing the sentos, and third city trying their gym. Seems our lives are becoming more regimented the longer we're here.

Thorin with his coffee. Take a look at the alley behind him. These are the kind of little alleys in Osaka that become a maze as you walk through in search of yums.