Shinsekai and Tsutenkaku Tower: Reaching Heaven

Osaka is known as food heaven as you could find in Dotonbori and Shinsekai. Shinsekai means New World that refers to a district that adapted mixture essence of Paris and New York. Just 10 minutes walk from Shin-Imamiya Station and you could find this place with Tsutenkaku Tower as iconic landmark in Osaka.

Tsutenkaku Tower literally means ‘Tower Reaching to Heaven’. Built in 1912, Tsutenkaku Tower was the tallest building in East Asia with height of 64 metres that time. Later, it was reconstructed in 1956 after being attacked in World War II (1943). The current height is 103 metres, 39 metres higher than the original building.

Observation platforms are on the 4th and 5th floor, with bird-viewing feature. 

Biliken is an American charm doll that is believed could bring good fortune if you put coin in donation box and rub the soles. It used to be placed inside Luna Park, but unfortunately, it was closed in 1923, and the Biliken statue was lost. They tried to find it, however, after getting no result, they finally made a copy of the wooden Biliken statue to be placed inside the observation platform with seven deities.

B1F    : Tsutenkaku Wakuwaku Land, Ticket Box,

1F      : Wakuwaku Land Entrance, Observation Platform Entrance

2F      : Jan Jan Town, Kinnikuman Museum, Observation Elevator hall

3F      : Shinsekai diorama Display, Cafe de Luna Park (21 seats), Glico-ya

4F      : Observation Platform (84 metres)

5F      : Observation Platform, Biliken Shrine (87.5 metres)

Every year, this tower is visited by about 700.000 people. Another interesting stuff is the LED lighting that displays different color, following the season and weather forecast.

Jan and Feb          : white means snow

Mar and Apr         : pink means cherry blossom

May and Jun         : green means new leaves

July and Aug        : blue mean sea/sky

Sep until Nov       : gold means ear of rice (rice crop)

Dec                      : blue-green means fir tree

At the basement, they also offer performances of rakugo (comic storytelling), manzai (comical conversation) and local enka (popular balled singer) on weekends.

It has an atmosphere like carnival here. You may find a lot of snack stalls, restaurants, souvenir shops and pachinkos. 

Try the famous kushikatsu, warabi mochi, takoyaki, oden, yakiniku, okonomiyaki and many more in reasonable prices. 

Don’t miss fugu (blowfish) restaurant too (we recommend Zuboraya restaurant). But according to stories that we found on the Internet, people tend to avoid visiting Shinsekai at night. In 1990s, there are a lot of criminal activities here. Even though the criminality has decreased now, the dangerous image still remains for most citizen.

Address                : Ebisu-Higashi, Naniwa Ward, Osaka

Tsutenkaku Tower

Opening Hours                : 9AM to 9PM (last admission is 8.30PM)

Admission Fee                : Adult                                               : 700 yen

                                        University stu.                                 : 500 yen

                                        Junior/Senior high school stu.         : 400 yen

                                        Elementary and above 5 years old    : 300 yen

We eat, we walk, we talk

-FoodyFooty2-

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Ichiran Ramen, Shibuya : Find It Customizeable!

Shibuya has always been known as a super crowded district in Tokyo, Japan, especially since it has ‘Shibuya Crossing’. Hundreds of people cross the road at the same time once the traffic light switches to green.

Just three minutes walking from Hachiko Exit of Shibuya Station, you would soon reach Ichiran Ramen restaurant in the first basement floor of Iwamoto Building. Yes, in Japan it is usual to find a lot of business in one building. They usually put sign boards in front of the building to inform and promote their businesses. 

Ichiran Ramen opens 24 hours but for huge experience here, it's better to come at dinner when Shibuya's super crowded atmosphere begins.

Ichiran Ramen is a restaurant that is specialized on its Tonkotsu ramen since 1960s. Of course, it isn’t halal for moslem because tonkotsu means pig bones (to make). What makes Ichiran ramen special? 

The Ichiran’s original red sauce (red-pepper-based sauce mixed with 30 types of spices, cooked slowly for days), home made fresh noodle, classic tonkotsu soup (pork-based broth), sliced pork, green onion and Ichiran’s original water.

Maybe by reading previous posts, you are getting accustomed with these meal vending machines all across Japan. The vending machine is located at the entrance of the restaurant. Buy the ramen ticket first and you can purchase any additional items after that. 

The staff at the front will give an order sheet that you need to mark, about your preference on the noodle firmness, level of spiciness, soup thickness and others. If you don’t understand Japanese, don’t worry. They have English version and you can also ask the staff.

You may also check which seats are available from vacant seat information panel where you wait in queue after purchasing the ramen ticket. If the light is on, it means the seat is available. They has 21 counters. After you get seated, fill your order sheet with preferences that you like. It’s really customizeable and we love it. Once you finished, press the button in front of you and hand it over (including meal ticket that you get from vending machine) to the staff.

Ichiran is getting famous nowadays as it offers unique experience. This restaurant isn’t big but full of creativity. The stairs is quite narrow, kind of just for one person to entry and one for exit. But guess what? The design is awesome. 

The counter seat is a real-individual-private seat that divides you with other customers by wooden panels. You may also find cups and water tap in front of you, tissue box and coat hangers at the back. In fact, the wooden panel can be bent if you want to talk to your friend. But we didn’t do that because of thinking about customers that were queueing outside as we were before. So we made this dinner experience as soon as possible. Once your order is served, staff will close the bamboo curtain so you can concentrate just on your ramen. Enjoyyy!!! Don’t forget to make a ‘SLURPP’ sound to tell the chef that the ramen tastes good. It isn’t rude in Japan.  

