“The streets are lined with an array of food, and almost every restaurant has an eye catching 3-D sign board of some kind.”
A line from Lonely Planet? Nope, just a little snapshot of Osaka, Japan, courtesy of everyone’s favorite foodie, tour guide and Singaporean prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong.
To be fair, it was a bit of a working vacation for the PM. He was in Osaka June 27-30 for the G20 Summit, where leaders from the world’s biggest economic powerhouses converged to talk about everything from trade to climate change. But once business was out of the way, it was time for Lee to put on his tour guide hat.
Lee wrapped the four-day visit by taking in the sights and sounds of Dotonbori, one of Osaka’s most popular tourist destinations, on Sunday. And like that colleague of yours who always seems to be on vacation, Lee was definitely on sharing mode as he posted snapshots of the things he ate, saw and generally took delight in on the streets of Osaka.
In full sightseeing mode, the PM went on a walking tour of Japan’s second-biggest city, which he described in a Facebook post as “the famed entertainment and food haven.”
If you’re wondering how the city’s roast chestnuts are, the answer is “piping hot and delicious,” according to Lee.
That was just a warm-up. Next up on the walking tour: a takoyaki stall.
“Osaka is the birthplace of takoyaki: crisp balls of wheat flour filled with diced octopus. It’s brushed with takoyaki sauce, mayonnaise, green laver and dried bonito shavings,” he explained.
We had to Google “green laver” to find out what it is. Google tells us it’s the name of the seaweed that’s commonly used for takoyaki.
What a seasoned connoisseur of Japanese cuisine, we thought to ourselves as we hate-liked his photo.
Of course, no visit to Osaka is complete without taking a pic with the Glico man sign, a huge glowing candy company billboard featuring a giant runner that’s dominated the shopping district for the past 80 years.
Yes, it’s a thing. But don’t take our word for it — here are the fun facts delivered straight by PM Lee: “We found the Glico man and had a bit of fun! The Glico man sign board has evolved over the years, and the current one is the sixth generation,” he wrote of the shot he took with wife Ho Ching.
Glico’s most popular export, by the way, is Pocky.
Respek.
