Japan Day 3: Osaka

Ohiyo Gozaimasu! This was the coldest morning in Japan...2°C

in our dorm before we head up.. fully dressed with long johns...

we utilised our 2 days Osaka Unlimitted Pass that costs us 2,700 yen each and did a de-tour to somewhere special..

we took the Hankyu Takarazuka Line and travelled to Ikeda Station

to The Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum!!! where all Nissin noodle history started

these are our self-designed noodle cup! L-R: Shoni, Pingu, Lee, Yennee

by now we should know each and everone's drawing skills!! hahahhhaa

queuing up to fill up the cups with noodles!!

the garnishing to our noodles! we get so select 4 types each cup! how awesome is that!!

picking up the sealed cup noodle for the next step...

Packing! we need to pump pump pump till that bag is filled with air.. like an airbag to hold and protect the cup!

After the museum, it was raining... we we travelled back to the town.. and went to HEP Five for a decent lunch and took a ride on a big red ferris wheel

they had an iphone dock there...so me and pingu had a romantic ride! :)

after that, it was already evening also most attraction has already closed, or will be closed...

the only available one is.....

another ferris wheel!! hahahhahaaa Tempozan Ferris Wheel!

apparently, the wheel has colored lights that provide a weather forecast for the next day. Orange lights indicate a sunny day, green lights a cloudy day and blue lights indicate rain.

So for us, the next day is a cloudy day! and yeah... it was a cloudy day the next day! so accurate oh! and this info my friend, is what i know only when i am typing this! hahahhahaha

pooh is my ♥

when it was our turn to enter the gondola, i saw pooh in the next one! i was super excited and asked to be in the next gondola and the kind conductor allowed me!! i was super happy and so i hugged pooh the whole journey on the wheel and Pingu was a bit jealous! hahahaha

SO HE SLEPT!

We went to Minami (namba) Area for dinner, specifically, to Dotonbori in Shinsaibashi. It is Osaka's Food street and there are lots and lots of food there.. and we chose to eat at at sushi restaurant because it is cheap and there is a big hand holding sushi on top of the shop! (just because)

After dinner, while yennee and lee headed back to the hotel, Pingu and i went to Shinsaibashi Shopping Arcade for him to play in the arcade. It has always been his dream to play in the arcades in Japan after he discovered the joy of Hong Kong arcades. However, his feedback was that Japan players are not into the games that he played. HK is still better in terms of arcade.

so that's the end of our day 3.

Japan Day 2: Tokyo - Shinjuku - Osaka

Day 2 in Tokyo starts with a hearty Japanese breakfast of course!

We went to a small 'japanese fast-food' breakfast shop. The above picture are just "add-ons" to make it feel more breakfast like! We ate rice actually!
i think the japanese cannot live without eating rice! hahahaha

After breakfast, we checked out of our hotel and went to Shinjuku area to purchase our Nozomi Train tickets to Shin-Osaka.

This is the outside of JR Shinjuku Station (obviously!)

and this is the 'key' to our locker! In Japan, there are lockers everywhere in stations!
it's totally convenient and safe lor! especially useful for lazy people like me..and Pingu! hahahaha! we have left our purse, passports, ipad, phones and it's all safe! (not that i encourage keeping valuables in lockers though)

this is the street just outside the Shinjuku station where there's a row of shops called kin-ken-ya selling 'discount tickets'. for further info on this awesome info that i am talking about, please see here. We got our tickets for 12,950yen instead of 14,050yen per person! a savings of 1,100yen per person!! Isn't that awesome??

snacking japanese crepe by the road! yummy!! but it was sooo expensive!! about 500yen!

Udon for lunch that we bought from a vending machine! super yummy and simple food!!

and i went to Tokyu Hands to buy lots of cute stuff also!! forgot to take pictures though..

this is our Tokaido Shinkansen Nozomi train tickets to Shin-Osaka!
we took the fastest of the fastest bullet train in Japan!!

❤

N700 is the series for the fastest of the fastest!!
we reached Osaka from Tokyo in about 2.5 hours!

