Chance encounter

How is this for random? DD’s brother, who lives in the UK, happened to be in Osaka at the same time as us!

He was hiking with high school friends, then joined us for a ramble around the city.

Adding to the family reunion, DD’s son is currently living in Japan, so he caught the train down from Tokyo to join the fun.

Our reunion kicked off with a visit to an Insta-famous coffee shop called Barista Map for one of the best coffees we’ve ever tasted.

The Japanese take their artisan coffee very seriously. A world-champion barista is at the helm of Barista Map. He invites customers to smell the beans and join him on the coffee-preparation journey, then provides little heaters with temperature gauges to ensure the precious brew is served at the optimum heat.

Then we wandered through a suburb called Amerika-Mura. which has been Osaka’s centre of youth culture and style since the early 1970’s.

It’s filled with hip, offbeat shops, plus cafes, bars, tattoo and piercing parlours and nightclubs. The eldest would love it there!

The suburb got its name its name from the shops that sprang up in the area after World War II, selling American goods such as Zippo lighters and T-shirts.

It’s also home to 50 quirky street lamps in the shape of bending humanoid figures.

DD was a bit footsore by then, so we settled into an Aussie bar called Coolibah for an ale while we watched an early 80s rugby league match between Parramatta and Newtown on the tellie.

Then we visited Nagai Botanical Garden for a teamLab light show. When the night falls, the garden grounds come alive with immersive installations, turning them into a surreal world of colour and light.

We got a bit lost afterwards looking for a restaurant for dinner and ended up in an off- the-beaten track local place with hotplates in the middle of the tables. We feasted on fried noodles and okonomiyaki, savoury pancakes made with shredded cabbage, flour, egg and dashi.

Aside from the family reunion and our Michelin-starred dinner, we mainly roamed the streets of Osaka and also explored the endless underground rabbit warrens of shops and restaurants.

We only had three nights in the city, which was barely enough time to scratch the surface of its attractions.

Prior to the family reunion, we caught a train to Nara, which is famed for its temples and hundreds of deers that bow to visitors.

Our first stop, however, was the best coffee shop in town, ANY B&B + Coffee. The tiny cafe served delicious egg salad toasties and granola alongside excellent cafe lattes.

Happily caffeinated, we trekked up to Nara Park to explore its temples and buildings dating to the 8th century, when the city was Japan’s capital.

Among the sights we explored were Todaiji Temple, the most prestigious of its seven great temples with its 15m high Buddha and Kasugataisha Shrine, with its vermillion and white shrine buildings festooned with beautiful brass lanterns.

As for the deers … we bought special crackers to feed them, which they bow their heads to receive. It was heaps of fun until they started headbutting us for more food. But we had a blast until then.