Osaka and the Best Meal Yet

Our time in the foothills of the Japanese Alps was spent mostly in Takayama, with a fun side trip to the Gifu Prefecture onsen town of Gero, which Ken wrote about a few days ago. Takayama was peaceful, with crisp mountain air and lots of snuggle time, on account of the fact that there's very little to do in a sleepy small town like that. One thing we did enjoy while there was riding Japanese style bikes for the first time. They have built-in locks and large rear-wheel kickstands and nearly every bike we've seen has a basket, another subtle indication of Japanese efficiency, and a stark contrast to all the flashy break-less fixed gear bikes that are everywhere in American cities. Our hosts Amber and Joe, a young couple from Chicago, were super laid back and fun.

We left on Tuesday, and were excited about our first long train ride, a combined length of 4.5 hours on two trains. Again the Japanese rail system impressed- it's simply the most lovely and relaxed way to travel. Food and beer on board, outlets, wifi, super reclining seats, silenced phone policies,.. We have half a mind to leave our last week unbooked (still hammering out the seven days between Okayama in the west and our last weekend in Tokyo starting November 7 when our passes expire) and ride the train whenever we need a nap!

Getting to Osaka was really exciting- it's the city I'd been most looking forward to, and our airbnb stay boasted a rooftop hot tub and sauna. Plus it was my birthday eve! We arrived with minimal trouble, though we took the wrong subway once or twice, and walked the two minutes to the hostel style building where we were greeted by our host, the building manager. Simon showed us around and invited us out for a beer with two other guys who were from San Diego. Our original plan to get settled, do laundry, and have a quiet night was derailed and we joined them. My initial impression, taken from the short walk between the the train and our residence, had been that Osaka, or at least the neighborhood we were in, was full of internationals and younger Japanese people. I was right. We saw more white people in the first five minutes of our walk than I had seen our entire time in Japan thus far. We also saw the first gay Japanese couples walking arm in arm, and tons of mixed race couples, something I probably wouldn't think to comment on had it not been such a rare sight.

After a fairly underwhelming dinner (see Osaka Day 1) we headed back to our spot, only to discover that the hot tub was overflowing with lukewarm water. Foiled by our attempts to enjoy food and amenities, we ventured out again and found a little hole in the wall where no more than five people were sitting at a recessed bar singing karaoke. And imagine our surprise upon discovering that patrons and barmaids alike were all Korean! With more than a modest buzz on, Ken grabbed the mic and belted out "All Night Long" by Lionel Richie, while old drunken men robotically filled in the back up "all night, all night" in quite the monotone. And I'm sure you folks will be as unsurprised as I was to find myself sporting a painful headache on the morning of my birthday.

I tried to shake my nausea all day, bathing in the now piping hot rooftop tub, sweating it out in the sauna, napping in the room, but all to no avail. Perhaps it was this that caused me to have such a strong distaste for the idea of another Japanese dinner, and therein lay the impetus for my brilliant thought. Walking out of a Lawson with a can of hangover cure (most people call it "beer") around 7pm, I saw a beacon of light emanating from a little shop just up the block. Drawing near to it, we saw, like an inscription from the gods, the words "Nepali Indian Restaurant". We went in and our senses were exalted by the smell of curry, the smattering of bright greens, purples and glittering pinks adorning the walls, and our favorite 1960s Bollywood tunes screeching and thumping from a pair of old beat-up speakers. For the tiny price of 1200 yen, 14.60 USD, we ate like kings. Naan the size of a cat, two curries, tandoori, rice and salad, with a mango lassi to wash it all down. It may seem like sacrilege to eat Nepali food in a country so rich and diverse with food options, but it was the best damned Indian food I've ever had, and I'm not sorry!