Den Den town! I read in guides that its like Akihabara in Tokyo, but apparently its either the guide is exaggerating or we've gone at the wrong time. But still its always fun to go to a place for me to keep in touch with my otaku side. 

First we went to Volks Osaka, which if I remember correctly is a 5 storey building? Volks is a hobby company manufacturing tons of models. I think they are the most well known for their realistic ball jointed dolls, called dollfie. I remembered tonggab saying its like he ventured into a haunted house ahahaha too bad I couldn't take pictures to show you but I thought they looked gorgeous. =D

Animate! Those who love anime merchandise would go crazy here.

Anyway...I wanted to show you Tokyo's Akihabara when I was there 2 years ago. Maybe because it was a Sunday ah, but its wild!

Even the flyer distributors were hogged by photographers. And damn were those photographers hardcore, they were all lugging tripods and DSLRs with super huge lenses adorned with a huge crown of external flash. It'll make anyone holding onto a digital camera feel intimidated. 

Look at the cars. Crazy. Even the interior was decorated. What the.

Hahahahaha what more can I say. 


And you get all these sweet little girls in maid costumes standing there to be photograph or singing in their squeaky voices with a group of nerdy guys standing there and cheering on in a weird way. I got record down though.

And uncles with leg hair wearing miniskirts.

Anyway back to the topic. After Den Den town we "accidentally" walked to Kuromon market. 

We were all like "Eh, market leh", and just went in. After that did I know its actually the most busy and active food market in Osaka. 

Lots and lots of food on sale. 

But surprisingly its not as noisy a market I thought to be. Its actually rather quiet and a lot of the shop owners looked rather sullen compared to photos of happy fish mongers I see on travel guide books.  

OH FUG-U! Erm fugu. I didn't know they were so expensive! Talk about paying lots of money to risk dying. 


Empty, isn't it. I was so tempted to buy seafood back for my family though! 

Stopped at a bookstore and brought an artbook of Alphonse Mucha! Heheheh

Back to Namba walks for lunch and to shop. After that we became a bit sick of the place liao. 

Hayashi rice. I specially wanted to try this after watching Ryuusei no kizuna. Okay la not bad could have a bit more of the hashed beef sauce. 

We went back quite early because it was already quite late for us to go anywhere further and nothing much to walk around Namba liao. 

I remember my Japanese teacher says Niigata prefecture's koshihikari rice is the best, so much so when you open the rice cooker its sparkling. Its really nice! You can eat it on its own man!

No points for guessing whose room this is. (NOT MINE! MINE VERY NEAT ONE KAY)

Day 9: Tenjinbashi suji

Sandwich for breakfast AGAIN. With yoghurt and mont blanc. Talk about a sinful breakfast. :)

Tong sets off for his great pilgrim with 4 followers in tow. 

After a long journey, he finally finds it! 


Tong: I've finally completed what I've been here for!

Didn't know how to pronounce the kanji 赤心堂. Checked up on it and learnt that its pronouced sekishindou. The uncle inside is a straightforward but nice person. His words were a little hard to understand because he spoke in the Kansai dialect. 

Yay for MUJI! This one in Namba has got five levels, woohoo~!

After that we got on to the subway for Tenma. Should have gone for the JR station instead, but still got to see this pretty park with lots and lots of sakura trees. 








Erm the Sakura tree spirit? 

How nice. Pinic under the Sakura trees in such a nice cool weather~

Pretty, isn't it. 

Anyway we finally got to Tenjinbashi, and its a 2.8km sheltered shopping street. 

And they were divided into many sections. 


Brought a few pieces of clothes too. 

This dining place called Hyakuman ryou (I think) only operates from 11:00AM to 3.00PM. I wonder why. The food was quite nice, but nothing to go gaga over. We wanted to eat Macdonaldd initially but we got a little tired of greasy food after eating this. 

Anyway I stupidly forgot to bring out my guide and so we had to go back to put our stuff and get my guide. Sorry ah. 

Kinokuniya. Its quite small compared to the one in Ngee Ann city, but didn't stop me from buying anything. :) The plastic bag looks ugly compared to the one we have in SG, ahahaha. 

Nothing much to walk in that area, so went to Namba walks (again) to have dinner. After eating so many Japanese meals, I was hoping to eat something western. Not bad la, but I didn't think it was worth 800 yen. My mum could have whipped up something better. 

Last night = ton. I wanted to ton also but the responsible side of me told me I must sleep so I wouldn't be all groggy and forget my Japanese. 

Breakfast. No more sandwiches ahaha but lots of cream and I got a little sick of it halfway through. 

I think I know why Japan is called the land of the rising sun. Because it gets damn bright damn early. This is only 5 plus in the morning lei. 

We're earlier than the JR ticketing booth. 

Other than liking the JR crew's uniform (gloves included!), they are really friendly and helpful as well, which is a huge relief because Japan's railways are COMPLICATED, and when you ask them a question you get more than you asked for, but provided must speak in their language because most of them can't speak in English and I've heard of stories of them running away when spoken to in English. 

Thanks to a staff I asked earlier, we finally got on to the correct platform to board Haruka. Tennoji station has got more than a dozen platforms, three of which pointing that they go to the airport. -_- And all of them didn't have escalators! Now I really appreciate Singapore's MRT stations. So simple, and everywhere with escalators. You even get a nice travelator at Dhoby Ghaut. For that I'm going to vote for PAP. 

I was wondering what those iridescent things were, and when the train came closer they were actually dics! How cool. Wonder if its for the crows? 

Always love a train ride, nothing to worry about, and you just have to stare at the moving scenery. 

Reaching Osaka International airport. 

Lol cute sign. 

Surprisingly I didn't get fined for my super heavy luggage...spot our lak chiung? 

Ah back to Singapore~ I'm already missing home. I would usually have chosen a Japanese meal over a Western meal because its usually less greasy and I really like rice more. But I chose the western meal. If only they had chicken rice and bak kut teh on board!! How come SIA don't have Singapore food!? And when I touched down Singapore I was sweating like a pig in a sauna. Took a taxi home the taxi uncle was really chatty and he kept telling he has travelled half the world, but it felt good to be back. I love Japan and the pretty treasures she offers, and her people, so much more smarter looking than the Singaporeans here, and their excellent service and courtesy that makes you feel disconcerted, and their wonderful food which they prepare with so much pride, their thousands of years old heritage, I could have gone on rambling for a whole day everything wonderful about Japan, but I'd still prefer no-frills Singapore over dolled-up Japan. 

Mushrooms for mum. 

Kyoto's famous snack, Yatsuhashi. Not bad but nothing special, give me kueh kueh anyday! The skin is made of rice flour with a red bean filling. I think too many Japanese snacks have red bean fillings, which is why I feel Japanese snacks being rather monotonous in taste, although they may look really pretty. 

Shiroi koibito! Heheh a bit expensive but nice. 

And that's our Japan trip! Japan moves forward so fast! Two years when I went Tokyo there were less English information, and I felt constantly lost. Good thing I didn't take any wrong trains which'll take us to the middle of nowhere, and maybe perhaps the next time I go it'll be alone liao. ^^