i had a very good sleep the night before- it’s like, FINALLY i get to sleep on a real bed!

we woke up and went around looking for food again but most didn’t pass our basic expectations. and i’m glad we persevered cos we found this really old cafe that screams 1960s!

there wasn’t any english menu, we didn’t understand the japanese words, and they do not speak english.

then how did we place our order?

haha easy. go outside, take a picture of the item(s) we want and show it to them!

hahahahahaa i wanted to look different so i went to tie plaids hahaa and i actually quite like it!

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i was staring at the group of elderly next to us. then i looked around me, and i felt really relaxed. MUST BE THE DECOR lah. it’s like so homely!

i think the sandwiches costed about sgd10? but it’s SUPER worth it! everything was super fresh and even the bread was super soft!

i really love japan’s vegetables; it’s so sweet that i chose them over the noodles!

this is probably one of the happiest breakfast i had in japan. haha

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then it was off to osaka castle!

then we spotted the legendary female-only cabin

there was still 1 or 2 jokers who missed the Women Only  sign though

anyway!

you know japanese, guys especially, really dress up for work!

we got amused by the random blocks outside this building

and we found osaka castle!

i think i am very suaku. this is like the first castle that i’ve been to

and it wasn’t as big as what i’d expected hahaha

anyway, in front of the castle’s outer entrace, there’s this HUGE park and we met these 2 really nice ladies who let us play with their puppies(:

the grey one is SUPER lazy. but she became my best friend later on

i can’t remember all their names but i think the grey one is called pucci? and she’s super cute. she started running towards me with a ball in her mouth, then she would drop it in front of me, cue-ing me to throw the ball so that she can catch! and so wee and i were playing ball-catch with our respective puppies for the next ten mins or so

really had an impulse to own one after this!

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then we made our way to inner entrance of the castle- it was such a long walk, no wonder the kings/queens/dowages/princes/princesses needed horses or sedans

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anw! we saw a wedding!

how lucky!

and sakuras are still around(:

i think there’s an admission fee and since we are pretty contented with taking pictures of it from the outside, we decided to not waste $$

instead we wasted energy on jump shots, and i got hit on my face by my bag- and it was captured

i think only wee saw. thank goodness

we were starving by then! so off we went to dotombori – which is supposedly known for the  food street

(but i think it’s nothing compared to our taka basement 2)

either that or we didn’t manage to find the food street hahahahaha

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anyway we had takopochi – the osaka version – which is not as starchy as the one in singapore/tokyo

and!

they would just serve you the octopus balls for you to garnish it with all the sauces you want haha

shiok! it’s SUPER soft and although we had 8 balls in total, it wasn’t filling at all!

SO!

we continued our search for food

1000y = 15 sgd, therefore, fore this 5 pieces of snow crab meat, it will be…

sgd40!

should have tried!

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and japanese LOVES slot machines. you can see such game shops everywhere in japan, EVERYWHERE!

“Creator of the Egg Tart now famous throughout Asia”

it tastes so so only. got cheated, but it’s ok, cos i was hungry anyway. haha

actually dotombori is just opposite shinbashi, so we gave up our search for food and decided to shop for my boots instead!

agnes b is everywhere and this must be the 3rd agnes b that we came across but neither wee nor i was tempted 😦

i think wee got too bored and decided to approach a staff from samantha thanvasa for photo

we both bought a pair of shoes each then it was to Umeda.

we wanted to visit some aquarium at umeda but the station mater didn’t understand us and we didn’t know how to tell him we want to go to an aquarium.

ACTUALLY

on hindsight, maybe we should have tried drawing some fishes and tortoises. shit

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dinner was at umeda cos we can’t be bothered to find the stpid aquarium or do shopping anymore

i wanted okonomiyaki badly but i wanted the DIY kind. but beggers can’t choose

so we just made do with this ready-made one and went back to our hotel.

thank goodness we found a DIY okonomiyaki at harujuku on the last day. otherwise i think i might really feel sad for missing the famous DIY okonomiyaki

we took an overnight bus to osaka because it’s cheap. as opposed to taking a bullet train that will easily cost $200~ for a 3-hours ride (one-way hor, not return trip!). i can go bangkok to and fro with that kind of money!

and we were not the only ones! lots of japanese were waiting for the buses at the waiting area and instructions were all given in japanese- we couldn’t understand and ended up being the last ones to locate and get on the bus:( horrible experience

AND IT WAS FREEZING

i had to hide my fingers cos i thought they were going to drop off.

i feel it in my fingers, i feel it in my toes

DAMN COLD. my jeans and jacket were completely useless! i was so pathetic that i had to hide behind some wall. which by the way wasn’t very effective

hehe and extravagance is to buy a new bag just 1 day before the trip so that i can have a nice bag for osaka!

