meat bun in osaka: horai 551 and futami no butaman

meat bun or steamed meat bun aka bakpao was something that my husband like. and to my surprise, this meat bun stall got recommended by anakjajan and kimdao. so naturally, i would like to try whether it's true. since it was a snack, i didn't put a pin on my google maps, since i thought we would just buy whenever we saw one. they said that horai 551 had many branches, so hopefully we could come across one.

and we were lucky. we were just arrived at JR namba station looking for the exit when i spotted the stall. the staff couldn't speak english, but luckily they understood enough to take our order. they sold the buns in pieces or in sets of 2, 4 and 6. we bought the 2 pieces per box one. for meat buns, it was quite pricey compared to the meat bun price back at home. but the buns were big enough, so hopefully it tasted okay. for horai 551, you could easily spot the stall judging by their red banner and big 551 sign. at first i thought they were just selling meat buns, but when we were at the airport waiting for our flight home, we found a horai 551 stalls selling chinese food as well as the buns.

the buns were quite big and soft and they would warm it up when we ordered them. they also gave a tiny packet of mustard, which was weird for us since we just ate the buns just as is back at home. perhaps even with chili or tomato sauce, but never mustard. the dough was soft and not chewy like the one we had at home, but the filling was the star. almost half the buns was fulled with meat. and it was a densely meat, so no wonder it was pricey. unfortunately, the meat only tasted a bit salty and nothing else. husband like the meat to be a bit sweet. so it was an okay bun, but not our favorite.

then when we walked around namba area, i got lost. i spotted a futami no butaman stall and remembered that that one was recommended by paolo. but i didn't bring any money at that time, and i forgot where it was. but luckily, when we passed the same road to go to matsusaka, we found it again. so we stopped by and bought some. the seller was an old lady and she obviously couldn't speak english, so we communicated with some hand signs and it was okay. at futami, they only sold the buns in pieces, a box of 3, 4 and 6 or 12. so we bought 2 pieces, since husband counted even when we bought more, the price was still the same.

they always had some buns already heated in the back so when we ordered, the lady got the already-steamed bun from the steamer and put it in a box. they also gave tiny packet of mustard as well. compared to horai, the buns size were slightly smaller. but not too much difference. the dough was a bit thinner. but the meat was different. while horai one was dense, the futami one was minced. both tasted a bit salty and umami, but the futami one had more garlic or onion inside. we could hear the crunchiness from the onion when we ate the buns. price wise, it was less expensive than horai.

which one is better? i think it's totally up to your taste. if you like buns with more and dense meat, then obviously go with horai 551. but if you like something with more onion, more like chinese bun (one with onion/garlic with a bit of meat juice inside), then buy futami. for me, both were okay, but we still like the meat buns from our hometown better. plus, they were cheaper here!

half day nara trip

we decided to go to nara for half day since we never went to nara. and i honestly didn't know what to do except for its famous wild-deer sightings. anyway, you can check here to get some ideas what to do in nara. the website also offered half day itinerary suggestions and full day and even several days itinerary. you can try follow one. for us, i decided to go to todaiji and then up to nigatsudo, then if we could walk more, we should see kasuga taisha before heading back to the station.

lots of deer once you stepped off the bus

so, we arrived by train, we brought all our baggage since we were moving hotels that day. so after we arrived at JR nara station, we had to find coin locker. fortunately, there were some coin lockers inside the arrival area, and some of the big ones were free. it was really fortunate since usually the bigger spaces were harder to get. and there was a coin changer at the side of the lockers so it was easier to change your money to 100 yen coins. i have to applause husband though since he managed to squeeze a big luggage, a medium luggage and a medium bag into one locker! you should see the other people's face when they waited for us to unload our baggage. they thought when we got out the two medium ones, that was all our baggage. imagined how surprised they were when they saw we still had one more inside!

