Osaka Rock

In this week’s instalment, we explore sumo wrestling ceremonies, Osaka’s food scene, brainstorm for sci-fi stories, and headbang to J-rock bands! Plus, a glimpse into two neighboring cities: Nara and Kobe!

Our first weekend in Osaka, which was basically a tour of izakaya eateries, started with a walk through the Osaka Castle. It's a stunning sight from the outside and the inside. I’m not interested in warfare, emperors, or men who think they are descendants of gods, but I’m a huge fan of the structural design and megaliths that go into creating such incredible structures like the Osaka castle.

One of the walls, which was built in 1624, had a monolithic stone known as “the octopus” and weighs 108 tons. That’s 238,000 pounds!

Now I bet you’re wondering the same thing as me: how did they move such gargantuan stones way back during the Tokugawa era!?
The answer is okonomiyaki!

Yes, with fantastic food, such as the savory Japanese pancake, a man (or woman) was able to perform inhuman feats that defy gravity and physics!!!

So naturally, our next stop was the BEST Okonomiyaki in Osaka.

(It was orgasmic. And as a cook, I’ve got lots of learning to do.)


Later, we made our way to the popular Donburi district. Hulya developed J-Pop fever and I heard a street rapper who sounded much like Nujabes...the nostalgia was really something.

*Donburi at night: not my photo*

After wandering in the afternoon heat, we became hungry again, so we thought we’d try our luck by stepping up the heat even more!

This is when we found a local hole-in-the-wall izakaya bar. These establishments are casual Japanese pubs, similar to a tapas bar or a saloon. We ducked in and ordered some sushi, but we also grilled our own beef tongue stuffed with leeks while enjoying a cold brew.

(that's Hulya's game-face 😛)

By the time night fell, we grabbed our seats at a sumo wrestling match. It wasn’t the national competitions (they were happening in Tokyo and, sadly, tickets were sold out months ago!). This small, local match was for wrestlers who were professionally retired but still active. And I appreciated the education we got leading up to the fights. I knew nothing about sumo, other than it was vaguely associated with the Shinto religion.

But get this! Sumo wrestling dates back to 300 BC, which explains why there are many religious rituals and mythologies associated with it.

In ancient Japan, sumo wrestling was such a revered event that it was held in the shrines themselves. The layout of the arena and the movements the wrestlers make before and after the matches are ripe with symbolism. The outcome of these events was often used for divination, particularly at New Year's, to predict the outcome of the coming agricultural season.

Over time, sumo wrestling’s role in foretelling the “will of the gods” eventually led to its association with politics, too. So we thoroughly enjoyed what we saw in this little sumo arena.
Who do you think won in this final match?

The big guy, Toma, is 230 kg (505 pounds!) — and he actually lost!

At the end of our 13-hour adventure, we returned to our studio after clocking over 20,000 steps.

And if anyone wants to learn more about the variety of Osaka dishes…this local dude is a great library of food info: https://www.instagram.com/p/DHbMp3RvudR/


Now let's take a train to the oldest capital of Japan, NARA.

It’s known as a spiritual city, and the deer with velvet antlers roam the streets freely. It's a cute and fun experience.

Besides that, Hulya and I wandered through the small side streets, chowed down on some freshly made onigiri, and took a break at a cafe to sip matcha latte while developing the new characters for The Mind Hunter sequel.

(everyone may have heard of the sacred "deer" or Nara....but what about the sacred "bee" of Nara! 😆 )

The strangest thing of all was the local family who was taking a lunch break to eat McDonald's next to the famous Nara temple…and they had two pet owls!

A few days later, we set out to discover the city of KOBE. A short train ride south of Osaka. At first, it seems unsuspecting. But there’s a bit more to it than the iconic beef steaks.

And after we got a good dose of matcha gelato (and sampled various sakés), the adventure really kicked off!

But seriously, the Kobe Port Tower had an epic view! It was only 101 meters (compared to Tokyo's 333-meter tower), yet it was still very stunning. And we could see Osaka City way off in the distance.