We then found our way to our hotel for the next few nights which is awesomely cheap!!
We stayed at the dorm of Hotel Chuo Selene that cost us only an average of 2,150yen per night!
it was just 30 seconds from the Exit (1) of Dobutsuen-mae Station, Midosuji Subway Line!
that is why we chose it! hahahhahaaa

We had our dinner at one of the alleys nearby our hotel

along the way, we found this cute statue Billiken that the Japanese believe as God of Fortune and so we touched it body, rubbed its feet, and took picture with it!! i think Pingu looks exactly like the statue lor...right?? right??? hahahha especially the EYES!!!

On our way back to the hotel, we passed by a Takoyaki stall!

These are balled shaped Japanese snacked filled with grilled octopus which originates from Osaka!! dont eat also must eat... just because the stall operators are pretty and fun!

Our meals for the day:

L: Gyudon Beef Rice for breakfast (of course that's not mine!), Udon and Soba noodles for Lunch

R: Kiwi Crepe and Kebab for snack

Dinner at the back alley that we went starving and just pick and point from menu:

Clockwise from L: Kushikatsu dipping sauce & vege, mashed potato & Onigiri & Prawn chicken roll, 'something' with fried egg, Unagi Tamagoyaki, Beef wice and fried chicken keel

that's all for our second day in Japan.. stay tuned for our third day in osaka!

Japan Day 1: Tokyo - Asakusa

i know i know... this is a long overdued post..... but still... here goes..

Our flight to Tokyo Narita Airport departed from KLIA around 11.30pm on 16 November 2011.

Pingu and I had the chance to experience Plaza Premium Lounge at KLIA prior our departure because i have just got my Citibank Platinum card! yay!

Being in the lounge was definately better than loiterring around the waiting area.. but it was not as exclusive as we have thought it would be. Food there was not as grand as expected... and it was crowded there as well... So we just ate our dinner and we went out to join Yn and Lee at Mc D's!!

Our flight took about 7.5 hours and it was not the most comfortable flight ever due to my own issues of sleeping in the plane... we were thankful though that we flew with MAS..at least we had food and unlimitted drinks... with blanket and pillows...

Right after touching down in Tokyo, we went to the washroom to clean up and beautify ourselves. We bought the Keisei Skyliner ticket to Ueno Station, which is nearby to our first destination, Asakusa. We also bought our 1 day unlimitted passes on the subway from Narita Airport too as it cost only 600 yen instead of 750 yen as it was meant for tourist.

**Tips: Please BUY the unlimitted subway pass at Narita Airport

At the Keisei Skyliner boarding platform. It took approx 30 mins for us to reach Ueno. It was quick but it wasn't cheap though... Totally worth it as we dont need to carry our luggage through so many trains and the train service is super punctual! Perfect for our return journey too as it was a morning flight and waking up in the wee hours in the morning will be a torture easy for us!

On board the Skyliner and Ohiyo from Japan!!!

When we reached Ueno, we had to take the local train service to get to Asakusa. This was our first and many more rides on the local train later. The ticket was very small and it was fun figuring for the first time how to purchase the ticket from the machine too!

At the Asakusa Station exit which is nearby to our Hotel!! It was quite cold as you can see from Pingu's jacket that i was wearing...

We found our hotel which was like 1 minute walk from the station exit. Left our luggage there in the lockers and went roaming around Asakusa while waiting for the check in time which is at 3.00 pm.

One of the very famous place to visit around there is the Asakusa Temple (Sensoji Temple).

After the big red lantern, there are lots of small shops selling souvenir and traditional Japanese food. Please note that you are only allowed to eat at the boundary of the shops selling the food. Visitors cannot eat the food while walking to ensure cleanliness of the area. i forgot about this warning from my friend and ordered TWO icecreams on a cold almost winter day! *greedy but it was totally worth it lor.. cause the black sesame and green tea ice cream was sooooooo good!

At the entrance of the temple there is this water feature where you can wash your hands and rinse your mouth before entering the temple. it's for some goodluck or cleansing thing apparently.