For you that would like to order more side dishes (maybe the noodle portion is not enough), you may also fill the other order sheet that staff gives you after you get your seat. Press the button again and hand it over. How about the payment? You could just pay it there, without going to vending machine again.  

Address      : Iwamoto Building B1F 1-22-7 Jinnan, Shibuya Ward

We eat, we walk, we talk

-FoodyFooty2-

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Osaka Takoyaki Museum : Delightful Taste in One Bite

Here we go for eating again. Let’s go to Osaka Takoyaki Museum! First, you need to get train to Universal City Station and get off there.

Soon you’ll find Universal City Walk that is located right before Universal Studio Japan. 

You could find a lot of shops here and restaurants. If you are manga lovers, you might be interested to visit Jump Shop.

Compared with the other museums, Osaka Takoyaki Museum is a kind of food theme park like Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum. You may read it here. Five famous takoyaki restaurants (Kukuru, Yamachan, Juuhachiban, Aizuya and Kogaryu) are provided here to make sure you are satisfied. No entrance fee is needed, so you just need to pay for  what you eat.

Takoyaki, is literally from the word tako (octopus) and yaku (to grill). First popularized in Osaka and become one of the most famous snacks all over Japan. It was inspired by Akashiyaki, small round dumpling from Akashi, Hyogo Prefecture (made by egg rich batter and octopus). Now, takoyaki has reached Kanto region and other sites in Japan. But, international tourists still always try to find the original Osaka takoyaki.

Takoyaki is ball-shaped snack that is made by batter of flour in a special pan. The filling is usually diced octopus, green onion, tempura scramp (deep fried batter or also called tenkasu) and pickled ginger. If it is not orginal one, they also pour takoyaki sauce and Japanese mayonnaise and also sprinkle aonori (dried green seaweed) and dried bonito flakes (katsuboshi).

At this time, we chose Abenotakoyaki Yamachan that was located in the edge of this museum. 

Very crowded and we should wait in line. First, we needed to buy our order at vending machine. Don’t worry if you don’t understand Japanese! They provided images and price list there. We bought an 8-balls-takoyaki portion and it cost 850 yen. Once you have chosen and paid, the receipt will come out and you’ll need to find your seat. When your order number is called, you may go take your order. If you don’t understand Japanese, you may ask the waiter/ waitress to help you out. Some could speak English a litttle bit.

Finally, we got our order. 

Extremely yummy. Outside is crispy and inside is fluffy. No wonder why people from the entire world end up with takoyaki in Osaka. Because it is bite-sized, most of Japanese eat it in just one bite. 

We can’t do that, truly. Be careful and choose the way you eat it because we finally burnt our tongue. Hahahaha......

One thing for sure that we find interesting is the way how the cook flips the already-grilled-side of takoyaki to the other side. 

They are really amazing. Fast, good in hand and the shape is totally ball-shaped. Because the kitchen is placed beside the vending machine which means in the front side, while waiting in line, we could watch it as attraction and record it.

Here you also can find souvernir shop that sell takoyaki making utensils and Osaka’s souvenirs.

Address                   : 6 Chome-2-61 Shimaya, Konohana Ward

    Osaka Prefecture 554-0024, Japan

    (4th floor of Osaka City Shops)

Opening Hour          : 11AM until 10PM

Website                  : http://ucw.jp/otm/

We eat, we walk, we talk

-FoodyFooty2-

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Japanese for Travelling (Part 3)

On a trip, maybe something unexpected could happen. In this post, we’ll talk about emergency’s vocabularies.

Byouki                                              病気

Ill/ sick

Guai ga warui                                   具合が悪い

My condition isn’t good

Hakike ga shimasu                           吐き気がを します

 I feel nauseous

Atama ga itai                                  頭が病い

Headache

Ha ga itai                                        歯が病い

Toothache

Onaka ga itai                                   お腹が病い

Stomachache

Netsu ga arimasu                            熱があります

Fever

Kega o shite imasu                           怪我を して います

Injury

Isha                                                 医者

Doctor

Haisha                                             歯医者

Dentist

Byouin                                              病院

Hospital

Kurinikku                                         クリニック    

Clinic

Shinsatsu                                        診察               

Medical examination

Ketsuatsu                                        血圧

Blood Pressure

Houtai                                             包帯

Bandage

Kusuri                                              薬

Medicine

Yakkyoku                                         薬局

Pharmacy

Kyuukyuusha                                    救急車

Ambulance

Nyuuin shimashita                        入院しました

Opname

Shujutsu                                         手術

Operation

Ryokou Hoken                               旅行 保険

Travel Insurance

O-isha/kyuukyuusha o yonde kudasai

お医者/救急車をよんでください

Please call the doctor/ambulance!

Tasukete kudasai

助けてください

Please help me!

Ryokou hoken o tsukaemasu ka

旅行保険を使えますか

Can I use travel insurance?

Luckily, on our trip, we didn’t get any significant problems. Only Foody got fever and had to get some rest in hostel. We suggest to buy a travel insurance, especially for backpackers like us, realising that we have tight budget and no extra money for emergency stuff. But please make sure that you read all the terms and conditions. Try to compare the benefit of each policy!

Have fun =)

We eat, we walk, we talk

-FoodyFooty2-

contact and follow us on:

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facebook           : foody footy

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