If you only have one day in Osaka, where will you go and what will you do? Our original intention was to spend at least 3 days taking in the sights and sounds of Osaka but due to some last minute changes in our plan, we only had one full day instead! On Day 6 of our Japan trip, we took the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka in the morning. We actually missed our train by a few seconds (!!!) and had to reserve seats again for the next train. Well, at least that gave us a bit of time to hunt for breakfast at the station.
These Siretoco donuts caught my attention from afar and I found myself oohing and aahing over them. Aren’t they the cutest?! I mean, just look at the innocent panda face peering out of the donut! LOL.
If my memory serves me right, each donut costs about ¥310 (~S$4) which definitely isn’t cheap and not knowing if it would taste nice, we only bought one, the Tokyo version, for Little misschewy. Verdict? It’s totally Instagram-worthy and let’s just say that we were glad we only got one. Hahaha. 😛
We reached Shin-Osaka station after a 2.5 hours train ride and had no problem locating Studio Shin-Osaka, our Airbnb, as our host gave us very clear directions via email. Also, it was just a 5 minute walk from the station! So convenient! We didn’t get to meet our host, who lives in Tokyo, so we retrieved the keys from the mailbox.
We were very impressed by how spacious and clean our Osaka Airbnb was!
Mattresses on tatami mats! As we only had one day in Osaka, we decided not to waste any more of our precious time and quickly made our way to our next destination!
It took about 15 minutes from Shin-Osaka Station to Osaka-jo Koen Station via JR Osaka Station. Upon exiting Osaka-jo Koen Station, we saw plenty of food stalls selling street snacks! HUNGRY!
I have no idea what these are called but they are like savoury pancakes wrapped around chopsticks.
We tried the one with a poached egg on top and it was so darn delicious!
After a bit of walking and eating, we found ourselves outside the majestic Osaka Castle!
Treated Little misschewy to ice cream as a reward for her good behaviour. Hehe.
Dotonburi is a must-visit if you are travelling to Osaka! It is like a one-stop food paradise for all types of delicious food that you wouldn’t want to miss out on!
I was quite amused by all the giant food boards at Dotonburi! They certainly caught my attention and I just had to snap photos of the more flashy ones.
Almost mistook this for a food board as well, only to realize it’s a caricature shop. LOL.
The famous giant crab!
We tried a box of two Charcoal Grilled Crab Legs (¥700 ~ S$9) which tasted pretty decent. Juicy with a hint of smokiness.
The giant octopus can only mean one thing.
Takoyaki balls!
We didn’t have any concrete plans for dinner and joined the queue to get into Mizuno Restaurant, which specialises in Okonomiyaki. We queued for more than an hour in the cold!
Shall let the photos do the talking! 😉
We had two types of Okonomiyaki — the one with pork loin, and the Mizuno Okonomiyaki. Both were equally delicious, and the cabbage gave the Okonomiyaki a nice crunchy bite. Must try if you are heading to Dotonburi! Remember to avoid peak hours!
Shopped for souvenirs after our dinner and passed by the famous Glico running man sign!
The hubs prefers Asahi. Hahaha.
We did what everyone else was doing — selfie with Glico man! 😀 This concludes our one and only full day in Osaka! Next up, we will be covering a short post on Kyoto!
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THE CHEWYS’ MARCH 2016 JAPAN 10D9N ITINERARY
(Tokyo – Osaka – Kyoto – Kanazawa – Shirakawago)
Day 1: Singapore to Narita Airport > JR Narita Express to Tokyo > Check into Airbnb at Kita-Ikebukuro > Asakusa Temple & Shopping Street > Shopping and dinner at Sunshine City
Day 2: Tokyo Disneyland
Day 3: Tsukiji Fish Market > Ueno Park > Shopping at Ameya-Yokocho Market > Tea at Fujiya Peko-chan Milky Restaurant > Pokemon Centre at Sunshine City > Dinner at Ichiran
Day 4: Tokyo DisneySea
Day 5: Fujiko•F•Fujio Museum (Doraemon Museum) and Doraemon Cafe > Shopping and dinner at Harajuku
Day 6: Shinkasen from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka > Check into Airbnb at Shin-Osaka > Osaka Castle > Dinner at Dotonburi (Namba station, Midosuji line)
Day 7: Shinkansen from Shin-Osaka to Kyoto > Kiyomizu-dera Temple > Kimono rental and outdoor photoshoot > Dinner at Kichi-Kichi Omurice > Shinkansen to Shin-Osaka
Day 8: Thunderbird Limited Express from Shin-Osaka to Kanazawa > Check into Hotel Nikko Kanazawa > Kenroku-en Garden > Kanazawa Castle > Lunch at Sushi Zanmai > Omicho Market > Higashi Chaya District > Tonkatsu dinner at Tomikinton (富金豚)
Day 9: Nouhi bus from Kanazawa to Shirakawa-go > Sightseeing around Shirakawa-go > Nouhi bus from Shirakawa-go to Kanazawa > Thunderbird Limited Express from Kanazawa to Shin-Osaka > Dinner at Dotonburi (Namba station, Midosuji line)
Day 10: Kansai Airport Limited Express “Haruka” from Shin-Osaka to Kansai Airport > HOME SWEET HOME