Japan Season 2 Ep 03 : 関西の旅 · 大阪

Still in Kansai, (not kanasai, i accidentally typed kanasai hahaha! lol okay) heading to Osaka after staying a night in Kyoto.

Everyone has heard of Osaka right? it's like.. famous. When you ask someone to name some cities in Japan? It'll be Tokyo, Osaka, Hokkaido, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Nagoya, Kyoto? haha!

I have been here with my sister last time while i was still hanging in Japan after the Hokkaido trip in 2011. hahhaha So both of us concluded that there's nothing much to see in Osaka, just to eat and shop around Shinsaibashi (心斋桥). the Must-Go in Osaka.

Boarded a train from Kyoto to Osaka in the morning, and dropped our bag in the hotel first. Stayed the night at Apa Villa Hotel. don't laugh. yes, it's 'APA'. haahhahaha!

Before starting our day, we went to the convenient store as sister wants to buy some tickets (i forgot what ticket was it :O) haha. then i spotted all the 18+ magazines on the side and took this one out. my sister had a glimpse and shouted, "Oii, that looks like my friend." then i look clearly, yea, Sakura Mana. HAHAHAH wow, she has a huge photo on the cover! XD

hahahaha, okayy :P
so we took the train to Nanba(難波) station, Dotonbori (道頓堀) the 'tourist area'.
Yes, HUNGRY!

Osaka Ohsho

a famous place to have Gyoza. i loveeee gyoza ❤❤❤

we had 20 gyoza & 8 in the soup. the fried one is so good yumss

the love-to-take-photo-daddy :P

Straight up : お好み焼き！(Okonomiyaki aka 大阪烧)

Had it at 鶴橋風月(Tsusuhashi Fugetsu), also the famous one. their Dotonbori outlet is located at 3rd floor of a building just right at the corner near the 'glico' advertisement everyone sees.

ordered two big ones. hahahah

Chef

a random photo. why dad so cute..? hahahah

oh and, they have storage underneath the bench we sit, for the customers to keep their coats and bags inside so that the coats dont get the burning okonomiyaki smell.

yes that's the Glico advertisement board.

and the point of this photo is .... baba. selfie-ing HAHA

The "旧地重游" literally.
it was rather warm in Osaka the day we visited so all of us have been carrying the coat around. i even sweated.

Had some shopping/ tourist time.

It's Valentine's soon so they had this huge love shape soap from Lush.

wanted to take a better photo but then the staffs came to stop us. oops.

Mom and sister spent like an hour plus inside the shop trying out 80% of their products -.-

Then we headed to one huge game centre at the middle of the street. at their top floor there's purikuma machines. 

i think my parents found it fun and interesting. hahahhaha! look at my dad in the second picture. HAHA!

their purikuma makes the skin smoother & fairer, eyes bigger and sparkling, and the legs, THINNER. HAHAHAHHA

Walked around the street and about 30minutes later, i realized i lost my handphone. (lol)

i was so calmed. because that was not the first time i lost my phone already. i have lost it once in HK Disneyland, if i ever mentioned. hahahha. so we traced back to the game centre, went into the toilet to look for it, asked the cleaner if she saw the phone. she then brought us to the counter and asked a few questions. Oh, so i left my phone in the toilet, and took purikuma, and walked around without realizing it has been gone for so long. hahahha! I had to say, i wasn't that happy when i got it back. because i wanted it to be gone? haha! not really, just that i don't care as much as i did already. my phone so suck. hahahahha

Around 4pm we moved our steps to the Spa World (Official Website)

Oh so now i remember, my sister was buying tickets to spa world in convenient store earlier in the morning.

We took the metro line (御堂筋线) to the station called "動物園前" which literally means "in front of the zoo". so the station is really in front of the zoo. and the station's interior was painted with alot of monkeys. lol

About the Spa World, men and women were going to separate floors, and it depends whether the women or the men will get the "Europe world" or the "Asia world". The day we went, women got the Asia World. aiya, The "Europe World" looks nice tho, from photos. But then dad and brother told us there's only a few pools available. while in the Asia World there's like soooo many different pools. Deep or shallow, hot or cold, carbonated, milk, outdoor etc etc.

