FTO Osaka

During all of my pregnancy, I kept telling my baby! You have to come out strong and healthy! So I can show you Osaka. Well! We did! Sadly enough, Osaka has changed. It has changed a lot. It is no where near are Funky as it use to be. It made me sad. But what made me even sadder was the fact that Hudson slept most of the time and Tristan was totally not impress by MY favorite city in the whole world. But that being said, we still managed to have an amazing time!!







We had Takoyaki at Tsutenkaku Tower!

We had Okonomiyaki in Dotombori!

And we did lot's of sightseeing! We mad-dashed Osaka in two days! We saw and we did everything the city had to offer!

Akemashite Omedetou (Happy New year)

Oyster Okonomiyaki in Miyajima

Happy New Year everyone! What better way to start a new year than to have Okonomiyaki! One of my favorite food when traveling in Japan. Unfortunately, I find it really hard to duplicate when in Canada. No matter how much a try it just never taste as good as when in Osaka (or even Hiroshima). I just found a very well explained recipe on a fellow blog's. I will give it a try today! Here is the link.

But first I should give a little intro about Okonomiyaki. Here a lot of westerners call it Japanese Pizza! I have to say, personally I find it resemble more a stuff crêpe or a cabbage omelet. Here is what Wikipedia has to say : Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き^?) is a Japanese savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki meaning "grilled" or "cooked" (cf. yakitori and yakisoba). Okonomiyaki is mainly associated with Kansai or Hiroshima areas of Japan, but is widely available throughout the country. Toppings and batters tend to vary according to region. 

What make this dish interesting is the distinction one has to make between Osaka-fu (Osaka-style) or Hiroshima-fu (Hiroshima style) okonomiyaki for they are quite different! In the Osaka-fu okonomiyaki, all the layers are mix together. In the Hiroshima-fu, the ingredient remain layered (like a Shepperd pie) and include noodles. Personally I much prefer the Osaka-fu but if you are traveling through Japan make sure you try both version.

I will also mention a close cousin to the Okonomiyaki from the Kanto region (Tokyo). Monjayaki, closely ressemble okonomiyaki. The main difference is the fact that it is a lot more watery. I only eat monja when I meet up with my Japanese friends since I find it a bit challenging to cook myself. 

The Okonomiyaki I will be making today will be Osaka-fu. I will modify the recipe a little since I do not have access to taro roots at this time. I will use:

• 1/2 cup  flour
• 2 cups cabbage
• 3 tbsp tenkasu (tempura bits) Don't worry if you don't have any
• 1 tbsp dashi stock in 4 tbsp of water Don't worry if you don't have any
• 1tbsp of corn starch
• 3 eggs
• shrimps or Canadian bacon
• 2 green onions chopped
• 2 tsp. chopped red marinated ginger 
• oil

Chop cabbage, ginger and green onion. Mix together. In a separate bowl, mix dashi, water, corn starch and eggs. Add to the flour. Mix until smooth. Mix the batter with the cabbage. Add the tenkasu.

In a greased pan, cook bacon or shrimp. When golden, pour the batter on top of it. Press it down into a nice round shape. Cover and cook at low heat. Flip over once. It should cook about 10 minutes, or until both side are golden. (You can make 2 small okonomiyaki or 1 large okonomiyaki.)

For the topping, I use tonkatsu sauce, shredded nori, bonito flakes and japanese mayo.

好きやねん 温泉 と カラオケ

After 7 very long days, and since the rain was still in the forecast, we decided on taking a day off!! That means, we spent the day at the nearby Onsen!

I love onsen! Like you would not believe it! I love them! I love them! I love them all! It makes my skin so soft. It makes my body NOT hurt! I love it!

So at the onsen, I met a couple of really lovely ladies. One of which, an old lady, fallowed me around for half the day! She was so happy to *find a canadian in Osaka*. She kept asking me if I was single since she had a son about my age.... lol

She presented me to all the ladies in attendance. As good Osaka women, they lived up to the Obachan name as they were all very noisy and nosy! So all afternoon we chatted in Japanese about Osaka, Canada... and food!!! (That's why I love Osaka...) They kept asking me where in Japan the food was the best... I made them really happy when I said Osaka!

