Osaka

Osaka is Japan's 3rd largest city that's well known for it's delicious food and down to earth vibe. I had booked a tour via airbnb to check out all the city's highlights but it got cancelled last minute by airbnb due to the coronavirus. I didn't let that stop me so I ended up finding a free walking tour that I signed up for. Osaka isn't that far from Kyoto thankfully, so I was able to get there by train within half an hour and meet up with the guy that was offering the free walking tour. 

The tour ended up having about 18 people show up and the guide covered a lot.....most of which I can't remember but I will go ahead and summarize some of the highlights. Here we go:

Dotonbori - A very lively street full of restaurants and colorful billboards that are best seen at night. We stopped by the famous billboard of the Glico running man for a brief photo opportunity, there is a story behind this billboard but since I am too lazy to go into details, I will summarize by saying that it's an advertisement of one of Asia's most famous confectionery companies.

 

Kuromon Ichiba - Local fresh food market where local restaurant owners get their supplies from. The market has a variety of food stalls where you can sample local delicacies on the spot, making it pretty famous with tourists. I got to try fugu, a very poisonous fish that requires trained and licensed chefs to prepare because the smallest mistake can kill you. I can't say it had a memorable taste but it certainly was chewy, I think the hype behind it is the fact that it's poisonous and has potential to kill. I have to admit though, my hands were a bit shaky when tasting the fish, hey! you know there is always that 0.000001% case and I didn't know if I would fit into that statistic.

I got to take a photo with the chef preparing the fish.

Nipponbashi - This area is known for inexpensive electronics and Otaku culture. An Otaku person is a person obsessed with a pop culture such as manga or anime, none of which is my thing.

Shinsekai - This area once flourished with amusement parks and restaurants and drew many people but got neglected after world war 2. The area has lot's of restaurants where you can try unique foods and also Japanese style pubs.

That's it folks! the tour was interesting although the larger crowd made it hard to capture everything that the guide was saying. I got to try different foods (fugu, octopus, eel etc.) all very fishy so you don't even want to know how my breath was smelling after that. I do feel disappointed that I had so little time in Osaka because there is so much more that I could have seen, I should have done two full days in Kyoto and two full days in Osaka. Or I should have chosen my base to be Osaka then do a full day in Kyoto.

I am heading back to Tokyo tomorrow where I will have 3 days so I am debating on whether I should go back to Osaka on one of those days, only problem is that the shinkansen train is expensive....hmm?! what a bummer. Anyway, I will leave you with these photos of my fabulous breakfast today. I surely will miss this when I leave Kyoto.