Our hotel in Osaka, the Granvia by one of the main train stations, was pretty fancy. It's the first time I've ever seen the toilet's control panel in the bathroom wall instead of on the arm of the toilet.
I also really liked the heated mirror, which kept the central area clear no matter how steamy the bathroom got.
Our first destination was Tsūtenkaku Tower:
The area around the tower is a seedy but vibrant neighborhood, where tourists and locals mix and aggressive restaurant owners troll for business.
There were lots of oversized statues and models adorning the shops and restaurants.
The most prominent was the mysterious Billiken. He's the one in the middle:
Web searches reveal that the Billiken ("The God of Things As They Ought to Be") was created in 1906 and eventually became a mascot for St. Louis University; it somehow became adapted as a symbol of Osaka, for reasons that remain murky. Suffice to say that the guy was everywhere.
As we waited in a long line inside the tower for the elevator that would take us up to the top, we snaked past various amusements designed to distract us from the tedium of the wait. Most of them involved the Billiken.
I am a Billiken. Erma is not a peanut. The reason not-a-peanut Erma is saying "No double-dipping!" will become apparent soon.
After we'd taken in the views of Osaka from the top of the tower, and were ready to go back down, we noticed a huge crowd gathered around the elevators. After a few moments we realized that they weren't waiting to go down; rather, they were waiting for someone to come up. Most had cameras or cell phones at the ready. When the elevator doors opened, bright lights seemed to erupt from nowhere, the crowd surged forward in excitement, and an entourage emerged. It was nearly impossible to tell what was going on, or to get a good view of the presumed celebrity. I managed these two photos:
I think, but I'm not sure, that it's the short older man who is the center of attention. Can anyone identify him by looking at the back of his head?
Back out on the street, it was time for dinner. The local specialty is kushikatsu (串カツ), deep-fried skewered food. Kushikatsu look more or less like this, only thousands of times smaller:
Almost anything can be cooked as kushikatsu: chicken, fish, mushrooms, and so on. They're greasy and heavy, not at all like tempura.
Not-a-peanut Erma was in fact a kushikatsu. Kushikatsu are dipped in sauce before they are eaten. At the restaurants in the area, giant communal vats of sauce are left at the tables or on the counters. This is the reason for the oft-encountered no double-dipping admonition.
I have to say, well-behaved Japanese people or no, I found the whole system disturbingly unhygienic. Who knows what's gotten into those vats? Who knows when they were last cleaned and filled with fresh sauce? Ugh.
Two pictures from the Dōtonbori of Osaka the next day. I like the way the color of Erma's umbrella matches the color of the giant moving crab.
Look! It's Kang and Kodos. In Osaka!
I am a Billiken. Erma is not a peanut. The reason not-a-peanut Erma is saying "No double-dipping!" will become apparent soon.
After we'd taken in the views of Osaka from the top of the tower, and were ready to go back down, we noticed a huge crowd gathered around the elevators. After a few moments we realized that they weren't waiting to go down; rather, they were waiting for someone to come up. Most had cameras or cell phones at the ready. When the elevator doors opened, bright lights seemed to erupt from nowhere, the crowd surged forward in excitement, and an entourage emerged. It was nearly impossible to tell what was going on, or to get a good view of the presumed celebrity. I managed these two photos:
I think, but I'm not sure, that it's the short older man who is the center of attention. Can anyone identify him by looking at the back of his head?
Back out on the street, it was time for dinner. The local specialty is kushikatsu (串カツ), deep-fried skewered food. Kushikatsu look more or less like this, only thousands of times smaller:
Almost anything can be cooked as kushikatsu: chicken, fish, mushrooms, and so on. They're greasy and heavy, not at all like tempura.
Not-a-peanut Erma was in fact a kushikatsu. Kushikatsu are dipped in sauce before they are eaten. At the restaurants in the area, giant communal vats of sauce are left at the tables or on the counters. This is the reason for the oft-encountered no double-dipping admonition.
I have to say, well-behaved Japanese people or no, I found the whole system disturbingly unhygienic. Who knows what's gotten into those vats? Who knows when they were last cleaned and filled with fresh sauce? Ugh.
Two pictures from the Dōtonbori of Osaka the next day. I like the way the color of Erma's umbrella matches the color of the giant moving crab.
Look! It's Kang and Kodos. In Osaka!
The celebrity is Sarah Palin. Clearly.
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