They also were asking me lots of questions about our dear-canadian-beautiful-figure skater Joannie Rochette! They kept saying how amazing she was! How great she was for having competed even after her mother had passes away.

So that's how my day went... in the evening, we spent all night watching different TV show. We watched Space Shower ranking (NYC was first!! lol) then we watched VS. Arashi which is always so funny.
The next day, the rain was still pouring down! But lucky us, we didn't get any snow like Saitama and Gunma did! So we went a few station down the street and headed to Shidax for 8 hours of Karaoke!!!!! Here during the day, you can buy free time Karaoke. That means it is a set price and you stay how long you want. So we sang for 6 hours straight before we had to start singing the same songs again. All this without the romanji lyrics!! I have to say, we really came along a long way since our first time 3 years ago.
We ended the night by working on our concert Uchiwa for Yoko's concert in Tokyo next week!!! First row baby!!!

Yoshitsune's Foot steps Part 1

I didn't mean it but I started my tracking down of Yoshitsune by the beginning of the story. But let's look back at yesterday's near disaster first.

Kyoto! Kyoto! Kyoto! As some of you might remember from my previous trip, this city always failed to impress me. It just doesn't do it for me. I will refer to it as the Disney land of temples. Just like the Vatican, it leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth. Oh! Sure it is beautiful. Full of historical site, cherry blossom, culture... but FAKE! FAKE! FAKE! Well, I shouldn't be too harsh here, definitively not as fake as Vegas.  Fake on a different level! Here, they sell you history! They don't allow you to appreciate it. They sell it to you, with a day pass, a lucky charm and an omiyage. Sure there is nothing wrong with that. So does the rest of Japan. But here to make the matter worst, try doing it while fraying your way amongst thousand of dumb tourists!! There you got it. A nightmare.

So that's how our day started. In the over zealous crowd of history-go-getter. We made our way to Nanzen-ji. Grand, beautiful... no different than the other 100 temples and shrines. We walked along the canal and enjoyed the Cherry Blossoms. Had a little Hanami of our own by the art gallery. By then I had enough. Time for me to head out of town. Somewhere far, somewhere still meaningful... Marie headed to the Gold temple (Which I had already visited on my first trip there). I jumped on the train to Mt. Kurama.

 

It took me about 30 minutes to reach Kurama station. From there I started an 1 hour hike up the mountain. It is hard to describe the hiking trail. There wasn't much to it except beautiful tall trees, bamboo and cherry blossoms. Along the path, many shrines or stone markers. The main temple, not the biggest, not the richest, not the most beautiful one of Japan. But from it front steps, you could enjoy one hell of a view over the surrounding area!!

 

The reason I wanted to go that far, was not only to get away from the tourists (did I forget to mention, that on my way there a saw but a handful of them) but to visit the site where Ushiwakamaru (Yoshitsune) grew up. That temple was the one where he was sent as a toddler to study.

 

At the main gate, after paying your 200 yen, you are given a map that marks all the important places along the path, including the water stream Yoshitsune drank from, the stone where he marked his height and the field where he learned his swordmanship skills.

After wondering for 2 hours around that holy site, I went back to Kyoto and met with my sister at Gojobashi (once more ignored by the tourists) where stands a stone scene of Yoshitsune and Benkei's mythical fight.

O is for ONSEN!

What to do on a gray, rainy cold day...

The onsen my dear!!

You can never go wrong with a day at the onsen. And best of all turns out there is a really nice one just a 10 minutes walk away from where we are staying! Well it is not a traditional Onsen, more like a public bath but it has all the fun stuff including the slat scrub and the electrify water bath. We spent all morning there and in the afternoon watched random japanese TV.
Now on another note, today we are starting our 7 days mini-trip project called Yoshitsune's footstep! First stop is Kyoto and Fushimi Inari. Tomorrow will be Hiroshima and Miyajima.

