OSAKA!

The day before yesterday we went to Osaka. Osaka is Japan's 2nd largest city after Tokyo. We went to Osaka with a few goals in mind. Firstly and most importantly we wanted to hit up certain foods, namely, Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki. We wanted to see Americamura(American street), Doutomburi, and Shinsekai and its historical tower the Tsukenkaku.

The train ride to Osaka.

Osaka is known for being home to a rougher and more rambunctious crowd than say Tokyo. Osakans have a good sense of humor. It is a fun place with a lot of great places to see and places to eat. In fact, Osaka is well known for it's food loving culture and it is encouraged to binge out on food when you go. So we did just that!

First we checked out Osaka castle. Just so you know, it's a fake. what you see here has been built over the ruins of the real thing. What was originally part of the ruins I'm not too sure of. But this is what it looks like. However, Himeji's castle is original. That's why Himeji castle is way better than Osaka's castle and why you should visit Himeji if you're ever in Japan.

It's a nice place. You don't have to pay a fee to enter the surrounding gardens. You do have to pay a fee for the castle itself, which is just a small museum. We didn't spend a lot of time here, we were impatient for food, otherwise you can stand around and read all the history you want. It is a very nice presentation.

The face of confusion that it wasn't a real replica of the original castle. 

The gardens surrounding the castle are really nice. But it's a lot of walking. Grab some sake, and have a picnic.

There are two moats, this inner moat was empty of water.

This area will be pink and full of cherry blossoms in spring. I must come back!

After Osaka castle, we went to Americamura. What a funky place. Historically, this was an area that was populated by Americans at one point. Now, it is a fashionable area where many young people hang out. You can eat on the street here and you can find funky clothes. Really nice clothes. There were a lot of stores for guys. Whereas in normal malls, most of the stores were for girls, here was where I could find something for myself. I didn't end up buying anything, I was too hungry and we wanted to get to where the real action was, the most popular places to go eat.

The lamp post is in human form.

Now that be some bling.

This is for you Arash, I thought this was pretty hipster. Check out this old tape deck! I swear I was only 4 when this was made. It was providing the tunes in one of these fashionable stores.

Our stomaches growling, we walked through crazy streets to the Doutomburi. It is the name of a river, synonymous with the most famous part of Osaka. It's the place to eat. Make sure you go to places that have a line up. Then you know you're getting good foods!!

This is where we ended up. It's the famous Glico guy.

This area is a must see at night.

Giant Nigiri sushi and giant hand. You're not supposed to eat sushi like that. lolz.

I really wanted to try some god Kani(Crab). This was the best crab I have ever had in my life. It was a little hard to eat, but it was well worth it. I could really and quite literally taste the ocean in my mouth.

Standing in line for Takoyaki.

Watching Takoyaki being made. I'm not sure what he's doing. I was told he is making sure the balls keep their shape. Takoyaki has piece of Octopus inside. It is very tasty. The bun is made of flour and it is cooked on the outside but kind of raw on the inside. But the octopus on the inside is cooked. Maybe the bun just seemed uncooked. It is seasoned with seaweed pieces, Japanese mayonnaise, and thickened Soya sauce. There are aspects I like and aspects I don't like about it. I like the overall flavor, but something about the texture puts me off. But overall, because of the taste I like it and eat it.

The bun is battered on the outside with little pieces of tempura batter. This is the part that I like about the texture.

So we were kind of full so we decided to walk around and find Osaka's tower. There is a lot of history in that area which I'm not going to go into. At the top, it gave us a great view of the city, and you could really get a good idea of just how dense and far it goes. This is a second generation tower, meaning that the original was replaced with this one. It just didn't make the cut.

Sketchier area on the way to the tower, not that bad, just a lot of electronics, porn, and manga.

Older area with history by the tower.

Under the tower. Older style buildings.

What I have realized the more time I spend in Japan is that Japan is a lot like the France of Asia. Everybody is stylish, they have good coffee, and they like to build towers in each city that resemble the Eiffel tower. I like that, every city in the world should have a tower. But not one that looks like a penis like in Shanghai....

Anyway, I digress...

