Part 6: Japan with Dad
Osaka
I met Dad, and his colleague Barry, at the Tower Hotel in Osaka, we grabbed a beer and chatted for a while before heading off in search for both dinner and some more bars! Our route took us right through the must see areas of Osaka. Dotonbori had both a huge shopping strip and many side streets with low lit lamps that look exactly how I imagine Japan. Dad and I much preferred strolling down these roads instead of the more touristy feeling route.We finished the first night sharing the smallest calamari dish ever (3 pieces of 90% batter) at a rooftop bar overlooking Osaka. The view and cocktails made up for the food, or lack thereof. We planned our way home looking to pop into one of the side street restaurants but to no avail. We went to bed hungry.
Himeji
Himeji Castle looked good but we found there to be something peculiar; The castle had some ridiculous descriptions. One of the signs described a completely empty spot, and how it used to be a sewage pipe?? Boring plaques were a theme throughout all the castles and temples we visited. I was looking forward to learning about the last time the castle was besieged and some feudal lord was dethroned due to family rivalries - nope.
Kobe
Dad and I 'revisited' Ichida-ya, a Kobe Beef restaurant he and his colleagues had eaten at earlier in the week. They had the nicest steak in the world! It was very tasty, but I was still hungry afterwards. 10/10 flavour 4/10 filling-ness.A funny interaction involved a little old lady who helped us along when buying our tickets to Kobe. She was running ahead of us and pressing all the buttons on the ticket machine in Japanese. This was a warm bit of hospitality that contrasted some exclusive experiences in bars and restaurants at the start of the week. Thanks Lady!
Kyoto
Unfortunately it was raining all day when we went to Kyoto. We got a katsu curry 100m away from the most beautiful and big temple I had ever seen. I think the rain enhanced the vibe of this one as we had to walk around inside without shoes. The dry wood and heavy rain outside was cool. We carried on to a few gardens, Kyoto Palace gardens, a street that sold second hand electronics, and finally to the Philosopher's path.The Philosophers path is a route spanning a few of the main temples in Kyoto that connected via a little stream. It was a good walk but both of our feet were soaking by the end of it.
Towards the end of the walk, we found a little shop that was ran by an old lady and grabbed some beers to rest a little. As we were leaving, I saw a funny sign showing a description of the lady's handmade mugwort soap called the 'sorp of phirosophy'. This definitely did not help the stereotype, but the soap was pretty good.
When we got back to Osaka we found the perfect Sushi shop and had around 1.5x the normal amount of Sushi because we are gluttons. It was superb. It rivalled even the Kobe beef, it hit the spot perfectly.
F*in About
My favourite City in Japan was Kobe. We had a really nice time there, and the low-lit side streets with little bars you can pop in and out of were really awesome. Including the Kobe beef and Sushi we had there, Kobe was the best.
I think Kyoto was the most overrated City. Most of the cool stuff is 2-3 hours outside of Kyoto. There are good temples and bits here and there but there isn't much going on!
I also enjoyed the trains, it was refreshing using an oyster-esque tap in tap out since I have been used to scanning QR codes on my phone in China. It felt like a side quest having to top our cards up constantly. Next time I come to Japan I will make it my goal to avoid the big cities and visit the countryside. Infact, that goes for China too.
Up Next!
Part 7: Moving to Shanghai
I have no immediate travel plans, but I am moving to Shanghai in August to start a new job! I will be living in Jing'an which is kind of like the Soho of Shanghai.
