Japan 2008
Fukushima Station near the hostel
I’m typing this in J-Hoppers Osaka. This is my second day in Japan, but most of yesterday was spent travelling. I arrived at Narita International Airport yesterday afternoon with a group of friends, wasted the evening away wandering around Tokyo JR Station and took an overnight bus to Kansai.
This is actually my fifth time in Japan, so the weather, the environment and the general atmosphere no longer present the same difficulties as before. That said, this is actually my first time in Kansai, so the feeling of exhilaration that comes from the exploration of the great unknowns is not totally lost in the comfortable familiar. For one thing, people in Osaka stand on the right side of the escalators.
The end research product of scientific whaling
I will be spending four nights at J-Hoppers Osaka, just a station’s distance away from Osaka JR Station. I spent today familiarizing myself with the neighbourhood, Umeda (梅田), the traffic and commercial hub of the region and took a short tour on top of Umeda Sky Building. It is a very tall tourist trap with a great view of the entire Umeda district. I will be posting my photos onto my gallery at a later date when I have the time to process them.
Umeda Sky Building
I had always thought of Osaka as an exotic wonderland where everyone speaks in Kansai-ben while swinging paper fans around with highly exaggerated gesturing, but the real Osaka turned out to be a rather down-to-earth mix of Louis Vuitton and roadside okonomiyaki (お好み焼き) stalls, and I have yet to meet a Kansai-ben speaker. Perhaps Kyoto will be a more stimulating experience for my otherworldly thirst.
This is where I sleep
Speaking of okonomiyaki, it’s good stuff when consumed in an authentic setting. Eating Japanese cuisine in Singapore is often a rather sterilized affair no different from consuming fast food (i.e. Pepper Lunch), whereas dining in a small okonomiyaki-ya that fits no more than 16 people in a warm and cosy setting with a group of friends makes for a distinctively Japanese experience. That experience, more than the actual taste of okonomiyaki (which can more or less be summed up by the word ‘salty’), comes highly recommended. The best thing you can do as a tourist in Japan is to get out of the giant departmental stores and find a small eatery in a nearby residential area.
Breakfast
I shall keep this post short because I am tired from two days of travelling. The overnight bus ride was a rather unpleasant ride due to the large number of nuclear-powered highway street lights designed to keep the midnight truckers awake or burn their retinas out trying. Also, I shall never fly Northwest Airline again, for it gives new meaning to the concept of terrible in-flight meals, and American security theatre is a rather unfruitful and dehumanizing experience.
I will be dropping by Kyoto and Nipponbashi (the Akihabara of Kansai) over my next few days in the area before returning to Kantou via Shinkansen.
December 10th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Glad you’re having a good time in Osaka :)
I was over there a couple of months back, didn’t find it to be terribly different from Tokyo although there is somewhat of a laid back feel to the city. As for Kansai-ben I’m sure some of the shopkeepers will say おおきに～ so fret not.
One thing to note is that the Otaku shopping areas are split between Nipponbashi (Mostly games, CDs) and Namba (comics, doujinshi). They are within easy walking range of each other but there are a bunch of ‘normal’ shops in the middle.
Have fun in Kyoto and I’m looking forward to the pics :)
Ta.
December 10th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
God, I am so envious of you =/.
December 10th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
I’ll be making a similar trip in late March 2009 (for Hanami season of course) and it’s awesome that you’re blogging your Kansai experience. I didn’t know of Nipponbashi before you mentioned it for example.
Anyway, if you have some time off your trip and care to help a stranger (or rather, a long-time lurker on your blog), I’d like to know why you chose to take a bus to Osaka instead of getting a JR Pass, and how much did the bus ride cost you? I’m guessing because you’re staying for > 7 days before returning to Tokyo?
I don’t really expect an answer since you should be enjoying your trip, but thanks for reading anyway!
December 10th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Sounds like you’re having fun there. I’m totally planning to explore Japan when I can :/
December 10th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
Always good to read your posts on Japan! Looking forward to those pics!
December 10th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Looking forward to your Nipponbashi post. I’ve been to Osaka before, (the 抹茶 ice-cream desserts are heavenly, among other things)but not Nipponbashi.
As for Northwest…well…it is cheap.
December 11th, 2008 at 12:02 am
Nice place you are sleeping in.
December 11th, 2008 at 12:02 am
Chu Yeow:
It cost 4100 yen per person, which is apparently cheap. I didn’t plan it; someone else did. Will definitely take rails next time…
December 11th, 2008 at 12:49 am
“For one thing, people in Osaka stand on the right side of the escalators.”
