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| Various food we bought based on what we fancied as we walked passed the many shops |
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| We just HAD to try Kobe beef and this stall seems to be famous for it so we bought some from them |
Unlike the day before, we didn't eat at a specific restaurant. Instead, we bought all our food to go and had it at the Kuromon Information Centre.
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| Clockwise from left: Free resting area and eating space with toilets and a money-changing machine! Very cool.; Kuromon Information Centre signboard; My boy loves Ikura (salmon roe) just like the girl and I. They both inherited it from me because none of the other family members like Ikura =) The bad thing is, I now have less to eat because they fight me for them (-_-^) |
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| Certificate to prove that it's authentic Kobe beef! =) |
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| This costs S$20! Super expensive! And it tastes better than it looks. |
The beef is good, although nothing like the Kobe beef steak we had in Hokkaido, which was the most expensive piece of steak we had ever paid.
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| Other food we bought that we really enjoyed =) |
As we were leaving Kuromon, the hubby and I spotted fresh uni (sea urchins) and decided to get one (yes one because we were already so full!).
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| Left: We bought the mid-sized 1500 yen one; Right: Shopkeeper cleaning the uni for us. |
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| Fresh from the shell! So yummy! =) |
The hubby also bought himself a slice of Japanese honey melon as it was his favourite. It was so good that the girl finished the rest of the slice after she took the first bite, irking her daddy very much! We ended up buying a whole honey melon to bring home to Singapore so that everyone can have a slice without fighting. Anyway, it is sooo much cheaper than the Japanese honey melon in Singapore.
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| Clockwise from left: The hubby's slice of honey melon, which disappeared as soon as he bought it *laughs*; One slice costs a whooping 500 yen!; More worth it to buy the whole honey melon, which only costs 2500 yen. |
By the time we were done eating, it was already very late so I hurried the family to get a move on as we still needed to travel to The Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum located at Ikeda.
To get there, take the Osaka Subway Midosuji (red) Line to Umeda Station (cost: 240 yen per adult, 120 yen per child 4-12 years old).
At Umeda Station, walk to the Hankyu Railway (follow the signboards) and board the Takarazuka (orange) Line to Ikeda Station (see the Hankyu Railway map here) (cost: 270 yen per adult, 140 yen per child 4-12 years old).
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| Follow the orange signs to Platform 4-6 for the Takarazuka Line on the Hankyu Railway |
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| Clockwise from left: Boarding the train; Such comfy seats! =); The Takarazuka Line Express train to Ikeda. |
It's only a 10 minute walk from Ikeda Station to The Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum. Admission to this museum is FREE! But do take note that the last admission is at 3.30pm (we arrived at 2.30pm and barely made it!). The museum is closed on Tuesdays.
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| The Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum (Address: 8-25 Masumi-cho, Ikeda-shi, Osaka 563-0041, Japan) |
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| It's like taking a walk down history of Nissin's products, one of which is the beloved εΊεδΈδΈ (demae iccho). It's really cool to compare the current design versus the earliest designs when it was first launched. |
The highlight of the museum was of course the customisation of your very own Nissin Cup Noodles at the My Cup Noodles Factory.
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| Left: This way to the My Cup Noodle Factory; Right: Mega life-size Nissin Cup Noodles! |
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| Left: STEP 1: Purchase a Nissin Cup Noodle cup for 300 yen each; Right: STEP 2: Wash your hands to prevent contamination of your cup. |
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| STEP 3: Personalise your cup with whatever you like! |
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| The girl's masterpiece! |
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| I love this part the most! It was so fun drawing whatever I wanted =) |
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| The signboard details the types of broth and ingredients that you can choose for your customised My Cup Noodles |
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| Head over to the Cup Noodle Factory once you are done with your designs |
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| Clockwise from left: STEP 4: Filling the cup with noodles; Turn the handle to fill the cup with the noodles; STEP 5: Choose your broth from the 4 types available. |
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| STEP 6: Choose 4 ingredients from the many available (our favourite was the super cute hiyoko-chan (their chick mascot) naruto (fish cakes)) |
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| Our chosen ingredients and broth is done! (so nice of the staff to hold it up for me to take pictures hehe) |
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| Clockwise from left: STEP 7: Sealing your Cup Noodles with a lid and vacuum wrap; Waiting for her cup noodles to roll out; So happy with her completed Cup Noodles! |
Watch the full video on how they seal the Cup Noodles:
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| STEP 8: Bring home your Cup Noodles in a cute little bag filled with air. Pump the bag and tie the string yourself =) |
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| Happy with her final product! So fun! |
I highly recommend this activity for kids! My girl had a blast designing her own Cup Noodles and learning the process of how it is put together.
