This place . . . if you are a hobbyist, a nerd, a geek, a crafter, a gamer, a manga collector, and/or an anime enthusiast . . . prepare yourself! This place will make you spend your money. The streets are lined with hobby stores, arcades, maid cafes, and electronic stores.

But before you go and make yourself broke . . . curry? It is one of the most popular dishes in Japan. One of our favorite chain is Coco Ichibanya curry. It is fast, yummy, and customizeable. I picked the pork cutlet curry, mild spice, with vegetables. I also got the iced oolong tea which was really refreshing with the curry. Don’t forget to try the curry with the pickles provided on the table. They are so good. I can eat the whole container! I didn’t.

First stop for me is to replace my Sony in-ear extra bass earphones that I left on the plane ride here and to also get a camera strap for my Sony Alpha. Bic Camera Namba Outlet Store SAURUS2 sounds like a good place for that. There are also the popular Sofmap around the corner. There are so many electronic stores here!

We walked into so many anime/video game model stores with countless Gundam models, One Piece, Fate, Konosuba . . . you name it and this place has it. Check out Jungle and Animate. It is impressive what you can find there. My luggage space is at risk here!

There are plenty of arcades around here. I recommend checking out Sega Namba Avion, Taito Station Namba, and Namco Osaka Nipponbashi. All within blocks of each othr. Get ready for floors of endless claw machines and video games. I probably spend more than I should on these claw machines. They are so addicting. I can’t imagine how much I would spend if someone placed me in front of a pachinko slot machine . . . I shall avoid. Luckily for me, I probably spend about $25 getting this Portgas D. Ace figurine from One Piece, with the help of the awesome guy that worked there. He came and strategically place the Ace box so that I can get it . . . twice! Lol. I was struggling!

After some more shopping at Namba Park . . . dinner! We decided to check out Ippudo in Japan. I’m a big fan of Ippudo. My favorite is the Akamaru Modern ramen. The tonkatsu broth is super flavorful with the addition of the miso paste and garlic oil. The soft boiled egg just tops it off. A badly made egg can ruin a bowl of ramen. It’s no joke. Ippudo makes it’s own noodles with its special wheat flour blend. It’s firm but chewy, just the way I like my ramen noodles. For ramen lovers in the U.S. . . . The first time I had Ippudo is at the East Village store in New York city. I recommend getting the Hirata Pork Buns as appetizers. They didn’t have them at the Namba store; so I’m not sure if it is just in NYC? They are opening new locations all over the world so check out their website. Ramen for life!