Slow start to the day, as we departed Kyoto for Osaka, starting with a 1km walk to Kyoto Station. Slight hiccup on the train, as we ended up on the Thunderbird, which is the train a step down from the Shinkansen bullet train. Sadly, needed an extra ticket purchase which we only knew about approximately one minute before getting on. Probably could/should have just gone to another one, but took the risk. Had to pay for the extra ticket on board when the guy came around. Only 1000 Yen each for Emily and I, but could have been avoided. Oh well. It split the difference nicely between the more expensive but fast Shinkansen and cheap but slow local line.
Arrived in Osaka and went right to Osaka Castle. Conveniently, there are cheap storage lockers at the train station, and because of our small-in-comparison bag compared to the average traveller, we can fit both our bags into the medium locker. Hiked up to the castle, but decided against going in while we were in line since we had gone to Kyoto Castle just the day before. They had a cool little souvenir area. Most notably, Emily and I threw actual (though fairly blunt) ninja stars. So that was a ton of fun. Some pretty good views as we hiked back down towards the station also. Stopped at a cafe to get their triple layer souffle pancake, the bottom one of which had an entire egg embedded in it. This paired very oddly with the ones above that had fruit + whipped cream and chocolate.
Dropped the bags at the hotel (which was on a little square with some sort of monument and a sumo statue) and went to a Japanese Tea Ceremony. We learned about the history of it, which started in Osaka (though there is apparently controversy about this and both Kyoto and Osaka claim to be the true origin). We got served mochi sweets and tea, which was very good. Macha tea is quite bitter, so fit right in for me but less so with Emily and Jordan. Jordan did try hers, and was very respectful about her dislike of it. Then we got to make our own, which was very cool. It is quite the procedure, and unchanged in the 400+ years since the creator perfected it after 40 years of iterations.
After a couple hours chill at our very tiny hotel room, we headed out to the Dotonbori market. Tons and tons of food stalls, restaurants, shops and entertainment areas. I got some takoyaki (Octopus balls with mayo) and a fried squid skewer. Shockingly, neither Emily nor Jordan decided to partake in that. Emily got an incredibly good chicken skewer that Jordan stole a significant amount of. Meanwhile, Jordan had a candied fruit skewer. The wagyu beef skewer was a bit overcooked, but Emily’s Gyoza pork dumplings were great. Also of note is the fact that the streets of Dotonbori have tons of neon signs along with crazy sculptures and signage. Animatronic crabs, giant faces, dragons, chickens and wild faces. Bowling alleys, karaoke bars, slots and pachinko halls were all over the place. One had a one hour All-you-can-dart-throw and all-you-can-drink special for 2,000 Yen (about $20 CAD). I really want to sick Mark and his friends on them, as the establishment wouldn’t know what hit them. Most famous of the lot is the Running Man, in front of which hordes of people were getting pictures mimicking the pose. So of course we had to get Jordan in on the fun.
Many of the child-friendly entertainment options were limited to gacha machine rooms and claw machines. Jordan wanted to do… All of them. We eventually relented to let her do a PokeBall claw machine, ready to say “I told you so” when she would inevitably lose. But she didn’t. She got a Master Ball, which is the rarest ball of all. So much for that lesson, but ultimately a good grab for just 100 Yen. Jordan was still hungry, so we hit up the conveyor belt sushi restaurant since the street sushi was wildly more expensive.
Last food stall was the Strawberry Mania stand which certainly lived up to its name. Jordan had a strawberry smoothie with strawberry and milk ice cream on top. First time in the whole trip she proactively and willingly put her gloves on without us having to cajole her into it. Emily got a strawberry and chocolate crepe while mine was a creme brulee crepe. Both were served in a cone, and mine got blowtorched on top. It was a little heavy after all of the street food, but reasonably tasty.
Highlight of the night for sure was the Freedom Bar. A bar that serves no cocktails, no beer and no sake. Only Japanese Whisky. It is an Omakase place, where you put the full trust in the bartender (the owner conveniently speaks perfect English as he has lived in Canada before). I told him that my favourite Japanese Whisky was the Nikka Yoichi and that I like peaty scotch and he designed a custom flight of four pours for me. He also gave a history lesson about Japanese Whisky, which you now get some highlights of.
There are 154 distilleries doing whisky in Japan, but only 40 or so who have an offering currently. Most of them are sake (fermented rice wine) and shoju (distilled barley and/or sweet potato, similar to vodka) that are expanding. Also, because of the big environmental differences in Japan between the north, central and south, the characteristics are massively influenced by the ranges of temperatures and humidities that impact the amount of whisky that gets lost. Each of the four drinks were absolutely amazing, and he suggested a few shops where it is possible to find some (perhaps the Nikka Yoichi 10 year edition). Most of the whisky from the distilleries that are not one of the top two (Suntory and Nikka) are for domestic consumption because of the competitive pressure from the big ones. Two of the bottles were 50%, so I was feeling pretty great afterwards. Absolutely amazing experience, down to the soundproofing of the bar from the party outside and the great decor. And that’s before he slides the cabinets open to show the rows and rows of bottles to evaluate drinks for the flight.
Legitimately could have stayed there all night, but it was back to the hotel. Jordan down for bed at 9:30, which is the latest of the trip. Despite protests of just getting a few pages of her book, she fell asleep hard and fast because it was another day of over 20,000 steps.
Leave a Reply