see how old the wood is? that's why i said they looked dusty and dull

the creature at the gate

another one

anyway, once we finished the baggage situation, we faced two options, went by bus or on foot. we're supposed to walk so we could pass isuien garden or yoshikien garden. but husband was still tired for two days walking so he decided we should get the bus. so i didn't know for sure whether there was another bus, but there was this sign that we should ride bus from certain number bus stop if we wanted to see certain places. and the cost was more expensive than the one we found at google. since we were not prepared enough, we just hopped in and paid. actually, the sign on the bus said that we should paid in exact amount since they didn't provide any change. and we didn't have exact amount, so we thought oh well.. we might lose our change. but apparently, there was this change machine in front of the bus. so when you didn't have the exact amount, you just need to put the big coin in and it would spit out the exchange in smaller coins. for example, if you only had 500 yen coins, it would spit out five 100 yen coins as exchange. and if you needed smaller coins, you should put the coins until you got the change you needed.

anyway.. we paid and got our change and at first, we totally thought that we would stop at the last stop. but luckily, i looked at google maps and found out we were near nara park. so we decided to jump out and found out where we were. turned out we were lucky to got off at the right time. we were the opposite of nara park and we only need to walk shortly to todaiji temple. oh.. when we were on the bus, we could see the deer halfway, probably we could see it around the garden area up until nara park. but there were numerous of wild deer at the park. which made the park a bit smelly and dirty. back in indonesia, when there was any animal involved, it would make the site dirty because of the poop. and we were wondering whether japan could be any difference, since everything in japan seemed to be very clean. we haven't seen any dust almost everywhere we go. even the temples that we went to were very clean. but turned out we were wrong. nara park was full of deer poop, so you need to watch where your feet landed so you didn't step on any poop.

todaiji temple

daibutsu-den hall
the giant buddha was supposed to be inside, but we didn't get in

the park itself was quite big so your kids could run around in the park. but let me remind you that nara deers were wild deer, so made sure your kids don't bump into them or tease them or chase them. they might attack back. anyway, before we went there, i saw some colleague videos about how to feed the deer. you could buy the deer biscuit at many sellers around the park, anyone could do since it was sold at the same price. apparently there was no competition there. so, you should put one hand on your back and the other one was up holding the biscuit, then you should swing your arm forward and up again to indicate the deer to bow down. you should make them bow at least 3 times before giving them the biscuit as reward for being polite. but i've seen the deer keep asking for more even though they have run out of their biscuits. and i even saw some tourists just gave the biscuits without asking them to bow first. oh well.. the park was quite busy and i didn't see any park keeper so people could do whatever they want.

during our short walk, there were some shops selling souvenirs and snacks. and then there was this one straight path to todaiji temple. you should stop at the nandaimon gate and take a look at the giant creatures inside the cage at the gate. then you should walk a bit more before turning left. the entrance to the daibutsu-den hall was on the left near the toilet. fyi, i went to the toilet, and this was the first and only time that i found toilet in japan was dirty and smelly and not sophisticated. the toilets were ordinary toilets, not the one that had added toilet seat with warmer and stuff. i forgot whether it had changing table or not. anyway, the entrance was near the toilet, and you had to pay the ticket to get inside to daibutsuden hall. inside the hall, you could see the famous big buddha statue, but since husband was full of temples already, we decided to skip it. and we walked toward nigatsudo. it was one way path, so you would go from the entrance to the hall and then take the other way to find the exit. we then walked up the path, passed a pond and a recovery site toward nigatsudo.

ashoka pillar

手向山八幡宮参道

halfway, we found a little shop and husband was hungry so we stopped there and ate lunch. then we proceed going up to nigatsudo. while todaiji was almost flat with small steps, nigatsudo was full of stairs. to reach nigatsudo, you had to walk up some stairs. and then there was this open area where there was some cafe or shops at the side. you could take same rest here, but probably if the cafe or shops were opened, you need to buy something in order to sit there. there were two ways to go up, the east way was the path that i took. the stairs were pretty steep and it was made of stone. children could go up, but there was no handrail, so you need to hold your kids' hand. i didn't think elder people especially the ones with knee problem could go up. when you've reached the top, you could pray and buy some prayer's ticket, but if you just walked around, then it was totally free. the view from the balcony was quite pretty if the weather was clear. just across the balcony, there was seating area where you could drink some tea and sit and rest, but it was floor seating and you should clean up yourself before leaving it. then you could go down using the wooden entrance to go back to the open area.

