It was the end of winter in Japan when we left and it’s the middle of winter in Australia now. Four months after returning from our trip to Japan, it’s finally Day 17 where we pack as much as can into our suitcases and head back home.
With a quick breakfast at our hotel of herb bread, hard-boiled eggs, potato salad and orange juice, we head out for some last minute shopping before our flight.
We’re after some tension rods to hold the noren we purchased from Asakusa. So we head towards the 100 Yen Shop at the top of Bic Camera. We don’t really visit Bic Camera much, so we head straight for the glass lifts instead of walking up the escalators.
This is a Can Do, rather than a Daiso, and they tend to have a different line of products. It’s one of the biggest Can Do shops we’ve visited.
We find the tension rods and also spot this smartphone holder in the shape of a mini fold up chair.
Heading back towards Dotonbori, there’s a shop dedicated to selling dog clothes, including yukata!
Quite a few new shops have moved in since our last visit in 2015.
Looking up, we see a giant honey bread sitting atop Pasela Resorts.
Further down, the shop that calls itself World’s Second Best Freshly Baked Melon-pan has gotten itself a giant melon pan replica to sell its products.
But the seafood restaurant with the giant crab and the ramen restaurant with the giant dragon are still around.
After finding D some new shoes, we take a break from the crowds and walk down the main road, spotting this pretty display in a shop front .
Don Quixote sells roasted sweet potatoes for a very affordable price. The smell of them roasting wafts throughout the ground floor. Yum!
Across the street, we head into the Lawson to try one of their new Matcha Man ¥140. Lawson collaborated with Tsukiji, the confectioner from Uji that produces the most highly prized matcha in Japan.
Getting one of these proved to be tough. Stores in Kyōto and Tōkyō were out of stock, and when we visited this Lawson in Namba the previous evening, delighted to see some in the cabinet, we asked the salesperson for one at the counter, after which they told us the amount to pay, we’d put the money in the tray and she was in the middle of wrapping the bun up for us before the manager comes out and tells her to put it back in the cabinet and tells us in unfriendly terms ‘No!’ and crossing his arms without even a simple gomennasai or even an attempt at explaining the situation. We were really confused and the salesperson looked apologetic.
We returned the following day and even then the same manager only reluctantly sold one to us. We don’t understand the issue – you have a product, we want to pay for the product – especially when we’re visiting a Lawson in the heart of Namba, minutes away from the tourist centre that is Dotonbori. If you’re not keen on tourists then find a different location to work. I’m hard-pressed to think of a more unfriendly experience with customer service in Japan; it’s not even the kind of treatment I expect in Australia.
Rant aside, we did finally get our hands on the Matcha Man. The bun has a fragrant green tea aroma, with the steamed bread being flavoured with matcha and wrapped around a sweet bean paste that’s also flavoured with matcha. There’s a subtle bitterness before the sweetness of the bean paste came through. We’d have preferred a stronger matcha flavour, but it was tasty enough for me to forget about the Lawson store clerk.
I’d filled up on snacks for lunch, so we head back over the river to find lunch for D.
We decide to use the coupon we’d received on our visit to Isono Ryoutarou two days previously. The coupon entitles us to a ¥5 discount on their already cheap ¥100 plates.
This time, we try (left to right, top to bottom): kisu (Japanese whiting) tempura, fatty salmon, bluefin tuna, raw sweet shrimp (slimy!), mantis shrimp (firmer than cooked normal shrimp), and saltwater eel.
There’s also okra sushi, gunkan-style for those interested.
Outside we find the mascot for Tohato Habanero chips.
In the mid-afternoon, we pick up our luggage from the hotel and head towards Kansai International Airport.
Inside the gates to the Nankai platforms, there’s a display of famous Western artworks recreated using 320,000 tickets collected by the operator. The art history nerd in me is fascinated.
This is a recreation of The Gleaners by Jean-François Millet. The painting is recreated through overlapping various sections of the monochromatic tickets.
This is a recreation of Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
This is The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli.
And finally, this is Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci.
Heading towards Terminal 1, we catch the back of Monchhichi.
We head up to the Departures lounge.
From above we spot Abeno Bear. The bear is a mascot of Ōsaka’s Abeno Harukas skyscraper. He’s a sky-patterned bear who lives 300 meters above the ground, laidback and carefree, walks on rainbows and eats clouds.
We visit Hakuhinkan Toy Park and enjoy the display of their dog family. The dogs are all named after various foods (Okaka, Tuna, Goma, Ume, Anko and Kinako).
At the Daiso, we’re amused by these compressed towels. They’re not re-compressable, alas.
We pick up this Oirhiro Purunto Jelly in nashi flavour. It’s like an extra big portion with a slightly runnier consistency of the smaller packets.
There are cute dogs to celebrate Chinese New Year, even in Japan.
And we drink this Premium Orangina to clear ourselves of liquids. It tastes like a cross between the orange and blood orange flavours of San Pellegrino.
Back on the Level 2, Wakayama Prefecture has set up a stall touting their local specialities.
Directly opposite is a gallery of cat illustrations, photos and sculptures. We’re heading towards the McDonald’s for a last minute Chocolate and Hazelnut Pie, but alas, they’re out of stock.
So we make our last stop before going through the gates at Starbucks.
…for their special spring sakura menu!
I’m after their Sakura Strawberry Pink Mochi Frappuccino (¥580). This drink pairs cherry blossoms with strawberries and has a glutinous texture that comes from the use of domyoji-ko, a dried powder made from steamed sticky rice. This sticky rice powder originates from Domyoji, a temple in Ōsaka where the rice was once said to cure illnesses and is used mostly in sakura-flavoured Japanese confectionery today. These cherry blossom-flavoured sticky rice pieces are scattered throughout the drink before topped with a sakura mochi sauce whipped topping and crunchy strawberry chocolate chips. The textures are certainly interesting in this drink, but we’re not particular fans of the sakura flavour.
We head onto the Wing Shuttle to get to our gate just as the sun is setting over Ōsaka.
It’s not long before we’re in the air and viewing the night lights of Ōsaka from a different perspective.
For dinner, we choose the katsudon. This is one of the better meals we’ve had on a plane. It’s a substantial serving of meat with a savoury and sweet dashi sauce with runny egg.
There’s a pre-buttered bread roll accompanying the katsudon …
…as well as a chocolate mousse slice, which is rather passable.
Some 7 hours later, the sun is just about to peak above the horizon.
Breakfast is a choice between a bacon and egg pastry…
…or a tuna mayo onigiri…
…with a mix of fruits. Considering the price of fruits in Japan I wonder if they didn’t bring the fruit over from a previous flight from Australia.
After breakfast, the sun is about to make its fiery presence known.
And shortly after, we’re back in Sydney bright and early. Phew, that was a whirlwind of a trip!
That concludes our Japan 2018 recount. Until next time!