At the entrance of the temple, you can find some Omikuji stalls. These are are random fortunes written on strips of paper where we can get it by giving a small offering and shaking a box containing numbered sticks while making a wish/question and taking out the fortunes by the same number from the mini drawers there.

This is the Omikuji i got for Fredonia... seeking Love! hahahhahaa.. and it was a super good fortune so i brought it back and gave her as a gift! and.... i think it's accurate leh... now that she's in a relationship already!! yay!!

Pingu also did one and i guess it wasn't a really good one.. so he folded, tied and left it at the speacial place indicated. The reason for this custom is the idea being that the bad luck will wait by the place rather than attach itself to the bearer. So yay! bad luck left at the temple to be blown away by wind...

We were all waiting anxiously for 3.00pm to come as we were all sleepy and tired from the night flight.. so when the time came, we went back to out 'little hotel' for a nap.

This is so far where i had the BEST sleep in Japan... it was super comfortable despite the fact that it's like a coffin size! choy! these are called capsule hotel and Capsule Hotel Asakusa Riverside is one of the few that caters for ladies as well.

After our nap, we went for dinner at around 8pm.. hahahahaaa... we had super good sleep!
Dinner was at a 'mamak stall' just at the corner of the building.. dinner was awesome!!

The first meals we had in Japan..
L (Lunch): udon; katsu don  
R(Dinner): yakiniku, ground beef rice, gyudon

We went sightseeing in Giza.. just like Bukit Bintang with all shops like Pavillion and Lot 10 standard.. no Sg Wang..

We also went to the Shishedo store.. where you can try out the make up items.. ELECTRONICALLY!  like if you try a pallet with eye shadows, blusher, lipstick.. when you scan the barcode at the computer, and stand right in front of the screen...tadah! you'll get a full face makeover!

Nissan gallery @Japan...

Bought this cake from Little Baum Tree shop. It is actually baumkuchen, a German kind of layered cake that has made it big in Japan .

So after Giza, we went back to the hotel to bathe and sleep. Let me eleborate more of the hotel here.

When we checked in, we have to remove our shoes and change to the hotel's indoor shoes and lock our shoes in the lockers provided. Each person is given a locker to store personal belongings. We were given towels and pyjamas set. Girls and guys occupy different levels!

Bathroom is a common bathroom separated by gender. The guys one i heard was outdoor (gasp!) and had good view! But the catch is, you have to be naked! FULLY TOTALLY NAKED! hahahahhahahaa.... and that apply to the ladies too! wtf!

i thank God that we went to Japan in pairs! I cant imagine if i had to experience this all by my own! it would be terrifying...

So yennee and i took our towels, toiletries, pyjamas set... and went to bathe.. not expecting to face the communal bathroom on the first day itself!! (we knew we would experience that at Hakone) When we reached to the bathroom, i thought, wah, one cubicle so big hor!... but ONE only ah? aiyah.. so mah fan.. need to wait for turns lor... so i slided the door..thinking i would step into another bathroom area....

GASP! i quickly closed the door.. and said to yennee,"eh, got one naked popo bathing inside leh!!! OMG!! then both of us are like kaypohchis keep on peeping that popo bathing naked! hahahahhahaaa

so how??? we have never bathed naked with others before in our lives!! as much as i am very close to yennee, we haven't bathe together before okay!!! we didn't know what is the procedure we should follow... what to bring in.. where to put the towels... whether should we walk in naked or remove our clothes inside... OMG!! we were so stressed and yet so funny... so we 'geladah' that popo's stuff left outside in one of the basket.. and we became instant expert!

so we stripped ourselves naked... and with a small mini face towel, we tried our very best to cover our pride and shame! hahahahha.. quickly ran into the bathroom and sat down... i was damn paiseh.. but act selamba jer.. proceed to copy how the popo bathed! hahahha.. one thing i totally loved about japan is everywhere you stay, cheaper hotels like this to expensive ones, they provide good quality shampoo and body shampoo.. by shishedo lagi!

there you go, our first day in Japan... first 100% Japanese meal, first Capsule hotel experience and first time bathing naked with others!! i shall end with this... taken inside my cubicle :)