the way to nigatsudo

sangatsudo

from there, actually you could go to smaller nara park and kasuga taisha after passing the forest, but husband found nara was not appealing to him. so he decided to just go back to the bus station and then to the train station and went to osaka instead. there were other places to visit, but we didn't get the chance to see. anyway, if you're interested, you should check kofukuji temple and naramachi area as well. you could bring kids or older people, but not all area were comfortable for kids and older people. and bring your own mask if you couldn't stand the smell. oh, and the bus stop was quite confusing as well. the dropping point and the pick up point were not closed by, so we almost got it wrong. so made sure you read the sign carefully, whether it's the pick up or the drop point. another small thing.. i noticed the difference between the temples in nara and kyoto, somehow the ones at nara seemed old. the wood was old and the paint looked dull, while the one at kyoto was shiny and clean. i didn't even see any spider webs at the ones in kyoto, but here.. everything seemed old and dusty. probably it needed more maintenance, but probably they'd like to keep the authenticity. anyway.. it looked and felt different. but, it's worth visiting if you had spare time and around kyoto or osaka since nara could be reached from both places.

東大寺法華堂北門

nigatsudo

Ilmichi shrine

second floor of nigatsudo

view from the top

and a bit ice cream to end the walk

dotonbori and kukuru takoyaki

i bet when you heard about osaka, you'd automatically think about dotonbori, namba and shinsaibashi which all came alive at night time. all the food stalls offering lots of different food, all the shops with local specialty souvenir and lots of other stuff to do. we've been to dotonbori before, but since this time we didn't bring any kids, we hoped we could try more food.

dotonbori

i didn't know that they have their own website, but turned out they do. so if you're curious about the food and shops option, you could check it here. they put it in several different categories, shopping, eating and even entertainment, so make sure to check it out.

for shopping, aside from several tax free stores (like laox) and beauty-related (like matsumoto kiyoshi and tsuruha drugstore), there was kuidaore store that sells local osaka souvenir called kuidaore taro and another one was naniwa meibutsu. for eating, osaka specialty included takoyaki, okonomiyaki, melon pan with ice cream or custard inside and obviously kushikatsu. but there were other kind of food like sushi and coffee shop as well. let me break down the food for you.

- takoyaki: perhaps this would be the most selling stuff in dotonbori aside from okonomiyaki. every few steps you might see stalls selling takoyaki. some would sell only original squid one, but others would sell with lots of different topping option like sausage and cheese. some notable stalls were creo-ru (they sold okonomiyaki and kushikatsu as well), kukuru (this one was pretty famous and they didn't sell lots of topping, the easy way to find this stall is to look for the giant red octopus on top of the stall), takohachi (also sells okonomiyaki and yakisoba as well), takoyaki doraku wanaka (this had other branch too, and it had several seasonings), and konamon museum (beside eating, you could see food museum as well).

kukuru

our takoyaki

- okonomiyaki: several notable sellers were chibo and botejyu (but if you missed it here, you could eat them in the airport's food court).

- kushikatsu: obviously the famous one was kushikatsu daruma (just find the angry chef/man dummy in front of the store or on top of the sign) but there were other shops selling kushikatsu too.

- sushi: genroku sushi (you can easily spot this by finding the big hand holding a sushi piece dummy on top of the store sign, and it was a conveyor-belt type sushi restaurant), ganko sushi (it didn't only sell sushi but also fried food and nabe, there were private rooms too), kiyomura sushizanmai (this one opens 24 hours), daiki suisan kaiten sushi (another conveyor-belt sushi restaurant. last time we passed by this restaurant, they had a tuna cutting show).

- ramen: kinryu ramen (just find the dragon) and shitennoh ramen.

- other notable places: kani douraku (just find the crab, there were two branches along dotonbori. this restaurant served all crab dishes, you had to make reservation if you wanted to dine in non smoking area since it was limited space. i think it had japanese-style seating so it was kids friendly. we always wanted to try this place but the place was quite expensive to justify our curiosity), osaka oshko (look for the big gyoza sign, this was quite a popular chain restaurant selling chinese food), dotonbori imai (their best dish was kitsune udon), yakisoba juza (obviously selling yakisoba, the famous one was tomato yakisoba).

