Day 8 – 11 October 2024, Friday

It’s our last full day in Japan, and we took it easy today. At 8:15am, we went for breakfast at our Hiyori Hotel but the small restaurant was full so we waited for around 15 minutes before we got a table. The buffet spread was decent but not sumptuous. When we headed out at 9:30am, the streaks of wispy clouds that filled the sky an hour ago had disappeared, replaced by clear blue skies. The temperature was 19 degrees C and it would remain sunny all day.

From our hotel, we walked for about 8 minutes and reached Sennichimae Doguyasuji shopping street, also known as Kitchenware Street. This is a 150m-long shopping arcade filled with specialty stores selling kitchenware, knives, Takoyaki-making machines, entrance signs, uniforms, fake food displays etc. Basically, anything that chefs need or people who wish to start a food business need can be found here. Many of the plates and cups were exquisite and I was tempted to buy some, but it would be a hassle to bring them home so I restrained myself. Nevertheless, it was still interesting to look at the items being sold and spend 20 minutes walking through the street.

Next, we went to the nearby Kuromon Ichiba Market. This is another covered shopping arcade selling a wide variety of street food, fresh produce, seafood and souvenirs. It was already starting to get crowded at 10:00am. The market is definitely geared towards tourists because all the stalls have English signs and the vendors all speak English and some even speak Mandarin.

There was a lot to see here. As we walked through the market, we saw many stalls selling top grade Kobe beef and Wagyu beef with beautiful marbling. You can take your pick and the vendors will cook it right in front of you. Many people were also eating fresh tuna sashimi. The grilled unagi also looked amazing and I was so tempted to try it.

The fresh seafood here reminded me of Dongmun Traditional Market in Jeju. So many different types of seafood were available – scallops, octopus, squid, shrimps, oysters, clams, but most impressive of all, the giant King Crabs. The King Crabs were absolutely massive, with their legs measuring at least 30cm long. Befitting their king status, they were not cheap, with one piece (of leg) going for 4,500 yen (S$40.50).

There were also street foods like takoyaki, mochi, sweet potato chips, strawberry snacks and more. But we struck gold when we found a shop selling Japanese confectionery gifts. Japan is well known for its food souvenirs, ranging from local sweets to savoury snacks, all presented in cardboard boxes with beautiful packaging. Some of the most popular ones are the Tokyo Banana sponge cake, Shiroi Koibito “white lover” biscuits, special edition Kit Kat chocolate bars and Jaga Pokkuru crispy potato sticks.

AL was super excited when she saw that the shop also sold New York Perfect Cheese (click here). The description of this snack on the website reads: A Langue de Chat dough is kneaded with Gouda cheese, filled with fluffy cream and cream cheese blended into white chocolate. While we were in Tokyo, we went to the Keio department store in Shinjuku to look for it but it was already sold out and AL was very disappointed. So, AL grabbed at least 5 boxes of New York Perfect Cheese here, especially since there were no restrictions on the number of boxes you can buy. On top of that, there is tax-free shopping if you spend at least 5,500 yen (inclusive of tax). Mum bought a few boxes of her favourite Jaga Pokkuru while I bought a box of New York Perfect Cheese and some Osaka special edition snacks.

After leaving Kuromon Ichiba Market at 11:15am, mum, dad and I walked to Namba Oriental Hotel nearby. We stayed there previously and wanted to take a photo to reminisce. When we arrived, we saw that the hotel was still open but its main entrance was hoarded up as it was undergoing renovation, so we didn’t get the photo we wanted. The room at Namba Oriental Hotel is much bigger and it is located right smack of a vibrant shopping arcade with lots of restaurants and pachinko parlours so it would have been a great place to stay. I tried to book it for this trip but it was fully booked, so we settled for Hiyori Hotel instead.

For our next destination, we took the Metro from Nippombashi station to Dobutsuen-mae station, two stops away. This was when I found out that the Enjoy Eco Card (1-day pass) I bought for mum and dad yesterday was valid only for the day of use and not 24 hours’ validity, so I bought them single-trip tickets at 190 yen (S$1.71) each. We arrived at 11:46am and walked to Janjan Yokocho, a narrow, 180m-long covered shopping alley at the southern part of the Shinsekai (“New World”) district.

This alley is officially called Nanyodori Shotengai but it is more commonly known as Janjan Yokocho. This is because around a century ago, this area was a red-light district and the shop owners used to attract the attention of customers by playing the shamisen, a banjo-like, three-stringed Japanese instrument. “Jan jan” is used to describe the jangling sound of a shamisen. Hence, there is a small banner hanging above the alley at the start of Janjan Yokocho depicting a caricature of Tsutenkaku Tower playing a shamisen.

One of the first shops we encountered was Daiko Sushi (大興寿司). I had been craving for sushi ever since I arrived in Japan eight days ago and I had not had the chance to eat it yet. The prices on the menu were very affordable and the restaurant looked really old school, so I decided to pop in for a bite while the rest of the group went exploring Shinsekai on their own.

Daiko Sushi was really a classic sushi bar. I loved that every customer seated inside was a local. There were no fancy iPads or tablets so everything was done the traditional way – you browse a physical menu and use a pencil to write your order on a small sheet of paper and pass it to the staff. Thankfully, they had an English menu with photos.

