Oh Yeah Osaka!

I just love Osaka. Tokyo has its interests for sure, but for me, it's all about the smaller cities in Japan and Osaka has a lot to offer. It's smaller, less uptight, more child friendly, and definitely foody. So when we fly into Osaka, it's mostly menu that we're thinking about.

First off, it's the home of Takoyaki, octopus balls! It's a kind of batter fried in a special pan (like a poffertje pan), each ball about the size of a ping pong ball, and each with a bit of octopus in it. Morning noon or night, you get 6-9 of them depending on the joint and toothpicks as forks. They're drizzled in mayo, brown sauce, bonito flakes and powdered seaweed. They're like molten lava when you get them so you have to time it just right- too quick, bye bye tastebuds, too slow and they lose pizazz. And really no one wants a tepid ball in their mouth.

Osaka is also home to certain varieties of Okonomiaki, or Japanese stuffed pancake. I've waxed lyrical about them before, they are effen great and we have our favorite spot that we've now hit on 3 separate trips, Suke Okonomiaki. I'm not sure it's the 'best in town' or anything, but it's a small place with a great relaxed vibe and always the same woman manning the teppan table. She also makes a winter stew that is to die for and serves the other usual suspects of snacky foods, yakisoba, gyoza, edamame, etc. It's in a part of town that we always forget exactly where it is so we have to fan out and shout in the cross streets when someone finds it. And somehow, the sidewalk out front has like a kid vortex or something, both times Hopper has been there he's had an intense fascination with the nearby doors, plants, and signs. Hm?

We stayed on the main road at Shinsaibashi across from the subway station, so we were super close to food, shopping, and transport. Since we were really only there for a day, our plan was to check out a couple favorite kids stores, wander around the cute shopping streets and grab a few handy things at Tokyu Hands like a drinking bottle for Hopper (since he lost his at the train station) and a sesame grinder for soups and so. (And can I just say that I looove Tokyu Hands. They have everything! It's like a spiffy amped up Target type of shopping- it's very easy to walk out with 100 bucks of stuff not on your list.)

And of course we had to visit the kids park in Americamura, only to find that it was full of blooming sakura trees! Oh the joy!

Quick stop, on the bus, hop, off to Kamiyama! Hai!

Our spot! Lucky to sit outside after the day's rain showers

Happy man with belly full of okonomiaki!!

The people opposite Hopper inside the doors had a toddler boy with them, they played a lot of games through the glass and then shunned each other face to face outside

Tuckered out little dude! (This is considered an "apartment". What you see here is almost half the space. The rest is econo-kitchen with small dining table and separate shower/toilet area. Tiny!

Had to go back to Dotombori to show H the big crab (sorry, photo was a bit of an afterthought, but there it is)

For some reason, this canal makes Hopper buzz out. He's had melt downs both times he's been here. This is recovery mode discussing how the turtle wasn't going to wait for him to stop crying at the top of the stairs. So he pretends not to care. And we walk on hoping we haven't "lost face" as parents.

The Howl and Sakura!

a slide revisit 1 1/2 years later. still fun!

just chillin in the park while the kids play

Birthday Week Whoohoo!

Nik's birthday is Feb 25 and mine is March 5 so every year we celebrate Birthday Week all the days in between. Now that we have a small child those days tend to not be different than the rest of the year but the sentiment is there and it provides the perfect excuse to eat special meals and at random intervals, shout, "Birthday Week! Whoohoo!"

It's also part of it that the birthdays of 3 aunts, a brother-in-law and my dad fall in that time and a niece and my brother in the following couple days. Bunch of fishy lot we are! (And this doesn't even count friends!)

For Nik's celebration, we had ladybug cake at home with Nik's dad and little brother Jori. (Hopper chose the cake of course, no surprise there, it was eye height for him at the nice bakery and he pointed at it immediately.) For mine we went to get Japanese at one of our favorite spots, the proverbial icing was that they had avocado ice cream! It has been a dream of mine for years and it lived up to my hype, a little tropical, a little nutty, and all sorts of creamy. Heaven!

But the real gift was a special surprise party. I thought I was organizing a party for the Saturday but Nik, the cheeky sneaky man, organized my lovely friends on the Friday to gather at a restaurant under the pretense that we were dining with besties Ralph and Jo to belatedly celebrate his day. At one point the jig was nearly up and the suspicion reached heart-aching levels (I had an outfit planned!), but truth be told, I fell for the dumbest trick in the book. Ralph said he wanted to show us a "submarine" bar kitted with round windows and fish tank.  My friends jumped and shouted and I nearly missed the whole thing for how hard I was looking for the portal windows. I shook for about 20 mins and dear sweet Nik brought my dancing outfit.

So I had super tasty food, amazingly generous presents, and got to dance with my friends which was all I really wanted. 40 ain't so bad when you realize you've perfected the art of making amazing friends to surround yourself with.

So ... Birthday Week Whoohoo!

**The camera battery died about 30 mins into the party so I was only able to get a few from friends.**

Hopper & I made daddy bday breakfast

oy get your fingers outta there

birthday week was full of lovely things including sunshine!!! (which only shines in our apt from feb/mar)

mama got to read on a sunny bench

yay for hijiki salad

and fish eggs

and miso soup

avocado ice cream rocks!

Nik made all the decorations! lovely man

lots of singing in 2 languages

Emma, Toby & Jill

baby Ignatius made the effort and actually slept through nearly the whole dinner, with Jill, Pernille & Toby