This threw me off for the longest time when I first visited the Kansai region. The worst part is that they aren’t consistent throughout the area!
So while in Osaka they generally stand on the right, in Himeji it’s the opposite, and in Kyoto they just plain can’t seem to make up their minds!!
“…the real Osaka turned out to be a rather down-to-earth mix of Louis Vuitton and roadside okonomiyaki stalls, and I have yet to meet a Kansai-ben speaker. Perhaps Kyoto will be a more stimulating experience for my otherworldly thirst.”
Yeah, if you just stick to the more metropolitan areas you won’t hear any really funky Kansai-ben, just the occasional “maido” and subtle stuff like “honma” sometimes used in place of “hontou”.
Also, if you want to properly enjoy okonomiyaki, forget that Osaka stuff, Hiroshima style is the only way to go. =P
Anyway, hope you have a great trip. If you’ve never been to Kyoto I’m sure you’ll enjoy it thoroughly. I highly recommend taking time to go hike around Fushimi Inari; it’s absolutely gorgeous, especially this time of year.
December 11th, 2008 at 1:00 am
You made me miss chem.
December 11th, 2008 at 1:24 am
Enjoy the Japan.
Buy some Patlabor stamps and mail post cards to your friends \o/
December 11th, 2008 at 2:41 am
Have a nice time in Japan!
December 11th, 2008 at 4:44 am
In Osaka you get Osaka-ben, though in my experience the dialect is relatively tame in the cosmopolitan/touristy areas of the city. Osaka’s nice, but it’s something of a Tokyo wannabe; you need to get out of the city (Kyoto, Kobe, Akasi,…) if you want something really different. For keigo-filled Kansai-ben, then Kyoto’s your place to go. The swinging of fans et al. is much tamer than fantasies may hope, but there’s some of that there too.
If you’re a fan of Indian/Nepalese food at all, you should stop by Yak & Yeti (http://www.yakandyeti.co.jp/). For okonomiyaki there’s a great place in Akasi near the JR, though that’s prolly out of your way ^_^.
Have a great trip.
December 11th, 2008 at 6:58 am
That’s really cool!!!!!
I haven’t been to Osaka…but I plan to in the near future…
Be sure to visit Comiket before you leave!!!!!!
Enjoy Japan!!!!!!!
December 11th, 2008 at 7:58 am
woot! i ve been to Osaka last spring! its fun there. I stayed in the Chi-sun hotel in shinsaibashi!
Go to Namba. there are lotsa anime stores and interesting places there. There is a Gundam Hobby Store that is 2 floors!
enjoy japan
December 11th, 2008 at 9:48 am
4100 yen is cheap! Compared to Shinkansen and even the JR pass. Why do you not recommend it?
December 11th, 2008 at 10:00 am
Oops my bad! I forgot all about your sleepless overnight bus ride. Please ignore my last comment.
December 11th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Whoa u in japan already. And its ur 5th time. im envious. Cant waait for ur upcoming post.:D
December 11th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
When you encounter a real Kansai-ben speaker it might come as a bit of a shock in the beginning. The only thing I caught off the first guy who spoke in kansai-ben I asked for directions was わからへん,
The guy was fairly young even, I’d say mid 20′s-early 30s.
December 11th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Wooo Osaka! If you have around 2000yen to spare, do pay a visit to the Kaiyukan. It’s a bit on the pricey side but it’s a really awesome aquarium. I go there every time I go to Osaka. It’s a good contrast to the more concretized side of Osaka. There’s a decent okomoniyaki place called Don Quixote at Namba, along with a good crepe place further up the shopping alley.
As for Kyoto, Fushimi Inari’s well worth the visit this time of the year. I think the autumn leaves are still up?
Man, I’m envious of the fact that you get to go to Japan nearly every year!
December 11th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Okonomiyaki is good. But let’s also try a Takoyaki and an Ikayaki during your kansai stay.
I can recommend you to drop at the Ikayaki stall in Hanshin-Hyakkaten(Hanshin department store, Umeda area)/BF. the stall is so famous, and has a queue at any time(^^;.
If you go to Nipponbashi(or Ponbashi in short), Let’s try e-maid. e-maid is the most upmarket maid-cafe in Ota-road area.
http://e-maid.net/
I hope you enjoy your Japanese holiday.
December 16th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Why don’t you post a pic with youself in it? Are you worried that you are too overweight? LOL
December 17th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
‘Eating Japanese cuisine in Singapore is often a rather sterilized affair no different from consuming fast food.’
It is only sterilized if you choose to eat at fast food chain or sub-standard chains. Of course, eating in Japan should be much better than most of the restaurants.