daily slice-of-life photo blog of a Gen-X dad
While out on my run today, I spotted these roses in someone’s front garden and just had to stop for a photo. 🌹 They are so pretty. Whoever tends that garden is doing a wonderful job.
Time to leave Osaka and head home to Tatsuno. But not before one more good meal. 🍗
River Café specializes in chicken nanban, so of course I had to get the classic set. It was delicious and filling, exactly what you want before a two-hour train ride. Definitely worth a visit, just come early because the line can get long.
After lunch we squeezed in a bit more shopping, including a stop at my favorite store: Muji. I love their clothes because they are simple, good quality, and actually fit me well. This location at Grand Front Osaka had a really cool section with sample home rooms, kind of like IKEA but make it Japanese minimalist. I spotted a pair of shoes that caught my eye and took a photo for future reference.
Then it was time to grab our luggage from the station locker and make the trip back to Tatsuno. Once we got home and dropped everything off, we headed to a neighborhood yakitori spot for dinner and drinks. 🍢 A long day, but a really good one.
We spent a full day in Osaka recently, and it did not disappoint. 🙏
Our first stop was Shitennoji to pay our respects to Mariko’s late grandparents and father. It’s a massive temple complex, and we happened to visit on a flea market day, so the grounds were super crowded. Rows of old dishes, trinkets, and who-knows-what stretched across the courtyard. Mariko and Bay came away with some new dishware. I browsed through boxes of old watches but didn’t find any treasures. It was mostly junk.
From there we wandered over to the Kuromon area for lunch and a little exploring. I did score a new stamp for my collection book, which was one of the highlights of my day. 🗺️
We wrapped things up with more shopping in Namba before meeting Mariko’s mom for yakiniku dinner. The food was great, and by the end of it we were thoroughly full and thoroughly happy. A good Osaka day by any measure!
I went to the theater tonight with a friend to see The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and it was a blast. 🍄 Lots of action, genuinely funny moments, and some fun cameos from other Nintendo characters. Loved it!
A couple of friends told me to grab the sweet corn Turtle Chips from H-Mart, so I finally did. Good call, friends. 🌽 The shape gives them this really satisfying crunch, and the flavor is spot-on – sweet corn, a little creamy, like corn soup in chip form. Excellent!
