[atan64]

Originally Posted by steven

Hahahaha, excuse me. I totally assumed you were already in Japan so I made a couple assumptions.

Taking a cab from Kyoto to Osaka would cost a fortune!! If you have a JR pass, go ahead and take trains. If you were already living in Japan you couldn't use a JR pass, so you'd have to buy every train ticket thus making cab travelling a little more economical at times.

I'm having a hard time remembering what I did in Osaka when I was there, but I am willing to bet your best photo opportunity will be at the park where the castle is. Hopefully you'll get to see some fall colors because that will make it even better to take pictures. My favorite shot that I have is of the castle-- I remember I was standing outside of the hall that is in the park (which I think should be a straight shot from the train station... maybe a little bit to your left). I can't remember the name of the hall exactly, but I'm sure it's something like Osakajo koen --something something--. Maybe bunkakaikan or something like that. It's a fantastic place for pictures. If you have a lense that is able to take stable pictures at night, I'd try taking some pictures of the small river near the guriko sign.

For me, though a lot of Osaka was just a big city, so there wasn't a whole lot I was interested in taking pictures of, although I'm sure if you look hard enough there are endless shots you can take.

Okonomiyaki and Takyoyaki aren't even close to fine dining. I have to warn you, though, that some people don't like those very much. I think most Japanese do, though. It is really popular in that region and especially in Osaka.

Takoyaki's main ingredient is octopus, so if you're not into that then maybe just getting some on the street would be a good idea (instead of parkin' it in a restaraunt filled with the aroma of something you might not like).

There are a ton of different kinds of okonomiyaki... even if you don't like most of it there is probably one that you will like, but finding one that suits you in a big old menu might pove difficult. You can get seafood, shellfish, pork, beef, or a mix. It's hard to explain... I think it would be a good idea to check it out on youtube and read up on it. It's hard to compare it to things that we're used to eating. Think of it as pancake batter with a ton of junk in it like cabbage, meat, green onion type things, and a bunch of other stuff. Then you grill it (and it won't get brown like a pancake will). When you have grilled it you top it with a sweet sauce (that is dark) and mayonaise and maybe some bonita flakes or dried ground seaweed like stuff. I've even seen some with mustard on it. Even if it doesn't sound appealing to you, you could be pleasantly surprised. The word "okonomiyaki" basically means like "grill it to your liking" or something to that effect. You pretty much just mix a bunch of junk together and put it in pancake mix and grill it up and put whatever sauce you like on it. You can cook it yourself or have the cooks cook it for you. It is a very social thing, actually. It goes good with a cold beer or soda, in my experience. I've had sake with it and, no offense to okonomiyaki, but it felt like a waste to drink sake with it haha. (I love okonomiyaki and sake, so don't get me wrong).

Edit: Thanks for clearing that up MMM! Sometimes I get worried that I'm completely disregarding English in my everyday life... I never noticed that that sign said "glico", I always just saw the red "グリコ" haha. Also I forgot what Ame-mura was called! I went there but couldn't recall the name.

Hey Steven, thanks for the photo op tips near the castle in the park. I hope to see some fall colors if I'm lucky, however I think it gets better in November from what I hear. I'll be equipped with my DSLR and tripod so I will try and get some night exposure pics.

I love takoyaki! My wife and I first experienced it for the first time about 8-9 years ago at our local Japanese festival we have every year in Vancouver, Canada. We try and go every year to take in the festivities and get a hold of some takoyaki. Now, I haven't tried Okonomiyaki, but now I want to! It looks kind of weird and delicious at the same time I'll be on it for sure when we're in Japan.

Thanks again!