A lot’s happened since 2015, but we can always make time for another trip to Japan. This time, we broke with our habit of visiting during the mild autumns of Japan and escaped the oppressive heat and humidity of the Australian summer into the freezing respite of the dead of winter in February 2018.
Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport
For the first time, we flew directly to Ōsaka with Qantas on a more reasonable 9 am flight, rather than opting for a torturous 6 am redeye flight with a layover in, variously Cairns, with Jetstar. So, we take the chance to explore the international airside of the airport, which is decked out for Lunar New Year.
There are numerous stands dedicated to Arnott’s Tim Tam selling them at 4 for $20.00. They’re in standard packaging and flavours.
But we do spot giant Oreo-shaped tins of Oreos.
And giant Tic Tac shaped tubs of mini Tic Tac tubs. Cute!
What amuses us the most, though, is the McDonald’s after customs…
It’s a two-storey McDonald’s with the ground floor serving customers and the second storey housing the kitchen. Upstairs, staff prepare the food and clip paper bags containing the food to the silver-black track on the right of the iconic ‘M’ logo. The constantly moving track transports the paper bag down to the ground where the bag is releaseed robot-style for a staff member to pass to the customer.
We were curious how the other airside McDonald’s would compare. Alas, it featured only paper planes.
They change our boarding gate due to some aircraft issue, so we pile onto airport limousines to reach the aircraft in the freight area (mostly FedEx and American Airlines). After boarding, we sit on the tarmac for half an hour as they retrieve the bags of a no-show passenger.
Before long, we’re off!
We’re not used to full-service airlines. Qantas starts us off with a sparkling peach and coconut cocktail. The notes of coconut are subtle while the peach flavour was fresh.
For lunch, we choose the braised beef with shiitake mushrooms, sesame spinach and koshihikari rice. It’s not bad for plane food – the flavour was decent, although the beef was slightly tough and mushrooms were scarce. The accompanying garlic ciabatta is pre-buttered with garlic butter – ciabatta is better toasted so its tough – while the Australian classic pavlova has gluggy and grainy meringue with prominent dairy notes with the passionfruit pulp being the only edible component.
After lunch, we’re treated to Cadbury hot chocolate and Lindt chocolate.
With our bellies full, they leave us for an hour or two…
…before coming back with fresh apples and banana bread.
By then, we’re just over half way to Ōsaka…
…so we’re treated to a Weis Mango and Ice Cream Bar…
…followed shortly by a light dinner of udon noodles with edamame and pickled ginger.
I mentioned we’re not used to flying full service, but there is just way too much food!
Ōsaka – Kansai International Airport
After 9 hours, we touch down at a soggy Kansai International Airport.
It’s cold and wet, but we’d take it over muggy any day!
This is our fourth trip to this airport, but I still consider its station to be more confusing and with less English than one would expect at an international airport, especially when compared to much larger train stations in Japan.
Ōsaka – Kita & Nakanoshima
Forty minutes later, we arrive at Ōsaka Station. In our quest to orient ourselves by getting outdoors and out from the maze of underground arcades, we spot this German restaurant whose name, Wur’s Rock, reminds us of a famous Australian rock.
We usually stay around the southern parts of Ōsaka near Namba, but this time we’ve booked a hotel in the north near Umeda and Ōsaka Station.
There are closer subway stops, but we opt to make the 20-minute walk.
The rain’s eased and we like to see what’s around.
Before long we cross the Dojima River with its pretty lights.
We’re staying at Rhiga Hotel Nakanoshima Inn, about a 2-minute walk from Higobashi Station on the Yotsubashi Subway Line.
As is typical of business hotels in Japan, the room is small but clean and well-maintained.
And there’s a window with a view down to the street (rather than into another apartment), while the mattress is comfortable and springy and the pillows are reasonably fluffy.
The bathroom’s clean and tight, but it’s not the smallest we’ll encounter.
We head outside for some dinner and spot this sad upside-down fish in the front of a restaurant.
But we decide to eat at Matsuya, a popular gyudon chain.
We’re big fans of vending machine ticket restaurants with unlimited water/tea refills.
D gets the Kalbi Beef Set Meal (L) with 1.3 times more meat.
D wolfs down the tender and juicy meat.
I ignore the fact that they’re a gyudon restaurant and order the Brown Egg Hamburger Set Meal.
It’s a demi-glace, hayashi type mushroom sauce – rich and generous enough for the rice – that’s moreish in a comforting tomato-y and savoury way. The hamburger patty was tender while the egg was perfectly oozy.
Matsuya was satisfying comfort food – the perfect end to a long day that started with us bolting out of bed at 5 am. Next up is more of northern Ōsaka and a tour of the Suntory Yamazaki Distillery in Kyōto.