Visiting the Emperors

Yesterday was a day off.

Well it was suppose to be. But with the weather hitting 25 degree and the sun shinning, we decided to go for a stroll around the neighborhood. We had notice a few mounts and parks near by and thought we should check it out.

Turns out the mount are not park but actual burial mount in a key shape with moat, dating back to 4th century! They are known as the Mozu Necropolis with the biggest Tumilis being right next to our house: Nintokuryo Tumulus. These Tumulis, or emperor burial ground are the third biggest Emperor burial structure after the Kufu Pyramid and the Imperial Tomb of the first emperor of China.

Unfortunately there is really nothing to see.

But just across from the mound, there is a park in which lays a beautiful Japanese garden *200 yen* to visit. We spent an hour there walking around the beautiful setting. It reminded us a lot of the Kanazawa garden.

After walking all around the moat garded mound we ended up in downtown Sakai city. There we went up the Sakai city hall. On the 21 first floor you can enjoy a 360 degree view of the area. From the top, you get to see the Key-shaped burial mound but also Osaka.

We grabbed lunch, did a little shopping and found the biggest Daiso Mart I had ever seen!! Probably about double the one from Harajuku!! As we were shopping, a weirdo started fallowing me around. A creepy foreigners. After loosing him, we walked around some more and made our way home.

We did our laundry, watched TV and planned the next few days.

For those interested in visiting the burial ground, you can take the Nankai subway line from Tennonji and get off at Mikunikaoka station *which also serves the JR line*. Or you can get off at Sakai-Higashi station to go up the city hall building or to grab a walking map from the tourist information center.

When in Osaka: EAT and UFO

How to describe yesterday... I am very unsure. It seemed like only 3 things happened yesterday. We walked, we ate, we took pictures. Yes that would sum it up roundly. Where to start..

We meet with our friend at Tennoji station and walked to the Shinsekai entertainment district. There in order to provide the best information for the Osaka Food Guide, we decided to try as many local food as possible. So we started...

Takoyaki 1 11:00 am

As soon as we made our way on the main street leading to the Tsutenkaku tower, we located our first Takoyaki stand of the day. Chingyi went ahead and bought 6 pieces that we shared amongst the 4 of us. They were... well good. Not the greatest but good enough. As we were eating, we saw some pictures on the wall and realized this was the Takoyaki location featured in K8 Puzzle's documentary. We took a bunch of pictures with some random Japanese girls who were obviously as excited as we were.

Then we kept on walking toward the toward. Just a few meters after departing our first Takoyaki stand, we spotted our second location.

Tokoyaki 2 11:20 am

Marie went a head and bought a 6 pieces. The takoyaki was dry, salty and not very tasty. After a big disappointment we finally reach the tower.

We went up, played a few UFO machine, visited Billiken, took way to many pictures and came back down. That's where we spotted our 3rd Takoyaki location of the day *and one of my favorite spot from my previous trip*.

 

Takoyaki 3 12:15 am

I went a head and bought the 6 pieces which we shared. Delicious. Simply delicious!! You can never go wrong at that stand!!!

We walked around the neighborhood some more then headed off to the longest covered shopping street (in the world??).  Tenjinbashi. We walked the whole street and manage to find a sushi location to have lunch at.

 

Sushi (First meal??) 2:00 pm

It was a bit pricy and really not that good. Not a place I will go back or worth mentionning.

On the shopping street we manage to find some great deals such a knee sock for 50 yen and purses for 100 yen!!

Snack 1 2:30 pm

Since Kansai terebi is not to far from the shopping street we stopped by, walked around the Children's Plaza and headed back to Namba. 

We stopped at many amusement center and played UFO catcher. It was my first time ever!! EVER! I was reluctant at first but it seemed so easy. So I went a head and tried and won an octopus phone strap on my first try!! All four of us played and came out with a few items. My sister even won me the stuff cat phone strap I really wanted!!! We did a Purikura and headed off to a Idol Shop. That's where we met more Japanese Girls and bought a few key chains. We also stopped and ate some Sakura flavored hot cakes.