The mascot of the Tsukenkaku (Osaka tower) is Billiken. He looks like what would happen if the Grinch and the Laughing Buddha had a baby. 

Read up on how this lucky guy was created...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billiken

I didn't know anybody could draw something up and patent it and sell it to people looking for mascots or I would have taken a few art classes in highschool, scribble something while I was on the toilet, say it came to me in a vision and then sell it for a couple million dollars. I would already be retired and buy myself my own tower. The mascot would be teddy bear called Roosh. At least it wouldn't haunt my dreams.

ROOSH
Can you tell I miss you?

Again, I digress...

On top of that, you are supposed to rub Billiken's feet for good luck. How about giving this life-sized teddy bear a hug for good luck? Now that's what I'm talking about.

"Mommy, why does the bear have a beard?"

"Shut up and hug the hairy bear. I'm tired and I wanna go home. Oprah's on tv."

(sigh) I digress...

After the tower, we went to eat some good Okonomiyaki. What a delight! After walking around for 15 minutes trying to decide which restaurant to eat at we finally found the perfect one: busy enough to show that it was good food with enough room for the two of us. "Yatta!" (success!)

Japanese stirfry.

Suntory Premium Malts. Not my favorite beer,  but not the worst. I would recommend Kirin.

Japanese still do business the old fashion way. Restaurants will sometimes only carry one type of beer, because they are loyal to one company. This restaurant we ate at only served Suntory Premium Malts in draft and bottle form. I've seen this from time to time in other places. Some restaurants only serve a particular brand of beer. I think it stems from the loyalty to the supplier or the brand itself. Other than that I'm not quite sure. If anyone knows please feel free to comment. 

Osaka has an amalgam of small side streets filled with expensive restaurants and dessert places that are all good. They all have good food and pleasant atmospheres. 

Dessert place that was fully reserved, it was Chrismas Eve, no wonder.

Amidst the city there was this small shrine/temple. 

Don't forget to wash your hands.

Offerings to the ancestors. Incense is made as an offering, and smoke is believed in some cultures to take the prayers to the dead. In Japanese culture, to have the smoke of incense surround your body is good luck and probably wards off evil spirits.

I've spent way too much time on this blog already and I want to go to bed. Just one thing I want to say... Japan MUST be the most developed country in the world. I've never been to a more comfortable place, and I've been around enough. USA and China's economy may be stronger, USA may have a lot of guns, Europe may have lots of stolen artifacts from other countries in their museums, but in terms of infrastructure, efficiency, and shear architectural ingenuity Japan takes the cake, a big chunk of Black Forest Chocolate cake. Bravo. 

Kobe and Arima Onsen

I've been in Japan for just over a week and I'm finally going to write about Kobe and Arima Onsen.

This part of my trip was the most relaxing and indulging experience so far. We stayed in a secretive spot at a luxury hotel. It could not have gotten better.

We spent the beginning of the day with Mao's sister in Kobe checking out the town, getting some food, and shopping. Kobe is 30 to 40 mins from Himeji by train and it is a really cool spot to check out.

Ironically, we went to China town in Kobe to get some food. It's not like real Chinese food, or else I wouldn't have liked it. They have some good cheap food here. 

A lot of Christmas decorations to put up in this one.

A very Chinese element in Chinatown. I was looking for a garbage can to put my ramen bowl in (because Japan ironically doesn't have many garbage bins around compared to Canada, but yet it is way cleaner and you hardly ever see garbage on the ground). I tried to put it in the garbage bin of another vendor and they were not having it. If you didn't buy it there, you couldn't throw it away there. That makes sense right, specially when you don't really give a damn about the country you're doing business in... But then again, Chinese are not very well known for loving the environment are they?

We went to this big department store called Loft. Huge place, with a lot of different practical things. I really liked this massage cushion you use while you sit on your couch. It turns your normal couch into a massage chair. It was only about $80 CND. If I had room I would take three home. Maybe I still will. We stopped by Loft on our way back home from Arima Onsen and I bought some Omiyage(gifts) for some people back home. I also bought Japanese calligraphy ink pens. Not the metal ones but the brush ones. What a genius invention. My writing finally looks authentic and I can practice writing Kanji for fun now. I'm going to have to buy a bunch more of these to take home.

