Japan Tour: Osaka Part 2

Saturday, March 21: Open-Air Farmhouses, Osaka Castle, Crowds, Another Sky Garden

Our departure time was 9am today, so we could have a more leisurely morning. The buffet breakfast included fresh grapes and hard-boiled eggs -- yay! I also had time to drop off some laundry at the front desk since we were at the mid-point of our journey and getting it taken care of now would get me through the remainder of the trip with sufficient clean clothes.

This was our least favorite hotel so far, though, because we couldn't control the individual room climate controls, which were still set for heating rather than a/c, so the rooms were quite stuffy and warm. This was particularly challenging because we also couldn't open the window at all and our rooms were west-facing, meaning that the late day sun was blinding and we had to be sure to pull the shades before heading out to avoid having the rooms heat up even more during the afternoon. The Tokyo hotel had the same issue with the room climate controls, but at least there we could open the window and the orientation was better for natural heat and light variation.

Our first stop of the day was at the lovely Open-Air Farmhouse Museum that featured examples of different styles of regional farmhouses from across the country. We enjoyed strolling around and then popped over to the nearby Lawson's to re-stock on plain popcorn for me (after a failed attempt with the 7-11 brand the day before).

We then headed to Osaka Castle, where we opted for the stairs instead of the elevator but still found too many crowds to make our way up to the top for the Observation Deck. This is also the day that I hit my limit with the crowds and just needed to take a break away from all of the people!

Mr. E grabbed some food at one of the spots near the Castle, and I headed back closer to the bus and found some yummy soft-serve ice cream for my lunch. The snack was created by taking a cup of pre-made ice cream and then running it through a special machine to create the typical soft-serve style on top of a cone. Ingenious! No need for the typical big soft-serve machine that we're used to seeing at ice cream shops here in the US.

Our tour director had asked if anyone wanted to the Umeda Sky Building during our afternoon free time, and enough of us were interested (including Mr. E and me) that she asked the bus drive to make a special drop-off there before heading back to the hotel with the rest of the group. Very convenient! Before going all the way up to the outdoor viewing deck, we stopped at the cafe for coffee, tea, and additional snacks with a pretty nice panorama over the city. We also took our time learning about the design, architecture, and engineering involved in creating the building along with the long-term vision for the site, which hasn't yet been fully realized.

We eventually went up to the highest level for some more amazing views, including the unique structure of the building itself.

In the gift store, we procured some more souvenirs and also found a large bottle of the Roku Sakura gin to add to our items for the checked bag. Yay!

On our way back to the hotel, we decided to try to find the special Starbucks Japan-themed mug trio and struck out on our first two attempts. Guess we should have bought them the day before in Dotonbori?? But no! Third time truly is the charm! We'll somehow figure out how to fit them safely into our carry-on bags to make sure they arrive intact...

We took the subway back to the hotel, which was a pretty quick and direct trip with the station right across from where we were staying.

For dinner, we decided to try Volk's restaurant after taking a look at the menu and seeing good protein options for both of us along with an all-you-can-eat salad bar. Vegetables at last! Not quite as many as we would have liked, but Mr. E did manage to get some broccoli as the side for this steak, and I had a delicious sea bream dish with asparagus and mushrooms.

 

This was also the moment that I finally discovered the Google Translate camera function to help us decipher the menu. Whoa. Mind blown! We hit up a 7-11 on the way back to the hotel for the ATM, snacks, and additional beverages and then watched two more episodes of "Young Sherlock" before I went to bed. Mr. E returned to Shot Bar, which he had discovered the evening before, for more drinks and socializing with the bartender via Google Translate. Sometimes technology really is a value-add!!!

Japan Tour: Osaka Part 1

Friday, March 20: Bullet Train, Crowded Shopping Area, Kit Kats & Blanton

Our group had tickets for the 9:46am Shinkansen (bullet train) from Mishima > Osaka, and we arrived with quite a bit of time to spare since the train station was next to our hotel and our tour director allowed for extra buffer time to get the group together and moving. Our bags were transported by truck given the somewhat limited storage space on the train, and we had to pay an extra fee for Mr. E's new Rimowa bag, which was quite annoying. Especially once we saw the actual space on the train and realized we could easily have brought it on board with us along with our other hand-carried baggage.

When we reached Osaka, we got onto another bus for a brief tour of the city and disembarked in the famous Dotonbori shopping area that straddles a canal with lots of bridges. 

Everything was more crowded than usual because of the long weekend for the Spring Equinox holiday. After a short walk with the group, we had free time to find lunch and do some browsing. We ended up at a great Korean BBQ style restaurant on an upper floor of a building overlooking the canal (no water view from our table) and enjoyed our DIY lunch, including beef for Mr. E, tako for me, and some veggies for both of us. We had a super-friendly waitress who not only spoke some English with us but even gave me a hug as we were leaving!

As we walked through the shops, we found a trio set of special Japan-themed mugs at Starbucks but decided not to make a purchase at the moment. However, we did stock up on multiple flavors of Kit Kats and almost made the mistake of purchasing them Duty Free, which would have trapped them in a sealed plastic bag until we returned to the US. Phew! Glad we figured it out and rescued them!

