Off to Kyoto!

We say our goodbyes to Mika and Koichi and thank them for a wonderful (yet short) stay in Osaka.

The next leg of our journey will take us to the reputed and much talked-about city of Kyoto.

After a relatively short ride, we arrive safe and sound.

Even the stairs are cute

Not even out of the train station yet, and we are bombarded with kawaii

Yes we do!

In this city, we decided to book a place to stay through ''Air BnB'' which is a service where hosts can rent out their extra bedrooms, apartments, or even whole houses.
As a patron, you are allowed to search through and filter these places based on your desired locations, price, features, or even previous user reviews.
We made sure to book a place relatively central, and best of all with bicycles!

Our rented apartment was only a couple blocks from Nijo Castle and the nearest train station even closer. A short shuffle a couple blocks over with our bags, and we were home free.

Ground floor and humble

After unloading and reclaiming some energy, we decide to go out for a walk and gather our bearings.

Conveniently, we were also only a few meters away from Sanjo Dori, a major shopping street

It doesn't take long for us to decide we're rather hungry, and we go venturing down an inviting side street.
Anne's watchful eye catches a place that serves one of her favorites: Okonomiyaki

Our chef preparing the delicacy

Very happy to have some crispy fresh food

Custard filled fish. So bad, but so goood

So after our meanderings and some debatable dessert choices on my part, we decide to purchase wine, chocolate, snacks, and chuhai to celebrate our arrival.

Decision-making was further impaired as the night went on.

Anne discovers one of the more useful bonuses to our rental

The last thing I remember

*THUMP*

Mission: Ofuro and Last Day in Osaka

The writing for YU, which means ''hot water''

On my first trip to Japan, I was introduced to the Ofuro, the bath house. They are also sometimes called Onsen or not so commonly, Sento.
They are a hugely important part of Japanese culture dating back since as long as anyone can remember. They are a common fixture in every town, and can be found rather readily when one cares to look.
Going to them has also become somewhat of a tradition for me while I'm in Japan.
This trip is no exception, in fact, there's a new mission.
MISSION OFURO: To visit an ofuro in every city we come through.

First stop, an Onsen in Osaka

This is a layout of the facility in case you lose your way...

Every Ofuro or Onsen has it's own features. At their most basic, they are outfitted with showers, a hot bath, a cold bath, and most often times with a sauna as well.
More and more common these days, you can choose to attend a fancy establishment. These are equipped with a veritable wonderland of different bath types including waterfalls, jets, outdoor pools, 'electric baths', sit down tubs, lay down tubs, saunas with TV and even a cold room with fake snow, if you can imagine that.
These upscale spots will often offer massage, food, and even places to sleep if it's a ''24-hour'' spa.

Needless to say, they can get quite interesting.

Typical showers in an Ofuro

Reading material when you just want to relax after a soak.

Slightly ambiguous machine

One of the more notable features was the ''Below Zero Room''

Kind of weird, right? Made me miss home a little bit. Haha.






Here are some other sights from our last day in Osaka prior to our trip to the Ofuro.

Here is the view from outside our friend's home

Osaka is a very old city which is located near Kyoto.
In older times, Kyoto was the Capitol of Japan, and the seat of the Emperor long before Tokyo.

Because of it's close proximity to Kyoto, there are many graves of Nobles and long dead Emperors located throughout Osaka.
Often times there would be man-made moats dug around the graves to form an artificial island. This was so that the grave or tomb would go undisturbed.
One of these graves was located near the house, and on the island there live many creatures. Some of which are the Japanese ''raccoon-dogs''. tanuki.
Many people walk by and feed the creatures bread and seeds. There are also many ducks and turtles there as well.

Turtles and Tanuki

Japanese people love to plant flowers in the spring - even in the heart of the city

We visit a yaki niku restaurant, where we can grill our own food right at the table -- AWESOME!

YAKINIKU!!

The classic symbol signifying a bath house

Hello Osaka Jo & Good Times at Takamura Coffee Roasting Co.

After our first two days in Japan moving and traveling non-stop, we are happy to be settled for a little bit and do some sightseeing.
Our first mission - Osaka Castle!

However, there are also other matters of great importance to attend to...

 FOOD!

This is 'Ton Katsu' (fried pork)  made with soft-cooked eggs

Anne, Grant, Azu, Mika, Muta

After a quite satisfying meal, we make our way to the next objective.

However, not before another train ride and a ponderous meander through some back alleys and near some sketchy warehouses...

We are not dissuaded by lack of direction, and sure enough, reach the park which is home to Osaka Castle.

The rain comes to meet us as we reach the outer walls

Most of these stones are set as one entire block from one end to another to create huge walls

Colorful Gates

There are many beautiful sights as we walk along the outer moats of the castle.

We spot the castle in the distance

There are samurai clan symbols carved into the stones about the keep

A view from the old looking toward to new

We come upon the splendorous structure and stand in awe

The stones are absolutely huge at the base

We pick our way along the old and worn paths and stairways leading into the center...

The castle grounds cover approximately 60,000 square meters (15 acres)

After taking some time to admire the castle's enormity, we venture inside where a museum is held.

There were many cool things that you were not allowed to take pictures of.

I did anyway.

One of the best highlights was the view from the top...

Once we get our fill, and learn all there is about samurai warfare, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and the construction of castles during 1600 Japan, we make our way down the five stories and back out into the park.

Beauties

Beasts

The rain and wind picked up heavily on our way out the park, so we decided it was perfect time to go inside somewhere cozy.
Of course, being the coffee nerd that I am, I instantly had the perfect place in mind.

TAKAMURA COFFEE ROASTERS!

 A short taxi ride and a quick saunter down an alley, and we come upon a beautiful sight...

A pleasantly reassuring front entrance familiar to my third wave sensibilities

I quickly sum up the place and deem it quite worthy.
Within moments, I am leaning myself over the counter, practically begging for 'one of everything'.

As inviting as it is tasty!

Craft coffee with craft chocolate, well played

Equipped with an ultra sweet Marzocco - they don't mess around

So many beans! Each with it's own profile

All the gear a home brew-thusiast would need

I default to a trusty v60 pour-over and our Barista seems quite pleased about it

Not only does Takamura host splendid coffee, but it has an absolutely enormous selection of wines (for the after party)

Creamy 'tes

Sticky 'spro

Needless to say, at this point I am skipping and jumping around like a child on Christmas morn (not only from the caffeine, thank you).
I dedicate some time to communicating with our Barista in Japanese and English, and he is very excited to find out that I have worked with specialty coffee in California (Verve shout out!).
We spend quite a long time there, and the rest of the gang has to practically drag me out of the building.
But I concede, and we all admit that we are quite hungry after an adventurous day.

We say goodbye to Azu and Muta...

... and off to the grocery store!

Mika prepares an awesome all-in-one style dish

 When we come home, we prepare a bountiful feast. Mika does the main course, and I prepare a western style salad.

She can't help but smile

Koichi takes a break from his all-night work sessions at the radio station to share dinner with us!

As it turns out, for Anne and I it is a special day; it is our anniversary of when we met in Japan 3 years ago. So of course we have bubbly wine!

I'd say we could not have asked for a better day!

We give Mika and Koichi a fitting housewarming present