Eat Until You Drop, Swim Until You Drown at Dotonbori?

I'm behind the times, but I was catching up on news at Kansai Scene and just read there are plans to turn Dotonbori canal into a swimming pool. Whaaaaat?

The 'glittering' waters of Dotonbori...

...Transformed into 'Pool Dotonbori' (Image source)

Apparently Osaka's plan is to transform the canal into the world's longest swimming pool, to be called Pool Dotonbori. They hope to have it completed in time for the area's 400th anniversary in 2015.

The idea, while pretty epic, perplexes me. For one thing, Dotonbori canal is filthy. It has traditionally been somewhat of a headache for the Osaka City Council thanks to the legendary activity known as the 'Dotonbori Dive', in which drunk Osakans challenge each other to leap into the murky waters, especially after baseball games. Participants have been repeatedly warned of the toxic nature of the canal - according to the Council, there are 28 sewer outlets dotted along the river. Breathe it in, kids.

And why are they trying to transform Dotonbori - historically an area of shenanigans, vice, and self-indulgence - into a wonderland for watersports? It goes against everything Dotonbori represents. The catchphrase for Dotonbori is kuidaore, or eat until you drop. It is Japan's foodie destination. It is home to takoyaki and okonomiyaki. You're not supposed to swim after you eat at the best of times, so why would you put a swimming pool in the middle of a place where you are supposed to EAT until you DROP?

Glico Man, you athletic bastard. I bet this was all your idea.

The Only Blonde in Osaka in the Otago Daily Times

Today an article I wrote about Osaka was published in the travel section of the Otago Daily Times. It talks about some of my favourite places in Osaka that have been featured in past blog posts, like Dotombori, Amerika mura and Shinsekai.

You can read the article online here or after the jump...

Shopping in Shinsaibashi

Shinsaibashi-suji, located in the Minami/Namba area, is easily one of Osaka's best shopping locations. The covered shopping arcade runs for about 600 metres, and contains a mix of cheap chain stores, high end brand names, boutiques, restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops, and traditional Japanese shops. It's become a tradition for us to go shopping in Shinsaibashi on Thursday afternoons, and even after all these months, we've still never managed to reach the very end.

One entrance to Shinsaibashi-suji

Shinsaibashi-suji looks out onto Dotonbori canal, with all its famous neon billboards

I like it because you can find all of your favourite shops on the one - albeit very long - street. Here are some of my Shinsaibashi faves.

Starting from Dotonbori canal, first we have H&M, which is made up of two buildings on each side of the street - the building on the right has about four floors of women's clothing, while the building on the left has two floors of women's clothing, and one of men's. H&M is cheap, trendy, and always jam-packed with bargain hunting girls in the weekends. The lines for fitting rooms have to be seen to be believed.

One side of H&M

Next up we have crepes-and-tapioca-drink vendors. There are two things I associate with Shinsaibashi-suji: the sound of classical music (for some reason they play it loudly through speakers), and the smell of crepes wafting down the arcade. Japan is obsessed with crepes, and the latest craze in beverages are tapioca drinks (milky flavoured teas with tapioca pearls in them), which are often sold with crepes. One vendor we always walk past is Crepe Ojisan, and the sweet smell of crepes, and the variety of delicious fillings - custard, caramel, banana, anyone? - are hard to resist.

Ryan gets his fix of crepes

A bit further down the street is a three-storey Hello Kitty store, which is impossible to miss, unless you are colour blind to pink. There are no words, really. Just PINK. I like to fantasize about what it would be like to have a Hello Kitty themed apartment, and apparently some people actually do. Last time I walked past there was a Hello Kitty air conditioner being advertised - like, the air conditioner was Hello Kitty's head, which would turn from side to side as it pumped out the air. Perfectly respectable.

So apparently it's called 'Sanrio Gallery', but I'm sticking with Hello Kitty store.

A clothes shop I really like is a chain store called 'Spins' (スピンズ), which is one of those shops that is so full of clothes and accessories that there's not much room for actual customers. You have to go up a little staircase to get to it, and they've even tried to cram clothes on the staircase railing. It's exciting. The style is very funky. Cool things I can remember include a handbag with piano keys on it, a miniskirt with bright red and green peppers, lots of fake glasses, high heel sneakers, tattoo print tights, a unicorn t-shirt, and earrings in the shape of various fruits.

Spins in Shinsaibashi. It's crazy.

