Eat. Shop. Gawk.

Osaka, Japan That pretty much describes the walking tour we took of the Dōtombori neighborhood, probably the most iconic view of Osaka.

Frankly, it makes Times Square look dull – and rather, well, square. Here, it’s all about shopping, with everything from luxury brands to vintage American jeans and tee shirts.

And shopping just encourages eating, right? No lack of choices here, with giant crabs practically reaching out and grabbing you. (And no, they don’t serve up babies.) We are getting used to the visual chaos of Japan, though it still has the ability to stun.

We had the added treat today of joining up with a cousin of Don’s, whom he had never met. Pam is usually found travelling the world as a mining engineer, but is based in Vancouver. Thanks to 23 and Me, and a fortuitous travel schedule, here they are together in Japan.

The shopping arcade is never-ending, and very tempting, and the street scene is fascinating. I think I’ll go back for the stem cell face mask and some more weirdly flavored KitKats.

But that was just the daytime. The night is a whole different story.

Don’s Food Corner

As I promised when I tried the Hiroshima version of the Japanese comfort food okonomiyaki, I tried it in Osaka where it was first created. This dish, which was invented in post-WWII Japan when food supplies were limited, features a crepe-like pancake piled high with whatever is available, and then grilled.

The standard ingredients are noodles and cabbage along with things like corn and some cheese to glue it all together. Then, sometimes a bit of shrimp or pork or fish flakes. Maybe an egg is put on top. It’s all grilled until the pancake is deeply brown. Then it’s flipped over and some type of barbeque sauce in slathered on top.

It’s brought to a table specially fitted with its own griddle to keep the whole thing hot while you cut off pieces of it to move to smaller plate.

Yum.

Today we went — along with Pam — to a place that promised six floors of various okonomiyaki places. We moved right into the one on the first floor. Although we each had one of these things for ourselves, we could have easily been happy sharing one. They are huge and filling.

At the place today, after the “pancakes” were brought to the table, the waitress squeezed a generous topping of mayonnaise artfully over the top of each. Two with spring onions, one without. Fun.

Any difference between the Osaka version and the Hiroshima version? Not much that I could tell. But considering the controversy and rivalry that rages between the two cities over this issue, I think it’s best to stay out of the middle of this.