And yes, as most of the other Spa in japan, you go naked. hahaha.

I love the outdoor spa. the weather is so cold and you're in a pool of 40'C. But after a few minutes i can't take the heat. my face went all red and started to feel dizzy. lol

then three of us just sat on the bench beside the pool. it is funny to see each other giving out vapour. HAHAHA yes from our body. we're evaporating.

spent two hours inside and met my dad and brother waiting at the lobby. Returned the locker keys and ciao.

通天閣 Tsutenkaku

is this also called the Osaka tower? haha idk lol. saw it just right after we came out from Spa world.

brother requested to want the tower be at his nostrils...uhm..i tried my best.

mandatory tourist photos.

dad has a photo of him holding it like an ice-cream cone but the photo is not with me. he loves to take the photos with his iphone only. he no like to share =P

Our dinner is another to-eat in Osaka, Kushikatsu
Deep fried vegetables / meat/ sausages/ balls/ eggs/ intestines....basically anything, and they put it in sticks. Crunchy, and served with a special dipping sauce. It's something more than a soy sauce. Regional taste. hahah!
*warning : Eating this might brings you bankruptcy if you don't control yourself. LOL

some interesting items in the translated menu. Google failed it again. HAHAHA

However the restaurant we had is not as nice as the one i went for the first time. The better restaurant is always full and had to queue for an hour. So we just settled down at a random restaurant.

Filled our tummy a lil, yeah just a little. Head to the Osaka Castle (Osakajo 大阪城)

It's a very huge area. castle + the park. We walked around, and finally decided to pay for the entrance ticket for their new 3D-mapping show

it's at night, all we see is just....this. the palace. and they do the 3D mapping on the it.

well, it's quite interesting to see but overpriced lor. but well, what's cheap in japan? lol

the ocean of lights dayumsss

After the show ended, it's where the nightmare comes. We had to walk one big round around the castle just to get to the subway station. mygod. so tiring. and hungry.

stopped by at Lawson near our hotel and got some food as supper/bfast for next day.

yes, there's creme brulee. 

***

In both Kyoto and Osaka, i slept with my brother and sister in one room. and there's only 1 double bed. which is, can't fit us. we are not thin. and we used scissors-paper-rock to decide who is sleeping in the middle. The night in Osaka, me badluck. i stayed up late and there's no space at all for me to squeeze in. damn sad. Pushed my brother all the way to the wall and finally. 

No like to sleep with them. 

(i) They steal blanket (especially my sister, the night in Kyoto was ridiculous)

(ii) They do taichi while they sleep.

The taichi thing wasnt happening because the bed was too small for them or they were too tired :P

but the blanket stealing. walaooo. The night in Kyoto, my brother and i were so cold because my sister has pulled the whole blanket to her side and wrapped herself up. A few hours later she woke up and complaint that she's cold and claimed that we pulled the blanket. Then we found that the blanket was on the floor -.- i was pissed at her on that day. hahahhaha

Next up >> Japan Season 2 Ep 04 : TOKYO

Japan Season 2 Ep 02 : 関西の旅 · 京都

It means, Travelling to Kansai, specifically Kyoto.

Kansai chiho literally means the west region of Honshu Island, it includes several cities like Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe etc. While Tokyo, Chiba, Gunma, Kanagawa, Tochigi etc are of Kanto chiho, the East region.

Kyoto was formerly the imperial capital of Japan. It is also called 'The City of Ten Thousand Shrines'. because it has THAT many of shrines (how do i put this.. err japanese temple hahaha!)

