As usual, grabbing some breakfast at the Lawson near where I stay before I start my journey. Got 2 sandwiches and a coffee, and today’s first destination is a little further away at Ikeda, it’s the Cup Noodles Museum! Never knew that the founder of Nissin was actually the one that invented the world’s first ever instant noodles, cup noodles and space noodles! Other than being bombarded with all the cool instant noodles facts, you can also customise your own cup noodles here! The DIY cup noodles cost ¥300 each, you get to design your cup first with markers, then proceed to choose your soup base and 4 toppings. The queue was really long, but the process was quite fun! If you are up to something more challenging, you can prebook your slot for the instant noodles class, where you learn to make their signature chicken noodles from scratch - yup rolling out the dough and transforming it into noodles! Learnt a lot about instant noodles here and was so amazed with all the unique flavours and beautiful packaging!
Next was to Kushiya Monogatari, a kushikatsu buffet. Kushikatsu is unique to Osaka, it is food skewered, battered, breadcrumb-coated and fried. The skewers are then dipped into a thin brown sauce before consuming. It is normally meat, seafood or vegetables; but these days, almost any food can be prepared as kushikatsu, such as eggs, cheese, beancurd and ricecakes. When you dine at a kushikatsu restaurant, the golden rule is to never double dip it as these pots of sauces are shared amongst customers. Slices of raw cabbage are also served which you can use to scoop more sauce to your skewer if you hadn’t got enough sauce on it. At this buffet place, the fun is you get to batter, crumb-coat and fry your skewers! Other than the usual kushikatsu dipping sauce, there are many other sauces available and one of my favourites was the cheese sauce!
Following after, I head over to Nakazakicho, which is the hipster district of Osaka. Passed by this cool-looking cafe called The Guts Coffee, and decided to grab a coffee first. You can find lots of accessories, unique fashion, second hand goods, decorative items, vintage pieces and so on over here. Didn’t buy anything over here but here are some recommended shops to take a look - Jam Pot (female accessories shop), Cookie Habitat (florist), Atelier and Gallery (handmade accessories shop), Only Planet (animal figurines, accessories, decorative items), Granda Familio (homemade granola), Tad (funky fashion), Elulu by Jam (vintage and used fashion), and if you like a cold treat, try the sweet potato ice cream at Mikkouya.
Last night in Japan, didn’t really do much. Went to where Tsutenkaku Tower was to take some photos. Built in 1912 at 64m, it was the tallest building in Osaka at that time. Like the Eiffel Tower of Paris, this Tsutenkaku Tower is an iconic symbol of Osaka to the locals! Next, went to Joshin Kids Land to grab some toys for my nephews, this is one of the biggest toy store in Osaka and you can find all kinds of toys over here! They have a whole storey dedicated to just cars, and another whole storey for trains! Headed back to my airbnb and had a simple dinner from Lawson. Down to the worst part of the trip - packing my luggage!
Exchange Rate = SG$1 : ¥79.30
Day 9 Expenses
Lawson:
- Ham, Cheese and Egg Sandwich ¥280
- Egg Salad ¥120
- Coffee ¥198
¥100 Store: Anpanman Cup Noodles ¥100 x6 (after tax ¥648)
Cup Noodles Museum:
- Customised Cup Noodles ¥300 x3 (¥900)
Kushiya Monogatari: ¥1,699 (70mins) + ¥200 free flow drinks, ¥1,899 (after tax ¥2,088)
Namba Station:
- Osaka and Kyoto limited Coke bottles ¥270
- Pretz Takoyaki flavour (big stick) ¥648 (14pkts)
- Glico Caramel Candy ¥110 x2
- Dotonbori no Koibito ¥324 (6pkts)
The Guts Coffee: Latte ¥520
Joshin Kids Land:
- Red Ranger T-rex Transformer ¥3,528
- Nerf Gun with 12-bullet Slot ¥1,744
Lawson:
- Soy Sauce Boiled Eggs ¥158
- Mentaiko Potato Salad ¥148
- Char-grilled Chicken ¥210
TOTAL: ¥11,488 = SG$144.90
Previous Expenses: SG$2,453.05
Current Total Expenses: SG$2,597.95