Day 81-82: And I thought South African Meat was Strange
To be honest, I didn’t do too much on my first day in Osaka.
Actually, that might be an overstatement. I got up around eleven thirty on my
first day, still sleeping off a couple nights with little sleep. I had to first
figure out quite a complex problem, which is the issue of how to organize my
stay in Japan. I thought two weeks would be more than enough, but with the
incredible amount of attractive day trips, coupled with the power of holding
the JR Rail Pass… well, it’s as they say, with great power comes great
responsibility. Luckily for me, Osaka doesn’t have too many things to see
inside its city walls, and because of its proximity to Kyoto, and therefore to
any day trips from Kyoto, any day trips I do now I won’t have to do later. So,
with the fact that there aren’t too many things to see, and the fact that I was
starving which would push my earliest possible leave time from Osaka to at
least 12:30, I decided to spend my first day in Osaka.
For lunch, I wandered back over to Dotonbori Street, which
was no less crowded at lunchtime than it was last night. Instead of going to
one of the restaurants on the street, I ventured into one of the many alleys
that branch off Dotonbori, all as busy as the mother street. I kept walking
down this covered street until I saw a restaurant where the signs outside
showing the food gave off an interesting vibe while also being at a reasonable
price. I finally came across a place that was advertising some interesting
sushi meals. It wasn’t a real sushi restaurant, but served a lot of seemingly
authentic sushi (it looked like what real sushi should look like) in different
sets. I had no idea what was what. You learn quickly in Japan that only knowing
English is quite a precarious position to be in.
Whatever I did order turned out to be very good. All the
different varieties of sushi were excellent, with just the right amount of
wasabi put on the sushi itself. The meal wasn’t too heavy, and a good enough
first experience with Sushi in Japan. Considering that actually finding
restaurants in Osaka is basically a nightmare, it could easily have gone
totally wrong, but the place was nice and the food nicer.
After I finished lunch I had quite a few options for what to
do next, but I picked to roam around Osaka on my way to the Osaka castle, the
main historical site in Osaka proper. The castle is up on a hill surrounded by
a slight moat, as all good castles should be, and quite regal. It isn’t that
big, but as I found out, it is one of the bigger castles so centrally located
in a major city. The castle has a complex of shrines that open up to hallways
that are mostly empty. Honestly, it wasn’t that special (at least compared to
the ones I would see the next day in Nara), but it allowed a great view of
Osaka below it, a sprawling city that extends in every direction. From up high,
I can understand why people are relatively down on Osaka. It doesn’t have the
charm of the smaller cities and doesn’t have the height of bustle of Tokyo, but
it is still damn impressive from up high.
I continued to walk around the rest of Osaka, which means
walking around open areas and tall buildings, like any other major city. They
had some glistening malls that I went in to, but I was put off by the prices as
much as the nearly tacky neon signs and moving statues littered around. Soon, I
gave up on trying to see all of Osaka, and it was near time to return to get a ‘Irish
Tea’ at one of the many bars and pubs near Dotonbori Street.
I had a lot of options of where to go for dinner, but I
chickened out and went to the same place as yesterday, that Korean-Grill type
place that served all those foods that had I not been in Japan I wouldn’t think
twice about eating. I just wouldn’t have Achilles or heart or intestine or
necktie. I had all of them, and they were all decent to great, chewy little
morsels of meat. I don’t know if this type of meat beats out the animals I ate
in South Africa, because it still is beef or pork, but it is the part of the
cow or pig that I’ve never considered eating. Did this open my eyes? Am I now
going to start eating Achilles and intestines all over the place? No, probably
not. But next time in Osaka, I definitely will.
So, I deleted what I originally wrote about Nara, which is a
shame. I didn’t do a lot more than the usual tourist fare, like go to the Deer
Park (where cute little deer run free all over the place), and the Todai-ji
temple. I ate meat. I’m too far behind to try to write this all again. Anyway,
let’s move on to Tokyo…
