This past weekend was a three day holiday for us, and we did our best to make the most of it. We started off on Friday night, meeting in Osaka after work to have dinner with Chiemi at an Italian restaurant in Tenma that she recommended.
We arrived in Tenma a little early, so we decided to go catch a quick drink at a nearby bar while we waited. Tenma is a great area to hit old, traditional Japanese bars. It wasn’t hard to walk ten steps from the station and duck under a curtain into a busy standing bar filled with old Japanese guys drinking after work. The walls were covered with posters of beer girls – bikinis and bottles – and the walls and ceiling were darkened with grease from decades of fried foods. We ordered two beers and some gyoza, and soaked up the culture.
After meeting Chiemi at the station we moved to the restaurant, just about five minutes walk. The place was run by one guy, and he cooked, served the wine, and kept up conversation with us while we sat around eating and drinking. The food was good – especially given the location. The main recommended course was the panini sandwiches, and they were indeed quite tasty. One was made with a really nice Camembert cheese, olives and ham. We liked the food but it wasn’t groundbreaking, but it was a nice place to meet, sip wine, and catch up. We didn’t eat so much at the restaurant, however, and we ended up snacking on some Korean salad and other goodies when we got home.
Saturday we went into Osaka to attend a craft beer festival near Osaka castle with Yoshi and Mamiko. We got there early to have some lunch at a Mexican restaurant that I found, called El Zocalo Burrito. We found it easily enough in Yotsubashi, and I ordered a big carnitas burrito. It was surprisingly good and tasted the same as a burrito from a California Mexican restaurant. I was very impressed. At almost 1000 yen it is not an everyday meal, but it was the best Mexican I’ve ever had in Japan (except for our own Mexican dishes, of course!) Kuniko ordered a chicken and cheese quesadilla that was surprisingly made with a corn tortilla, and it was OK, but I think this place is all about burritos. I’m sure we’ll be back someday.
Next we walked across town to burn some calories before the main beer event. We walked for almost an hour, but we picked a bad day to do it. Although the weather forecast said rain, it was clear, hot and humid. By the time we got to the train station at Osaka castle we were pretty sweaty. Luckily cold beer was at hand.
The event was very similar to other craft beer events that we have attended in Osaka. We received a glass and ten tickets. The tickets could be exchanged for beer or for food, and there were plenty of stands so that the waiting time wasn’t long. We scouted out some space under the nearby trees, and Yoshi even had brought little mini-stools to sit on. We settled in and did some serious eating and drinking.
I really liked most of the beers I tried, with the exception of one pale ale that I had that was apparently sweetened. Everything else was quite good. With ten tickets you had to really think about the best way to use them. Ten beers is a lot of beer for one person, so balancing the beer with the food became important strategy. Yoshi and Mamiko were full of laughs as usual, and we really enjoyed spending time with them.
But wait, that’s not all! Mamiko had heard about a “night market” – with entertainment and world foods, so we started walking that way after we finished at the beer festival. On the way there we stumbled through a Chinese festival where a strange Chinese guy insisted on taking pictures together. The Chinese festival seemed like fun but the target was Chinese people – so we continued on to the night market.
There were lots of things going on at the market – it was lively and the music and entertainment was pretty unusual. We ate shorompo from a very disorganized food stand, and drank more beer. The weather was absolutely perfect, and the promised rain never came, so this turned out to be a good stop.
Finally, we wrapped things up and went our separate ways, but it turned out to be a busy and alcohol-soaked day.
We were pretty tired on Sunday, but Kuniko had to go to work. I spent the day lounging around the house and cooking dinner. I made a pork roast with vegetables, and also some big beans that my folks had bought from Rancho Gordo in Napa. Everything turned out great, and we had a big dinner with wine and cocktails – yum.
Finally on Monday we decided to abort our plans for a long walk to Akashi. so we instead went by train to do some shopping. We got enough supplies to keep us in cheese at least through the middle of the week, and then we went home to relax and lounge. I squeezed in an afternoon nap, and then we watched “Money Monster”, an interesting take on American capitalism.
Even though I had taken an afternoon nap I couldn’t resist going to bed really early in the evening. This weather has cooled down enough that I can sleep soundly again. Apparently I needed the sleep – I went to bed around 7 pm and slept soundly until the next day. All rested and ready for the week!