kani douraku

almost at the end of the street there was a small van selling melon pan with ice cream. last time we didn't buy because of the long queue. last time we bought from kunamon museum so this time we wanted to try kukuru. it was delicious. the batter was soft and the squid inside was delicious as well. the sauce was not too much and combined with mayonnaise and seaweed powder, make it more delicious. we bought the 8 pieces in a box and it was satisfying for us. but they had option with more balls. obviously prepare your empty stomach because there were delicious food everywhere. you just need to pick the right one.

don't forget to take picture with the famous glico man

kushikatsu daruma and kinryu ramen

we just spend our morning packing up our baggage since today is the day we're going home. but husband wanted to make last minute shopping, so we headed back to namba where he could go to some electronic store while i tried to find hello kitty macaroni for our daughter. then i joined back with him and we were hungry and it was about lunch time. we strolled around dotonbori trying to find something to eat. every places seemed to be crowded due to lunch hour. so i thought why not try kushikatsu daruma. it was right in front of us that time. i thought we were gonna eat fried food with rice.. but... it turned out different.

so basically kushikatsu was one of osaka's specialty. it was basically fried stuff in skewer. the batter was different.. it was thin but crunchy. plus the dipping sauce. that was make kushikatsu different. so we went to their dotonbori branch, but there were many other branches around osaka. you just had to look for the angry-chef dummy or head that was maybe the mascot of kushikatsu daruma. and you might not need to understand kanji or other letter, just look at front of the text, and usually there's a letter that would look like a skewer (two boxes, one smaller on top and one bigger at the bottom both get crossed in the middle just like a skewer). the dotonbori branch was probably just had one floor, all of the chairs was facing the counter. though they say it was kids friendly, i don't think it was kids friendly, especially little kids. the chairs had no backing and it was really crowded and had narrow alley. even if you're not careful, you might elbow the person sitting next to you. if you're curious about their places, you could see them in their website.

anyway.. there was a host at front, and he told us to wait. apparently the waiting time was not that long. he asked them where we came from and he was delighted to learn that we're from indonesia. and he even knew surabaya! which was a surprise since most people only knew bali if we mentioned indonesia. since he knew we didn't speak japanese, the waiter then handed us the english menu. it offered ala carte, which means you could order individual skewer or you could order the set menu. there were 3 set menu, the tsutenkaku set, dotonbori set and hozenji set. basically they were the same except the number of skewers, which was 9, 12 or 15 skewers per set. and you got to pick one side dish, doteyaki, green beans or kimchi. you could share with other people, but no rice. so imagine our surprise that there wasn't any rice. so we ordered the set, i think we ordered the hozenji set which had 12 skewers.

though the kushikatsu was nice and delicious, the portion was tiny, considering they didn't offer rice or other carbohydrate. and the price was not cheap either for food that can be categorized as snack. the sauce was something between soy sauce and something that has a bit tangy taste to it. you weren't supposed to double dip, so make sure you dip enough for the whole skewer. it was not always meat inside the skewer, they had lotus root, cheese and even mochi inside the fried batter. the place was very busy and hot, we sat just behind the counter, where the staffs were busy cooking and frying skewers. so imagine all the smoke and heat mixed all together with people sitting and eating and talking. i imagine husband was not comfortable at all because he hated crowded places like that. so we ate as fast as we could and headed out.

then obviously it was not enough for husband, so we walked across the street and sat at kinryu ramen. kinryu ramen had several branches around the area as well, all you had to do was looking for the dragon on top of every branches. it was a small open stall, divided into two areas, the cooking area and the eating area. they provided several seating places but not chair, it felt like half-japanese style seating, so you had to fold your legs to eat from the table. not super comfortable if you're not used to seating like that. but they had other stall with chairs, and even standing one (with only one waiter cooking and serving and cleaning). there was a vending machine with english option, so you should order from the vending then handed the ticket to the waiter and then waited. if there were any seat available, they would told you to sit and cook your order.

kinryu ramen

the menu only had two options, less meat or more meat. we both chose the less meat. price wise, if you chose the less meat, it would be your cheapest ramen ever. they offered three side dishes on the counter, but all of them seemed to be kimchi or other kimchi variations, so we didn't get any. the ramen came in big bowl with basic broth soup and several slices of pork, and lots of green onions. the noodles was thin and straight, the skinniest among other ramen that we've tried. if you just looked for a fulfilling meal, then this is a good budget option for you. but if you're looking for the best ramen, then skip this one. it was ordinary ramen, though the pork slices was nice and tender, but the broth was not as rich as any other ramen that we've tried. but you still have to eat fast though.. it would turn gloopy if you're eating fast because of the fat content in the broth. this was our second time eating the ramen, first because we're curious about the one-man-stall, but i don't think we'd come back for more.