After descending, we wandered miles through the city and found a posh neighborhood similar to Alta Plaza in SF. We hiked up to the west hills and then explored the largest herb garden in Japan. It stretched up the hillside for miles.

The sun was getting low in the sky, so we took a lift to reach to top of the herb garden!

Descending, yet aga again from great heights, our souls were still feeling elevated, but our bellies needed sustenance. So we followed the advice of a friend and hunted down a unique Kobe beef restaurant. We ate six types of beef, both nigiri style and grilled. Thank you, Sonia!

We ended the adventure by buying a few items unique to that city: various Black Curries to cook at home (I still don’t know why Hulya is obsessed with this) and potato chips fried in Kobe beef fat, which I fully endorse! Plus, we found sourdough shokupan.

In our downtime, we’d have morning powwow brainstorming sessions (often about the details of my sci-fi sequel to The Mind Hunter), and one of the greatest surprises of the week was finally discovering how epic Osaka Expo Park really is!

It took many attempts, but once we uncovered the coveted secret of its one gated entry (charging a whopping $1.50), it became a priceless sanctuary.

It's so peaceful and full of places to explore. It has a spring/flower garden, which looked like the ruins of an ancient castle.

Everywhere we walked, there were flowing streams along stone-made basins...and the looming presence of the Sun/Moon tower they built back in 1970.

The highlight of the week (for food and fun combined!) occured when we went looking for a famous $10$ bowl of ramen. It was underground in the Umeda Metro Station but the endless maze of food shops and Friday night crowds rushing around made it impossible to find. So we gave up, but i saw a sign that promised a really good Unagi (grilled eel)...but it was on the 13th floor above the Umeda station. Regardless, we took an elevator up and discovered the most exquisite traditional Japanese food. The 12-course meal of small dishes was the finest food to date!

(it was sooo good, but we didn't get good picutre, so that photo is the closest thing i could find online)

Then, contrasting that, we took a metro down to a barren harbor district for a truly unique and grungy Japanese rock concert! The Utake band used a shamisen, 2 flutes, 5 drums, and an electric violin.

And with that, we called it a night, and the week was over.

Stay tuned, our adventures in Osaka will continue next week!

Gully “The Gaijin” Traveler!

"Totoro, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Tokyo anymore!"

Waking up at 4:30 seems to be what our bodies want. It happens naturally, and today, it was very useful as we had to leave the onsen very early to get on a shuttle, then to catch a bus to the Odawara station, and finally jump on the Bullet Train express!

Coming down from the mountain gave us a few interesting insights into local life. The bus was full of sleepy students and one old guy who reeked of decades of cigarette smoke. And once we got on the bullet train, another thing happened: there were no double seats available for us to sit. It was a very packed bullet train because many people from around Japan (and China) were coming to Osaka for the World Expo. So we turned around, and walked back cart by cart, looking again for two vacant seats until a delightful surprise: an Elderly man stood up, smiled, and gestured at his seat. I bowed and offered my gratitude, then he went and found another seat next to a stranger.

🎌

Having officially begun the second stage of our journey, and arriving in Osaka after many hours of travel, we did the most sensible thing…we went to FamArt for lunch!

The room provided to us by Osaka University is superb. And we made it just in time to settle in for a moment before meeting Hulya’s new colleagues at the University (which is a short walk directly across the street).

I didn’t expect to be part of the orientation, but I ended up being pulled into four different meet-and-greets. Starting with Professor Ikeda, who was a pleasure to talk with. The conversation led many places as we sipped coffee in his office, piled high with stacks of paperwork. For being a well-respected professor, he was very humble and I felt immediately comfortable talking with him about Osaka’s new generation of students and the sub-cultural differences amongst the elderly and youth in Japan. After that, we were escorted up a few floors of the hospital to meet three more colleagues, the most eccentric of whom was Professor Mori. His passion for hiking was infectious. He almost talked Hulya and me into doing a 40-kilometer 2-day hike along the Eastern side of Nara city, the oldest capital of Japan. For being such an esteemed and stern-looking man, his enthusiasm was adorable.

