Japan Trip - Day 4

Today, we went to Osakako to visit the Osaka Aquarium in Osaka Bay area.

It was amazing.

But unfortunately, it was raining as soon as the subway approached the Bay area. We bought umbrellas at Lawsons (a popular convenience store in Japan).

We ate lunch at the restaurant on the second floor called “Harbour View”. I had the “special curry hamburger beef with set meal A” which included a potage soup and a drink. It was yummy! I noticed a horrifying trend; I have been eating a lot of curry on this trip. Wonder why? (hmm…)

In the Aquarium, it was tank after tank of these cool species of animals from otters to the jellyfish. The main attraction and star of the Aquarium is the whale shark. It was so cute that I ended up buying a mini stuff plushy of a smiling whale shark. Viewing of the tanks starts at the top of the escalator and you go down from there. Between floor levels, there were signs saying where the area of water is located and its latitude, longitude, and temperature.

Descriptions of animals were also labeled by the tanks. I rented a portable English-speaking guide which hangs around your neck and you listen to a narrator through one earpiece. Unfortunately, my earpiece always fell out of my ear so I gave up on wearing it. My brother-in-law’s earpiece was fine but for some reason, the narrator was speaking in Japanese and not in English. ;p

There was a demonstration by the staff in the seal tank. The seals put on a little show for the visitors by clapping and twirling around. The manta ray was huge, both in physical size and stardom. It had a small shark riding him upside down and the same thing was happening to the whale shark. There are some serious lazy fish out there! :) The sun fish and porcupine fish were hilarious to look at. They are very sensitive to the sun so no one was allowed to use the flash on their camera around those tanks (although I didn’t see the sign till my brother-in-law pointed it out but I swear I only used the flash once). There were turtles in one tank but they were sleeping and hiding so it was hard to take photos of them. The octopus with their suckers against the tank wall was so funny to look at. ;p It was so difficult to get any good photos of the whale shark till the last floor. I took some really nice photos (finally!). The Japanese crabs were freaking scary to look at. They were huge and had some really long legs. Definitely not cute nor cuddly… The last exhibit was the jellyfish and they were so odd yet wonderful to look at. I took a video clip of one tank of jellyfish that changed their colour every few seconds or so.

My travel mates and I parted ways at the end of the Aquarium walk. They wanted to go back to Namba to shop while I wanted to explore more of the Osaka Bay area since I already paid for the one-day metro pass. We started out to the Aquarium at 11am and we finished the tour around 3:45pm. Fortunately it stopped raining but was still muggy and damp.

While they headed back to Namba, I bought a ticket for the 50minute Santa Maria Cruise around the Bay area. It was really nice and comfortable. I sat inside the ship but I wanted the top of the boat (the seats at the top were soaked). There was a family of three sitting in front of me speaking in my dialect. I spoke to them during the cruise and they told me of the places they’ve been to already such as the Trade Centre.

The Cruise ended at quarter to five and since the sun hasn’t set yet, I bought a ticket for the 15minute Ferris wheel ride. It was cool to be so high up and looking down. The Ferris wheel (according to the sign) is the tallest Ferris wheel in the world. Now everything will seem so small in comparison. (haha)

Afterwards, I went to the Tempozan Marketplace which is a three-storey complex of shopping stores and restaurants. I went to a 100yen store at the Marketplace but I didn’t like what they had. Actually, I think the one-dollar stores in my home city are better.

At around quarter past six, I took the subway back to the hotel in Namba. By the time I got back to the hotel, it was 6:50pm and my travel mates were not back yet from shopping, so I went out to dinner by myself at the same place as last night. I had the dumpling set meal. It was delicious but so spicy that I am currently drinking my fifth cup of Chinese tea to settle my stomach.

Tomorrow is another huge and tiring day for us. We are traveling to Nara for a full day trip via the rail system. This should be interesting. It’ll be the first time for us to travel by rail. Cool… deer park, here I come!!

Japan Trip - Day 3

On Day 3 of the trip, we went to Osaka Castle.

At first I was apprehensive about using the subway since there is no subway line in my home city. But I was worried about nothing. The subway system in Osaka is pretty easy to use since everything is colour coded and labeled in English. Even the announcer on the subway carriages spoke in both languages.

The walk to the front gates of the castle was long but had nice scenery. There were many people around jogging and such. The gates were massive and there were these stones called "Elephant Stones" not because they resembled the animal, but because it was so huge!

There was a Fuji photo booth and you can take a photograph of yourself and have your face imprinted on either a samurai or a lady in a kimono with the background of cherry blossoms or the castle. It cost me 1000 yen but it was worth it. The picture came out really well, though it was funny to see me looking rather "tall". :)

We went to a souvenir shop and bought some souvenirs for our friends back home, such as postcards and pens. Then we ate at a restaurant which was joined together with the souvenir shop. My travel mates had a bit of an issue with ordering their lunch since no one spoke English, my brother-in-law was pointing at the set meals but they mistaken it for double the set meals ordered! Instead of 1900 yen, it came out to 3800 yen. My order was simple: one curry shrimp dish and one cola. :) I was drinking the Asahi beer my brother-in-law bought and it was really good. I am not a beer drinker but there was no aftertaste and very smooth.