There is also a 'KitKat' store. Now, I mentioned in my last post about how it is our mission to collect as many Japanese KitKats as possible, so when I first saw this shop I got really, really excited. Unfortunately, they only ended up selling ONE type of KitKats (green tea flavour), and the rest of the stock was other types of candy and snacks. If you have a sweet tooth it's still worth a visit, but I think KitKat lovers have a reason to feel cheated... false advertising much?

KitKat fanatics will be disappointed, but still worth a look.

Finally, at the end of our Shinsaibashi shopping expeditions, we usually treat ourselves to make-your-own frozen yoghurt at a shop called Partyland. This shop isn't quite in Shinsaibashi-suji - you have to cross the Dotonbori canal where Shinsaibashi-suji turns into another shopping arcade, Ebisubashi-suji, and Partyland is located at the end of that. At Partyland, you take a cup, and get to fill it with as much frozen yoghurt as you can eat (or afford - you pay per weight), with over 10 flavours to choose from. My faves are Okinawan lemon and coconut. Then you take your cup to a counter, where you can cover your frozen yoghurt in toppings and sprinkles - bits of cake, gummi bears, fruit, jelly, cornflakes, you name it. Then you weigh and pay. It's easy to get a bit carried away. It's awkward when it ends up being about $10 each time... but no regrets.

Partyland. A love affair.

So there we have Shinsaibashi, a place where I spend a lot of time, energy and yen.

Dotombori and Takoyaki Everything

I have been living in Osaka for exactly one month, and as each day passes I am feeling less like a tourist. This is a good thing - I have adapted to Japan and my new lifestyle; things aren't so different and strange anymore. I've (almost) stopped taking photos of every meal I eat. I don't feel the need to buy a drink from every vending machine I walk past. And as the university workload increases, I'm finding myself spending more time in my apartment studying than rushing off to go sightseeing.

But I miss the excitement of those jam-packed early days. It's too easy to forget that you are living in one of the coolest, biggest, liveliest cities in the world. So, today, I decided to try and experience Osaka like a tourist again. And this meant eating takoyaki at Dotonbori.

Kani Doraku moving crab sign at Dotombori

Osaka is known as Japan's kitchen, and Dotombori is where you'll find all the chefs hard at work. It's a long, narrow street consisting entirely of restaurants, takoyaki stands, and souvenir shops. It is rough-and-ready, loud and slightly sleazy. Workers from each restaurant stand on the street bellowing out welcomes, thrusting menus into your hands and imploring you to come inside. Dizzyingly bright neon signs and lanterns scream 'okonomiyaki', the region's specialty dish. There must also be some host clubs in the area, judging from the numerous groups of young men in suits with overly styled hair hanging around - but I haven't chosen to experience this side of Japanese culture just yet...

Takoyaki: 6 for 380 Yen

Because of its fame as one of Japan's top food destinations, a lot of the restaurants at Dotombori are quite expensive. So my favourite thing to eat is takoyaki, the ultimate in Osakan comfort food. Ubiquitous, and cheap as chips. I love hearing the sizzle of the batter in the pans, watching the artful way in which the chef uses a toothpick to flick the balls around to cook each side. I love the deep purple of the octopus tentacles, and the knowledge that my ten-year-old self would have never dreamed of eating them. And I even love that eye-watering roof-of-the-mouth burn that you will inevitably get from eating straight-out-of-the-pan takoyaki too quickly. As I write this post, my tongue is still a raw, blistered mess. It was worth it.

Tako (octopus) and takoyaki being cooked in the special pans

After feasting on takoyaki, we popped into a souvenir store and came across another treasure: a takoyaki flavoured soft drink, called 'Takoyaki Ramune'. 'Ramune' comes from the word 'lemonade'. Who wouldn't want to try a fizzy octopus-lemonade drink?

Takoyaki Ramune in all its glory.

One sip was enough.

If I had to describe the taste of Takoyaki Ramune, the closest thing I could think of would probably be carbonated smelly socks. It was rather unpleasant. I'm so disappointed, because I thought takoyaki in liquid form would be the best thing ever... Oh well. The good news is, there is also Curry Ramune, Wasabi Ramune, and Kimchi Ramune left to try. Yum.

Curry or kimchi flavoured soda, anyone?

 Dotombori and takoyaki = success. I feel as accomplished as the Glico Man.

Famous Glico Man sign at Dotombori