Since we got Cup Noodles for each of us except for the boy, we bought a mini but super duper cute one from the vending machines for him (he was asleep while we were customising our Cup Noodles).
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| Getting one for the boy. Super cute! |
If you arrive earlier and have more time, join the Chicken Ramen Hands-On Workshop on the 2nd Floor.
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| Clockwise from left: Such a cute cut-out poster of the mascot Hiyoko-chan and friends that we found on the 2nd Floor!; Folks attending the Chicken Ramen Workshop; Don't forget to make a reservation for a slot. |
Before we left the museum, we explored the rest of the first floor which houses the history of cup noodles and other interesting facts.
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| You can watch an animation on cup noodles (in Japanese) at the Cup Noodles Drama Theater |
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| Clockwise from left: Have no idea what the Japanese words mean but I think we can safely say that cup noodles were sent to space; Gallery of interesting facts, of which most I don't understand *laughs*; Turning the wheel to lift the door. |
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| The shack where the founder of Nissin made the first Nissin Cup Noodles (or at least what I guessed from the layout and interactive wok *laughs*) |
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| How could you leave without a picture with a Christmas tree of Hiyoko-chan? So cute! |
All in all, we loved the Instant Ramen Museum! It was soooo fun! Definitely a place that you must visit! =)
As we walking back to the train station, we passed Ippudo and decided to have lunch.
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| Ippudo at Ikeda |
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| Clockwise from left: Mum-in-law enjoying her rice bowl; The Hakata Chikara Meshi rice bowl; Spicy Ippudo Karaka ramen. |
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| The Shiromaru Classic ramen (1020 yen) |
It was such a yummy lunch and sooo much cheaper than their outlet in Singapore.
If you have time, go check out the Satsukiyama Zoo, which is FREE! We didn't have time to otherwise we would have (check with the Tourist Information Center for more information on the various attractions in Ikeda).
We decided to head back to Namba and shop at the famous Shinsaibashi Suji. I love shopping here!
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| Shinsaibashi Suji (you can enter the street via Shinsaibashi Station or Ebisubashi) |
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| Rows and rows of shops!! |
Shopping in Osaka is seriously cheaper than Tokyo! =)
Speaking of Tokyo, we loved the Calbee Plus store that we patronised in Harajuku and were wondering if they have the same thing in Osaka. Well, it turns out that they do!
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| Freshly fried fries and chips from Calbee Plus at Shinsaibashi Suji, Osaka |
The hubby had to drag the mum-in-law (the ultra shopaholic) and I out of Shinsaibashi so that we can finally have dinner at the very iconic Kani Douraku Dotombori Honten. You know, the one with the huge moving crab as its signboard!
We were brought to the 3rd floor to our very own private room. So atas (upper class)!
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| The private rooms of Kani Douraku Dontombori Honten |
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| Everything is crab-themed, from the chopstick holders to the kids cutlery to the pictures on the wall! They are really into it! |
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| This cool vintage phone is not just for show! It's for calling the staff for service if you require it. As you can see, we didn't know and were super embarassed when the waitress told us, "erm, these are phones for calling the staff you know." Whoops! >.< |
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| The crab set menu (we ordered the 8500 yen set) |
We recommend ordering a set for 3-4 persons to share even though it says that it is for 1-2 because the portions can be very big. You can always top up with other dishes if the set is not enough.
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| Yummy crab waiting to be cooked in the super delicious soup |
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| So yummy!!!! ^_^ |
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| All the different parts of the crab. Note that we ordered the crab sushi and crab claw separately (i.e. it's not included in the set) |
We ordered extra udon for the kids and they loved it! We ended our meal with vanilla ice-cream in green tea, freshly grounded from scratch by the staff! So cool!
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| Our vanilla ice-cream with green tea dessert and our appetiser |
The total cost of our meal was 12680 yen but we thought it was well worth every penny for the quality of food and service that we received! We'll definitely eat there again if we ever go back to Osaka! So good =)
And with that, we end our stay in Dotonbori as we will be heading to Universal Studios tomorrow =)
Continue to >> Osaka Day 6 (1): Universal Studios Japan
<< Back to Osaka Day 4: Osaka Castle & Tempozan Ferris Wheel
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