After loads of walking on Day 1 in Osaka and Day 2 in Kyoto, both Siew Mai and my feet were swollen and hurting.  Nonetheless, we braved the streets and walked some more because, good food MUST be eaten!

The feasting began in the hotel, where we bought instant noodles from the nearby 7-11. How amazing is it?  I bought Santouka's char siew ramen!

The instant noodles comes with a piece of dried char siew, dehydrated plum and fish cake, powdered soup as well as liquid soup base.  The smart thing was that you place the liquid soup base onto the lid so this heats the soup base while ensuring that the lid stays closed.  So smart!  Taste-wise, nothing beats the real thing of course, but it was oh so close.

After breakfast, we headed to Kuromon Market where it's famous for its fresh food, pet shop at the entrance as well as general produce.  There is also a kimono shop that sells 2nd hand kimono on the cheap as well as recycled kimono.  In other words, bags or pouches made from old kimono.  I was tempted but alas, how often do I wear a kimono? I hardly wear my yukata as it is.

We walked right in, and considering how it was 11am, we decided that it's time for brunch.  Nothing says Osaka like Okonomiyaki and Omusoba!

Our omu soba with squid and prawn

The yakisoba in our omu soba was 100 times better than the one we ate the previous day from the festival.

Our okonomiyaki with octopus and prawn. The mayo writes 'M' for Melissa. LOL

Cross section of our fluffy okonomiyaki

 

Walking along the many alleys of Kuromon, I spotted Ootoro sushi!!  It was sold fresh by a fishmonger and you could eat inside the store.  Guess how much we paid for 4 delectable pieces?  Only JPY1,000 (SGD 13)!!!! OMG...was in ootoro heaven...

Walki

Fugu!

A lot of fish in a tank waiting to become sashimi

Walking further on, we spotted a stall specialising in wagyu that had a teppanyaki next to it so that you can buy it, get it cooked and eat on the spot.  Very smart as this was the only store that we saw doing this, meaning that they really are milking the tourist dollar.  We paid JPY680 (SGD8.90) for 100g of wagyu.

Our wagyu being cooked

Nomnomnomnom

I've eaten wagyu bred in Australia before but it pales in comparison to the wagyu we ate at Kuromon.  It was so tender and juicy...you truly understand why wagyu is soooo delicious.  Ok...so, I suppose that the beef and the ootoro sushi should be considered our lunch.  If you want to be strict about meals.  :P

We met the cutest granny in this market.  She was walking her shihtzu and when we started petting the little darling, the granny started talking to us in Osaka-ben (Osaka dialect) and we caught parts such as "Oh, this dog is the friendliest and most people love her! Look...she's now grumbling because she doesn't have the treat."  LOVE how friendly the Osaka people are!  She's our fave Osaka person no. 3.

This is a view of my brother's room. I've taken over his bed!! Wahahhaaha...ok, we've made a compromise. I'll sleep on the floor on the spare mattress on the wkends but the bed is mine on weeknights so that he doesn't disturb me while he's preparing to go for work. I love his down comforter...so soft...so comfy...so warm...will be a stuffy thing in summer I think. Ah well, we'll only know come June/July.


The O2 dome (formerly known as the Millenium Dome) taken from Canary Wharf. I think the pokey things sticking out look rather ghastly, don't you think? This was taken on Saturday when we walked towards the main Canary Wharf area, where the new financial district of London is. Walked past Bank Street, which used to be the Lehman Building. Credit Suisse, Citi, Morgan Stanley and Thompson Reuters are here.

It was really windy and you could see the water move due to the wind. My hair got messed up, face was frozen and underground shopping centres never felt that great until today.

My brother then explained to me that Canary Wharf is privately owned (ie. not owned by the government) and that is why there are security guards (not police) and security checks before vehicles (including public buses) are allowed into the area.

Anyways, that Sat was spent buying my UK mobile SIM card (the queue was terrible), doing a wee bit of window shopping at Selfridges & Co. (its not Miss Selfridge. It's a bit like Takashimaya) and Primark. We also went to Chinatown to get some tofu and on the way there, I spotted a Japanese grocer, so we also ended up getting Okonomiyaki flour, soba, benito flakes, Aoi seaweed and my mentaiko spaghetti sauce. As usual, the Japanese cashiers spoke to us in Japanese since we have black hair and yellow skin.


Now, you must be wondering what this picture above is for. Well, this is the view from my bro's balcony and guess what? This picture was taken past 8pm. Yep...sun still shining brightly and hasn't set.

Tada....my okonomiyaki!! Ums...remember my forgetfulness in taking pictures? Yeah...ate a few bites before I rememberd. =P I even cooked salmon, asparagus and soba yesterday but its all stuck in our tummies. Oops.

Anyways, on Sunday, we went to Spitalfields market as I had blogged about earlier and this building caught my eye. London Fruit & Wool exchange. They actually had buildings like this where people bought & sold fruit and wool. Hmms...interesting. I don't think this building is used for buying/selling fruit and wool anymore. All of that should be bought/sold under commodities (yes, commodities isn't only about oil and cattle).

This is my 3rd time to London and I'm still finding pockets of interesting bits. A bit like how I can live in Singapore for 25 years and still find interesting watering holes. I'll be going over to the London Business School later this afternoon to take part in a survey. The nearest tube station is Baker Street and I am so tempted to go earlier JUST to walk to the fake Sherlock Holmes house as well as visit Madame Tussaud's Museum. But going there alone isn't fun. =(

Will be going over to an electrical shop after the survey to get my monitor cable!! I hope I really manage to find my DVI to HDMI cable. Stupid customer service technician in Singapore should've told me that I needed that kind of cable. Instead, he told me that all I needed was the usual 15-pin head monitor cable, which of course I have. That dumb doo doo. -_- Ah well.

The electrical shop will be near Marks & Spencer's HUGE store at Marble Arch and...*drumroll* they're having a one penny bazaar today!! Special items will only cost 1 penny each and this penny will go to charity! I am SOOOO going there after I hunt down and get my monitor cable. Wish me luck!