Osaka's kitchen

Our journey is approaching its final chapter. It’s our last full day in Japan but there’s little time to mourn about it as we packed it again to the notch. To finish this incredible journey, we booked a guided food tour at 5PM. Osaka is often called ‘Japan’s kitchen’ and despite being at the end of our journey, this felt like the right place to do it. After all, maybe we’ll finally get some advice on how to eat certain meals.

For now, it’s early morning and we enjoy our breakfast at the hotel. Afterwards we fill our backpacks and head outside for another day of exploration. There are still certain areas in the city that we need to discover. Starting high with the Abeno Harukas, a 300m high skyscraper with a viewing deck on top. Just like in Tokyo, there’s another viewing platform as well (Umeda Sky Building), but geographically the Abeno Harukas was more convenient. It’s way higher as well with its 300m compared to the Umeda Sky Building’s 175m. Inside the skyscraper is Japan’s largest shopping area of more than 100.000m² of shopping pleasure. The top 3 floors make up the observation platform.

Although entry to these places is relatively expensive (¥1500/pp) the view is quite impressive. There are also good signs that indicate what you can see and which direction you’re facing. We try to spot major city highlights, the airport and where we’ll go afterwards. In the distance we can spot one of the tall attractions near Dotonbori Street where we passed the evening before. Contrary to what we thought, the tower of Tsutenkaku – which is where we’re heading next - is not that well visible. It’s camouflaged between the many tall and grey buildings surrounding it.

Before we leave the observation platform, we have a quick stop at the toilets. I’ve seen bathrooms with a lesser view than this!
We exit and walk through a park in the direction of Shinsekai neighborhood which is referred to as ‘the new world’. Main attraction is the Space-Needle-like tower in the middle: Tsutenkaku.
It’s a vibrant neighborhood with lots of colors and signs. We’re there still in the middle of the morning and most restaurants aren’t open yet. We can imagine that at noon or in the evening this area is thriving even more. Some of the street lanterns are artistically designed in a piece of art.

Time to go and visit our last Japanese castle! We head to Osaka castle and when viewing the waiting queue for buying tickets, quickly take out our phones to make an online order. The queue for pre-purchased tickets is not long at all compared to the one for the ticket booth. A few minutes later we have a digital ticket on our phone and can skip a big portion of the crowd.
The castle is more of a museum than a historic castle. All the floors are different exhibitions, and it’s rather crowded inside. We go up the different floors and stop at some of the interesting displays. The Japanese history in all its detail is a bit too complicated for us. Some of the major historical events are familiar, but this really goes above our heads. On the top floor, there’s a viewing platform from which you can look in all 4 cardinal directions.

As we exit the castle/museum’s grounds via the surrounding parc, we have a seat on a bench in the shade to plan our next move. We have to be in time for the food tour, so it’s little use to travel all around the city to hop back on the subway a few minutes after we arrive to make it in time. We decide to visit the temple of Shitennoji. One of the oldest in Japan but also a replica as the original has burned down a couple of times already. In the streets surrounding the temple complex there is a weekly market going on. Because of the market, the inside buildings are free to visit. Lucky us!
The pagoda in the middle of the square has a lot of winding staircases and a very limited view on top. Inside there are hundreds of little buddha statues. Apart from the buildings themselves, there’s nothing very spectacular to see. We walk back through the market and pass by another place with a lot of little sculptured monks with red hats. It’s beautiful and crazy how hard it’s to spot in the crowded streets.

We decide to head to the subway station where we have to meet up for the food tour. Better to arrive a bit in advance and check out the neighboring area than to be late. We’re curious about what we’ll eat. Hopefully there are still some things that we haven’t tried yet! And yes, that is surely an option in Japan. There are so many different things to eat here.
Whilst we’re waiting for our tour guide, we stroll around a bit the little streets. At one point, we pass by a huge gambling shop. It’s actually quite stunning how big gambling addiction is in this country. From luna parks to slot machines, many Japanese are spending a lot of money on it.

Back at the meeting point, a young lady meets us. She seems about our age, although guessing age is extremely hard in Japan. We wait for two more people who arrive just on time. Our guide isn’t holding a sign or anything, so it’s a bit of a search in the crowd to look for people who look like they’re looking for other people. We meet up with the other guests: two British men.
The fun thing about the tour is that we explore food in an area that is still rather unknown to tourists. Mostly locals come here to eat so we don’t have the feeling we’re just another tourist herd being led from stall to stall. We start with some tempura and an extremely jummy egg soft boiled egg. You have to eat it in one bite (thanks for the tip, guide) but it’s a real taste explosion.

Having tried some appetizers, we move on to the next location where we’ll try the okonomiyaki. There will be two variants of which we’ve eaten one before. The tables are equipped with a heated plate in the middle and an employee prepares the food at the table. Some real show cooking!

Our last stop is a place where we’ll have some sort of BBQ. All tables have a little BBQ-like stove in the middle of the table, and they bring vegetables and meat. Some dip sauces to marinate the meat before you throw it onto the grill. Our guide prepares a lot of different types of meat, and we even have a taste of some raw meat which is surprisingly tasty. Nothing compared to what we have in Belgium (steak tartar).
It’s a cozy evening. We can chat a bit about Japanese culture. Get to know each other and exchange stories from our home countries. Our new British friends decide to go to a pub afterwards, so our guide drops them off at a nearby good pub. She walks us back to the subway station, say goodbye and head back to the hotel.

The sad moment has arrived: time to re-organize our suitcases so everything fits. Tomorrow in the early morning, we’ll go to the airport. We’ll surely miss this country and culture!Читать далее