Osaka Alleys & Nyan Tsume Cat Cafe
It’s been a while since I wrote about my December trip to Japan with Shasha & Ruru. Back to it I suppose! It’s been five months since the trip anyway; a jolt to my memory bank should do the trick. First, let me just linger in the glorious strip of sunlight that morning:
Our last day in Osaka was spent just ambling about and trying out food. Takoyaki-kun was a new stall we tried – their takoyaki had an interesting texture to them, but taste-wise, we agreed that we liked our favourite store better. Takoyaki-kun piqued our interest because it was only manned by only one guy, plus the signboard claimed that it was the number one tastiest in Osaka. How it worked was that we chose the number of pieces we wanted by pressing the option on a vending machine behind him, fed it money, and then showed the cook our ticket. No money changing hands at all, which I’m very much behind. Once we got our order, we headed into the narrow shop to add the sauces and crepes to our liking. There were even a few chairs if you wanted to dine in the bar counter. It’s a pretty cool system!
Photo by Ruru.
Our ticket for 14 takoyaki balls.
We also had some really yummy unagi at Takagi Suisan! It’s nestled in one of those covered walkways I don’t remember which anymore, since we were more or less exploring aimlessly. We also had a bit of a bonding moment with the shopfront lady who knew Mandarin – her husband is local and he seemed to be a stoic guy who grills the eel in the other room. It was so delicious. Also, what is it about chilly weather that makes hot food so fulfilling?!
Everything. Was. So. Delish. Even the pickled vegetables!
We even had shellfish in our miso soup! First time I ever saw this combination.
The lady saw us about to take a selfie so she offered to take one for us ahaha we weren’t ready yet.
Photo by Ruru.
We took one by ourselves anyway :P
Here’s some more food we ate along the way… we couldn’t help it, Osaka is made of all the noms:
Ruru succumbed to the lure of baby octopus on a stick, and we didn’t pay attention to the sign which said that its head was stuff with hard boiled quail egg. Imagine her surprise when she bit into it!
We also chanced upon Naruto Taiyaki Honpo and got ourselves taiyaki with different fillings!
Couldn’t pass up the chance for a photo-op when we spied this fish mural. A pity that I already beheaded my snack.
Some more sights while nosing about the various streets and alleys of Osaka:
They’ve got pretty painted manhole covers.
That kitschy building with the hugeass wealth god is Don Quijote! Spent way too much time and money fishing for Fuchiko on the Cup at their gacha machines on level 1. I have a gacha problem and nobody can do anything about it.
Glico!
We also dropped by a bookstore (I think it’s Tsutaya?) and I hung around my favourite corner. Shh, not everyone knows that I’m rotten on the inside. 😂
My favourite Saint Young Men is already onto volume 12?! Wow. The last time I went to Japan I bought all five volumes (see my goodies post here!), and five years later there’s already seven more! I hated to leave the bookstore without buying anything, but ever since I started renting, it’s just inconvenient to have to worry about moving my precious (and horrifically pared down) book collection all the time. I’m coming back for you next time though, Jesus & Buddha!
Is this a shrine to money? I have no idea.
So there we were, just taking a stroll on a random street when we heard mewing sounds by the side. Upon further investigation, it turned out that the mewing was coming from a signboard advertising Nyan Tsume, a cat cafe. We decided to visit since we had nothing planned for our evening.
Photo by Shasha.
So many kitties!
Photo by Ruru.
[edit] I forgot about this super cute cat-in-a-box I captured on my Instagram!
Photo by Shasha.
I fell head over heels with this kitty with the weird fur. ♥♥♥
Photo by Shasha.
Photo by Shasha.
The shop assistant’s cat.
Omg it was just too adorable how the shop assistant’s cat was bundled up to go home.
Photo by Ruru.
We couldn’t pass up a late night snack from our favourite takoyaki stall on our way home:
Photo by Shasha.
Yum!
Photo by Shasha.
RURU IS HILARIOUS (and that’s me getting my daily Snapchat update). We did a lot of walking in Osaka, no thanks to our very first day here. It was bound to hit our almost-30-year-old tired bodies.
Yes, we’re at that point in our lives where we have to rely on external help to recuperate from so much walking. THEY BURNNNNED. But these relief patches did their job.
We head to Nara the next day – stay tuned!
Wearing
H&M coat
Parkhurst beret
Uniqlo denim dress
Happy Socks knee socks
CNDirect blue sunglasses
Spurr Monique sneakers
Outfit photos assisted by Shasha & Ruru.