We only allocated 1 day for Kyoto in this trip, because my sister and i thought that it would be boring, as there's nowhere to go, but Ten Thousands of Shrines. HAHAHA! However at the end of the trip, the place i miss the most is Kyoto. It's such a beautiful city. They don't have wide metro coverage, because Kyoto is somehow like a 'preserved city' in Japan. It is old (but still city-er than most of the places in KL), they don't have metro coverage all around the city, their main transportation is by bus, or cycling.

cold but sunny day :)

We left my sister's apartment at 6am, board the Shinkansen (aka the bullet train) at Shinjuku.

ahh, everyone's first time on shinkansen, including my sister. because the fare is soooooo WOW. expensive. i forgot how much it costs, but it is cheaper to take their domestic flights than to take the train. That is why when i were to travel alone from Tokyo to Osaka last time, i took the flight but not the train. However there is no airport in Kyoto. Connecting buses are also available for those who wanted to travel across Japan, it's the cheapest option among all three, but not too much than domestic flights too. They are all overnight buses, you board the bus at night, arrive next morning. Quite comfortable and spacious i would say. but we didnt take the bus because we thought of my dad. he would complaint all day and all night if we brought him onto a 8-hrs bus ride after a 7-hrs flight. HAHAHHA! so, yeah. Shinkansen.

Japan railways (JR) has offered some foreigner/tourist passes which are definitely worth-the-price for people who will be travelling across japan in 2-3 weeks. (you get it back if you travel 3-4 times on shinkansen)
>>> JR Pass
*Pass must be purchased before the arrival to Japan (thru travel agencies)
*Pass cannot be used for Shinkansen- Nozomi trains (the fastest train among the 3 types of shinkansen Train)

Walao, i have crapped so much on just Shinkansen as if im really giving travelling advice.. LOL back to our day in Kyoto.

but Shinkansen is really fast and comfortable and punctual. (well, all transports in japan are punctual).
[Tip : you can choose numbered seating / free seating in the train, number seating costs around 5000yen (~RM100) extra.]
[Tip : there's vending machine in the train =P ]

Arrived at Kyoto station at around 10am? met up with Chia Sik, my sister's senior who's studying in Kyoto. He's our tour guide for the day. Put down our bags in the hotel and started the day.
First thing, EAT. We have to eat. HAHAHHAA WE ARE HUNGRY BECAUSE IT'S COLD and WE NEED TO EAT ALL THE TIME. yeah. especially my dad.

so we headed back to Kyoto Station and find food there. There's a hugeeeee Shopping street/mall inside/beside/linked/opposite to the station. Headed to the JR Kyoto Isetan, at the 10th floor, there's this "Ramen Street" which serves 8 types of different Ramen from different region in Japan.

Kyoto Ramen Koji address :
10F Kyoto Station Bldg., Higashi Shiokoji-cho, Karasuma-dori, Shiokoji sagaru, Shimogyo-ku
Official Website ( Japanese)
Simply asked Uncle Google and got this short Review

we've always been fans of tonkatsu ramen, but this time we chose to try the Tokushima style (don't know what, we just eenie-meenie-miney-mo)

camwhore spotted :P hahhah

i was trying to photobomb him at the back and he scolded me :(

the signature looooooooong staircase and escalators leading to a garden on the 11th floor

First stop after lunch is.....

Fushimi Inari Taisha

>> (伏見稲荷大社)

basically our trip to Kyoto is to visit some of the interesting shrines, where Chia Sik thought that we should be seeing. As sister has asked him to guided us and so we were too lazy (and busy) to do research like we always do for our family trips.

this could be a better family picture..but it's okay haha not too bad.

(like those i had with Doraemon wtf yes i still couldn't let it go)

the Kitsune (Fox) around the shrine. Read from the net, the Fox is believed to be the Shinto (God of Rice)'s messengers. and yes this is one of the shrines dedicated to Shinto (aka inari.)

im thinking of the inari sushi.

here's the main thing about the Taisha. they have alot (seriously) of these orange thingy called the torii gates donated by the people.

in the Japanese temple/ shrines, people get the 'divination', nehh, those numbered stick in a container, and you shake until one of the stick falls, and get a note according to the number.

In Japan, if people get a 'bad note', they tie it up and left it at the temple.

