Tsukiji Market, Osaka, Nara, family dinner…
Like in the last few weeks, on Sunday was impossible for me to write. Therefore now that is Monday, I am at Lilo Coffee near Namba in Osaka. I just had a nice conversation with the baristas, they are really friendly and the coffee, I ordered a flat white, is really tasty and I asked for their Espresso blend which is a bit chocolaty and nutty. it is really nice.
Last week, there were many things I did. Among them, visiting Tsukiji Market where I had an amazing Daifuku and Tamago ( I was at that tamago place last time I was here in Japan and I loved it, I can not remember the name of the shop but you will see it because there is people making line in order to buy it), also walking around and bought some roasted soy beans, we also found a very nice coffee place on the street and they have only coffee to go, there we met a guy who has an aviation company and told us nice stories, mostly about coffee. We also visited a very nice spot in the mountains where you can see mount Fuji (unfotunately it was cloudy and we only saw the beggining of it but could not see the top as it was covered by clouds), followed by a nice walk to a place where we were taught how to make Soba noodles, thank you Akiho for a nice surprised it was really nice. So we made our own, guided by the teacher and also prepared our own mochi. Then they cooked the noodles and served them with nice tempura and traditional dishes from the area. On they day returning to Osaka, I went for a run by the Sumeda river, very early in the morning, I cannot say enough how much I loved it, the sky was cloudy and the skyscrapers were covered on the top by the clouds, it look like they were wearing a puffy jacket. I love when running to look at my sorroundings, this time it was an amazing colletion of different archetectonich styles, I am always so impressed by the buildings here in Japan, the old and the new, even the boring ones. Because there are so many interesting buildings, the boring ones stand out, cause next to them there is some crazy shaped building, so at the end they also look instersting because the contrast they create. I do really enjoy running and it is a very healthy habit.
Going back to Osaka Akiho and I gave some leassons, visited Namba Parks, The Shotengai where I ate the best Soy pudding and, this time the owner gave us for free fried tofu on dashi soup and had a nice conversationg while eating it, definitely a very spacial place I discovered on this trip to Japan. We also visited Sanwa Coffee which is a shop I wanted to go to try their coffee, it was great. There, I also bought 200 grams of a medium roast Guatemalan Coffee which has notes of chocolate, nuts and some grapes, the next mornings I prepared the hand brew coffee at home at Akiho's mama and it was very nice.
On Saturday we met Akiho's Granma and Papa. She did not see her father since many years and the reunion started at the Granma's then we all went for dinner, with all the sisters and kids plus Akiho's Papa and Mama. For me was a very nice experience. I talked with the Papa and Granma, very little cause Aki was translating for me so I did not want to bother much, but still, it was a nice time. Plus they had so much to talk about. The dinner was in a tradiftional restaurant/bar. The food was delicious with traditional japanese lets say like tapas but only japanese dishes ah, and some chinese. That day I finally got my beard trimmed, or most acurate all was gone. It was in a barber near Granma's and the barder did well but went to hard and I got some blood points. It was the right choice cause all the family specially the Father and Granma really liked better my clean look without beard hehe, they made sure they make that point clear.
Yesterday ( Sunday) went for an express visit to Nara, and what I surprise I had. Nara was the first capital of Japan, during the Nara period. It is full of Shinto Shrines and Temples. I was amazed with the main Buhdist Temple called Tōdai-ji and we also visited the shinto shrine called Kasuga Shrine with around 3000 bonze lanterns. Also Nara have many other temples and shrines but we had only few hours to see some. Nara is also very famous because there are many deers roaming around. We bump into many and as you can Imagine I took a lot of photos, at some point I will post some on Facebook and Instagram. At the Buddhist temple there is a huge Buddha which its hand is more then 2 meters tall, so you get the idea how big it is, luckly the Buddha is seating, nevertheless it is a very high building, mostly made of wood, it is really an amazing sight to witness. The place were it stands and the sorrounding garden, I was blown away by the sight and its atmosphere.
After visiting Nara we quickly had lunch and heaeded to the shopping mall in front of Osaka Expo Park where we met one of Akiho's sister and little Yamato, and took the ferris wheel, which is the highest in Osaka and in Japan, so we saw the night city scape where the thousands lights coming from the buildings shine like stars, close enough to see but far away to touch. It was really nice.
Now back to seating in this coffee I am on for my second coffee here while writing this blog. I asked for a black coffee from Ecuador ( hand brew) with more like tea notes and camomille. I hope it is good, hmm, just had the first sip of it, and it is very good.
Take care and see you here next week. I will be writing from Germany already, back to work.