The castle wasn’t as impressive as I have hoped, even given the reviews on the Internet. The surroundings were better, I thought, but the displays inside the castle were nice. There were lots of video reenactments about the lord of the castle and history pointer via big-screen video about the wars at the castle.

There were seven floors to the castle. Floor 1 was just the museum shop. You cannot go to any other floor first other than Floor 5 (the starting floor for our trip) which was via the elevator (coincidentally you cannot use the elevator for any other purpose). There were specific staircases for going up or down from Floor 5. You couldn’t use your camera or recording device on floors 3 and 4 because those two floors housed the artifacts from that time period. Floor 7 is the Observation Deck which gave us great views of around the castle. It was very windy when we were taking in the view on Floor 7.

I got myself a commemorative stamp on Floor 2 and my brother-in-law and I tried on costume vest and warrior hat from that time period. It cost us money to try them on but it was worth it. The hat I chose was so heavy that I could barely lift my head and keep it steady. It was definitely hard to pose in it! The pictures were hilarious! Instead of looking like a serious warrior, I looked the opposite instead. :)

The tour of the castle was finished by quarter to four. We went back to Namba and while I explored the city centre, my travel mates shopped in the underground mall (located in the same area as the subway system called Namba City and Namba Walk). At 7pm we met up for dinner at one of the restaurants in the underground mall. The set meals were pretty well priced and everyone’s dishes seemed delicious. I had pork dumplings (potstickers) and they were fantastic!

After dinner, they went shopping again in the underground mall and I decided to explore some more in other areas around Namba. Personally, it is hard to see in the dark so it was more of an excuse to walk off the late night dinner calories. ;p

It is now quarter past eleven and I got to get some sleep. Tomorrow is another long day. We are planning to go to the Osaka Aquarium. I can’t wait!!

Japan Trip - Day 2

It’s Day 2 of my Japan trip!!

I slept from 12:40am to about 5am. I had such a peaceful slumber. Nice and air-conditioned. :) After 9am I went to the hotel desk lobby and asked where to find the closest visitor’s centre which is only right outside of the hotel in the subway station by the escalator. I got great maps of the area and the lady at the counter explained to me a discount ticket for the aquarium and she told me which subway lines to take and which transfers and how to buy them. I asked about other areas such as Den-Den Town and Muji (department store). She told me how to get there but since it’s Wednesday, many stores in Den-Den Town (Electricity Town for electronic gadgets) are closed.

Afterwards, I went to Starbucks and decided to explore the Namba Centre where we were last night. The daytime was so different than the nighttime environment. It was still hot and humid but the area was so much more bustling with people, bikes, small cargo trucks, et cetera.

I met up with my travel mates at around close to noon in the hotel lobby. At around noon we ate ramen at a close by shop (it was located exactly across the street). It was really good. The egg and noodles were delicious. I didn’t touch the meat because it was fatty and it won’t agree with my stomach. Otherwise, good place to eat and with English menu. After eating lunch, I took them to Starbucks where my sister had a frappucino with black jelly.

Then we went to Muji and Tokyo Tower Records. Muji is located across floors B2-B1-1-2-3 (lowest to the highest level). The stationary were located on Floor 2 with household items such as kitchenware. I didn’t go to Floor 3 so I had no idea what it had. I bought some 105 yen pens and bamboo pen. Floor 1 had women clothing which I bought two undershirts. Floor B1 had baby and maternity clothing as well as men clothing. Floor B2 was the area for eating and buying small food & snack items as well as drinks. My sister and her husband bought a lot of things (candy, tea, & drinks) but some were gifts for co-workers back home. I got some specialty teas and a brown sugar & coconut milk candy made in Hokkaido. I’ll have to try it soon (sounded yummy).

We went to Tokyo Towers located across floors 4-7. J-Pop is on Floor 4 so we went there, or more specifically I went there and they were kind of dragged along. :) I asked the information desk for Tokuyama Hideanori and Remioromen but the cd of Tokuyama was sold out. He showed me the areas where Remioromen cd and dvd were. I bought a Tokyo Tower Record pen and Remioromen DVD “Wonderful & Beautiful” Concert and some of their cds. We went up to Floor 5 where my brother-in-law bought a Michael Jackson cd (Floor 5 had English music).

