This is the one place that Kap doesn’t mind putting his money into. @_@ Kung ano-ano ang mga binibili nila, NKKLK!

Happiness is going around the streets of vibrant Dotonbori & Shinsekai! <3

The promise of a large serving of karaage & fries (and everything else) at Nihonichi no Kushikatsu Yokozuna beckoned us. Our first venture here a while back was fail because it was filled to capacity. Since we finished shopping late & got there around mid-noon the second time around, we were able to get a table, yay!

I swear, everything was served in GIANT doses. The drinks, the food. Bagay for our foodie fam.. or so we thought! ;)) Make sure to order the extra-large sirloin kushikatsu and the black Iberian pork boned rib kushikatsu at Nihonichi no Kushikatsu Yokozuna. Their kushikatsus (deep-fried skewered meat and vegetables) are three times bigger than the usual size and lives up to their name as being number one in Japan. Too bad we didn’t know then, huhu! So I’m telling you now for future reference.

#Lamna Salad for the GOddess, karaage chicken for the 2 younger giblings, fries for me, and yakisoba noodles for Kap. The heat is on!

Can we take on the challenge??? Let’s find out!

Nipponbashi is an area in the southern Minami district of Osaka that has long been known for its cheap electronics and appliance stores, and has more recently become equally well-known as a center of otaku (or geek) culture. Nicknamed Denki Machi which means “Electric Town” or just Denden Town, this area is Osaka’s answer to Tokyo’s famous Akihabara electronics district.

Along Otaku Road you can find stores selling manga comics, anime music and videos, retro toys and games, cosplay costumes, and collectible models and figures.

You will also see young ladies dressed in French maid costumes at every intersection of Otaku Road who are trying to attract customers to their Cafes. At these cafes, the girls in maid costumes serve drinks, chat with customers and sometimes play games too. Though originally intended for the young male otaku (person obsessed with computers or particular aspects of popular culture to the detriment of their social skills), these cafes have become popular with tourists of all genders. However, they can be very expensive as your final bill is not just for the drinks, or the food, but also for the maid’s attentive service and conversation. Sorry nalang my Babyson, bawal kang pumasok jan!

Every single day nalang in Osaka, we’d spend a considerable amount of time at stores selling these darn Seiko watches. Hindi naman bumibili, panay lang ang compute hay nako. My pet peeve pa naman is wasting time in a store & not buying anything. Ok lang sana yung magtagal sa isang lugar basta may bibilhin diba? Kaso mo tutunganga na nga kami ng pagkatagal-tagal at ilang sagot ng “Oo” na ako sa “anong palagay mo sweetheart bibilhin ko ba” tapos ang kalalabasan Olats lang pala!

Ang winner: the Seiko Prospex watch collection, which is a broad range of sports watches encompassing Seiko’s Kinetic, solar and mechanical movement technologies at affordable prices. Tipong Kap-approved ba. ;)) He was very happy with this 20k php na pangaraw-araw Seiko Prospex 200M Diver Limited Edition Giugiaro Design Quartz SBEE001 Men’s Watch Model: SBEE001- which features Stainless Steel And Plastic Case Silicon Strap Quartz Movement Caliber: 7N36 Curved Crystal Blue Dial Limited Edition Anti-Magnetic Luminous Hands And Markers Day And Date Display Screw Down Crown Unidirectional Rotating Bezel Buckle Clasp 200M Water Resistance. Salamat naman at natapos na rin ang search of a lifetime, hmp!

Abenobashi Terminal Building is a multi-purpose commercial facility in Abenosuji Itchome, Abeno-ku, Osaka, Japan. It consists of the New Annex, Eastern Annex, and a 300-m. tall skyscraper Abeno Harukas where we went up to see the sunset on our last full day in Osaka. Entrance to the 60th floor costs 1.4k Yen (680 php). You can buy your tickets straight from the observatory, or prepay HERE.

As usual, the merch along the way always gets to them, hala pasok!!

We chanced upon this clever store attracting customers to pay a flat fee & you get to try your shooting skills for a goodie. The area is riddled with stores, so in order to up their game, may palaro to attract customers into their shop. As you can see, it doesn’t matter how near or far you fire from -as long as you hit your target, it’s yours. Truth be told, mas mura kung bibili ka nalang sa katabing tindahan hahaha! Sigurado ka pang may maiuuwi.

Zauo Restaurant is a fishing restaurant designed to look like a fishing boat and the tables are surrounded by water. These pools of water are filled with lots of live, swimming fish that you need to catch in order to eat! <3 Cuteness! You can read more about it HERE!

Kap surprised us all by treating us to a Kobe Beef experience at WANOMIYA, which we always pass on our short walk home to our apartment. Address: 1 Chome-5-2 Dotonbori, Chuo, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture 542-0071 | Call +81 6-6212-2933

Wanomiya, located along the Dotonbori River & roughly a 4-minute walking distance from the Namba Station, specializes in serving only the prized Kobe beef & is rated one of the 5 best teppanyaki restaurants in Osaka. The building consists of 5 floors of which the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floors are teppanyaki steak restaurants with counter seats, and the remaining 4th and 5th floors sukiyaki and shabu-shabu restaurants with table seats. We stayed on the 1st floor.

Kobe beef is hella expensive so we got a set menu each as side order to fill us up. The set menu comes free with lunch, but costs Y800 (400 php) each person with dinner. It includes seasonal vegetables, steamed koshihikari rice, soup, and green salad. This is the fresh green salad which was surprisingly tasty –nakakabitin tuloy!

As you will notice, we will definitely NOT be content with just the orders of 180g. Premium Kobe Beef Sirloin (Y10,800/7,800 php) & the 300g. Kobe Beef Red Tender Meat (Y7,050/5,700 php). Ang liit lang! So we had to bulk up with the grilled seasonal veggies.

All seats on the first 3 floors are counter seats so customers can enjoy the live performance by the chef, which is part of the Wanomiya experience. They cook right in front of you & interact with guests.

Kap & the giblings opted for white Japanese rice, but after having tried the fried rice at M’s, I asked for one as well at Wagamiya. Sadly though, walang sinabi ang fried rice ng Wanomiya sa M. Ni wala sa kalingkingan.

Kap’s pitiful face after seeing our bill HAHAHAHAHA! Oh Kap my Kap you never fail to make me guffaw with your theatrics! :-*

Osaka is just so colorful & charming. We couldn’t help but fall in love with this city. My top 3 reasons to visit Osaka? The food is worth going bankrupt for. Ask Kap! Big-city flash, small-town warmth (blends cosmopolitan hipness with country charm). Time-machine trips (you can go from modern to old Japan real quick with just a train hop). \m/

One of the things I’ll greatly miss from our venture in Osaka, Japan? THIS, definitely! ;)) The current state of the art for Western-style toilets is the bidet toilet, which, as of March 2016, is installed in 81.2% of Japanese households. In Japan, these bidets are commonly called washlets, a brand name of Toto Ltd., and include many advanced features rarely seen outside of Asia. The feature set commonly found on washlets are anus washing, bidet washing, seat warming, and deodorization! Saan ka pa? ;P We saw this Hello Kitty trono being sold in Donky & I seriously contemplated on lugging one home, lolz!