karaksa hotel osaka namba

when we went to osaka, we've stayed in two different area, namba and shinsaibashi. the first time around, we were there with my in-laws and her colleague's family, so i didn't do any research, husband was the one that made the hotel booking. and he booked holiday inn namba. the place was turned out in the middle of red district area, no wonder we saw people get drunk walking in front of the hotel. but luckily the kids didn't see any of them. the second time, we were with my parents and the kids were sick at that time. the intended hotel was full so we picked nikko hotel which was in shinsaibashi area. the room was bigger, even the whole hotel was bigger. it was right across daimaru department store so it was a better option for family. but it was more expensive.

karaksa osaka namba

so i asked husband, since people had two recommendations for osaka. for accessibility, they suggested to stay in umeda or osaka station area, basically the center of city area. but it was nowhere near dotonbori, namba or shinsaibashi, which was full of life especially in the afternoon. and street food. and lots of shop. and the second recommendation was obviously namba-dotonbori area. husband picked dotonbori area, but he didn't want to stay in holiday inn again. so i searched and got two options, the cross hotel or karaksa hotel namba. husband chose karaksa namba.

welcome drink, free drink from 2-9 pm

the place was not near big street, so it was quite a walk from the station to the hotel. the first time we were using JR line, so we stopped at JR namba and it was a little bit confusing to go to the hotel from the station. but if you're not limited to JR line, the hotel was closer to shinsaibashi station near daimaru. if you had big baggage, it might not be the best option. but the hotel itself was very clean and neat even though it's not that big.

the self-service for drinks. in the morning, the food were laid here

when you passed the sliding glass door, you could see on your left a bunch of umbrellas that the hotel provided for the guest for free but you had to bring it back to the hotel. on your right there was this drying thing for the umbrella. basically it was a box lined with two floor mats, but it was a genius to turn it into umbrella dryer. and they also provided an antibacterial hand wash. then you could get into the lobby after passing the second glass door.

they educated people how to separate the trash

the counter was on your left, with several receptionist. all of them was wearing a name tag with tiny flags at the bottom that indicates which languages they speak. if you're lucky, you could find someone who can speak english. but sometimes, they can only speak limited english. the check in time was 3 pm and we couldn't get in earlier. the check out time was 11 am and if you wanted to check out late, you would get charged 500 yen per hour and 2 hours max. you could keep your baggage for free though. they also provided shuttle bus to the airport but not for free. the first time you had to pay 1000 yen per person but they would give you a badge which you could show at front office so you could get the second ride for free next time you were staying at karaksa again. for detail you could see it here.

beside the front office, there was this big cupboard where you could get your amenities that's not provided in the room yet. please not that since this was a budget hotel, not all amenities are available. bath gel, shampoo and conditioner were available. hair dryer as well as toothbrush and toothpaste were too. they also provided pajamas for adult but there were no other thing like shower cap. they also had several kids toys for the kids to play while waiting in the dining area.

USB charging next to the bed

there was a smoking room near the elevator and a big dining room on your right when you arrived. they provided free drink and internet from 2 pm to 8 pm so it was a good idea to get recharged since we usually go back to our hotel to freshen up. in the morning, the dining area was the breakfast area. this was the plus about this hotel. even though it was a budget one, they gave breakfast for free. and the breakfast was delicious too! you could pick as much as you can but be mindful not to throw a lot of food waste. they expected us to clean up for ourselves too.

behind that little door was the toilet

you needed the key card to open the elevator door but no key card needed to push the button to your floor. all rooms were non smoking room and we got twin bed room. the room was smaller than the one in granvia, and the bed was different too. it was only the mattress on top of storage space under the bed. there was usb charging hole beside the bed. there was a small table on the side where you could put your things with two high chair. the toilet was separated from the bath. the bath was a shower. no hanging hook inside the bathroom so it was difficult to take off clothes and put fresh clothes in the bathroom. there was small TV and under the table was the small fridge (very small so don't buy lots of things from the supermarket, no big bottles either) and two tea cups and the garbage bin. there was laundromat in the hotel but we didn't wash our clothes so i couldn't say anything about it.

