Japan Trip 2008: Day 4 - 08.04.01 [火]
Japan, the Land of Rising Sun.
I caught the beautiful sunrise alone cos I woke up earlier to prepare. Hehe.
We took train down to Tokyo station to catch the shinkansen (bullet train).
We are going to Kansai, the West side of Japan.
In Kansai, we will be covering Osaka, Kyoto and Nara.
Before hoping on the ride, we bought our breakfast at one of the 駅弁 (Ekiben - station bento) kiosks.
マーくんの味噌カツひつまぶし風弁当
Marv's Miso Katsu Hitsumabushifuu Bento (Miso Hitsumabushi Style Pork Cutlet Lunch Box)
There's also Grilled Unagi (freshwater eel) besides the Pork Cutlet.
I prefer my スペシャルサンド！！♡ (Special Sandwich)
I brought along the LG21 yogurt and 0kcal Jelly Drink(Mango flavored) too.
I am sooo greedy.. LOL. But I only managed to finish the sandwich and yogurt. エヘへ〜
おはよう富士山！！！♪＼(⌒▽⌒)／
The weather was so fine that we got to see Mt.Fuji!!!
View of the beautiful Mt.Fuji with sakura.
海も綺麗だったねん〜
(The sea was beautiful too!)
Spotted the Genie??? So CUTE!! Hahaha..
Marv wanted to get one for himself so badly after seeing it.
The shinkansen tickets. From Tokyo to Shin-Osaka.
My newly-bought Pop Art Pumps from Esperanza
★('-^v) マーくんとアタシ (v^-')★
The Robot Necklace
I got these earrings from Shibuya 109 the previous day. ｴﾍ♪(*^・^)ノ ⌒☆
Caught some rest during the close to two hours ride.
We purchased the One-Day pass for USJ (Universal Studios Japan) when we
reached Shin-Osaka station. After which, we purchase train tickets to 難波(Nanba).
The hotel we were staying was located right between 道頓堀(Dotonbori) and 心斎橋(Shinsaibashi).
Super convenient. 道頓堀(Dotonbori) is the food and entertainment street while
心斎橋(Shinsaibashi) is Osaka's main shopping area.
There is still arounf 1 and 1/2 hour before the check-in time so we left our luggage at the
concierge and walked around and took picture at 道頓堀(Dotonbori).
GLICOの看板！！！
おいしさと健康
かに道楽
Street of Dotonbori
赤鬼たこ焼き
(Aka-oni Takoyaki .. Red Devil Octopus balls)
It's Marv's fave time again. Takoyaki! Haha.
I got so sick of Takoyaki after eating so much of it during this Spring trip. Serious.
We bought the set which comes along with soft drink.
The takoyaki is placed in the plastic holder which is the cover for the soft drink too.
The design is very convenient. You can eat your takoyaki as usual
and just take a sip whenever you fill like to. Just without having hold
so many items in your hand. Thumbs up! (ﾟ∇^d) ｸﾞｯ!!
くくるたこ焼き
道頓堀本店
(Kukuru Takoyaki Dotonbori Main Branch)
Yes, that's right.. MORE takoyaki!!!
もう．．．勘弁してくれよ〜ヽ（￣￣￣￣￣￣∇￣￣￣￣￣￣；）ノ
Over here at くくる(Kukuru), you get to add the topping sauce and ingredients by yourself.
Osaka's Takoyaki is softer in texture as compared to Tokyo's. Tokyo's are firmer.
Finally, something other than takoyaki. Haha.
アンドリューのエッグタールト
(Andrew's Egg Tart)
抹茶小豆と白玉のエッグタールトを選んだ.
(I picked this Matcha with Red bean and dumpling flavor egg tart)
MmMMmm~~ It is the Macau Portugeese egg tart style.
The egg custard is green tea flavor and not overly-sweetened.
With the combination of red bean, dumpling and fresh cream, SO GOOOOD!!!
ｸﾞゥ〜！！(￣ε￣〃)ｂ
(In case you haven't hear about her.. エドはるみ - Edo Harumi.. click here to find out more)
Time to check in!!
We stayed at Cross Hotel. A newly refurbished hotel.
The concept of the hotel is contemporary. Chic!
Below are the pictures of the double bed room we stayed in. Spacious, chic, feel at home, comfortable.
The bathroom.
The bath tub was bigger than Crowne Plaza Metropolitan Tokyo, the hotel we always stay in Tokyo.
But don't get me wrong. I still heart Crowne Plaza Metropolitan Tokyo a lot!
The toiletries they provide are from L'occitane.
