Sunday, April 3rd: Osaka and Namba
Jeff and I went to Osaka Castle to see the Toyotomi Hideyoshi museum. It was crowded, and not set up to for non-native speakers and readers. We met Dan, Erci, and Jonathan at Yodoyabashi and discovered that the Oriental Ceramics Museum was closed for a week to switch to a temporary exhibit of Dutch porcelain. This is becoming very frustrating. So far every national museum has either been closed or had a temporary exhibit we did not want to see in the place of their own exhibit that we do want to see. We consoled ourselves with a pretty ride (¥1880 each) on the Aqua Liner. It will be amazing in a few days when the cherry blossoms peak, but it is still impressive now, especially the middle part where they open the glass top of the boat and let in fresh air, sunshine, and an unobstructed view.
We split up on the way back to the hotel, Erci and I went to the Shinsaibashi Apple Store. It has the same stuff for sale that Apple stores sell in the States, but the store itself is a fabulously designed one. Two stories, glass steps between the two floors, elegant and spacious layout. Then we walked back along the Shinsaibashi and Namba arcades (Ebisubashi) shopping and sampling crab from Kani Dotombori (Yummi desu). We stopped at what we think was Big Camera Osaka (Namba just NE of the Nankai station and Swissotel) and confirmed that prices here are roughly the same as in Tokyo and the States. In Takashimaya the prices on their much smaller selection of cameras was slightly better. We bought two new, more serious looking Kyocera ceramic kitchen knives and some wooden saki cups at Takashimaya, where they automatically did the VAT refund when we showed our passport (saves about 5%).
We love our old ceramic knives, which are just as sharp today as they were five years ago, but we don't like that their medium blue plastic handles and white blades make them look like toy knives. Children who has visited the house handle them with less care and caution than they handle steel knives, which is a bit scary. Also, the old ceramic knives come to a sharp point which is prone to chipping off. The new ceramic knives fix both concerns as they colored the blade to look like carbon steel, and the handle (still plastic) is harder, and nearly black. We hope no one will mistake these very sharp tools for toys. Also, the point is no longer a fine and delicate tip, they now curve the end into a gentle end which should be harder to chip.
We finished the second bottle of Himeji saki and it is still awesome. We must find a U.S. supplier of this stuff. We finished the day with another walk along Ebisubashi arcade at night (thrilling for the crowds and fashion parade) and enjoyed an awesome Indian dinner at Nanak (highly recommended).
We split up on the way back to the hotel, Erci and I went to the Shinsaibashi Apple Store. It has the same stuff for sale that Apple stores sell in the States, but the store itself is a fabulously designed one. Two stories, glass steps between the two floors, elegant and spacious layout. Then we walked back along the Shinsaibashi and Namba arcades (Ebisubashi) shopping and sampling crab from Kani Dotombori (Yummi desu). We stopped at what we think was Big Camera Osaka (Namba just NE of the Nankai station and Swissotel) and confirmed that prices here are roughly the same as in Tokyo and the States. In Takashimaya the prices on their much smaller selection of cameras was slightly better. We bought two new, more serious looking Kyocera ceramic kitchen knives and some wooden saki cups at Takashimaya, where they automatically did the VAT refund when we showed our passport (saves about 5%).
We love our old ceramic knives, which are just as sharp today as they were five years ago, but we don't like that their medium blue plastic handles and white blades make them look like toy knives. Children who has visited the house handle them with less care and caution than they handle steel knives, which is a bit scary. Also, the old ceramic knives come to a sharp point which is prone to chipping off. The new ceramic knives fix both concerns as they colored the blade to look like carbon steel, and the handle (still plastic) is harder, and nearly black. We hope no one will mistake these very sharp tools for toys. Also, the point is no longer a fine and delicate tip, they now curve the end into a gentle end which should be harder to chip.
We finished the second bottle of Himeji saki and it is still awesome. We must find a U.S. supplier of this stuff. We finished the day with another walk along Ebisubashi arcade at night (thrilling for the crowds and fashion parade) and enjoyed an awesome Indian dinner at Nanak (highly recommended).