this is the powder room,  the shower was right next to it.
under the sink there were hair dryer, clean towel, pajamas and slipper

there were many type of rooms. you can check it here. at first i thought this was not suitable for family. imagine the bed could move around since it was on top of smooth wood surface with hardwood floor. but apparently it was popular for family. i've seen several family with kids or baby staying in the hotel. the hotel had several connecting room, but all the beds were either single bed or double bed. no queen or king size bed. so put that in mind. again, even though this was a budget hotel, they put extra care even for people with disability. i couldn't find the information about the room cleaning service, but husband told me when he was checking in, the receptionist gave him two option, the eco cleaning and the other one. he picked the eco cleaning. they would only clean the garbage bin, bathroom and toilet and floor, but not making up our bed and not changing the sheet. but we could change the towel and we got additional water bottle. the other option was to clean the whole room but no water bottle.

our breakfast. the tofu patties and the beef and potato stew were good

interesting jam. you need to fold them in half then squeeze the jam out. no mess.

if you were with adults and wanted a place close to shinsaibashi and dotonbori area and with budget price, wanted a free breakfast and didn't mind the small room, then this is a good place to stay. but if you have big family, this hotel might not cater your need since the place was pretty crowded and there were only limited rooms with connecting access. they didn't offer baby crib either, so i didn't think it was suitable for family with baby. the bed was not safe to co-sleeping either. it was a single bed without any barrier, so it might not be safe for mother and baby. karaksa also had other branches all over japan, so head to their website to check out their other branches.

abeno harukas 300

it was our last night at osaka, and we were in namba area. when i checked the maps, it was really close to abeno haruka. i decided to go there while we still can. i actually hoped that i could ride the ferris wheel, but i couldn't find it. anyway, abeno and tennoji were closeby. if you wanted to go to this area, you could visit shitennoji temple and tennoji zoo as well. they were also close to tsutenkaku. i personally haven't visited any, but i guess why not leave some for the future? i hope i could go there again with my kids.. anyway.. there was an observatory deck at abeno harukas, and it was on top of the station. but i didn't know because i didn't do enough research, so we ended up looking for it for a few minutes, and then we found the right elevator. i thought there was a free floor just like umeda, but turned out you have to pay the ticket to go up to 59-60th floor which was the observatory floor, just like tokyo skytree. it was windy that night, light rain as well, so i was hoping it was clear enough to see the city view.

the ticket was quite expensive, so if you didn't want to pay that much, you might want to check umeda first. after paying the ticket, we got to the special elevator, which only go up to 60th floor, one way. the top of the elevator was made of clear glass, so we could see the lighting effect from the elevator shaft. the lighting made it looks like it was raining light, very pretty. however, it was quite a speedy elevation to get to the 60th floor and it might hurt your ear, so if you have problems with your ear or nose (like catching a flu), you might want to wait or you could hurt your eardrum.

can you see tsutenkaku?

other side of the city

after we reached the 60th floor, the whole floor had big clear window so we could look around the city view. now, i've been to tokyo skytree and melbourne one, and since i went to melbourne at night time too, compared to that one, the one at abeno haruka was really pretty. i could see tsutenkaku tower very clearly. and even a glimpse of a temple. the window was so big that we could take clear picture. although it was not as big as tokyo skytree, but it was not crowded that night, so we strolled around enjoying the view comfortably. then we went down to 59th. 59th floor was a rooftop garden with several cafes, so you could dine under the sky and looking at some greenery. the garden was so-so, and since it was windy, it was totally not comfortable being at that floor. you could sit on empty space, but the chairs were dedicated to the customer only.

i went to the toilet and it probably could win toilet with the best view. i didn't know about the male toilet, but the female toilet had clear big window too. so all the ladies going to the toilet got distracted and got busy taking selfies. then, the elevator to go back to the ticket booth was through the 59th floor. it was another one-way. and the elevator had the same lighting effect as the other one. and that was the end of our night. i wished we could walk around tsutenkaku area.. but perhaps for another time.