Out & About In Osaka

We woke up bright and early. It was another pleasant day at 13 - 14 deg. Today's first attraction would be the Osaka Castle. We took the subway from Daikokucho to Hommachi, and thereafter changed to the Chuo Line, and got off at Tanimachi-4-chome. There are sign boards at every station, which we referred for the exit to take. It's Exit 9 for Osaka Castle. From her, we walked about 5 minutes to get to the site.

First glance of the castle wall Southwestern corner of the castle grounds
The moat and walls serve as a main defense measure for the castle

I loved the serenity this place exudes! Everything seemed so calm, quiet and peaceful! From here, we entered the castle grounds via the Otemon Gate. 

Osaka Castle Tower

The original Osaka Castle was built in 1583. It was destroyed and rebuilt in 1620. However, the castle caught fire and was burned down. The present castle was built in 1931 and then refurbished in 1997. 

We decided not to enter the castle, which housed a museum. Instead, we hangout out at the vicinity and visited the food stalls selling all sorts of Japanese snacks. We bought some .... 

Matcha Warabi Mochi

The Warabi Mochi had a jelly-like texture. I found out later that it is made from bracken/fern starch.
The vendor was so generous with the powder - I think it's a mixture of matcha and kinako/roasted soybean powder  

This cake was soft and chewy, and had the aroma of eggs instead of matcha; reminded me much of our local kuih bahulu.

Matcha soft serve, ¥450

Not too sweet, and light matcha flavour, but milky, smooth and very enjoyable to eat.

There were also many food trucks that lined up to sell popular Japanese snacks like chicken kaarage, takoyaki, ice-cream and so on. We lingered a bit, and then proceeded to the Nishinomaru Garden which is located next to the castle. Nishinomaru Garden was supposed to provide a commanding view of the castle, but it was which unfortunately was closed that morning. Too bad.

We then proceeded to a monument outside the castle ...

The monument  

I loved the golden leaves scattered all over! 

For a while, I sat on the ground amongst the leaves, just enjoying the magnifcent colours and the cool winter air .... it was so blissful.

So beautiful! 

From Tannimachi-4-Chome, we took the train to Sakaisuji-Hommachi, and took the Sakaisuji line to Nippombashi. And that's where the Kuromon Ichiba Market was. Kuromon Ichiba has about 190 years of history and tradition, and is known as Osaka's Kitchen. The market is 580m long and has about 150 stalls ..

Kuromon Ichiba Market

It was big with many stalls on the left and right. Our noses were tickled with the smoky aroma of grilling seafood, making our mouths water. 

We walked around, browsing the food sold .... 

Squids and scallops 

Salmon and other fish ...

Pickles!

We finally ate some .....

Buttered and salted scallop, ¥500

Uni, ¥1800

I loved the scallop! The price actually depended on the size - and there were 3 sizes S, M and L and they cost ¥500, ¥800 and ¥1000 respectively. The vendor will then pry the scallop open, clean it, cut it and then grill it with a dollop of butter, a spray of something (I think it's salt water or maybe just water) and just a sprinkle of black pepper. It was really very delicious! The juices rocked!

I was excited to get my first taste of uni or sea urchin. It was terribly tiny. It looked firm, but disintegrated as soon as I picked it up with my chopstick. It tasted like roe - briny, creamy, just a little sweet. Hmn ... it was a new experience and I probably needed to eat it a few more times to get accustomed to it. :P

We stopped by a stall and ordered some food so that we could sit down to eat.

Takoyaki

Okonomiyaki with pork

Yakisoba with beef

Of the 3, I think my favourite was the yakisoba. I loved the slightly sweet sauces coating the noodles. The takoyaki and okonomiyaki were mushy pancakes with heady sweet and smoky sauces which I really did not fancy much. In fact, we struggled to finish up the food - so filling! 

After lunch, we intended to visit the Momofuku Ando Museum at Ikeda. That required for us to take the Hankyu Takarazuka line from Umeda. So to get to Umeda from Nippombashi, we had to change trains at Dobutsuen-Mae.

And that's where Shinsekai was. Shinsekai 

Tsutenkaku Tower, at 103m was built in 1956

We found that there were many eateries at this area, but in fact, they sold the same thing - the kushi katsu! These were skewered meats and vegetables which were deep-fried. We thought we might come back for dinner .... 

Next, we rode to Umeda Station and took a Hankyu train out to Ikeda. We were supposed to visit the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum ... but it was closed. Closed on Tuesdays. Urgh! How could we have been so careless and did not check the schedule! 

So we strolled about Ikeda ... and walked right to Satsukiyama Park ... 

We headed back to Osaka. At Hankyu Umeda, we exited the building. It was a mistake because we actually got lost walking around the area ... and by the time we got to Osaka Station City, it was already dark.

The Umeda Sky Building as viewed from Osaka Station City

The wind was really cold and we were freezing ..... 

And we seeked refuge inside the building .... I went to Daimaru to look for my Blue Label bag to buy .... but of course, I did not find any. Yet.

Dinner was at a random shop at Shinsekai ... indeed it was another mistake as this area was hardly alive at night. Shinsekai was reputedly a seedy area in town .... hmn ... to me .... it just seemed deserted.

Dinner was rather costly and meagre. Cost us ¥1923 .... I ate a mere mouthful of each .. sigh. 

Fried rice, ¥540
I ate a few spoonfuls of the fried rice ....


Beef udon, ¥540
Had a few strips of noodles ....

Tried a bit of each of the skewers .... cost us ¥843

The fried rice tasted ok, the noodles were pathetic, and I did not like the skewers at all. It was a bit frustrating ..... So at the convenience store at the corner of our apartment, I bought some buns and ice-cream to snack on.

Ice-cream

Convenience stores or konbini are a must-visit in Japan. They sell a variety of food at reasonable prices. The one that's just around the corner where we stay is called Sunkus and we go there at least once a day. We normally buy our breakfast there - bread, puddings, cup ramen, fresh bananas, chocolates, ice-creams, fried chicken, etc. There's this ham and cheese mayo bun which I liked that cost only ¥108 for 2 pieces, and the ice-cream cost ¥140. And they made me happy. :))

Our first day in Osaka ended. And we would be venturing to Himeji and Kobe next.