Osaka, Japan
17th April 2023, the day we finally went to Japan after two years of planning and buying tickets. Previously I and my sister haven’t been out of South East Asia, so we were very excited. Also it was Japan. My mom got tickets way back in 2020-ish when the pandemic was still fresh, hence the cheap flights, about 300usd/5.5million IDR for round trip with included baggage. I met my family at the airport as I was already staying in Jakarta to attend university. So at about 10pm we reunited, there we also met some other people for the first time, as we were travelling in a rather big group. I only knew one of the families, as he was also present when we went to Labuan Bajo the previous year. The other two families were his Jogja friends.
Our flight was through manilla for layover, as we took the Philippines airlines. So at about midnight we boarded the plane and embarked on a 4.5 hour flight to manila where we could chill, where in reality we just wanted to go directly to Japan without any stops.
I got the window seat, but it was worthless as we were just flying through the dark night. The moment we were approaching Manila however, due to the time difference of +1 hour, dawn started to break. The sky turned a soft violet color with a tint of yellow around the sun’s direction.
When we exited the airplane, due to the very small size of the immigration area, it looked very full and jam packed, to the point where some of the late comers had to wait outside.
Here we literally just waited, until the next flight, which was headed to Osaka, Japan which was at 8am local time, it was kinda boring as the airport had nothing to offer, was small and full, which meant, we were standing up for most of the time. The flight from Manila to Osaka was also about four hours. So we arrived at Kansai Airport at about 1pm, another +1 due to time difference. We got out the airport at about 2/3pm, I don’t quite remember the specific details. Also when entering Japan, filling out an online form for the QR codes is highly recommended to speed up processes during arrival (visit japan web). Once we got out, the adventure begin. We took the metro line from the airport to the city, which caught me off guard as we were above the sea at one point.
No one picked us up here as we were trying out the online based tour guide. How this worked, is that the tour guides are on standby via whatsapp, so when having any questions asking them directly in the whatsapp group and getting a reply instantly is how we rolled. Also a detailed itinerary was provided, consisting of where to go, which mrt line to which platform to take. So we ventured through the metro lines of Osaka to find our hotel, which was located around Shinsaibashi shopping alley. When we exited the underground metro, we were greeted with the vast skylines and clear roads, also the fresh cool air as the temperature and weather was relatively cold, Spring.
We got to the hotel at about 5pm, and luckily right in-front of the hotel there was a 7-11, so I knew I had to rush there to try the authentic Japanese onigiri. I got the tuna mayo filling and kid you now, it is SO MUCH BETTER than the ones we have in the Indonesian convenience stores. The ones in Japan are so well preserved, meaning the rice isn’t too dry and the filling is generous. My mom reminded me to not eat a lot as we were going to directly go out to have dinner at Shinsaibashi.
So after checking in the room, and resting up a bit, we all gathered down at about 6pm to set out walking to Shinsaibashi. It was a long alleyway with shops from normal GU and uniqlo stores all the way to Air Jordan, Nike, and some luxury brands. IT WAS PACKED. There were so many people, and it felt so lively. Something about being in a foreign country where you don’t speak the language yet you still feel at home. Various kinds of snacks on the left and right. As we walked deeper into the streets, an open, bright bridge area came into my sight.
Dotonburi! It was the infamous Glico man billboard surrounded with many many other billboards.
After a while of strolling, we were asked to gather to have dinner. We were aimed to eat at a very well known restaurant in all of Japan, Gyukatsu Motomura. Despite being relatively early, we still had to wait for about an hour as the place can only seat a few dozen people at once. So once we got seated we were HANGRY (Hungry angry lmao). Ordered the 1.5 cutlet set. Stone stoves came along with the food set.
Rice, miso soup, pork cutlet, sauce, and mochi came in the set. This was the only menu they had, other orders were just side dishes or different sizes, but in all this is what they sell. Still raw and relatively frozen the cutlet is served to you, with the stone stove so you can cook it to your liking. As I placed one of the cutlet pieces on the stove, a loud sizzling sound filled the already busy area, steam started to float into the air. When I thought it was ready to be eaten, I took a bite of it and DAMN! The tenderness of the meat was no joke. Add their signature sauce and it got even better.
I’m one who tends to eat fast, so I quickly finished the meal, the rice, the miso soup, they were all good. (You might be asking how rice can be different, but real rice eaters know what I’m talking about). It was time for desert, so I tried the peanut dipped mochis and again DAMN! They were so soft and chewy, the sweet taste also replenished our tired bodies after a day of being trapped in the plane cabin. When finishing our meal, we are expected to leave ASAP to let other people use the table, so respecting their culture we did so and did more strolling around.
We have eyed on these strawberry mochi since the moment we laid eyes on them. So ending the day with them sounded really good. Japanese deserts, Japanese food really is good. The mochis were a perfect texture paired with the big, juicy strawberries. Also they were chilled, sooo… even better.
We ended the day pretty late on the first day, so we made sure to get a good rest. As for the next day it was going to be a rather long day, A day trip to Kyoto.