11/9 - Universal City and SMAP Bistro

So we finished all our rides and we saw most of the shows at Universal Studios Japan (with the exception of Waterworld, Wicked the musical, and some smaller ones).  We exited the park and made our way to JR station to head back to our hotel in Shinsaibashi.

However, we still had one more destination to cross off our checklist here at Universal City just outside of Universal Studios Japan.  It was the Takoyaki Museum.  All right.  It's not really a museum in the sense of exhibits and info.  This museum is a collection of different takoyaki (fried octopus balls) stalls and styles.  It also doesn't hurt to have huge cartoon drawings and statues marking the entrance to this "museum."  N and I, but particularly N, are fans of this great Japanese snack.  Takoyaki has its origins in the Osaka area, so it's only natural that a Takoyaki Museum can be found in Osaka.

We wandered around the shopping area of Universal City for a little bit.  That's when we came across a different food stall selling onigiri.  Onigiri is usually a simple combination of cooked rice shaped into a triangle, then half-wrapped in a small sheet of seaweed.  Well, this onigiri stall sold a variety of different onigiri with different sizes and shapes.  The one that got our attention was the Takoyaki Onigiri.  A whole takoyaki ball wrapped completely in a rice ball which is then completely wrapped in sheet of seaweed.  It looked like a giant bomb!

So we took our giant takoyaki onigiri ball back to hotel to snack on later.  We were already pretty full from the takoyaki we tried upstairs in the takoyaki museum.  We hopped back onto the JR train back to Umeda, then transferred to the Osaka Subway to get back to Shinsaibashi.

After a long day of play at USJ, we kicked off our shoes and turned on the TV to relax for the rest of the evening.  When we turned on the TV, we discovered SMAP Bistro was on.  SMAP is a five person idol group in Japan.  They are most famous for their J-Pop brand of music, but they also have a popular TV show.  Part of which is the SMAP Bistro.  Not to mention that a few of the members are headline actors in many TV dramas and movies.  N's Japanese tutor lent her a few episodes of SMAP Bistro for N to practice Japanese comprehension, so we were familiar with the show and were quite excited to be actually watching an episode on Japanese TV.

Every episode of SMAP Bistro has a celebrity guest judge.  In previous episodes, they have had actors, politicians, and even Jane Birkin. This night was a Japanese comedian.  Apparently, he's really funny because he has all of SMAP laughing, but we haven't the foggiest idea what he's joking about.  The idea is that one of the members, the shortest of the five, plays chef de maison for the Bistro while the other four are split into two cooking teams.  Each team must make a dish requested by their guest(s) or with ingredients requested by their guest(s).  It's actually a pretty fun show to watch even if you don't understand Japanese.  So what more can you ask for -- a great day at USJ, a giant takoyaki onigiri to split between N and I, and a cooking competition to end the night.