NOOO!!!! I am NOT farting..... ｱｾｱｾ(￣_￣ i)ﾀﾗｰ
I was merely exerting some power. Duhz... (*⌒∇⌒)ﾉ彡☆ｳｷｬｷｬ
After putting our luggage and exploring the room, we headed to Kyoto!
At the subway stations in Kyoto
Yeps, I changed my denim jeans into the pop blue pair.
We explored around for a few hours looked for a restaurant to fill our empty stomach.
It was real cold that we forgot to take more pictures.
We settled for this restaurant located nearby the one we wanted to go but was full-house
that night. Sobs.. But this one looks pretty good too so we decided to give it a try.
I really liked the entrance. The pathway before entering the restaurant.
They serve Contemporary Japanese cuisine.
和風創作ピッザ
Contemporary Japanese Style Pizza
Instead of the bread, they uses fresh yam as the substitute. I liked it!
野菜天ぷら
Vegetable Tempura
たこ焼き
3rd serving of Takoyaki for the day! (ﾉд-｡)
This one was on the crispier side.
石焼き鳥
Grilled Chicken on the stone
Starting to show my kung fu again.
Hey! See, so powerful right!!??
Don't get frightened by me. I'm nice. LOL!!!!!
We realized that there are A LOT of cyclists in 関西(Kansai-West Japan) comparing to Tokyo.
After dinner, we headed for the highlight of the day.
二条城
(Nijojo - Nijo Castle)
We went to 二条城(Nijojo) for the Spring Special light-up.
Visitors can view the blooming sakura under the lighting
accompanied by the castle's mysterious ancient beauty in the night.
The tickets. 400yen per adult.
The entrance
The dark rose pink colored sakura
The white ones
ス〜ゲ〜綺麗だろう！！
Above picture taken without flashlight.
This is closer to what we were experiencing in the castle.
Rows of sakura trees!!
The weeping sakura trees. They do look sad and a tad eerie? Haha.
We also found some art pieces by students in the castle.
てるてる坊主がたくさんありました！！
(Lots of TeruTeru Bouzu!!)
This art piece is made of sea shells.
庭はすごく綺麗！！
☆ハッピー☆
The weather was SUPER COLD!!!! I was practically numbed.
I saw a glimpse of hope when I saw these food stalls. Hot 'n' pipin' food!!
We bought hot sweet sake to drink. Ooh~ It was delicious and made us feel warm!!
甘酒を飲んでから、暖かくなったヨン〜 気持ちいい！！
We stayed till the castles closed for the day.
The whole experience was great despite the cold weather.
Am proud of myself for being able to fight against the coldness till the end.
Most importantly, getting to view sakura in the night is totally different
from viewing them in the day. Moreover, viewing them at the Nijo Castle.
We took the express train from Kyoto back to Osaka. The train ride is only about 30 mins.
We changed to another line and reached Namba. We were feeling rather hungry and hunted for food.
The smell of the grilling yakitori lured me to the shop and I grabbed Marv along. Haha!
秋吉やきとり
(Akiyoshi Yakitori - Grilled skewered chicken)
ホテルの近くにある焼き鳥屋さんへ食べに行きました．
It is a cosy restaurant which makes one feel comfy, relax and able to enjoy the food.
The restaurant has this strong Japan feel that we both like.
お気に入り梅酒ロックを飲んだり、おいしい焼き鳥を食べたりして、嬉しかっただよ！
純けい ＊塩焼き＊
(jyun-kei - salt grilled chicken)
ネギマ ＊タレ焼き＊
(negima - chicken with spring onions in tare sauce)
ふわ〜！！ 超〜ウマ〜！！！最高っす！！！
しろ ＊タレ焼き＊
(shiro - grilled pork in tare sauce)
つくね ＊タレ焼き＊
(tsukune - chicken balls in tare sauce)
"おみやげどうでっか？？" ＊笑＊
(How about souvenir? - in Kansai slang)
Marv keeps claiming that it's an illustration of the chef.
I thought the illustration was a female!!?? LOL!!
We LOVED the Yakitori LOADS!!! It was SO DELICIOUS!!!!
We are missing it so badly when we return to Singapore.
The chef is really awesome!!!
We returned to hotel after the supper.
京都で買ったのお土産チャームです．
新ちゃんが芸者をマネしてる．
キモイでしょう？？ アハハ、ハハハ！！！
Got this souvenir charm in Kyoto.
Crayon Shin impersonating Geisha.
Doesn't it look disgusting?? Hahahahaha!!!
On our way back to hotel, we did our daily routine to convinience store nearby the hotel.
I bought the then latest copy of Popteen from Family Mart in Kyoto though.
As for the pink deco-pen, i bought it from Claire's in
竹下通り(Takeshita-dori), 原宿(Harajuku) during Day 2.