 

Snack 2 6:00 pm

We then went and tried the "WORLD BEST EGG TARTS". The line was long... the tart was pricy. BUT!!! They were by far the best one I have ever had!!!

Dinner Kushikatsu (or not) 8:00 pm

Since we had not had dinner, We then decided to go try Kushikatsu at Daruma restaurant which is suppose to be the best in town. We started with a small order... tried it... payed and walked out... Not worth mentioning!!! So dinner was a bust... we walked some more in the shinsaibashi shopping district. Took loads of pictures. Found a very nice temple. Lit some incent. Then played more UFO.

We ended the night saying goodbye to our friends which were going back to Tokyo and went back to our guesthouse. On the way, I bought some Nissan UFO noodles for dinner.

Dinner take 2 11:00 pm

We watched TV, Koichi Domoto and Murakami Shingo were on, and called it a night.

Now Today we are taking a day off and planning our Hanami sight seeing trip to Kyoto. We will also plan our trip to Hiroshima, Hakata and Kumamoto.

Billiken and Me

From Wikipedia:

The Billiken was a charm doll created by an American art teacher and illustrator, Ms. Florence Pretz of St. Louis, Missouri, who is said to have seen the mysterious figure in a dream. 







In 1908 she patented the Billiken who was elf-like with pointed ears, a mischievous smile, and a tuft of hair on his pointed head. His arms were short and he was generally sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him. One point on Billiken luck: To buy a Billiken gives the purchaser luck, but to have one given to you is better luck.

To know more about Billiken, the God of things as they ought to be, visit this link.

As we strolled around Tenoji I could not refrain myself from taking a picture with every Billiken I could see.

Tori no Kizoku Izakaya

This Izakaya chaine is owned by Ohkura Tadayoshi's family. A Japanese idol from the band Kanjani8. There are many location across Japan, with most of them in Osaka *their home town*. This Izakaya is very similar to most Izakaya in Japan. There can be a very long wait depending on the days you are going. Everything on the menu is 280 yen *including alcohol drinks* and I have to say over all for an Izakaya, the food is delicious. For my first visit, I went to the Shinsaibashi location right next to the Daimaru, in Osaka. But the location on Dotonbori is a lot easier to get too. *You can see it from the bridge Ebisubashi*.





Deep fried camember!

Although they did not speak English or have an English menu, all the items are listed with a picture so it is easy to order. Note to Kanjani8's fan, they also sell a cell phone strap with the logo of the Izakaya: a chicken with feet shape like a mugendai.

This Izakaya specializes in Yakitori but the best item on the menu is  their deep fry Camembert cheese! I also enjoyed the soups there really much.

Hanami, Yokocho, Izakaya

When in Osaka: eat, have fun and eat again! And that's what we did yesterday!!!

We started our day with a bento box and a little Hanami party of our own. For those who do not know what a Hanami is: Spring is the season for the cherry blossom, so all over Japan, people organize party where they sit underneath the cherry blossom, eat, drink and party all day. Think of it as a tail gate party before the Superbowl.

So we went to Osaka Castle (and so did the whole population of Osaka it seems) and found a tiny place that was not already occupied and ate our bento box.

After eating, we made our way to the Osaka Jo hall to watch Yoko's Solo Con *I already posted below, the concert report*. We had a great time.

After watching, we took a stroll to the Osaka Castle and NHK TV. The Castle was as splendid as usual and in front of NHK we found a Daibutsu! We took a few pictures and left for Shinsaibashi to go eat at Tacchon's family owned Izakaya. We had lots of delicous food including a deep fried Camembert that was delicious. *You can find below a post about the restaurant*.

After eating we walked the street of Shinsaibashi, did a purikura and ended up in front of Glico Man.