After meeting two more of Hulya’s new colleagues and more cups of black coffee— generously provided as we moved from office to lab to office and back to lab—we were overcaffeinated yet exhausted from travelling. So we returned to our dear FamArt for some easy food, and the evening was spent watching Shōgun while having our top-notch TV dinner of takoyaki (grilled octopus balls), beef stew, and salad.

The following three days passed in a mish-mash way. Hulya worked at the University every other day. I did laundry. We stocked our fridge with food. I explored downtown Osaka and identified local birds that would bombard us with songs from the trees in the backyard. Yes, there is a backyard here. Osaka is very hilly so our housing is set on a hillside above a neighborhood. And across the way, I like watching the tennis players fill the courts all day, and the soccer games that go on till 9 pm when the lights turn off.

🇯🇵

Upon our first of four weeks in Osaka, I’ve found my favorite products: Hokkaido milk is delicious; the white bread is phenomenal; and instead of lettuce for salads, we use chrysanthemum leaves! Bento boxes, supermarket sushi, and wagyu beef are all top-notch, but the real winner is the eggs. The yolks are such a deep, rich turmeric color. They are the best I’ve had in years!

The only disappointment so far is when we walked to the Expo 70 Park, which is right next to the University, but got denied at the gate by an officer who told us it was closed! But we knew it wasn’t. So two days later, we tried again and ended up circumnavigating the entire park as we found four more entry points, but each was guarded or closed, so we gave up and went shopping for three hours at a mall next to the famous Tower of Sun and Moon statue. (which is stunning, yet creepy)

Fast forward to the next night, and we ended up taking the monorail to a special little udon noodle shop where we had our first proper feast in Osaka!

Speaking of food, I took a sushi-making class and learn some things: there are 30,000 sushi restaurants in Japan. Compared to only 1,800 Starbucks. Now compare that to the 2.2 million tea and coffee vending machines, and it's clear that people here pride themselves on both convenience and quality…and endless sources of caffeine.

For some fun stories about the vending machines here.... https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2017/10/snow-covered-vending-machine/

After my sushi class, I acquired a quality kitchen knife (which our house lacked) and explored the backstreets and fish markets of downtown. What I like about Japan is that I can find uni, natto, and unagi easily, everywhere I go!

But because there are so many tempting sweet treats at the FamArt stores, I’m forced to cut myself off. From day two in Osaka, I became obsessed with Shokupan!

What is Shokupan?

Basically, it's the best white bread you’ll ever have. I know, i'm commiting a mortal sin (please forgive me, my dear sourdough friends) but in Japan, even the most conventional food is soooooo delicious and far above average in terms of quality!

So the ingredients of shokupan go like this: yudane, flour, milk, and water.
Now…what is yudane?

It’s the special element that makes the bread so moist yet lightweight. It's a cooked-down mixture of flour and milk. This yudane “roux” is then added to the normal ingredients, and FWAH-POPP!

Shokupan is born! 👹 Hope you try it sometime. Actually, I’ll start making it. Because it's so “fuwa fuwa!” (light & soft)

Which leads me to the closing portion of this instalment of Gulliver’s Travels (which will be more about travels next week and less food-porn) 🙏 🙏 🙏

Japanese Onomatopoeias!

Zawa Zawa (ざわざわ) - loud & noisy
Hara Hara (はらはら) feeling uneasy, or nervous
Kan Kan  (かんかん) - intense heat
Mushi mushi (ムシムシ): Hot and humid or muggy weather
Zoku zoku (ゾクゾク): A spine-tingling sensation of fear or excitement
Kusu Kusu (くすくす) - giggle
Zoro zoro (ゾロゾロ): A large group moving in a line or crowd
Dara Dara (だらだら) - lazy and inefficient
Wan wan (ワンワン): A dog’s bark
Kero kero (ケロケロ): A frog’s croak
Goro goro (ゴロゴロ): Thunder rolling in the sky
Beta beta (ベタベタ): Sticky or sweaty feeling.

Jā, mata ne (OK, bye for now!) 🎌