Japan Eating Trip Vol I

It's finally time to write about my Japan Trip I had recently after my one week of procrastinating. I've always wanted to go to Japan since I was young but since my parents went there for their Honeymoon, they always pick other destinations instead. After reading lots of blogs about Japan and its food, especially from Grab Your Fork and Tummy Rumbles, it really inspired me to go to Japan. This year, I manage to convince my parents to go to Japan, so it was like a dream come true for me!

Well, this wasn't exactly my perfect version of an eating trip as we were on a tour, and most of the meals are provided by the tour. I did not expect much from tour food, due to previous experiences but this tour certainly did a good job at picking the restaurants. We've got the chance to try variety of Japanese dishes and the quality is also pretty good! Even though we were on the tour, I did not fail to make a list of what I wanted to try if we had the chance to stop by markets/shopping areas.

I think the item I had most often during the trip was Soft Serve Ice cream! It was available everywhere and was perfect for the slightly warm weather we were experiencing.

The first destination was Osaka, and my first meal during the trip was provided by Thai Airways TG622.

Japanese Steamed Mackerel in Miso sauce with Rice. It tasted better than I'd expected!

Welcome to Osaka!

We visited the Minatongawa Shrine and the Kobe Port Tower right after we landed. One thing I really loved about Japan is how clean the country is! The people here are also very polite and friendly.

I'm quite amazed by the varieties of drink available from the vending machine. There are more to come in later posts!

Pokari Sweat, my favorite drink in Japan!
I think they sell this in Bangkok too. Not sure about Melbourne.

While I was at Kobe Port Tower, we spotted this custard at a shop and decided to try it out.

The custard with it's caramel topping

Custard, very rich and smooth! The Caramel topping is slightly bitter, which helps tone down the sweetness from the custard.

Our tour guide informed us tat we were having buffet for lunch, so while we were waiting for the restaurant to open, we decided to try out this Japanese brand burger!

After around 5 min wait, here comes my Cheeseburger, wrapped in a good quality waxed paper.

Oozing cheese! The burger was not bad, but I thought it was slightly too salty and peppery for my liking. I preferred Mos Burger better.

Our lunch is at a buffet restaurant called Fisherman's market which serves variety of Western and Japanese food such as fish and chips, deep fried calamari rings, burgers, sushi, spagetthi, grilled seafood, and desserts. The place was very popular amongst the Japanese too as after about half an hour after the restaurant was opened, we spotted a long queue.

Lunch at Fisherman's Market was better than I'd expected, especially from a tour. I realized Japanese have really big appetite, despite their small sizes!! No wonder they always win the world's eating competition!

Osaka Castle


Interesting Pets I spotted, hope this did not ruin anyone's appetite.

After our visit to the Osaka castle, we checked in at Cross Hotel Osaka. This was my favorite hotel during this trip. Everything was so high tech and the rooms were decorated with a very modern touch. The location was also perfect as it was next to the famous Shinsabashi!

Shinsaibashi!

Osaka is supposedly famous for having Takoyaki in Japan, so I did not fail to try it while I was there.

Grilled Giant Crab Claws

Our dinner for the night was also at a Shabu Shabu restaurant in the Shinsaibashi area. I like Shabu Shabu as it's pretty healthy and it was a good way to increase my vegetable intake for the trip.

This is it for Japan Eating Trip Vol I, Vol II will be coming up very soon!