Concert Report: Yoko's Solo Con! Osaka

Wonderboy! Where to start! This marks Yoko's third solo concert since his debut. You can never go wrong with watching a Kanjani8 concert or Solo concert in Osaka. The city goes into a frenzy for their hometown boys. Everywhere you go, there are signs of their presence (music being played in EVERY store, messages of good luck left at the temples, long lines to see Billiken)

This weekend was no different. We had gone the day before to buy our concert goods so we wouldn't have to carry them with us into the venue. The goods were a hit. On the day of the concert, after having a quick Hanami, we decked our self out with Tiger hats *the theme of the concert* and headed to the Osaka Jo Hall. Our seats were 16th row right over looking the stage. Not the best seats in the house but not the worst either. We were lucky enough to be close to the main stage!

The concert itself was amazing! Yoko looked great and had Veteran, Shadow West and other Kansai juniors as his back up dancers. His did many of Kanjani8's greatest hits (Kyu Jo Show, Musekinin Hero, Zukkoke, Kawaita no hana, Ichibyo Kiss, It's my soul). He also performed many of his own solo's or unit song including Wonderboy and Kicyu twice). He had no guest for the MC but had video messages from all the members. He also poke fun at everyone of them and attempted singing one of their solo. His interpretation of Yasu was hilarious as he tried to sing high pitch. But the best moment was without any doubts his Babun Attack in full outfit performance!  I don't think I had ever laughed so hard in my life!

We also got to watch an Eito Ranger Skit!! With a new version of the song! "Ah, Ah blacku ranger..." The skit was performed with Veteran as they did their own version of Momotarou!

During the MC, he talked about the new TV show and how him, Maru and Ohkura went filming on a boat. How Maru just would not stop throwing up...

The show ended with Onigishi as we learned that his mother was in attendance for today's concert. Yoko finished the song in tears and so did half the audience.

We were treated to 3 encores (which is one more than the other concert) probably because of his family in attendance. The last encore, after coming back 3 times was Zukkoke Otokomichi... again. Except he did not really sing and let the crowed do all the singing.




Overall the show greatly exceeded my expectation. But best of all! The day before the show we received our Tokyo tickets (We balloted many times for the concert and luckily hit twice). The Tokyo venue only sits 5000 people so there are no bad seats but since it is a theater and not an arena, there will be only one main stage. Well, anyway, we received our tickets and we will be sitting FIRST ROW!!!!!! On the far left.  This is truly amazing!!!

One of many messages left by fan at Billiken in Osaka.

Osaka Takoyaki

When in Osaka, there are a few specialty that must be tried! Takoyaki is one of them!! They are easy to find, cheap and delicious!! They consist  of little dough balls filled with octopus. They serve it with a special sauce and mayo. You will find them at stands through out the city, at festival and in some Izakaya. The price range from 300 yen to 500 yen. Although they can be found all over Japan, Osaka's Takoyaki are by far the best one in the country!!! Here are a few of my favorite spot in Osaka!

Favorite takoyaki stand in America mura

My number 1 spot is across the plaza in America mura *Shinsaibashi*. They sell for 300 yen and are the best one in the city! Once you get your order you can sit at the plaza across the street with the locals and enjoy the funkiness of the surrounding.

My number 2 spot is right underneath Osaka tower. The last few times I went there, the staff spoke English so it might be a good place to go if you are worried about ordering.

The long way to Osaka!

Here I am, unpacked in beautiful sunny Osaka. But the road to get here was long rainy and windy! Lets go back 4 days in time. Last Wednesday morning my alarm clock did not ring so I ended up waking up 5 minutes before mom was picking me up for the airport. After a mad dash I did it and manage to take a shower, finish packing and say my farewells...

I was flying aircanada on a direct flight. I have to say the direct flight made such a big difference. It was worth spending the extra 113$. It took less than 2 minutes to go through custom and the plane itself was very comfortable. The only down fall was the food that truly sucked!! But I was ready and had packed a lunch of myself.