On our way to Arima Onsen.

Arima Onsen is situated in the hills about 30 minutes outside of Kobe. It is accessible by train. 

More remote area. Train was kind of dead.

Arima

Location of original Onsen

Part of the original Onsen of which water is pumped to all hotels in area.

Arima Onsen apparently has a history of over a thousand years. It is one of Japan's oldest hot springs. Our hotel was fucking amazing. I had never felt so welcome at a hotel in my life. We stayed for one night and were thoroughly pleased and satisfied with the whole experience. They greeted us with plum tea (with gold flakes in the tea) and Mochi(soft rice taffy), sat us down comfortably and introduced the whole hotel. We were given a choice of when to have dinner prepared for us, when to reserve a private Onsen session, and when to have breakfast the next day. Superb service the whole time. The name of the hotel was Taketoritei. I don't care if the room smells like smoke so I had nothing to complain about in that regard. I felt like a true guest the whole time. When they shuttle guests down to the station, hotel staff stand outside on the street, wave and bow as we are driven away. Now THAT is service.
It was the most relaxing experience. I didn't believe that Onsen has any medicinal or therapeutic applications until I came back to the room after two sessions of Onsen. I was knocked out. I couldn't move. I just came through the door, fell onto the futon and was out. I actually felt kind of sick from it. Maybe I overdid it, but it showed me that it had a definite effect on my body. I was excited to take video of beer from a vending machine for Roosh but I just couldn't stay awake.

They had a public and private Onsen. We bought a "couples" package so we were able to reserve a 45 minute private session. This hotel offered two types of Onsen, "Gold and Silver". I have no idea what it means but it looks like one has a high iron content and the other who knows.

When you go to an Onsen you have to go naked, even at the public one. It really makes you feel comfortable with your body, I have no idea why. But I came out of there really enjoying myself. You get naked in the change room, go to the washing area and wash up, soap and all. I really felt like a man. I'm sitting there butt-naked, belly sticking out, and lathering my body up like I had just discovered water. I've been gaining weight for the last year now and I really just enjoyed it in that moment. It's just nice to be your naked natural self among other naked natural selves. You are kind of equal to everyone in the room. I didn't find it uncomfortable at all. It was really fun to just bear it all, and hid nothing. I recommend everyone do it.

I'm glad we took to the Onsen after dinner, or else I wouldn't have been able to get through it. Dinner lasted two hours. It was a full course Japanese meal.

Look at that marble!

Me. Feeling Fuckin' Triumphant!

I know Anthony Bourdain wasn't impressed by Kobe beef, but this was the best tasting beef I've ever had. It's way better than having a steak go cold before you've eaten half of it. It's eaten hot off your personal grill, into your mouth and in your belly!

Me. Fuckin' Triumphant II

Miso soup and rice came at the end! You don't have a Japanese meal without Miso soup and Rice.

dessert!

So like I said, I went to bed knocked out by the Onsen, and woke up briefly because Mao was trying to get me to brush my teeth or something. My body felt weird... Like my skin was resonating and vibrating. It felt like my veins were opening in places I didn't know I had veins and blood was there for the first time. I felt kind of sick, I couldn't get up so I slept, and wow that was a good sleep. The next morning my body was aching. So much muscle tension. I have no idea what was going on, but it was clear the Onsen was doing something. That morning we did another Onsen session and I felt a little tired afterward but it soon went away. The following day back in Himeji all the muscle tension was pretty much gone.

I love going to secretive places. It's a great feeling to know you're somewhere remote and no one can find you. Arima Onsen was one of those times I will remember.

Look they dress you up in Samurai stuff too! Nah, it's just Yugata, traditional nightwear.

Oh Japanese toilets are the best. A lot of places have pimped-out toilets. The one at the hotel had a seat temperature setting so you don't sit down on a cold toilet seat. Three settings for washing, front(for women) and rear, jet spray and tinkle. Makes washing your oshiri(bum) very easy for FOBS!! Anyone who uses aaftaabeh knows what I'm talking about. The aim is perfect. This topped my aaftaabeh experience so far, ever! Sorry, no picture.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!