If it's a 'good note', bring it home.

rather than having the normal wishing card, the Taisha has this cute fox face wooden board.

who posed better? :P

or who took a better picture/ hahaah

tried to do what the local people do for prayers and lucks.

Most of the temples have put up an "instructions board" nearby where tourists/visitors can do it by following the instructions.

it involves just rinsing your hands separately (in correct order, i forgot, left then right if not right then left. HAHAHHA), then pour some water on your hand and drink it.

a random shot on our way out.

it was a huge shrine, where you can actually 'hike' your way up to the hill. but of course we didn't do that. hahhaha

SEE WHAT I FOUND ON THE STREET OUTSIDE THE SHRINE!!! 

i'm always in love with this taiyaki also it's variation. but this is the first time seeing this :D

he 'opened' the yaki's mouth so that he can stuff in ingredients later. haha

the stall offers a few different ice cream flavor and fruits.

we had matcha + redbean and banana + chocolate

(these combinations are about perfect for me. hehehe)

however, it tastes just so-so. ngek. nvm, worth a try. for it's cute figure.

hello everyone, im on the bus! =D

their bus has very limited legs room. the spacious ones are the very last row, and priority seats

my knees hurt so bad after the ride.

Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion)

>> 金閣寺 

To enter the temple, visitors are required to 'buy' a 'charm', which make it more or less like the admission fee instead. It costs 400 yen per person, they offered student price for high school students also.

Nothing much about this, just that the upper 2 floors, are covered by golden leaf. (real gold)

We can only see it from far, which means we can't get to see the interior ourselves.

Instead of looking at the building, i find myself enjoyed spending time at the 'park' more. It is a very beautiful park for me. hahaha! all the pinaceae + chilling weather.

No one gets a good picture at this place because it's either we'll be too dark, or the kinkakuji being overexposed at the back. hahahah!

they named this plant(s) as "Boat of the Land"

im just ..LOL-ed

oh btw there's also a Ginkakuji, the Silver Pavilion in kyoto, we didn't go :P

Headed to Kiyomizu-dera straight because we were running out of time, the temple closes at 5pm!

Again, we took a bus and then walk up a steep road/walkway. Looooong and steeeep no kidding. It's exactly like walking up in FRIM. but you have food stalls around.

You confirm get to try their signature & traditional food in Kyoto, the Yatsuhashi, a soft and mochi-like snacks.

and here we are, the Kiyomizu-dera (清水寺)

right timing for the beautiful sunset.

The thing to see in Kiyomizu-dera is their architecture. It's on the hill side and yeah, brilliant architecture using some kind of wood that only YX can spell them out.

And that's the end of the temples hopping trip in Kyoto.

We can't visit more because most of the temple close around 5-6pm.

So after Kiyomizu-dera, we squeezed in a very very crowded bus and went to the maiko experience place.

You know maiko...?

yeah...... we did that. HAHAHHA

After the maiko experience, time for dinner! we were really hungry after the maiko thingy.

Went back to the station and looking for restaurants at the underground streets.

i am that kind of person, who can't decide what to eat all the time. So i'm always happy if i see something like 'mix plate' etc on the menu i.e. i get to eat a few different things. HAHAHAH im a pigggg

The restaurant serves mainly pork, but their pork has got NO pork taste, at all. i swear, NOT AT ALL. yums :D

sister's Galaxy S3 has got this receiver for streaming TV. 

hahahahha it's cute but funny! but most of the phones in japan has got this additional receiver.

Buhbye Chia Sik. Thank you so much for your time =)

Before and when i was in Kyoto, i never thought that this city would give me this much impact. I don't know anymore words i can use to describe the city, and also the feeling it gave me. The people in Kyoto are different from the people in Osaka & Tokyo, they are more friendly. The whole environment & ambiance are like nowhere to compare. It's peaceful. I feel the peace inside out. It probably has got some power/magic that makes me fall in love with the city, so hard. and I told myself, i'll be there again. 

***Next up >> Japan Season 2 Ep 03 : 関西の旅 · 大阪