The flight went well and took just under 13 hours. The landing turned out to be the event as we tried landing in heavy wind. It was scary. Very scary.

When I got to the custom, I ended up waiting more than 1 hour 40 minutes. It was total chaos!!! Hard to believe I was in Japan!!! I finally made it and jumped on the cheap train. Got to Tokyo, Shinjuku. Found my sister no problem and we headed out for dinner. I had Hayashi rice!! I had never had hayashi rice in Japan. I make my own at home in Canada so I was excited to find out if the taste was the same. Well turns out that my hayashi rice taste NOTHING like it should! I will have to find a new recipe.

After dinner, I met up with Lindsay and had a well deserve rest! The next day, we had about 15 hours to kill before the night bus to Osaka. Marie and I went and bought glasses at Coolense *Tokyu Hands, Ikebukuro*. I got a pair of prescription sunglasses for 18 dollars.

On that day we had plan to to go Harajuku and Shibuya but since it was pouring rain we decided to stay in Ikebukuro sunshine city. We played arcade games, did a few Purikura and went to watch a Japanese movie. Liar Game the final stage. You can check out my movie review in a separate post.

For dinner, Marie and I went to the famous ramen street in Shinjuku and had a delicious soup. You can check out my Tokyo Food Guide post about this restaurant.  Before taking of on the night bus, we met with Chingy, Ani and Lindsay for some drinks.

At 11h50 we hopped on the night bus with Chingy and off we left for Osaka. Yesterday morning we finally hit FTO *Funky Town Osaka* and found our way to Banana Guest House where we will be staying. Look for a separate review post about this guest house.

We then made our way to Osaka Jo Hall to buy the concert goods for the show we will be watching today. The place was ridiculously packed with Fans and also Hanami goers. After buying our talking bank and T-shirts, we walked around Dotonbori and ate a delicious Okonomiyaki. Check for a post about this restaurant in my Osaka Food Guide.

Getting ready to get back on the road, this time Osaka style!

The end of my semester is getting ever so closer! And so is my next trip. Once more this year I am Japan bound. Once more I will be enjoying a different part of the country. I will be staying in the Kansai region for 3 weeks, before going for a home stay in Chiba! My flight will leave 16 hours after my last class. Which means, within these 16 hours I will have driven from Toronto to Barrie, pack my bag, drive back to the airport and jump on a direct flight to Narita!
So stay tune for my next adventure! I promise beautiful pictures since I will have a NikonD90 instead of my cell phone's camera!

Sukiyanen Osaka

It feel funny writing this now. I am back home in Canada. I am looking back at my wonderful memories wishing I was still there making more. But let's go back in time where I left off. My last day in Osaka. Oh, I still have to mention how much I love Osaka. But at the same time, Osaka can be a bit scary. On my last day, I was approached by a weird man and he kept asking weird question which led me to think I should get away from him as soon as possible... which I did by jumping into a tour boat along the Osaka Canal. I didn't let that bad start ruin my day. Once more I was on a mission. Last year, during my visit to Osaka, it was pouring rain, so this year I intended on doing the same itinerary, in the same order but under the sunshine. So I took out,my map and my notes from last year and used the exact same schedule. I even went back to the shrine where I had met and save the little old lady from the rain.

Once I was done, I went back to Namba and ate more Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki. I still can't believe how much I ate while in Osaka!! But the food is on a whole different level there.

To finish the day, while waiting for my train, I shopped some more till I dropped. Clothing, omiyage, food... There were lots of end of season sale so I got Russ-K t-shirts for 900 yen!!! I also picked up a whole new outfit at Uniqlo for under 3000 yen!!

Now I forgot to say: during my visit to Osaka, there was a solar eclipse. I had known this for a long time and I was so excited to be able to witness it. Last time there was one in Canada, I missed it!!! So it was my chance to finally see one!!! Well, no luck. I stood on the bridge of the canal with thousand of people, news reporters, cameraman... and saw nothing. It was too cloudy. We did notice it got darker but that was it...