Enjoying life in Osaka

As wrote in my earlier post, I had traveled to Osaka a couple of days ago. I needed some rest since packing and unpacking every 2-3 days is exhausting 😮‍💨 and I cannot do it for more than 6 weeks (I have been already 50 days traveling now). But I have found an affordable apartment 🏠 on AirBnB and stayed there for 4 nights.
The evening I arrived in Osaka, I went for a stroll through the Dotonbori district which was only 10-15 min. on foot from my apartment. To me, the Dotonbori district is like a crazy blend of the many restaurants 👨‍🍳 I saw in Shibuya and the gaming culture 🕹️ I knew from Akihabara (both in Tokyo). Somebody told me the people say „in Tokyo you earn money to dress nicely and in Osaka you earn money to enjoy life“ 😄 I can attest to that. You can eat almost any dish you like there. It’s a real Food Mekka. That evening I ate a spicy shrimp 🍤 and noodles 🍜 dish with a lot of vegetables in it - quite unusual for the Japanese food I knew until now.

On the next day I made my day trip to Nara. You can read all about it in my earlier post.
In the evening I went for dinner 🍲 with Manuel (that I met initially on Hokkaido). He was in Hakudate and Tokyo in the meantime but also stayed for some days in Osaka at the same time as me. We had some special kind of Ramen with slow-cooked pork meat 🍖 It was really delicious. The restaurant was quite popular and therefore we had to wait outside for approximately 30 min. 🕦 This is not uncommon for Japan. I have rarely seen places where you can book a table in advance. Even at a popular running sushi place like „Kura“ you can have waiting times of up to 60 minutes!
Afterwards we found a proper Izakaya (Japanese tapas bar) and had some beers 🍺 We payed close attention to follow the Japanese customs which meant that we always shared a bottle and poured a small glass for one another. It was a fun evening! 😌

On my „free day“ where I deliberately took it a bit slower than usual I slept in and visited only Osaka Castle 🏰 in the early afternoon. It is located in a nice park that I used for a long walk before I payed the admission fee for Osaka castle tower. At the top you had a good view of the park 🌳 and city. Inside was a museum that mainly dealt with the construction of the castle but also with Hideyoshi Toyotomi as well as Iyeasu Tokugawa. Two of the daimyos (warlords) that were the driving forces in uniting Japan 🇯🇵 in the 16th century - after almost 400 years of constant war for power between the regional clans. There is actually the documentary „Age of the Samurai“ on Netflix 📺 which illustrates that part of Japanese history quite well. I saw that documentary series already last year but I started to rewatch it again. 😅 On the 5th floor, the intense battle related to the siege of Osaka by means of miniature figures. The siege of Osaka was a series of battles 🏹 undertaken by the Tokugawa shogunate against the Toyotomi clan - ending in that clan's destruction.
In the evening I went to a high-class Kobe beef restaurant 🍽️ If I was going to try Kobe beef, it certainly had to be in Osaka! I had Kobe Beef sushi as a starter and then 120g Kobe beef steak 🥩 for the main course accompanied by a nice plum flavored sake 🍶 The beef was super tender. And the way my personal chef prepared the meat was just perfect. He also gave tips on how to combine the meat with salt, wasabi or miso paste etc. I almost felt a little special. 😅 Given all that, the approximately 100,- EUR I paid were a good „investment“.

On my 3rd day in Osaka I went to Universal Studios because you cannot be in Japan and not have been to a themepark 🎢
But this post is already quite long. So, I will make another dedicated post on it. Stay tuned! 😊

In summary, Osaka is a pretty laid back city and totally different from busy Tokyo and elegant Kyoto. If I had the time, I surely would have stayed longer here.Leer más