Takirev’09 – Day 2 (Osaka)

20th January

We met Nyanco outside Shin-Kabukiza, and there was the famous kabuki actor’s banner on the building. It looks grand ne~ I was thinking, maybe one day Enbujo can be staged here, and Takki’s onnagata face can be put up instead? Wahahaha… Just some random thoughts. Anyway, today we’ll be visiting some of the places that Takki visited during 8jida J (1998.06.24) and the Dream Boy special in Osaka (2004.04.24).

We walked past the Osaka Shochikuza, where Takki did “MASK” 11 years ago, the first time he chaired a butai at age 16. I remember he mentioned how he had to take so much pressure being the youngest zachou, and finally after senshuuraku, he went to the dressing room and cried… This was where it happened.

We came to the bridge which Takki walked on in 8jidaJ – and there was the famous Glico thing…

And also a huge Asahi beer on the building. Knowing how Takki loves beer…

There was also the restaurant with the huge crab in front.

Then we proceeded to have lunch at a pasta restaurant. The pasta set with corn soup and salad only costs 1,000yen. I chose the mushroom pepperoncino pasta. And I love the salad ne, coz I picked only the stuff I like, and added my favourite Japanese sesame dressing, which was the same one used in the Enbujo kani seafood salad (that is still my favourite “butai dish” to date! ^^). Yummy~~~

We walked in circles and spent quite some time looking for the Osaka Johnnys Shop. But finally, we found it!! So happy~~~XD

It’s so different from the one in Harajuku. You can just walk in without queueing up at the park, or taking any “queue number”. There’s nobody standing outside telling you that you’re not allowed to take photos too LOL. And there weren’t many people inside :) I grabbed ALL the NEWS VTR shots of Takki, and ALL the Ai Kakumei shop photos~~ KAKKOIII!! ^^.

Then we proceeded to Osaka Tower, located a few stations away. And from the station to the tower, there were many more shops which were shown in that episode of 8jidaJ.

And we also stopped for some Takoyakis. They were HOT!!!! And taste slightly different from the ones in Tokyo or Singapore. This shop’s are softer on the outside, while the ones in Tokyo or Singapore are harder (more burnt).

Then, we finally reached Osaka Tower! This is a photo I took at the foot of the tower.

The 2nd level was free to access but there’s an entrance fee payable if you wanna access the 5th level, where you can have a 360degree view of Osaka. We paid and took the lift up. In the lift, everything was dimmed and you can see a lighted outline of the Billiken on the ceiling. And the lift’s floor signals are in the shape of the tower.

Up there at the 5th level, of course we had to touch the legs of the Billiken ne! When Takki touched it 11 years ago, the Billiken’s feet were still rather flat.

But over the years, so many people touched it that there are two holes on both feets! The hole on its right feet is deeper than its left. You can see how deep the hole is now…

I saw Osaka Jou from far, and the Ferris Wheel too (which we didn’t have time to go). These are just some random photos I took of Osaka, from the tower.

After a while, we felt that we had enough of the place, amd walked down to the 4th level to take the lift down. We headed for a nearby train station, and sat for awhile outside “SPAWORLD”. Nyanco reminded us that this was the place Takki did the body massage in 8jidaJ~ hahaha, he was giggling non-stop so kawaii-ly then~~ hahaha~~

Of course we didn’t go in for the massage. We just sat outside for a breather, and Kat was saying that she thinks Takki and Kansai Jrs then also sat there. She was right. I re-watched that 8jidaJ episode and found this:

Then, we headed for our next stop, the Okonomiyaki place in the Dream Boy Osaka SP. By the time we reached there, it was dark :)

We went in and sat at the same table as Takki & gang :) And I sat at Takki’s seat XD As there were 4 of them in the show, and there were also 4 of us then, Nyanco was Subaru, Kat and Azuki were Hina and Yoko *LOL *

Azuki, Kat & I ordered the exact same dish as Takki :) But Nyanco ordered something else – Kimchi I think hehe… What we didn’t know was that each okonomiyaki was so huge!! It was really oishii but we had a hard time finishing it coz it was that huge!

Me at “Takki’s” seat~ fufufufu~

And that’s my ipod. We showed the boss a video of himself, and he took some time to recognise it. He remembered “Takizawa-kun” and was trying to recall when it was that Takki did the filming there. He said “2-3 years”, but it was actually already almost 5 years ago :)

That was the last stop for the day. We returned to our hotel room, and I tried ONSEN for the first time. It was free at our hotel :D It was REALLY GOOOD ne~ The jacuzzi was so kimochiii! It was a lil’ hazukashii at first, but after a while, I got so used to it that… we decided to go for onsen again the next day! Maybe becoz I’m tanned, I was the only one who didn’t really turn red after the onsen. Ah, I also tried showering at 43 degrees fufufufu~~~

When I’m in Japan, usually I’ll drink beer or chu-hi at night, so that I can get to sleep. So this is the final shot for the day…

Next up will be Kyoto :D