Morning coffee stop..
Overnight stay in Shinagawa so we could cycle to Suidobashi. Using Japan bike we have a route to get us there.. but after 4km we stopped at Roar Coffee
Art
…while there was a lot of cool art in Osaka, this was one of my favs 🥰
Different kind of vending machine
Visiting Japan you see a lot of vending machines… even this was new for our Japanese Brompton friends. It’s either bugs for food.. or bugs to eat… no one was sure 🫣
Not just street food…
Takoyaki in Australia is pretty samey, ball shaped batter with octopus in side, cooked in small metal pan. When finished they are topped with Takoyaki and mayo and topped with bonito flakes. Generally seen as street vendor type food in markets. I’ve never had a variation on the flavour – until last night.
Following a day of cycling around Osaka, dinner was at a local bar called 極楽たこ望. Takoyaki was first created in Osaka around 1935 by a street vendor, so it seemed appropriate for us to be enjoying the style of food. As there was five of us, I was impressed there was table inside this small bar we all could squeeze around.
One of the delights in travelling with Japanese people is not having to read the menu with google translate even though we’re always willing to give it a go, and allowing others to choose. This is the added benefit when you are able to eat anything.
The first dish was otoshi, always served as a seat charge in a bar (generally) which was fish and tofu. Next up was fish served carpaccio, european style. The first style was your traditional take on the dish, with the second a curry flavour (amazing!!), the third was garlic and herbs, and the last was in a soup based dish…. the food was really enjoyable, and made more so as it was shared with company.
Like ships in the night…
We caught an overnight ferry from Toyo Port to Osaka… but to get there we cycled from Imabari, which was 20km the direction route and 24 the non direct route through back roads.. guess which one we took? Yep back roads thanks to Kym’s cycling navigation app.
The ferry didn’t leave the port until 10pm, so we left Imabari at around 4:30. It was still pretty light… as we cycled our way through the back streets. For Japan this was pretty traditional, as it involved rice paddies, a mix of traditional old style houses and modern ones from 20+ years ago.
It was great until it got dark, and stated to rain lightly (many the forecast was not exactly what we were expecting- but it wasn’t too bad). Nothing more annoying than riding in the darkness, light rain (also involved riding through farmland) and seeing a car coming towards you. This was rather surprising given the frequency this occurred and what was around us. Fun times but we made it! Hooray.
The intent of this journey was to go from A to B, and the ship was a great option for us, instead of the usual train back from Imabari. The ship is used for transporting goods and people – and is very well organised. There is a restaurant for dinner and morning breakfast. There are ample food machines and comfy seats throughout. It’s quite impressive.
I was super tired (must of been the cycling) so managed to stay awake long enough to eat ice cream. The ship docks at 6am but you don’t have to get off until 9am, enabling you to not feel so rushed in getting up. It was pretty good option if you are riding the Shimanami Kaido and you have some time to spare in your itinerary, and what to have a different experience from the Shinkansen.
View…
Old gunsmith workshop and residence
Amazing!
This was a very tasty cake, it was like eating air! so glad we are cycling today… four of us hoovered up this in no time.
こんにちは!
Lunch recommendation..,
If you are cycling the Shimanami Kaido there are so many food places to eat. – we recommend research before you go so you have an idea what is open.
One of the places we had lunch on Thursday was Himesuke. The tonkatsu set for lunch was fabulous. They have ordering machines which enable them to focus on cooking while orders are taken. The place is in a 100 years old house. If you do go , make sure to go to the toilet as the taps are cute!
The rabbits…
We set out from Setoda to visit Ōkunoshima, also known as rabbit island. Cycling towards Tatara Bridge is wonderful, as you look to your right you see neighbouring islands, and the cool breeze of the morning as you pedal along.
While we have cycled this first stretch a number of times, it’s still stunning to see the bridge. I know I’ve taken a lot of photos of the view but I always want to stop to take in the view.
Coming off the bridge we turned left to go around Omishima island towards the port for the ferry. We were nice and early bought tickets (okay I tried to give the person 10,000 instead of 1,000, they were amused), and one packet of rabbit food.
If you are cycling around the island you need to go clockwise.
We took a look around the museum of the island. Which has a focus on environment and nature.
However the island also has a dark history, as in 1925 the imperial Japanese Army built a poison gas factory. It was in operation until the end of the Second World War. Apparently it also took – full year to clean and remove hazardous items associated with creation of poison gas.
The rabbits on the island apparently are either associated from a person having them as pets which escaped or they were pets from child care facilities which were released. But as you can imagine… this is why the island has sooooo many rabbits. But it’s important to feed rabbits away from the one road which exists
We walked up to look at a view, but made it part way to the bottom of electricity towers as we decided to go back down to get the 12:15pm ferry. We had just enough time to buy a ‘small rabbit bread’. It was great to be able to visit another island in the inland sea!
