Osaka Marathon 2019- Post Marathon @ Nara (2nd December)

I woke up the next morning and went to onsen first. Unlike 2018 when I traveled to Kyoto with my luggage and spent a couple of days there, I've decided that for this trip I'll just explore the rest of Kansai area while I'm based in Osaka. After the whole trip, I realised it's actually not so ideal to do that, but I'll explain more as we go along.

Anyway, I was looking for Komeda coffee place for breakfast and I remember I saw it very near to the hotel but I could not find it as I made my way to the nearest train station. Actually I was being really silly as it was really just next to the hotel but in the other direction. Anyway, I walked around Namba Walk randomly and looked at random stuff till I was so hungry and I could not decide where to have my brunch.

A very good meal of steak and rice

Limited eating seats but full of local

After walking around for a long time, I finally decided on this small eatery filled with local patrons. It's near to lunch time and many restaurants started opening their shutters and got filled with people. When I went to Japan with P in June, we had steak almost everyday and I must say the steaks in Japan is one of the best in the world, its much harder to encounter steaks not cooked well as compared to SG. Anyway, I kind of missed the steak eating now and I decided to just have steak for my brunch. It was really oishi.

The train to Nara

The plan for today is to visit Nara, a world UNESCO site as it's the capital of the country in the ancient times before the capital moved to Kyoto. I did not have the chance to visit Nara during my previous few trips to Osaka and I've decided to do a day trip there since it's a very popular and famous spot in the region. It was already past noon when I finally got to the platform and waited for the train to arrive. Nara is about an hour train ride away from Osaka city. I looked out of the windows in the morning and it was already quite gloomy and drizzling so I knew its not really a good day to visit the deers and the temple.

Everyone crowding around the shop to watch the famous mochi making

I'm amazed by the size and the weight of this umbrella

I'm not sure why it always happened, but the weather always seemed better during race day and then it would start raining once the race was over. Happened to me in Nagoya too. The skies of Nara was really gloomy and dark that day when I arrived in Nara. It was cold and the wind was blowing strong too. I happened to walk to the deer park when the rain subsided a little, I did not bring an umbrella out and it did not occur to me that I should get one in such unpredictable weather. I was on my way to the deer park and the rain came down heavier, I saw a very big space which I assumed was the park and I walked towards it. I had my down jacket with hood to cover myself but the rain poured down harder and I had to seek shelter at a nearby stall selling deer biscuits. The vendor was not really happy as many tourists were doing that as well. Unfortunately, we had no other choice as there was no other sheltered area at the park. Some tourists bought the deer biscuits and the deers were a bit aggressive chasing them, but animals do not really bother me or make me squirm so I was fine with it.

I took some photos but it did not turn out well and I deleted those, so we only ended up with the above two photos for the whole Nara trip. When the rain eased up a bit, I walked back towards the station to get an umbrella from 7-11. It was really lightweight and could even fit into my LV slingbag! I was quite happy with the purchase and I went to the famous mochi shop nearby call Nakatanidou to watch the famous mochi making show. I was quite lucky to arrive there just in time as they do not do it that frequently. I also bought a piece of mochi to try the taste and honestly, it tasted quite similar to those freshly made ones from other stalls. 

Time for desserts before leaving Nara

My trip to Nara was a rather unfruitful one and I decided not to try going to the temple in the rain anymore as it was already close to 3pm. The day was chilly and the wind was blowing strong once we stepped outside. I headed to one of the shops near the train station to get a pick-me-up desserts and drink. I ordered affogato and a cake and I enjoyed these before heading back to Osaka. As the train left Nara, I could see that we left those gloomy skies behind. I was a little disappointed that Nara did not leave any nice memories for me this trip, mostly due to the weather. I wonder if I will be back again?

Passed by Dontoburi lighting up on my way back

Stopped to admire the sunset

I was glad the weather was refreshingly dry by the time I reached Osaka. The sun was setting nicely at 4.30pm and I stopped to take some pictures when I passed the Dontoburi bridge area. I was a little tired from the daytrip though it was good to walk those distance for recovery. I went back to the hotel to wash up and have a early onsen time before heading out for dinner again much later.

My 9 sticks with the cabbage and side dish

The Daruma menu 

The Dos and Donts in English for tourists

I knew that takoyaki and okonomiyaki were famous food in Osaka and I tried those during my first trip there in 2017. However, I've not heard about kushikatsu until I was watching some Youtubers introducing interesting stuff in Osaka. Apparently, this is one food that I should try when I'm in Osaka and I decided to go for it since I was here again. Normally, I'm put off by deep fried food, especially a restaurant with everything deep fried. However, the concept of eating Kushikatsu seems interesting and it seemed like its more like a snack than a proper meal for people to down with nice beer. 

Daruma is a popular place to try this and since it was already close to 9pm, I did not really have to queue to get a seat inside. Kushikatsu are basically fried stuff on skewers, the young servers do not really speak English but they do have English menu as tourists are so so common in this area. The English menu is really important as there are some rules when it comes to eating these Kushikatsu. There are some containers with communal sauce for dipping but strictly no double dipping, so they provided the fresh cabbage to get the sauce like a spoon. I ordered the 9 skewars combo since I'm alone and I did not want to waste food. The food came quite fast and the guy who served me behind the counter actually patiently introduced the items in Japanese and he tried to get another guy to translate into English to me by pointing at the menu. I appreciated their effort and smiled politely. I was not turned off by the oily fried Kaishikatsu so I guess the oil they used was not bad, I actually thought I could finish the 12 skewers combo if I wanted to. I'll recommend anyone going to Osaka to try this as a snack, it's quite fun.