Kuromon Market Breakfast and ICOCA Card Issuance

📅 Day 2 Morning of the Travel Itinerary ◇ Kuromon Market Breakfast at Kuromon O-nabeya Initially, the plan was to visit Shinpachi Restaurant for Osaka-style home-cooked meals or grab a hearty eel rice bowl from Uotoyo to-go. However, as the saying goes, "Too many cooks spoil the broth," and plans changed. Power J always has a Plan C! To explore Kuromon Market, we decided to dine at Kuromon O-nabeya. Upon entering the restaurant, we gestured with an open palm to indicate a group of five. Simple body language works universally, so not knowing Japanese wasn’t an issue. The kids ordered tempura udon, while the adults opted for tempura rice bowls, mini eel rice bowls, and curry udon. The curry was surprisingly rich and salty, so we couldn’t finish the curry udon. However, the tempura dishes were delicious, and the food was clean and satisfying for breakfast. ◇ ICOCA Card Issuance at Nankai Namba Station After breakfast, we headed to Osaka Castle and stopped by the information center on the 2nd floor of Nankai Namba Station to issue a children’s ICOCA card. Note that children’s cards can only be issued at manned counters. We prepared the child’s passport, the ICOCA card application form, and cash (in yen). A staff member who spoke fluent Korean kindly assisted us with the issuance. Since children’s transportation fares are half-priced, it’s worth getting the card. The children’s ICOCA card is personalized with a name and expiration date, and it makes a cute chirping sound when tagged. :) For adults, we issued ICOCA cards at the unmanned ticket machines, which support Korean language, making the process easy. However, the machines only allow one card to be issued at a time, so we issued three cards individually. Payment was also made in cash. Both children’s and adults’ ICOCA cards require a deposit of 500 yen per card. When refunding the card, 220 yen of the deposit is deducted. To use up the remaining balance, I used the ICOCA card for convenience store snacks and paid the rest in cash. For balance checks, you can download a card reader app in advance to monitor it anytime. The ICOCA card was incredibly useful throughout our Osaka trip.