Lazy long weekend in Osaka

[Declan Murphy]

I spent a lazy long weekend in Osaka, playing tour guide to 5 noisy but
otherwise delightful Italian girls. My ears are still ringing. Having
nothing better to do during lunch, here are some thoughts...

Namba Parks - surprisingly, and despite the shopping hordes, it didn't
suck. http://www.nambaparks.com The gardens were nice despite the
pouring rain falling at the time, the architecture not too shabby.
Perhaps I liked it only because of the distraction it provided from the
rest of Osaka's skyline.

Guinness - The only free time I had was when I told the girls to go
shopping, but if there is a place where you can obtain Guinness on tap
in central Osaka between 5am and 5pm then it is a well kept (from me)
secret.

Parking - A total of 14,300 yen is fair bit.

Flatulence - On rainy days, the crowded arcades of Shinsaibashi are a
godsend. But when you are emitting chemical gases in quantities that may
embarrass even the most antisocial of cows, a crowded arcade poses
geo-positional challenges. Where is downwind etc?

Food - Made the whole weekend worthwhile.

"Obvious Foreigners" - Compared to Nagoya, or to bewdiful bumfuck
Okazaki for that matter, there seemed to be surprisingly few of them.
(In the Shinsaibashi, Umeda, and Tennoji areas etc on Sunday and Monday
at least) Perhaps they were all out of town or recovering from drunken
stupors? Looking at stats* though, Osaka's population of "non-Korean"
foreigners as a percentage of total registrations does indeed seem to be
tiny. Why though? Lack of corporate HQ?

http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/toukei/index.html

--
A hand on the bush is worth two birds on the arm.

[Gerry]

In article <3FA87F0D...@hotmail.com>, Declan Murphy
<declan...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Food - Made the whole weekend worthwhile.

Anything to recommend?

--
///--- Vote for the richest Republican. He understand the common man.

[Declan Murphy]

Gerry wrote:
> In article <3FA87F0D...@hotmail.com>, Declan Murphy
> <declan...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>Food - Made the whole weekend worthwhile.
>
> Anything to recommend?

The places serving "the usual suspects" along the Dotonbori strip of
course. A little place called Kathmandu Cafe was also pretty good (I
need to get a break from Japanese food sometimes).
http://www.kathmandu-cafe.com/

--
"Thank God I'm an atheist" - Luis Bunuel

[Gerry]

In article <3FA9BA47...@hotmail.com>, Declan Murphy
<declan...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> >>Food - Made the whole weekend worthwhile.
> >
> > Anything to recommend?
>
> The places serving "the usual suspects" along the Dotonbori strip of
> course.

That's where I most frequently stuff my face. There's a street running
perpendicular to the canal, first bridge on the west side of
Dontonbori. For two blocks north of the canal it is just a trillion
little joints. One was an italian place called Traumerei (he just
likes the song). Five stools and two 2-top tables. A microscopic place
inside one of the buildings. Impossible to find. Amazingly good. The
entire route seems littered with tiny joints that have better food than
should be legal. What a treasure hunt.

> A little place called Kathmandu Cafe was also pretty good (I
> need to get a break from Japanese food sometimes).
> http://www.kathmandu-cafe.com/

Thanks, duly noted.

[MatthewOutland]

I wish I were in osaka so I could espouse the virtues of kinai.

What do you think of tokyo-japs?