Kitchen heaven and Osaka castle

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As we woke to a rainy day on Tuesday we were glad that our planned activities were mostly under cover.

Catching the train we headed to Nama to the giant shopping precinct. We had heard there were many good bagains to be found if you looked in the right places. Our particular interest was the cooking/kitchen precinct. Surprise, surprise. The big challenge was to find the correct street in this rambling rabbit warren of a complex.

We passed shops of many types as we wandered down the main corridor. As in most places here there was plenty of food to be found ranging from traditional Japanese to specialist cake and bread stores and plenty of Maccas. There was also an abundance of stores selling womens clothing, shoes, handbags and other accessories. We wandered into a few of these without much conviction. They were not where we really wanted to be.

The kitchen area was buried deep in the complex, and with the maps of little help it was hard to find. But find it we did. We had to pass through the adult entertainment and gambling section. We had turned back as we thought we couldn't be in the right section, but then decided perhaps we just hadn't gone far enough. So back we went and there it was. Kitchen heaven.

There were stores that sold chef attire, others with everything you need to run a restaurant, others with professional eqipment including knives, pots, pans, mixers, cookers and anything else a professional kitchen reqires, stores with model foods for menu displays and yet others with lots of crockery and tableware. As we said, kitchen heaven. We showed great restraint coming away with only things we could fit into our luggage.

Shopping done and lunch consumed we continued to wander in and out of many stores. In our travals we came across a store selling the 'must try' Osaka octopus balls. We had been told only to buy them if they are freshly made. Here they were freshly made and looking quite delicious so we bought a pack of 8 with a variety of toppings. They were delicious but very, very rich.

The strange thing here is that you don't see people sitting eating in the open. In fact there are very few seats in the open so clearly eating in the street is not encouraged. Like a few others we had to duck down an alley to devour our purchase while it was still hot.

With full tummies and exhausted from all the walking we headed back to the train and home.

Overnight Joan felt that she was coming down with a cold so in the morning we went into a pharmacy. We were after some cold and flu tablets and some panadol. With all the packets in Japanese selecting a purchase was challenging. A picture helped us with a cold and flu solution and the brand Tylenol helped with a panadol equivilent. We must have done OK as our purchases definitely did the job.

Osaka castle was only one stop away on the loop line so getting there was easy. The castle grounds were a huge park filled with autumn colours. Long before we saw the castle we came upon the first moat. It must have been 70 metres wide and had 20 metre high stone walls on the far side. As we stopped for photos Greg spotted an otter swimming in the moat. It appeared to be collecting water weed, maybe for a winter nest. Further along the moat we found a bridge that led to huge gates clad in iron. Past the gate were zig zag defensive walls that took us to the second moat. These guys certainly were serious. The massive walls were constructed of huge stones, many the size of a family car. Finally we got to the castle. Wow it was huge. The interior had been turned into a museum, level 7 had an observation deck. This provided a great view of the grounds and city but in ancient times this would have been a much more serious function. It is not too often that you get to see letters written in 1500. The shogun who built the castle loved gold and had a formal tea room constructed with all surfaces covered in gold leaf. Also many of the castle decorations were golden. These guys were pretty blood thirsty and thought nothing of beheading all their captives.

Now it was time to pack our bags as tomorrow we move on to Hiroshima. Yea, another Shinkansen ride!

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