The peace and quiet of early morning is priceless, especially when sightseeing. On our last day in Kyoto, I was the sole beneficiary of an entire block of cherry blossoms just by waking up a couple of hours before everyone else. So worth it.
I eased my way through the streets of Gion, enjoying the sounds of birds and chanting monks. I had a chance to witness a procession of monks chanting and walking through a few narrow side streets, and amazingly, I even spotted a real geisha (not a tourist paying to dress up in a cheap polyester kimono) as she hastened out of one building to the next. I’m not sure what I was more surprised by, actually seeing a real geisha or seeing the speed at which a geisha can move in those wooden sandals and long kimono. I kept a respectful distance, especially after seeing a sign prohibiting people from grabbing the geisha. Seriously, people?? I savored every moment of this special experience before the chatter of tourists reminded me to head back to the ryokan for our extravagant breakfast, a multi-course affair with fish, pickles and hot tofu served in our room.
After a hearty breakfast, we headed to the train station for our 1/2 hour trip to Osaka. Our first stop was the Umeda Sky Building, one of Osaka’s most recognizable landmarks with two 40-story towers connected by a bridge with a ‘floating garden observatory’ from which you can get incredible views of the city 170m off the ground.
One of the best parts of the building, though, was riding on the world’s tallest escalator from the observatory down to ground level. Since the escalator is enclosed in a transparent tube you feel like you’re suspended mid-air, 550 feet off the ground…yippeee!
We checked to make sure both of our phones were fully charged (remember Tokyo?) before splitting ways, since I needed to get my fabric obsession fix at Atelier to nani IRO. I fell in love with nani IRO’s fabrics when I first started sewing about five years ago. The designer, Naomi Ito, incorporates her own watercolor painting designs into the textile, and the result is whimsical, elegant and perfect all at once. I’m glad that Philip and I agreed to a meeting time or else I could have spent half the day caressing fabrics, draping bolts of linens and double-gauze cottons against my body and deciding whether or not I really had to have 10 meters of laminated cotton in an abstract watercolor print…sigh.
We got some strange looks as we stumbled around an industrial area looking for our Air BNB. Wow, this was no tourist zone for sure. Luckily, we were champs by this time at navigating Japanese public transportation, so we hopped onto a local bus to take us to Dotonbori, the old entertainment center of Osaka now known for its billboards, food and boat rides down the Dotonbori Canal.
We all wanted to go on the touristy boat ride down the canal, but first, Philip and Jules had to indulge me in my two Dotonbori food must-haves: Ichiran Ramen and takoyaki, balls of wheat flour filled with oozy diced octopus and tempura bits, topped with pickled ginger and green onions. Oh, man, street food’s the best! First, we went to Ichiran Ramen, a ramen joint known for its rich pork broth and individual eating booths. Apparently, the Ichiran Ramen in Dotonbori is the world’s number one most visited ramen spot in the world. We ordered via vending machine and sat at individual booths, where a pair of anonymous hands appeared behind a bamboo screen in front of us to deliver bowls of ramen and frosty mugs of beer. The individual booths were great, since I didn’t feel as guilty leaving my companions behind after devouring my ramen to hop on the growing queue for the takoyaki.
That second stomach I’ve developed since moving to Taiwan has come in super handy (especially in Vietnam), and I was still considering an order of okonomiyaki — a savory Japanese pancake that is a specialty of Osaka — when Jules reminded me that we had tickets for the boat ride on the canal. Despite this area being an obvious tourist trap, it still felt relatively subdued due to the lack of blaring music. Needless to say, we were all pleasantly surprised. It was fun seeing all the different billboards, especially the iconic 33 meter Glico running man who has claimed his spot for the past 80 years. Go, Pocky!
The next morning it hit us…oh, nooo, we’re not ready to leave Japan! We all felt bummed to have to leave Japan so soon, but I was able to squeeze in one more little surprise — the airport limited express rapi:t train. This beauty, the Nankai 50000 series to be exact, was designed by Japanese architect Hiroyuki Wakabayashi and won the Japanese Blue Ribbon design award in 1995. The futuristic look of the train with its round windows, frosted glass doors and tasteful leopard upholstery (this train proves there is such a thing) had us all going goo goo gah gah. Philip and I are already saving up for our ‘adult’ trip to Japan once Jules heads off to college.
