Whilst more compact than Osaka’s Kuromon Ichiba market, the Nishi market certainly had the variety of sweets, pickles, fresh shaved bonito (which I kept mistakenly called bonobo), and of course mochi. Anna picked up a string of delicious semi-dried persimmon, and I’d managed to find the CD soundtracks for Neon Genesis and Ergo Proxy.
Some interesting warning banners caught my eye:
I’ve been to Asia before, so squat toilets are not a novelty. Perhaps stinky, unusal, requiring a lifetime’s coordination, and daunting, but not novel. I’m reminded of a recent trip down the Hume Highway, we made a pit stop at the Benalla BP & McDonalds to fuel, freshen up, & use their conveniences. We had the misfortune to use the toilets 10 minutes after a busload of Chinese tourists had gone through, and other than especially poor aim, I am still trying to picture how people were doing what they were doing as there were footprints on the loo seat.
Puts you right off.
We’d gotten used to the Japanese squat in our Osaka residence with only the mild fear that the door handle of support might snap sending us toppling into mixed company areas. The superb bullet trains also give you a choice of Japanese or Western-style so at least the art of balance at 300km/h is not always required.
The Japanese Bidet was also a revelation, not only for the gentle squirting of cleasing warmed water, nor for the post clean air dry blower, but for the controls. Should you be presented with a toilet seat and electronic controls, on no account should you look down and assume the squirty button is ‘flush’ unless you’d like your face washed. The flush mechanism is usually attached to the cistern.
Convenience stores also tended to have publically usable (usually Western) toilets, and we came across a particularly beautiful one at the Nara museum. We discovered a few weeks later though that the hygiene standards and availability of public Western toilets were not nearly so good in Hong Kong…
Heading down towards the Kamo River (鴨川), one wonders why in Australia we turn our pretty waterways into big concrete drains. One only need look at what was the Moonee Ponds Creek following the Tulla Freeway to see the attitude. Pretty? Pah! I did hear a farmer on ABC local radio complaining that the recent Australian floods were all due to plants growing in the waterways. Yeesh.
An oddity did occur as we crossed the bridge – a Japanese TV crew wanted to interview us (presumably as to what foreigners were doing in Japan when most expats had been told by their respective governments to flee – one almost expected to be accosted by former PM Rudd with his sleeves rolled up rescuing his Aussie maaates). They only wanted to interview residents, not tourists, so we missed out on our 15 seconds of fame.
The Ponto-cho alleys were historical geisha and entertainment areas. Whilst the alleyways and the restaurants looked nice, the modern iteration seemed to yell tourist trap to me. Apparently they look nice all lit up at night but we didn’t get the chance to return after dark.
After a lap around Niomon Dori to discover that our preferred Yakatori meal was shut on Mondays and that the only other option was pizza or Maccas, we landed on the doorstep of this fine establishment (whose English name I do not know) and decided on the banquet for four. Warm sake was a revelation for me (I don’t normally like Chinese rice wine either as it reminds me of window cleaning solvent), but this was nice.
The many many small courses which in Cantonese might have been called dim sum, not only warmed the heart but filled the stomach. Or perhaps it was the warm sake…
A bit of a walk around at sunset to clear the head. The Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art was right over a canal from us, so we had a little walk around to check the not-quite-yet cherry blossoms
Japan’s extensive & generally user friendly rail system was the best way to get from ‘a’ to ‘b’. Underground, it’s a little difficult to tell which direction is which, but we found a few shops (eg: ‘cube’ subway entrance next to Juicer Bar) with which to gather our bearings.
Elevators and escalators also abound, but only if you go towards the correct exit. What are the chances of zigging instead of zagging and getting stairs every time? Probably quite remote, so I suspect some intergalactic deity is toying with our little lives…
Our last day in Osaka was a little sad for the fact that we’d just started to get a handle on the Namba district. Another week or so would not have gone astray. Bic camera is listed in the Lonely Planet as a one liner, but this mega store of everything photographic (and electrical and computers and whitegoods…) was astonishing for the uninitiated. I picked up more SD memory and a GPS unit for my Nikon D300s. 15 minutes is just not enough time to investigate 7 Floors of modern shopping goodness.
Walking the Dōtonbori seeking inspiration for dinner this night, we finally decided upon Okonomiyaki (a savoury Japanese cabbage pancake of sorts). We tried this meal years-ago in Sapporo when as unknowing foreigners, we were not quite sure what to do with a plate of raw ingredients and hotplate. The serving staff then graciously tossed everything together & cooked it as we watched.
Being prepared for that, we were not quite prepared for the rather long queue. Or the fact that the outer queue was for the outer waiting seat which itself was a queue for the inner waiting seat (the final queue!). We were also unaware that at this establishment, a press of the table button was what brought the rapid attention of wait staff, as oppossed to them floating & watching.
Travel fatigue started to settle in on an otherwise delicious meal.
After a day’s catch up with brother Jon, we thought we’d walk him to his connecting train towards the Kita part of Osaka as well as try to find the Sanrio shop to pruchase some genuine Hello Kitty stuff for the nieces.
The thing that struck me about the streetscape which we walked was how similar it was to the classier areas of Melbournes CBD. Just close your eyes, ignore the odd temple, & ignore the fastidiously clean and orderly everything and bang! You’re in Collins Street.
The Sanrio shop was utterly astounding. Four floors of Hello Kitty & friends. Sadly, no instore pictures allowed. Having just discovered the covered arcades of Shinsaibashi (bearing Hello Kitty & other things), another full day would definitely be needed to explore.
Osaka’s Namba district contained many wonderful little cafes which we happened upon. We’d decided to try as many different varieties of food as we could, and of course the only way to eat when travelling is to eat what the locals eat. Many cafes and shops played jazz (which was a nice difference to blaring advertising) and the proprietor of this noodle shop had his alto sax proudly displayed.
I wandered into many game parlours, but not comprehending video games made in the last decade, I pretty much wandered out. The giant Taito space invader was not an indication of any historic games I might be familiar with. And only go into pachinko parlours if you’ve got hearing protection (or are desperate to use the facilities…)