The prices were really cheap – just 150 yen (S$1.35) for three pieces of tuna sushi. The average price was 300 yen. I wanted to order everything but I was alone so I couldn’t order too much. In the end, I ordered only four items – Mackerel (150 yen), Yellowtail (300 yen), Salmon (300 yen) and Eel (300 yen), so my total bill came up to 1,050 yen (S$9.45).

The restaurant had a U-shape layout with the chefs inside preparing all the food in front of you. I was seated right in the middle so I had a perfect view of the two sushi masters making the sushi. It was fascinating to see them roll the vinegared rice with their hands, add a tinge of wasabi to it, then expertly slice the fish and arrange the sushi beautifully on a plate before serving it to you. It took a while for my sushi to be ready but it was so worth the wait. I wish I had ordered more!

Janjan Yokocho is known for its retro vibes. Several of the shops were not open yet but I did see a small arcade with classic video games like Super Mario and Street Fighter. There were also several standing bars, which were really tiny and barely had room for five customers.

As I walked to the end of Janjan Yokocho, I saw the tip of Tsutenkaku Tower peeking from above the buildings. I continued walking towards the tower and found myself in the heart of Shinsekai. This was like Dotonbori on steroids. Everything was flashier, more colourful and more outlandish here, and I absolutely loved it!

Shinsekai was developed before the war and neglected in the decades that followed. The neighbourhood had a bad reputation as Osaka’s most dangerous area in the past but it is no longer the case today. Standing in the middle of Shinsekai is the 103 metre-tall Tsutenkaku Tower. The original tower was built in 1912 but the current tower was reconstructed in 1956. Today, it is a well-loved, nostalgia-evoking symbol of Shinsekai.

It seemed like all the restaurants were trying to outdo each other by making their shopfront display more three-dimensional, larger and taller than their competitor next door. And with the iconic Tsutenkaku Tower looming large in the background, it was a perfect encapsulation of Osaka’s quirkiness. I can only imagine how much crazier Shinsekai gets at night. I’m happy we came here to experience this.

After meeting up with the rest, we searched for a place to have lunch. One of the restaurants we shortlisted charged a table fee, which we thought was rather ridiculous so we didn’t eat there. In the end, we settled for something safe but boring – McDonald’s.

After lunch, we headed back to the hotel to drop off our bags of shopping. We would have to do a fair bit of walking if we were to take the Metro so I decided to book an Uber car to take us back to the hotel instead. I booked a Premier Van, which could fit the six of us. The 11-minute ride cost 1,236 yen (S$10.92), which was only slightly more expensive than if we were to take the Metro (1,140 yen for the six of us). It was definitely the right decision to take Uber because it saved us precious time and energy.

We arrived at Hiyori Hotel at 2:02pm and unloaded our shopping bags. Dad’s foot was hurting so he stayed in the room to rest while we went out again for more shopping. We decided to go free-and-easy so I went on my own while the ladies did their thing.

Prior to the trip, I had searched for vinyl record/CD shops in Osaka and saved them on my Google Maps, so I already had a list of shops to visit. Over the course of the next four hours, I visited the following shops: Book Off, Rubic Records, Sound Pak, Wild One, Forever Records (closed today), Record Shop Naka and HMV Record Shop. With the exception of HMV Record Shop (in Shinsaibashi), all the shops were all located close to our hotel in the Namba area.

After all the record hunting and crate digging, I walked along Mido-suji towards Dotonbori. Mido-suji is the main avenue in central Osaka and it is a classy, tree-lined street with high-end boutiques and flagship stores of international brands like Apple, Louis Vuitton and Prada. The big department stores Daimaru and Parco are also located here.

At 6:30pm, I met up with the rest for dinner at Yakiyakiteppan Bonkuraya restaurant at Sennichimae, recommended by AA’s family. It was a small eatery located in a quiet side street off the main road, and I wouldn’t have found it on my own. However, it was apparently a very popular restaurant because they were almost fully booked. They found two tables for us but imposed a dining time limit of 1 hour 30 minutes so that we could clear out before the customers who reserved the tables arrived.

It was one of those very cosy, authentic restaurants frequented by locals. After entering, we walked past the main dining area where the chefs prepared teppanyaki on the big grill, and we were led to another dining area with many small rectangle tables. Each table had four seats, with a Teppanyaki grill in the middle of the table. 

We ordered Yakisoba noodles, beef steak, grilled cabbage, pork Okonomiyaki and a platter of 6 types of mini Okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is one of Osaka’s specialty dishes and you cannot come here and not eat it. Okonomiyaki is a savoury Japanese pancake made of wheat flour batter and other ingredients like seafood and pork, topped with mayonnaise, bonito and seaweed flakes. The food took a while to arrive but it was good.

After dinner, we were pretty much done for the day, and we walked back towards our hotel. However, I saw that I had just enough time to make a visit to one more shop – Tower Records at Namba Parks shopping mall, just opposite our hotel. I arrived at 8:35pm and only had 25 minutes to browse and grab my purchases before they closed for the day. There was a promotion of “buy 3 or more to get 15% off”, so I went for it since it was the last night. Don’t ask me how much I spent. The 10% tax refund helped sweeten the deal further.

After returning to the hotel, it was time for a good shower, then final packing before our flight home tomorrow. It was definitely a bit harder to pack with all the additional shopping today. After eight days of travelling, I was feeling rather tired and under the weather, and kinda happy to be going home soon.