Behind "the Streets of Onohara"

It has long been my plan since I started living in the land of the rising sun a.k.a. Japan to put up a blog and share my many interesting experiences, facts and maybe even untold stories about this wonderful country. But before any of these, let me first give a little introduction about myself. I am a Filipino, born and raised in the Philippines and currently doing graduate studies at Osaka University. I have been in Japan for almost a year (will be staying for the next 4 more years) and within such a short period of time, I couldn't help but to fall in love with this country that I now consider my second home. I know that many foreigners (or gaijin as they say it here) come to Japan for animes and mangas, and most of them are die-hard fanatic (otaku in Japanese) of these products. I must say though that, I am not a big fan of animes and can't find the time to read mangas either and so it goes to say that my posts will have very little concern about these two popular cultural items (my apologies to my anime and manga fan friends). I however like travelling and food. Therefore, it will not be a surprise if my first few posts will be all about food and places I have visited in Japan. Weird and equally amusing things will come by soon so let's be patient like most Japanese people. 

And so why "In the Streets of Onohara"?

Now that I am done with the lengthy self-introduction, I'd like to talk about the name of this blog. "In the Streets of Onohara" refers literally to the streets of a place where I am currently living. 

Onohara is a beautiful and peaceful community in Minoh city, Osaka, decorated with bars and restaurants and very popular among students due to its proximity to the university. It is in the boundary of three cities namely, Suita, Minoh and Ibaraki which makes it convenient to travel to any destination around Osaka.It is also very accessible from both Kitasenri station (Hankyu) and Toyokowa station of Osaka monorail. Onohara is divided into two regions, the nishi (west) and higashi (east). The nishi  part which features wide walkways and a small park is relatively new (newly developed) compared to  higashi. Japanese restaurants in this area serve high quality and delectable dishes like shabu-shabu, okonomiyaki and yakiniku. 

For those who crave for western or Indian food, Onohara has a number of Italian and Indian restaurants that offer exquisite and authentic dishes. The bar scene is quite the same as in many drinking venues in the country. There are a few of them in the area where most Japanese nomikai (drinking parties) are held. Even though the numbers are few, it doesn't mean Onohara is lacking  in this particular domain. Most of these bars have the best selection of sakes, shochu and other spirits and one them (Issun) in particular serves the best chicken wings in the world! 

And so Onohara is where we start scouring fascinating stories about food, culture and life in this very modern and yet traditional country called Japan. I will write anything about this place be it good or bad, as long as it is interesting, it will be in this blog.