Osaka, Day 1

I know, right? I just got done with the Kobe posts! And here I am, reporting on more gustatory adventures in one of the major cities of Japan. Actually more than one, as you will see, come day two.

So the day started with the arduous trek to Tokushima city. Because it was such a nice day out, I took a random picture of some of the flowers blooming around Nishibara station while I was waiting for the train.

Tada! I'm in your air, getting my kafun (pollen) on you.

When I got to Tokushima, I headed to the bus terminal, clambered aboard my Awa Express bus, and settled in for the two-and-a-half-hour trip to Osaka station. Times like that are when I truly appreciate my iPod. When I got there, I had about an hour to kill before meeting my buddy for the weekend.  So I wandered fruitlessly around trying to get a handle on the area, donated to a nice Hokkaidoian lady collecting for a Japanese relief fund, and turned down a disappointed guy looking for people to interview about sightseeing in Osaka.

And then I found our meeting spot and waited. I didn’t have long to wait before  I met up with…..

..Meri! Here she is making a funny face, hehehe.

 Meri is quite possibly the oldest friend I have. We went to the same junior high school, but managed to keep in contact throughout high school and college. The fact that we still managed to hang out despite being on the opposite side of the globe from where we started says plenty. Bosom buddies, we be.

And as you would expect, we have many things in common. One of those things is an ardent love for that most wonderful manna from heaven, in the form of vinegared rice topped with seafood. I am of course waxing poetic about sushi. So after consulting a guide book from our hotel, we set out to find a 100-yen-a-plate sushi bar in the Nanba section of Osaka.

Oh, but before that we dropped our junk off in our hotel room, at the Hearton Hotel Nishi Umeda.

It was a cute if tiny place, not that we really spent all that much time in it.

But we were already suffering from the tummy grumblies before even getting on the train to Nanba, so we grabbed a quick snack from a Beard Papas (a well-known patisserie/bakery chain) in the station.

A baked cheesecake for Meri, and....

... a "rare" (think chilled, or no-bake) cheesecake for me. Both were strawberry, but the different styles were fun.

 And after wandering around Dotonbori (the giant crab street), and realizing we’d taken a wrong turn, back tracking a bit, we finally located it!

Good ol' Mere can always be depended upon for a natural-looking staged photo. I mean... uh... candid camera shot. Yeah.

It was lunch, so lots of interesting sushi was circulating to be had.  Would'ya like some pictures? 'Course ya would!

 This one is salmon plus salmon roe! Double the omega-3s, double the fun.

 Meri, mid-monch.

 Crab meat and mayo.

 Anago, or conger eel. I like this variety much better than unagi, or sea eel.

 This was... some kind of shellfish. Yeah I need to start bringing a notepad with me.

Ah, this is maguro (tuna) yukke. Maguro yukke is spicy raw tuna topped with scallions. The spiciness is question is in the Korean spectrum of seasoning. It's quite good.

I.... can't remember what this one is either X_x

This one is raw beef topped with a dollop of spicy Japanese mustard. Good eats.

But, before we’d gone into the sushi joint, it hadn’t escaped my notice that there was a crepe stand nearby. Crepes from vendors were something I’ve encountered before, but never taken the opportunity to try. That situation demanded to be rectified, so crepes for dessert it was!

The crepe stand, where we got...

A chestnut puree, chocolate and whipped cream crepe (mine), and...

A strawberry, chocolate syrup and whipped cream crepe (Meri's)

Feeling appropriately stuffed, we wandered about Osaka for a while. I took pictures of some of the nifty things we came across like….

This wedding we got to catch a few minutes of being held at our hotel. 'Twas purdy.

This restaurant on one of the upper floors of the Osaka station department store building. It was sort of plopped on this large outdoor deck. It was really gorgeous at night with all the lights.

There was also this cool clock. I took a picture because… well… it was cool, ‘aight?

Also in the small indoor mall we walked through to get to and from our hotel, there was this really cool mural/ad for some kind of Final Fantasy thingamabob. Sorry the picture’s a little fuzzy; my camera monitor isn’t always large enough to tell when I was shifting the camera about too much.

It was in this little mall that we stopped for dinner. Meri was jonesing for pasta, and I just wanted somewhere where I could get something sweet and elaborate and piled high. Sounds like a job for a Japanese-style diner/deli/bakery!

I believe the one we opted for was called the Deli Café.

Here’s Meri’s victim…

A pasta bolognese of deliciousness.

And my (many) ones as well.

Takoyaki, or octopus fritters. Meri had one, and I'd demolished a bunch before I remembered to take a picture, haha.

This was a mushroom and cheese danish thing.

This was egg, ham and cheese with mayo and something akin to thousand island dressing. The bread was a "corn muffin", but was really like corn bread. It was really durn tasty. 

And to satisfy my sweet tooth, this concoction. It's a "chocolate cake mocha parfait." Chocolate cake, whipped cream, ice cream, over more whipped cream and cornflakes, over coffee-flavored gelatin. Om nom nom.

And that pretty much accounts for our first night in Osaka. Lots of food, plenty of walking and getting turned around by accident (more to come yet!). We finished off the evening by watching crazy Japanese quiz/interview/variety shows in our hotel room before going comatose. A good way to end day one!