One item we did procure through Duty Free was a special bottle of Blanton's for Mr. E. We knew we'd have to check a bag for the trip home due to the new Rimowa, so we figured it would be OK to have some extra items that wouldn't make it through regular airport security.

We rejoined the group and made our way to the hotel, right across from Esaka station (the train theme continues!), but our bags hadn't arrived yet, which was a bit frustrating. After we checked in, we strolled around the local area a bit to look for dinner and popcorn. I struck out on both but Mr. E was satisfied with some McD's and an later stop at an Indian spot. I managed to figure out the Input button on the TV so we could hook up MSTI to watch two more episodes of "Young Sherlock" as we snacked and enjoyed some Roku gin & tonic. 

Japan Tour: Mt. Fuji

Thursday, March 19: Mt. Fuji (and my birthday!)

We had an early 7:30am departure from Tokyo as we headed off towards the Mt. Fuji area. Our tour guide regaled us with the rather horrifying story about the rabbit and raccoon dog that's part of the cultural history of the area. Our first stop was at a Shinto shrine with a hill climb and 398 stairs up to a 5-storey pagoda. 

Once we came back down, we discovered the adorable Kurumi cat cafe and took a break for some cold beverages and a visit with the resident kittens (no pictures allowed). I managed to communicate in my very limited Japanese with the owner to confirm the identities of the kittens (Miruku and Kokoa) and of the original Kurumi.

We then drove to another scenic area to take the Mt. Fuji ropeway (aka gondola) up to a viewpoint. Unfortunately, the clouds weren't very cooperative so we didn't get a clear view of the famous mountain but we still had some lovely panoramas as well as a wedding party at the site.

 
We had some free time to spend in the viewing area and the lakefront town and saw some fun rabbit statues as well as a resident feline and an interesting sculpture by the edge of the lake.

Our hotel was in Mishima, right next to the train station where we'd board the Shinkansen (bullet train) the next morning on our way to Osaka. We appreciated how the toilet paper was folded to look like the famous and beloved mountain!

We had a couple of "fails" at the hotel, including a visit to the onsen due to our multiple tattoos, although the staff did offer to provide us with tape to cover them, and going to the on-site restaurant for dinner, which didn't have any availability for the evening. So instead, we walked across the street to the restaurant that our tour director had mentioned was her favorite and had a lovely meal with very friendly (and patient) staff. The agadashi tofu with eggplant was my favorite dish for sure, although we did enjoy the sushi platter with conger eel as well, which was new to us. But where are the vegetables????

We also had some fun people watching during dinner, including the couple next to us who seemed to be trying everything on the menu and the group of businessmen who arrived for a reserved table and seemed to be relying on the youngest member of their quad to do all the ordering while the other three older gentlemen drank beer. 

On our way to the restaurant, we saw a young woman waiting outside the train station with two rabbits in a pet carrier! Quite appropriate given the rabbit and racoon dog legend that we'd learned about at the beginning of the day.

Japan Tour: Tokyo Part 2

Wednesday, March 18: DIY Tokyo Day

Today was an entirely free day in Tokyo, so we took advantage of not having any time commitments to sleep in a bit and have a more leisurely breakfast. Our priority destination was Gotokuji Temple aka the Lucky Cat Temple. Our Tokyo metro tourist passes were only valid for part of the trip there, so we had to pay a fare adjustment when we got off to switch to the Setagaya line, which is one of the few remaining trams lines in the region. A friendly staff person helped us with purchasing Passmo cards for this train line, and we totally lucked out with our timing by getting the special cat-themed tram for the trip to the cat temple!

Once we arrived at the right stop, we followed other folks towards the temple to revel in the hordes of lucky cats on site, some of which were tucked into fun spots throughout the temple grounds.

I'm very appreciative of Mr. E for indulging my cat love and spending part of our day visiting this site! When we headed back to Tokyo, we decided to visit the famous Shibuya crossing but had a bit of a challenge actually finding the right location. I have to admit that it didn't seem quite as impressive as I had expected, given other images and videos we'd seen of it prior to our trip.

We found a Starbucks for coffee and pseduo-lunch (not many options for me, and why is there mayo-based sauce on everything???) but weren't successful with visiting the nearby observation deck because all of the tickets for the day were sold out. On our way back to the hotel, Mr. E took a side journey to the Ginza area to procure a new Rimowa carry-on bag and I finally found the right type of ATM at the train station to get some more cash.

After resting for a bit, we decided to check out the Tokyo Tower, which was in walking distance from our hotel. We picked a perfect time since it was still light as we went up to the top and gradually got darker as we enjoyed the view, so we got to see the city panorama from different perspectives as the sun went down. 

We decided to take the outside stairs down for a different experience, which also gave us a view over the low-level rooftop pickleball court that's part of the building at the base of the tower!

Once we returned to the hotel, I had a spring roll from the grocery store for dinner while Mr. E tried a local pizza spot. Then time to pack and turn in for the night in anticipation of our transition the next morning.