This is actually my second time in Osaka — the first time was about ten years ago.
While walking around Dotonbori, I came across a ramen joint with a giant cartoon dragon on the outside, and I suddenly got hit by a freight train of nostalgia.
Pretty much every country has their version of a pancake (everybody loves pancakes). Japan’s is called okonomiyaki — a savoury pancake that’s filled with various meats and veggies. It’s an Osaka specialty, so yeah, obviously I had to try it while I was here.
Considering that sushi might be Japan’s most ubiquitous food export, it’s one of those things that you pretty much have to try at least once while you’re here.
There’s an area in Osaka called Dotombori that’s pretty much tourist central, and when you go there, it’s easy enough to see why. The main street here is absolutely festooned with restaurants, each with a zanier and more elaborate sign than the last.
From the outside, you can barely even tell that Fu-ka is a restaurant. Tucked away in a quiet residential street near one of Kyoto’s many shrines, it’s pretty much the definition of a hidden gem.
I mentioned in a recent post that the under-the-radar temples and shrines in Kyoto are where it’s at; well, on the other end of the spectrum is the Fushimi Inari Shrine, which is famous for its seemingly endless pathways of orange gates.
I know, more cemeteries? Weird, right? Well what can I say, they’re entrancing.
On the 21st day of every month, the Toji Temple in Kyoto gets transformed into a bustling market — something I had no idea about until the owner of the pug cafe clued me in. Ah, pug cafe: the gift that keeps on giving.
So there are posters of this guy all over Kyoto — I’m assuming he’s a politician of some sort — and in almost all of them, he’s doing a totally normal pose. But in this one, which I only saw a couple of times, he’s doing… whatever it is that he’s doing.