It actually started after a Japanese lunch! The wise ones did not eat everything on their plate knowing what they were in for. But just for the record, the lunch was no small affair, a meal that included cold tofu garnished with shiso and ginger, chicken and smelt fried japanese style, daikon salad, four types of sashimi, and Japanese potstickers.
But we digress. We arrived at our destination after carefully being briefed by the tour staff that not only the eating, but getting to our restaurants on a timely basis would be a challenge. Stay with your groups and follow your group leader [in our case, the volunteer translator with the purple flag]! Your other leader will be bringing up the rear so you don't stray too far they warned. After getting off the bus, we were warned once again, the area is very very crowded, stay close to your group, or you will get lost.
Nothing was further from the truth. Our volunteer translator was short, thin, and one would have thought, frail. Did she ever surprise us with her maneuvers and moves! No sooner than we left the bus, did we get organized and move to our first restaurant destination.
The plan for our group was to "walk" to the first restaurant the furthest away from the bus stop. Then our subsequent stops would move us back in the direction of the bus to ensure we get back on a timely basis.
What we did not know was that this 'walk' was through a series of crowded busy subway stations, train stations, and major department stores! Our guide moved quickly, walking through the masses of people, literally hundreds of them! They all seemed to be coming at us. The pace was furious, we were constantly behind. The gap between her and the first person in our group seemed like 20 yards. So much for sticking together. It seemed like a no win situation to catch up to her. The rare occassions in which we did catch up, it was at a stop light, where she had no choice but to stop.
Once we reached the crowded subway statoin, we realized we were in a make or break challenge. She manuevered through the crowd like a blocker for a star running back, only we weren't fast enough to take advantage of the path she created for us. She got us through in lightening speed but the gap between her and us was growing wider and wider.
Once out on the street, we feared two things: First, are we going to make our first restaurant on time and two, is our guide going to get so far ahead we'll be hoplessly lost (let's see where is the business card of the hotel, maybe we can get a cab back and get coffee).
At once we re-doubled our efforts. Ha and Ann ran in a fierce sprint after our leader. They breezed past the crowd like the road runner outrunning Wiley Coyote. They sped past Dale who was third in the pack behind Gary. Ann shouted, "I feel like I'm in the amazing race!". Not to be outdone, Ha cried, " our guide is on crack!".
This walk to the first restaurant was a good .6 to .7 miles! [They should have put us in a cab to get here]. Miraculously, we made it to the first place. It was a natural food restaurant named Natural Kitchen Kouji. We made it! We were so relieved and excited that we made it to this place in time, that we almost forgot that we
were supposed to sit and eat.But sit and eat we did. No disappointment here. We were served two dishes. First, a plate of 2 piping hot potatoe coquettes. Second, an unusual yet tasty soup almost difficult to describe. At its center was a lotus mochi with a soft boiled quail egg in the center. It was garnised with two pieces of Japanese sweet pumpkin and included a room temperature, yet thick dashi. The portions were
not sample sizes, the coquettes and soup made for a full lunch in itself. Both were oishi [delicious] !
As soon as we finished our first restaurant experience, we raced on to the next, which was an upscale modern restaurant you would expect to find in a big city like New York, called Slow Blu Conscious. Here, our group of eight was directed to an intimate private room, where we took off our shoes, sat on the tatami mats, and excitely await
ed our next dining adventure. We had no clue what was about to arrive. Two staff waiters brought to the table for each person, a set meal which included five items on a bamboo tray and a heavy iron tea pot filled with broth. We ooohed and awwwed as we lifted the lid of the main entree contained in a large beautiful lacquer bowl and found a zen arrangement of rice, delicate seasonings, and roasted salmon garnished with salmon roe. We all agreed that this was on
e of the 
most delicious meals since we arrived in Osaka. While our taste buds danced with glee, our stomachs were begging for mercy. Bravely, we tumbled out of the restaurant and raced towards the third and final stop of this progressive meal. (The first lady on the right is our guide on crack! Don't get me wrong, she's the nicest woman ever. We just can't seem to
catch up with her!)
The third and final restaurant wasn't too far from the second. While I can't recall the Japanese name, it was a quaint restaurant that specialized in tofu delicacies. There were three courses: the first course was a servin
g of yogurt-textured tofu with a variety of garnishes to bring out the flavor; the second course was a triple set of tofu lollipops, each
topped with a uniquely flavor miso glaze; the final course was a delicate soft tofu served to cleanse the palate.Believe it or not, that wasn't the end of our eating for the day. Recall that thus far, we had a full breakfast, a fun group lunch, followed by the progress meal mentioned above. We haven't had dinner yet...that is scheduled to take place in a little over an hour, just enough time to allow us to get all dressed up to meet the Mayor of Osaka at his mansion. Although, we had several diplomatic exchanges, this special event will allow the culinary ambassor chefs from San Francisco to cook for our Osakan friends, using local ingredients to create American dishes with the help of three sous chefs who don't speak a word of English.
(Authored by Dale with contributions by Ha and Ann.)