HAHA but i realize xinyi is worse! but but but i love the pink version too!

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we concussed on the bus

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again, i was slightly reluctant to wake up when the bus finally arrived at osaka. but still, we have to get down the bus then change to a train.

WAHAHA. for those who have never seen me in spects before, i think this is a relatively nice picture of me in spects.

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you know,

osaka is very different from tokyo. it’s IN THE AIR! you can feel it, you can see it.

there’s this rustic aura all over osaka, everything’s at a slower pace – the buildings are not as fanciful as the ones in tokyo but there’s just this laidback appeal to it

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some things which we don’t see in our garden city anymore

we needed some directions and this kind old man actually brought us to the police station. and their police station looks like an office that belongs to the 1960s! basic to the bare minimum!

i love their quilt covers! SUPER COSY!

after a walk around our hotel area, we decided to hunt for food!

we eyed this specific restaurant and had to wait for them to be opened for business.

i thought the above checklist was quite thoughtful.

and in japan, they do not serve wasabi together with your sushis. i had to kope wee’s wasabi for her sashimi and they tasted really good!

and it was to UNIVERSAL STUDIOS! 😀

we took another one because it didn’t capture the whole word “UNIVERSAL” hahaa.

we are zai!

at the entrance, wee excitedly pointed at the below and dropped a huge bomb:

THIS ROLLER COASTER RIDE WE MUST TAKE OK

a sight that a weak heart and tired human cannot take.

wait till you see the (ONLY) safety precautions this roller coaster had.

sultry betty hehe

and since we paid so much (close to SGD$100), of cos we had to take as many pictures with the sets and characters and decos as possible to make it worthwhile!

the uber expensive churros that we both couldnt finish

OH

and not forgtetting the green tea that is blander than plain water and it has got this funny smelly aftertaste. stay away from green tea that’s in this packaging when ure in japan!

we caught some parade and those in yellow uniform are DAMN CUTE. they will go “one, two three, HAPPY!” and then the high five sign

no lack of snacks at universal studios

and i think wee looks super pretty in this photo!

spiderman cup noodles with spiderman fishcake!

and after warming up with those not-so-scary rides, we decided to go for the scarier ones.

come to think of it, this jurassic park ride isnt that scary cos it’s pitch dark so you can’t see anything at all.

PHEW!

cos i really do not like those drops that will end up in water- like the ones from har par villa if you can still remember.. where people would be seated on a sampan-like boat, didn’t make me feel safe at all! i always feel like i’ve escaped death when i finally reach the bottom.

AND I FOUND MY BELLA YELLOW TRUCK.

hehe

oh our final stop was the stupid roller coaster where the only safety precaution was:

i was hugging on to that i-dunno-what-it’s-called so tightly for my dear life! if you didn’t remember, the drop is high and steep

but i must say that roller coaster rides are addictive!

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i think there was a parade or sth like that but wee and i decided to leave USJ!

dinner at mos burger- i think it tastes and looks like the one in SG so i shall not upload the pictures

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the highlight of today must be PROJECT NAMBA!

we got lost at some ulu station and had to make a big detour back to namba where we can take a train back to our hotel

to show you how ulu it is:

i think i wanted to get myself a pair of boots so off we went to shinbaishi. but almost everywhere’s closed 😦

BUT

100Y shop to the rescue!

you guys should just buy everything in the 100Y shop at osaka- with no inhibitions cos the 100Y shops in tokyo are really lousy! i regretted buying so little!

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we went back to our hotel and concussed

and we were so thankful that the next day is a lot more relaxing. osaka castle and shopping!