Osaka: Bright Lights, Big City

Glico Running Man!

Osaka!  Our last stop this visit.  We took the train down from Nara and were delighted to find that it stopped literally at our subway stop.  We spent a fun evening walking through Dotonburi, took our obligatory photo of the Glico Running Man, and ate some takoyaki.  The next day, we made our way to Himeji Castle.  We were so tired out after our day trip (and indeed, the last day of a holiday is a sort of anticlimactic day) that we decided to pursue a very minimalist agenda.  Food and shopping!

We went first to Kuramon market, which was literally down the street (our apartment was really very conveniently located).  We moved from shop to shop, sampling the wares and had a yummy seafood breakfast of uni (sea urchin), grilled scallop, oysters, sashimi.  We had a great time eating away, and taking in the atmosphere.  

Kuramon Market

We went next to Doguyasuji which is where all the restaurants and chefs around Osaka get their cooking equipment.  It was incredible!  If you ever wanted any Japanese cooking equipment, this is definitely the place to get it.  But since I have promised myself that I'm not buying anything new till I have Kondo'ed my kitchen, I was quite restrained.  The only thing I bought was some plastic food fridge magnets.  Yes, you can get the plastic food displayed in the window of Japanese restaurants here!  It is quiet an experience

Our big breakfast at Kuramon market did not stop us from having a crab kaiseki lunch at Kani Douraku.  There are actually a few branches of this very popular crab restaurant in Dotonburi, characterised by the gigantic crab right in front.  But it is very popular, so much so that even after 2pm there was no table available for those without a reservation.  We decided, nonetheless to wait and after about 20mins we were ushered to a table upstairs. 

Truly, no one does crab like the Japanese.  The best thing about their crab is it comes with the crab

The unmistakable signboard of Kani Dourake

legs and claws cut beautifully in half so that extracting the meat is truly effortless!  We had numerous dishes, including crab sashimi, boiled cold crab (my personal favourite) served with a delicate lightly vinegared dipping sauce, grilled crab, crab gratin, crab chawanmushi, crab sushi (another of my faves), crab hotpot (house specialty) and others.  Dessert was a scoop of ice cream floating in matcha.  Ummm..... It was one of those truly enjoyable meals.

After this heavy meal, we did some shopping to walk off the food.  Specifically we found our way to the duty-free cosmetic shops.  Now, Japan has a great tax refund system for tourists.  They figured out that there's a limit to how much duty-free the ordinary shopper can buy at the airport and even in 1-2 duty-free shops in the city centre.  And that it's definitely inefficient for hundreds of passengers to clog up a small tax refund counter at the airport.  So they allow selected shops here in the city centre to administer the tax refund programme (you can tell them by the big sign which they display prominently at the front of the shop).  You buy your goodies, they pack it in one of those transparent plastic duty-free bags and charge you the amount payable before tax only.  There's a little receipt stapled in your passport and that's it.  When we got to the airport, all we had to do was hand in the receipt (the customs officer didn't even bother looking at it).  Wonderful!

Anyway, we had a great time at the cosmetics shop.  We had done all the research beforehand (actually we had spent quite some time the last two nights reading through product reviews and recommended sites such as this one) and so we were all prepared to make our purchases.  In my case, I bought some Hadalobo products, plus the AHA cleaner by Cleansing Research and Lululun masks, amongst other things.  Plus my favourite Aqualabel Moisturiser by Shishedo.  We were so burdened with all our purchases that we had to go back to our apartment to deposit them (and have a little break) before making our way out again.  We had to buy some presents for family/friends, which we got at the 300 Yen shop in Shinsaibashi.  We ended off with an okonomiyaki (an Osaka specialty) meal before going back to the apartment to pack.

As a result of all this shopping and research (both for this and earlier trips), I'm now in a good position to recommend what gifts to buy for family and friends:

1. Kit Kat and Glico products.  There are so many different interesting flavours for both Kit Kat and Glico Pocky.  Fun to try!  There are also regional specialties to enjoy, such as Takoyaki and Okonomiyaki-flavoured snacks.  It's great to bring back to the office (and is very popular!).
2. Cosmetics and make-up.  Even if you can't buy enough to make up the 5,000 Yen required for the tax refund, the prices are still better than in Singapore.  Check out the link above (and there are many others) for shopping inspiration.  Great for female relatives and friends.
3.  Stationery. I'm talking about fun, novelty and useful items such as erasable pens ("Frixion", no-staple staplers, cute post-its, etc.  Plus the best range of washi tape ever.  I've recently discovered washi tape and its great to find new designs at prices lower than in Daiso Singapore.  Go to places such as Loft, Tokyu Hands, and Ito-ya for the great range of stationery.
4. Clothing, accessories, bags.  I have not done much clothes shopping in Japan.  But I do recommend looking for the tabi socks  in shops such as 3 Coins (it is a 300 Yen shop).  I also managed to find an Anello bag, one of the latest "It" bags - again very competitively priced compared to buying it in Singapore.  I really love my little blue backpack.
5. Cooking items. Lots of novelty items. If in doubt, just buy the plastic food fridge magnets or keychains.  Brings a smile to my face every time.   

Ah, just writing all these posts really makes me feel like going to Japan again!  Glad we are planning another trip this year.  😊

Goodbye Osaka.

As always, more photos here.