Day 1: Osaka 1 Bay Area

Er...Welcome to our blog.
We felt we should blog because:
1. We have not traveled together before, and after this, may never again.
2. You all seem quite interested in what we are going to do.
3. Ditto above, replace "do" with "eat".
4. About 20% have actually requested we blog.

DAY ZERO. We arrived in Osaka midnight last night.
Interesting points from yesterday: SYD --> HK --> KIX

• Our first leg was delayed due to airspace congestion and turbulence.
• We thus sprinted through HK airport, narrowly missing our flight
  
• We also arrived before our baggage, which arrived on the next plane.
  
• We found out that Osaka station, where we live, actually is a mashup of 6 different stations. ie. underground maze with 100+ exits connected to 3 shopping complexes including Daimaru. OH and its connected to the Hilton too.
  
• We live above exit 69, which comes immediately after 61.

DAY 1 Our first proper day.
Task 0: Breakfast
Breakfast from Family Mart downstairs.
This will be a trend.
No photos as we were too hungry.

Task 1: Navigating through the above maze of stations to find the visitors information centre to buy a "Osaka Sightseeing Pass" including complementary entry to many sites (some starting in December) - too bad Clara forgot it wasn't quite December yet...

Task 2: Navigating the Aquarium - Kaiyukan - reported to be one of the best aquariums in the world. When we arrived, we met a friend.
He showed us the way to the aquarium - which curiously looks like a transformer.


Amusement no 2: the brochure proclaimed "Ocean, You meet whale shark". Last time we checked, we weren't "ocean", although perhaps that is a collective name for clara+denise, that we weren't aware of.









Task 3: Lunch - yum... okonomiyaki.....
Osaka is supposedly the food capital of Japan.
Well known for its Okonomiyaki (Cabbage pancake) and Takoyaki (Octopus balls)
We picked a random okonomiyaki restaurant which looked like a local joint.
Unfortunately we were actually mistaken for locals and it took some convincing for us to get the English menu for Denise.

"MORIYA"
Type: Okonomiyaki restaurant
Location: Bay Area, Osakako Station
Food:
1. Tako-tama (Octopus Okonomiyaki) 8/10. Possibly could have done with a tad more cabbage.
2. Squid Negiyaki (Green shallot pancake) 6/10. It was good, but not our cup of tea. Don't try it if you don't like shallots, or your weekly dose of chlorophyll.
Presentation: On a Hotplate. It kept the them toasty.
Ambience: Fantastic, as they they though we were locals.

Task 4: Santa Maria
maybe the most boring 45min we spent... the ship was kinda random tho! Thankfully included in the pass & therefore "free". Our highlight of the trip - seeing the back of universal studios - the giant 'cardboard' cut-out really isn't a good look.


Task 5: Denise Got Hungry
Stop-over at Convenience Store!! Food selection at these are brilliant.

NISSAN MINI CUP NOODLE- Curry Ramen (Denise) Type: Snack
Taste: For Y100, very good. The dessicated potato cubes in it are fluffy even after reconstitution. There are mini balls of ?beef mince (i dont know how they do it) which are good, but sparse. Could have done with 2 more. The noodle itself was hard, but I have only myself to blame- i was too impatient!
MEIJI STRAWBERRY ICECREAM (Clara)
Type: Snack
Taste: Good. cf: Expression of Clara's face below. Note crazy woman wearing scarf and hat eating icecream.

In Strange Drinks:
1. "Amino-Value" drink
2. "Java tea" (ie. is it coffee or is it tea?)
3. Vitamin D drink.

Task 6: WTC observatory tower
The industrial area doesn't look any better 55 floors up (252m). Until dusk came.

Task 7: Dinner
Chawamushi (Japanese Steam Egg Custard) = Clara's favourite thing.
The shop sign in japanese said both Chawamushi and Ramen. So we thought it Clara would have Chawamushi for dinner, and Denise would have Ramen. Instead, we both had both - Chawamushi Ramen!

"TANCHOU"
Type: Chawamushirestaurant
Location: Bay Area, Osakako Station
Food:
1. Chawamushi-Ramen: 9.5/10. Amazing. We went into the store as there were 10 newspaper reviews outside. The light cloudlikeness of the egg custard offset perfectly by a peppery stock and charred taste of blowtorched mayo. All the dressings of a typical chawamushi, typically a very restrained dish in a tea cup, instead its X3 in a huge bowl, and just when you don't think it can get any better --> there's ramen underneath!! GOLD.
Presentation: Beautifully artistic. TWO men put about 17 parts together to make this dish.
Ambience: Rustic, but we aren't eating the bamboo which lines the walls