Osaka: The Downtown of Japan

Day 3- Central Osaka

Day 3 began bright and early with me getting myself a delicious pork bun. While I was standing in line with my group, a man on a bike approached me and propositioned me. The entire incident was mortifying and absolutely hilarious at the same time. I have never had a man say he loves me so many times while simultaneously asking me to give him s-e-x. Nevertheless, I received my absolutely delicious bao bun and the four of us set out on our adventure.

The first stop of the day was to see the Tsutenkaku Tower in Osaka Shinsekai. We first walked around the area and looked at the different shops around. We stopped inside the Pringles store where there were a few flavors of chips and mainly different Anime characters. No M&M World, that's for sure. There was also a giant statue of baby Buddha whose feet I rubbed for good luck.

Then came time for the tower visit. We got tickets for the top floor where we could see a panoramic view of Osaka. It was incredible being able so see so much of the city and how it compared to Busan or Chicago. The landscape of sky rise buildings set against a background of mountains is one I have become accustomed to while living in Korea, yet it never ceases to amaze me. If only I was able to see Mt. Fuji from the tower (spoiler: I got to see lots of Mt. Fuji while I was in Tokyo). Once we all had our fill of the stunning view, we made our way down to the street for a much needed lunch. In true American fashion, we stopped at McDonald's. Now to be completely transparent, I never went to the golden arches when I lived in the U.S., so I didn't really have much background when it came time to compare and contrast Japanese McDonald's to American McDonald's. To be frank, the meal was quite disappointing. There was not much depth to my spicy chicken sandwich and the fries were just fries. I gave it a solid 4/10, but that was my own doing for going to a popular fast food chain in a country known for its delectable cuisine.

After lunch, we headed to Shitenno-Ji temple. The temple itself both stunning and imposing. The main pagoda was 5 stories tall and was quite the experience to walk through. I had to take my shoes off and carry them up all 5 flights of stairs. I would typically have no issue with this, but seeing as how it was about 35 degrees out and those tile steps felt like they were about 10 degrees max, I was pretty chilly. I pretty much raced up the stairs, barely stopping at each landing to glance at the prayers on the wall, until I reached the top. I did a full 360, taking in the surrounding area, and then immediately raced down the stairs to finally put my shoes back on. I should have worn my thick socks, but oh well! The rest of the temple was just as stunning as the pagoda. One particular building held a large statue of Buddha and depicted beautiful paintings of religious scenes throughout the temple's history. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed in the temple, but I tried my hardest to commit them to memory.

The final stop of the day was visiting Dotonbori district at night. The main thoroughfare was lit up with various signs on buildings advertising everything under the sun. I imagine it is about 2% of what Times Square feels like. I took my picture under the Glico running man (apparently it's a super popular landmark in Osaka) and even replicated his running man pose. We then entered the bustling market area where I was pretty much touching shoulders with everyone in the general vicinity. We established our buddy system rule so as not to lose anyone in the crowd, and slowly made our way down the street. A quick stop into Adidas later, we were ready for a nice, hot dinner.

I would say one of the main issues with our travel group is that we all refused to admit what we wanted for food. Each and every time it was meal time, we would need a minimum of 30 minutes to decide on a cuisine type and location. Tonight was no different. We walked around for about 15 or so minutes, looking at various restaurants. We finally decided on ramen for dinner; we were in Japan after all. I perused the menu before deciding on the pork ramen with an extra egg. This was my first experience with traditional ramen, and I wanted to make sure I was doing it justice. From the moment the food came out, I knew I was going to enjoy my meal. The broth was creamy and salty, the pork tender and juicy, and the egg soft and buttery. The noodles were long and the perfect amount of al dente, although I did struggle with the concept of slurping my food. For one, the noodles were burning hot, and two, I was raised in a household where slurping was considered impolite. Nevertheless, I enjoyed my food and ate as much as possible. Once again, Tom saved the day by finishing the rest of my food.

The subway ride back to the hotel was a subdued affair due to our bellies being full. The food coma was hitting us hard by that point. Showers were quickly taken before settling in for a long night of rest.

Day 4- Osaka Aquarium

My morning began with, you guessed it, yet another bao bun. I can fully admit now that I had a problem. In the grand scheme of things, having an addiction to Chinese pork buns is somewhat tame. They are pillowy soft and filled with a warm pork stew and simply burst with flavor on the tongue.

After the long day of walking we had done the day previous, we all agreed the second day in Osaka would be more relaxed and chill. 3 of us set off to visit the Sumiyoshi Taisha shrine. The entrance to the shrine was like something out of a movie: a bright red bridge positioned over a tranquil pond. The shrine itself was impressive and held much history within its walls. The majority of the roofs were thatched and the walls were weathered with age. One major difference I did notice between Japan and Korea is that Korean temples and shrines are typically red with bright highlights of green and blue and yellow. Japan, on the other hand, has the occasional red temple, but the majority I saw were white and brown. Beautiful, of course, but in a more understated style.

Walking around the shrine was peaceful, and I found myself people watching frequently. Everyone was visiting the shrine for a different purpose, and I enjoyed observing them pray at the temple steps or hang a talisman on the wall. I also paid to have my fortune read (I shook a bottle until a chopstick with a number popped out), and I learned I would have moderate luck. Per the fortune, I would not find financial success and I should stay away from hardcore physical exercise (not hard to do for me).

Lunch was next on the schedule. Because we had not learned our lesson the previous day with American fast food locations, we decided to try our luck at KFC. Spoiler: it was even worse than McDonald's. They did not even serve mashed potatoes! Lackluster lunch aside, the adventure continued.

Now if there is one thing to know about me, it is that I will find a playground and I will play on it. And find a playground I did. I made a straight beeline for the swings and probably spent a good 10 minutes just feeling the wind in my air. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I am great at swinging on a swing set. I also dabbled in the monkey bars and slid down the slide once or twice. Following the playground excursion, we made our way to a little rose garden. The majority of the roses had yet to bloom, but the garden was still gorgeous.

It was finally time to head to the aquarium for the night light event. Immediately upon entrance, there were otters. They were the cutest little things up until we got to the seals who were just bobbing in the water. One of my favorite parts of the entire aquarium was the whale sharks. They looked so majestic swimming in their tank, so we sat and watched them swim for about an hour. We took turns naming the different fish that swam by us in the tank and creating life stories for them. The second best part of the aquarium were the jellyfish. Is there anything better than watching an ethereal creature glide through water? Once 5pm struck the clock, the lights turned off in the aquarium and the tanks were back lit by a soft, blue glow. I felt as though I might just be floating in the deep sea.

After dinner was eaten (a Margherita pizza for me and steak for my 2 companions), we headed back to the hotel to flush out final details for our day trip to Hiroshima the following day.