osaka, day 1

konichiwa from osaka! haha, i think that is all the japanese i know besides arigato and sayonara. there used to be few more words when japanese series were the rage, but they had all vanished once those series stopped. how i miss them.

anyway, the flight to osaka on MAS was actually quite a pleasant one although i think i only managed to catch 3 hours maximum of sleep. they fed us well on the flight and the in-flight entertainment was brilliant. the choices of movies really blew my mind off and i was spoilt for choice. unfortunately, my sleepy state was a hinder and i could hardly keep my eyes opened watching The Silver Linings Playbook. i will continue watching on the flight back. i want to see jennifer lawrence's award winning performance, no doubt.

at japanese immigration, i was given the green light to land. hmmh....only 15 days. why are they so strict? if i decide to change my mind and stay for a month, do i have to reapply my visa??

the flight landed at 7a.m. local time, it is one hour faster than malaysia, so the stomach was growling. i did not eat the breakfast served on board at 5a.m. local time. it was just not possible to eat at that ungodly hour.

so had a latte and ham and egg sandwich. yummy.

from the airport, boarded the bus to osaka jr station and walked all the way to tour hotel following the thorough directions i had printed from the hotel's website.

this is the hotel's lobby. see that heart-shaped flight on the wall behind the receptionist? well, the hotel's name is on that way but not visible because of the light. anyway, it is hotel kinki and it is located in quite a busy area. yo, only few minutes away from jr osaka station and that is a big station.

hankyu department store is also just 1 block away. well, it is a big upscale department store. saw the crowd waiting for the doors to open before opening time today. weird....i wonder if they had special discounts. naaah....i have checked, none.

the street in front of our hotel.

my room for the week. very cosy.

the bathroom. the toilet is near the front door, another room on its own.

we have a tv, but till now, it is not switched on.

after putting down our bags, it was time to go explore.....and explored we did, till our feet cannot feel our soles anymore. gosh....i can't count how many kms we have walked today. a lot, that is all i can say.

there is an isetan store there, but i have yet to checked it.

time to buy ticket once at the train station. we bought ICOCA card, which is a top-up card which can be used on the subway. then we also bought sanyo area pass which would get us on JR trains and on the bullet train (shinkansen) to hiroshima!!!! woohooo!!!! well, i am not excited because of the bullet train, i am excited because i am going to hiroshima as well. i have decided to cut kobe out from the list since i was advised against going there and instead to spend 2 days in kyoto. i guess i just have to listen to the locals.

this orange train runs on the JR loop line.....am learning things slowly. gosh, it was confusing at first because we didn't have osaka subway map. and i still don't have one now. have to find one and hold it all the time. those japanese characters can be really confusing and of course, i also can't understand what come out in the announcements.

a typical subway train.

we decided to head to kaiyukan, the aquarium.

tenpozan ferris wheel which is about 100m in front of the aquarium.

well, these are the only colourful flowers i see so far in the city.

we had lunch in tenpozan marketplace first.

this is really good, luckily i tried the little piece of beef offered.  the meat was so tender and juicy.

that tray there, that is the mixure of beef meet and some other parts of the cow i think.

ordered a bowl of noodles, din really like it. the noodle was not good and the soup was too salty.

a navy ship docked at the pier.

the aquarium. entrance is 2300yen for adult.
what can i say about the aquarium?? although it claims to be one of the biggest in the world, it was quite boring after a while because you realised that you were walking in circles and seeing the same tanks with the same animals and fish inside. it was just from different angles and levels.
i won't really recommend this place to ppl who have been to other aquariums in other parts of the world.

seals during feeding time.

the great barrier reef section.

can you guess what this is???? an octopus ;)

worker scrubbing the tank.

beautiful swirling by all the fish here, thank you anchovies and sardines.

are they real or just something you stick in the aquarium? crabs you all.

mesmerising jelly fish.

who is fiercer?

touch pond where you can put your hand into the water and feel the fishes in there....which include sting rays.

the neighbourhood around the aquarium. i guess this is quite typical around the suburb in osaka.

we headed to osaka castle next.

a memorial park in the castle ground.

the moat surrounding the castle.

cherry blossoms!!! well, not many, but a few trees already had their flowers in bloom and we were not the only ones getting all excited about seeing the flowers. even locals took photos of the flowers and placed mats under the trees to enjoy the flowers.

close-ups of the three types/colours that we saw:

this is the most beautiful right? and i think this pink one is the breed always admired and loved by all.

if only all the flowers in all the trees here have blossomed. the buds are slowly loosening up, so hopefully they will bloom when i am still here. will definitely go again.

here is a tree which has bloomed.

osaka castle.

we paid 600yen to enter. well, i was not exactly interested in the exhibits in the castle. i was just keen to get to the highest floor, the observation deck and to get a view of the city from there.

one of the exhibits in the castle. there are videos, artifacts, pictures, weapons, costumes and writings.....i just breezed through them hehehe.

one of the views from the obervation floor. my favourite side actually.

another one where you can see the moat and some of the tallest buildings in the city.

another view of the castle from another side.

we planned to go on the aqua liner from here, but we were too late and saw the last boat leave the pier. haiz......

so we comforted ourselves with some local street food.

pork sausage.

tokoyaki....the worst i have ever eaten. i guess i just happened to buy from a lousy stall which opened its business for some concert goers. yah, this was near osaka hall, and it was bad. i hope to get some nice nice ones here in osaka. please....i won't give up.

the day turned quite chilly late in the evening. i think it reached 6 Celcius and the hands were numb when not covered. many people wore masks too. my friend bought a pack because she was losing senses in her nose and cheeks haha.....
i had experience colder weather, so i was ok.

we went to hankyu department store and uniqlo to do some shopping.
things in japan are basically not cheap.....but sometimes you can find some great bargains. well, definitely not for souvenirs though. a key-chain is like more than rm10 already and a phone accessory too. how to buy???

these strawberries might not look the reddest, but they are sweet, not too sweet like i am eating a cube of sugar, but just enough strawberry sweetness to melt in my mouth.

guess how much i paid for three tops from uniqlo? what a bargain. less than rm95 ;)
couldn't resist from getting that my melody tee. so cute! kawaii ne!!!!

i think that is the most kawaii thing i saw today. if you expect japan to be everything fancy and kawaii, you might be disappointed. i felt that i could blend in and had no problem walking along with the locals in the street. i have yet to see any sanrio store filled with hello kitty stuff ;)

well, maybe tomorrow will be the day. wait for my post ya.
am lucky that the hotel has good wifi connection for its guests. the weather tomororow will be similar to today's, which is 16 the highest and 6 the lowest. can be quite cold when it is cloudy and windy.
everyone is ok except for the lack of sleep.

ok, it is time to get mine. everyone else had reached some dreamlands faraway.
good night.