Day 11 - Osaka Aquarium and Kobe Dinner

Highlights

- Penguins, Dolphins, Sea Otters, Whale Sharks, and Porcupine Fish at the Osaka Aquarium.  Felt like a child again!
- Kobe beef dinner in Kobe.  So worth the bruise to the wallet.
- Osaka full of young people opening shops their way, and doing it well.


For those who don't mind my gregariousness

Happily, Tania and I changed our plans today from going to Hiroshima, Himeji, and Kobe, to staying in the hotel room while it rained and lazily making our way to the aquarium, possibly followed by dinner in Kobe, which is 15 minutes away via the bullet train.

First off, though, I need to comment on Osaka.  It got a bum wrap by everyone we talked to before getting here, and I need to counter those arguments.  Our hotel is tucked away in a corner of the ritziest part of town I can imagine, with Hermes and Tiffany across the street from us, yet our room was very affordable.  Even though it's just as small as our room in Tokyo, it's designed better so that we have room to store our bags and to sit at a desk while staying connected on our new Macbook Pro.  Much less cramped feeling than our last western-style hotel room.  So one point for Osaka.

Next, it's ritzy.  Even though the people seem a little cocky about their high fashion and plethora of trendy shops and restaurants, they're still Japanese, meaning they're still very hospitable.

Lastly, it seems like since it's such a booming and young town, all of the younger people are opening shops and restaurants on their own, and doing it their own way.  We had a great Japanese curry dinner at a hole in the wall in a tucked away alley.  Nothing fancy, but once you get in there, you feel comfortable and entertained.  And the food was incredible.  Authentic and tasty.  We had lunch today at a similar type place that was even better, and obviously run by two buddies looking to be their own bosses.  I loved how capable this city allowed it's youth to be to make their own opportunities.

So, onto our doings.  After spending the morning staying out of the rain, taking mid-morning naps (me), and organizing our entire music collection on the laptop and on our iPod (Tania), we had lunch then rode the subway over to the aquarium.  Boy was that worth the trek.  Sea otters, dolphins, dinosaur-looking fish, whale sharks, giant crabs (the largest in the world, attacking Tania to the right), penguins, jellyfish, etc.  It had it all.  No wonder it's said to be one of the best in the world.  I don't remember ever going to an aquarium in my life, but Tania has many times, and happily supports this claim.  I felt like a kid again snapping more pictures than I ever should of, but man, these beasts of the Pacific Ocean are worth a full memory card.

Some shots below for your enjoyment.

After the aquarium, we ran over to Dotombori, which was an American-influenced snoozefest.  So we walked up to the street to the subway station to catch a high speed train ride to Kobe, which is about 15 minutes away.  Once in Kobe, we walked out the train station, looked up to our right, saw the Crown Royal hotel standing a stone's throw from the station, and headed over to the third floor of the hotel's lobby shopping complex for Wakkoqu, a fine steak house recommended by Lonely Planet (which without shame has given us innumerable quality recos).  After contemplating for a few minutes whether the exorbitant prices were worth the meal, and the story of having the meal in Kobe, we decided to give it a try.  And boy are we glad we did!

We sat at a Bennihana-style table with seats surrounding us, and a pristinely cleaned cooking surface in front of us.  Since there was no one else in the entire restaurant, we had an entire staff waiting on our beck and call.  A nice Beaujolais + a kobe tenderloin for Tania + a kobe sirloin for me + perfectly grilled and spiced vegetables + a genuinely pleasant staff + and a deserved sense of celebration = a storied meal for the newlyweds.  We'll remember this one for a long time.

And what better to do after an incredible (and overly filling) meal?  Fall asleep on the empty train home, of course.  (and of course, I have to post a picture below)

Off to Hiroshima early tomorrow.  Honestly this time; we have tickets for the 8:36 shinkansen.  Not sure what it's going to be like to stand on the ground of one of the most horrifying events in history will be like, but I know it will be intense to say the least.