The Age of Aquarius

Breakfast - The Hipster Coffee Shop of America… in Japan!

Pretty basic stuff really, though with more emphasis on egg sandwiches than American coffee shops.

Osaka Aquarium – pretty incredible and vertical aquarium

Situated right on the harbor, the aquarium was definitely a better experience than I was expecting.

You walk down through 8 stories, with many tanks spanning 3-4 floors. Highlights were the whale shark, pilot fish on the hammerhead, and the most badass named of them all, Colossoma, one of which was an absolute unit.

Finally, we ate at a very old and famous udon shop. I was once again bibbed up for my utterly delicious tomato cheese curry udon, which was hands down the best udon I’ve ever had. It reminded me vaguely of a Chili Mac & Cheese, and writing this I crave that very much.

Amerikamura

  • Amerikamura - American Shopping of America… in Japan!

    You can see the motif with breakfast. This is a weird youth neighborhood slated as the feeling of US in Japan. The center is certainly a prime people watching spot, with punks, kawais, and a whole lot of high schoolers all hanging out.

    Unfortunately the iconic US clown/Uncle Sam face was replaced with a Levis. For the most part, it ended up being a lot of hip hop clothing shops, as well as second hand shops selling American brands.

Very Crowdedness

We then made our way down to Dotonbori, which just happens to go through the giant shopping arcade of Osaka. Unfortunately the crowds were intense and Lu wasn’t really having any of it. We then made it to Dotonbori, the famous lane of restaurants nestled along the river. Unfortunately the crowds were even more intense, but the riverside walk provided an excellent repreive.

For dinner, a very difficult decision. Our days in Japan were counting down, and there was so much more to eat. However, the crowds meant some places looked a bit white washed. We ended up at an Izakaya that was nestled almost secretly behind a small door and curtain.

It was utterly empty to start, and there was some confusion when a dismayed waitress and chef came out. We thought perhaps there was a reservation issue, or perhaps just some local hostility to the tourists infiltrating one of “their” places. Either way, we read the Japanese menu and ordered in Japanese just fine, so it worked out… almost. We forgot we hadn’t gotten more cash, so we had to limit our dinner to the simple fried skewer sets. This wasn’t disappointing at all though, and checkmarked one of the feature foods of Osaka, kushikatsu.