Konnichiwa, Osaka!
| | June 6 – 21, 2016 | This random blog entry is brought to you by a 16-day business trip to Osaka, Japan. My company has a large manufacturing operation here in the Kadoma area and we are working with the team to finalize some key business decisions for a project.
But enough about work, let’s get to the good stuff … in no particular order. |
  There’s a Chinese restaurant near the factory that’s the “go to” place for informal get-togethers after work: Ohsho. Conveniently, it’s also stumbling distance from the train station. I’ve never seen so many gyoza consumed at a single sitting. And mugs of ice cold Asahi! And to think we’re doing it one more time before we head home! |
Went to an Orix Buffaloes game on Sunday afternoon at the Osaka Dome. When we saw baseball in Tokyo, it was outdoors so the dome experience was different but the fans were equally fanatical.
After the Buffaloes game, hopped the subway to the Kyobashi neighborhood to meet a colleague for dinner and craft beers. The food-on-a-stick joint was a 10-seater – classic Japan. Between the picture menu, and Google translate, we were able to navigate the menu – the challenge being “lotus root”. Scored it though, and it was delicious, but totally overshadowed by the asparagus. I could eat my weight in those battered, fried asparagus spears!
The tin wall signs from Scuttlebutt (Everett, WA) and Pike Place (Seattle, WA) were a big surprise! |
  Pleepleus met some new friends – colleagues from work. We learned that “monkey” in Japanese is “ohsaru” and since Pleepleus is very difficult to pronounce, even for these excellent bilingual speakers, he will be “Ohsaru-san” to his Japanese friends. Kampai! |
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About 15 minutes north of downtown Osaka, in the Ikeda neighborhood, lies a little gem of a “tourist” spot that was an unknown to many of my local colleagues: The Momofuka Ando Instant Ramen Museum. Yes, the old standby of campsites, marinas and power outages, the CUP NOODLES. In addition to the history of the invention of the instant noodle in 1958, you can walk the tunnel of ramen and see just how many variations there are of this staple around the world. And then … My CUPNOODLE Factory. Yes, you can decorate your own CUP, fill it with the flavor base and 4 toppings of your choice, shrink wrap that baby and take it home safely packaged in an inflatable plastic bag. It was a super-cool activity and yielded a nice Father’s Day present for the salty sea Dad, King of the CUP NOODLE when I was growing up.
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 The Gamba Osaka football team in the Japan League has a lovely new stadium in Suita City that seats 40,000 screaming fans. After a packed monorail ride from our office in Kadoma City we walked a roundabout half mile to the stadium. From our vantage point we could see both the home and visiting crazies. You can also bring in your own beer, and food. Mind blown! |
Pleepleus checking out the small plates and a local craft beer at Kamikaze |
  Kinkaku-ji, the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, is a major attraction in Kyoto. The current structure was constructed in 1955 (*yawn*) but the site dates back to 1397.
Visitors are ushered quickly by the flow of people through a preset path through the site which included several ponds and gardens. These pictures fail to show how PACKED this attraction was or how thick the humidity was. The site has the added feature of not being particularly easy to get to by public transportation, and it’s not even “remote”. The walk from the nearby train station was about 20 minutes. Missed it on the last visit to Kyoto so it was on the “must see” this time. |
| On the opposite side of Kyoto from the Golden Pavilion is Mount Hei. The journey to the summit included an electric single-car train, a VERY steep funicular and finally a gondola.
From the top you can see all of Kyoto to the southwest and Otsu on Lake Bewa to the east. The weather was a little hazy but even so, the view was gorgeous.
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| ** Side note – the Kyoto adventure include 12 separate transportation legs, including 5 to terminus. Not particularly newsworthy, but interesting nonetheless. Proof that the local transportation is efficient and easy to navigate. |
The day I chose to walk to Osaka Castle was less than ideal weather-wise. It was pouring rain and about 80F. Guh. The castle itself was rebuilt/restored in the early 1900s, so much newer than most of the other castles I’ve seen. Cool rooflines though, and totally worth the walk to see up close. The weather did not deter the herds of tour groups that descended on the grounds at 9am. |
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The famous Glico 300 meter running man sign in Dotonbori. The sign has been a city landmark since it first went up in 1935. It’s undergone a few updates but remains a popular photo opp for locals and tourists. Glico is an Osaka-based confectionery who you might recognize for Pocky.
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