Afterwards we went to the Takashimaya Department Store which is located in same building complex as our hotel. It is huge and massive, spread across basement levels to Floor 7. The shopping there was intense. To list briefly what I bought: two sandals, pens and bamboo bookmarks, Japanese traditional shoes, Remioromen and Gackt cds (Gackt cd is for my sister back home), two bath towels (one is for my mother), a rabbit decorated handkerchief, and bamboo knitting needles for my mother. I've noticed there are no paper towels in all restrooms. People use handkerchiefs in place of paper towels. I'm sure I would put to good use of my new purchase. :)

I happened to pass by a couple making Japanese traditional shoes on Floor 5. I was watching them make the shoes and was curious about it. I tried on a pair and it was so comfortable. I watched the man make a new pair of shoes for me (threading and tying the fabric, hammering the sole, et cetera). It was so cool how he threaded the fabric into the wooden shoe and neatly tied it underneath the sole. It cost me about 5200 yen. What a great deal for this handmade shoe and it’s a remarkable memory of this trip. :)

I have to say, I absolutely love the department store’s way of doing business. The staff has everything scrutinized to the tiniest detail - from greeting customers, to answering and helping customers, to wrapping up your purchases with ribbons even when they’re not gifts, making sure my shopping bags weren’t cluttered (they actually rearranged all my bags to make them easier for me to carry), and going out of their way to making my shopping experience enjoyable. Even when I purchased a 150 yen pen, they still saw to it that it was wrapped up nicely in a gift bag with a ribbon and made sure that I placed my receipt and change back into my wallet before they handed me my purchase.

My sister told me about the tax rebate on the 7th floor of Takashimaya Department Store. You can only get your taxes (5%) back on same-day purchases and you must provide your passport. The receipt of my rebate was stapled to my passport for customs.

We ended up eating at a Chinese restaurant (551 Horei) a few blocks from the hotel. It was pricey but the food was good. I ordered mabo tofu and it came with egg drop soup. My sister and brother-in-law ordered chicken with cashew, pineapple with beef, and hot & sour soup.

It is now 11:20pm and I am so tired. Tomorrow, we are planning to go to Osaka Castle and surroundings. Hopefully the weather doesn’t rain on us.

Japan Trip - Day 1

My oldest sister and her husband picked me up at 5:30am and we arrived at the airport around 10am. The only parking available was really far from the main entrance of the train to the airport. The train cabins were spacious and the ride to the airport only lasted for about 5 minutes.

The airport was huge, really busy, and extremely confusing. We boarded the plane at around 12:30pm and I got the window seat, which I regretted quickly because I couldn’t get out when I wanted to.

The economy seats were really tight and cramped. I didn’t feel nauseous (motion sickness), only hot because of so many bodies crammed in a confined space. I watched some movies during the 13 hour flight. The scenery from the plane was very nice and my brother-in-law took some photos of them.

Our plane arrived in Tokyo, Japan around 2:30pm (Narita Airport). We thought our luggage will automatically be transferred to the connecting stop which was Osaka, but it turned out that we had to pick them up and go through the luggage claims again. We went through customs and got our two index fingerprints and photograph taken. The connecting flight to Osaka (from 5:35pm to 7:10pm to the Itami airport) was really smooth and the staff was extremely friendly and courteous. The ANA plane had a quick take-off and a hard landing. The view of the land below was gorgeous.

We boarded the airport bus at Terminal 12 for Swissotel Namba Nankai after an employee showed us how to purchase the airport bus tickets. When the bus stopped at the drop-off point, I didn’t know whether it was the correct location or not since it was dark outside so I couldn’t see properly. I asked a stranger sitting next to me and he confirmed the location of the hotel.

Navigating through the intersection was amazing because the green light for pedestrian walk was simultaneous in all directions. There were so many people even at around 8:30pm. We located the hotel easily and the staff spoke English extremely well. They are so very polite and helpful.

After settling into our comfortable rooms, which are very spacious, clean, and air-conditioned, we went walking around the area for a good place to eat. My brother-in-law spotted a rice restaurant named “Sukiya”. They had an English menu and the prices were really cheap. My curry beef rice bowl was so delicious!

After the late dinner, we walked around a bit and saw a lot of pachinko parlors, convenience stores, and bars. The alleys were paved and no vehicles drove on it as well as they were brightly lit up so it didn’t feel like it was 10pm. You walk for a while and forget that the sky above you is pitch dark.

Around 10:30pm we went back to the hotel and I gave a call to my sister back home with a prepaid phone card. It took a while for me to figure out how to use it but it eventually worked. Well, it’s now 12:50am and I got to go to sleep now. I haven’t slept at all on the plane because of the time difference. I will comment about what went on for the second day in Osaka later.

Today is the day!!

It's quarter past 4 this early Monday morning and I'm waiting for my siblings to pick me up from my house to go to the airport.

The internet connection at the hotel is so expensive, charging about 10 dollars CDN per day to use. I bought myself an International phone card already so I highly doubt I'll be using the internet at the hotel.

My brother came back from Peru. He told us that he nearly fell to his death while mountain climbing at 1000m mark and then again at the 2000m mark. The ledge fits only one person at a time so there is no one to help him when he slipped. He had to hoist himself up. Fortunately, he put those workouts at the gym to good use. ;p

It sounded like he was glad to be home. He really likes those "vacations" though. I dunno... my vacations are 4 star hotels. (hee hee)

See you around in 2 weeks!

Byebye...

1 more day left!!

oh, the day is just ticking away...

i am 95% packed and just need to recharge my cellphone, camera, ipod video, & j3 mp3 player.

i was going through the week plans today and tokyo is going to be jam packed with things to do in just 3 days.

ouch... we may have to do some really fast shopping in shibuya and harajuku. i still want to see the pandas in ueno. :)

i should honestly be sleeping now as it's 1:40am.

'night all...