The Osaka-temmangu Shrine is a Shinto Shrine founded in AD949. It is a quaint little shrine in a peaceful area around a block away from a major road. It looked quite rustic and there was a separate Gazebo which housed running water and Bamboo Cups with long handles that worshipers drank from. There were also numerous and beautiful Bonzai around the lovely gardens.
After this we walked back to the Apartment and immediately headed out again to the Hankyu Umeda Station and caught a train to Ikeda.
Ikeda is a small city outside of Osaka, and a very pretty city indeed. Our reason for travelling to Ikeda was to visit the world famous Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum (also called the Cup Noodle Museum). As far as Instant Ramen Museums go, this was right up there. Actually, it was pretty awesome; but, the best part was that we got to make our own Instant Ramen, including designing the Cup, adding the ingredients and getting it vacuum-sealed.
So what's a Ramen Museum doing in Ikado, you ask? On August 25, 1958, Momofuku Ando invented the world's first instant noodles, 'Chicken Ramen' after an entire year of research using common tools in a little shed he had built in his backyard in Ikeda. Later, on a fact finding trip to America, Momofuku observed supermarket managers breaking up Chicken Ramen noodles, putting them in a cup, pouring in hot water, and then eating them with a fork. It was this that inspired him to develop Instant Ramen as a global food, which he called Cup Noodles. For the record, I made Curry Noodles with Garlic, Beef, Chilli and Egg.
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| Momofuko Ando, Instant Noodle Inventor |
When we arrived back in the centre of Osaka, we headed to the HEP Five shopping complex which houses a 75 metre diameter Ferris Wheel located on the seventh floor. Given that we missed our opportunity yesterday to ride on the Tempozan Ferris Wheel, we weren't going to miss this opportunity. The ride gave us wonderful views of the city; however, the window tint that had been applied to the gondolas was bubbling, cracking or crazed. This made it difficult to get any good photos. It also made it difficult to see Kyle and Jen who were in a separate gondola to us. The ride (one complete lap), took around fifteen minutes. All-in-all, not too bad.
We then headed across to the Yogobashi Shopping Complex to look at camera gear, where I treated myself to a new camera strap and hood. We then split up with Maureen and Schuyler, heading back to the apartment, catching a rest and heading back for some more shopping; whilst Kyle, Jen and I headed off to Dotonbori, a lively entertainment and food district about four train stops from the centre of Osaka.
We walked up and down the main street which was jam-packed with people and magnificent neon signage everywhere you looked. We stopped for dinner at restaurant and had Omurice (Japanese Rice Omelette , Tuna Pizza and Kobe Steak with Rice. After dinner, we stopped at a local street seller for Melon Bread with Green Tea Ice Cream; it was so good, it was wrong. We then headed back to Umeda Station and back to the apartment, which we couldn't get into, because Maureen and Sky were still out. Undeterred we headed out for a walk in another direction taking in the sites around the Aji River, over the Oe Bridge and past City Hall.
We then headed back to the apartment, still no sign, so we headed the other direction and Jen managed to 'accidentally' purchase a pair of Mickey Mouse (Disney) Converse shoes. On the third time return to the apartment we were lucky, marking the end of today's activities. Tomorrow, we catch the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) to Hiroshima, a distance of 330 km.
