The past 2 months had been filled with lots of trips and adventure. It was definitely a good break and escapade from work, and of course to rejuvenate and recharge the depleting energy and passion of what's left. Haha!! And now... Before I start to accumulate more and more backlog, here's the much awaited entry of the Japan trip! I realised I cant remember some of the details cuz the trip was like 2 months ago!! Oh man.. I've been pretty lazy to write for the past few months. No inspiration! Anyway, the trip started bad. I caught a flu and had a really bad cough. I remembered taking my medicine just before I clear the customs to look fine, for fear of being thrown off the flight for being sick. 
Dear and me.. With me looking all pale. All I ever wanted was to board the plane asap and sleep cos the effects of medicine is catching up on me. Miraculously, my cough got better the moment I reached Osaka (but it's probably the effects of the medicine. I got a strong cough mixture which could contain my cough!). It must have the clean and fresh air in Osaka!!! Wahaha.. Day 1 We reached Osaka pretty late on the first day. Much time was spent figuring out the transport system and pondering over how to get to our hotel. Even the locals themselves werent sure of the direction themselves!!!! I still remembered asking a local if he had any idea where is our hotel.. Alright, so he directed us to the the nearest convenience store to check out if they had any idea when all the while, the hotel was just beside us!! Are we just BLIND??? That was a really silly mistake! Hahaha... 
The not-so-obvious (cuz we din spot it) signboard of our hotel.. 
Our hotel had a really good location though. The subway is just below our hotel. So convenient!!! And yeaps, after resting, we made our way to Osaka Aquarium, which was supposed to be one of Osaka's most interesting attraction. 
The really expensive ticket that is not value-for-money, in my opinion. 
The most interesting thing in the Aquarium is probably the whale shark. That's the first time I have ever seen it in my life. It's really big!!! 
And everything else is the same. Schools and School of fish. Considering that Im not so much a fish person, I would probably give the experience a three  out of five. It was a refreshing experience though, exploring the different types of species existing in the mysterious ocean.  Ironically, Dear and me went to have a crab feast after visiting the Aquarium. We must have felt hungry looking at the fishes swimming in the tanks, all the while thinking of the best way to eat them up. OOOOPSSS... The crab feast was really good!! For S$40/pax, you get to eat everything prepared from crabs!!! Crab sashimi (eeeww... I hate this), crab steamboat, crab chawanmushi, crab sushi, cooked crab, etc.. The crab tasted really sweet and it was certainly the best meal I ever had during my trip there.  Delicious crabs!!! 
Best chawanmushi of all times~!! 
Crab boy who gave me extra BBQ crab for being "漂亮" (quoted from the guy). He must have been a really good crab 'sales person'. And yeahsss! I got free bbq crab anyway! Happiness!!! We spent the rest of the night walking around Shinsaibashi area and shopping and getting excited over those cute little stuff that all the shops are selling! 
Day 2 We started Day 2 bad. It was raining heavily and neither Dear nor me prepared an umbrella for the trip. So in the end, we had to buy an umbrella from the hotel reception, and luckily we did!!! It was practically raining heavily the whole day and we had to cancel alot of our plan on our 1 day trip to Kyoto. It was a total disappointment as we had to give many places a miss. I had wanted to visit the famed Kinkaikuji (Golden Pavilion) and the Geisha street. But the unexpected change in weather had disrupted our plans. Nevertheless, we managed to visit one of the temples, Kiyomizudera (Pure Water Temple), which is best known for its wooden stage that juts out from its main hall, 13 meters above the hillside below. Oh well.. At least, we didnt travel there in vain. 
Kyoto Station.. The whole journey took us about 1 hour I think. It's just like travelling from Boon Lay to Pasir Ris.  The bus which we took to our attraction. Oh Oh.. And they had a special bus system where you board first (from the back door) and pay when you alight (at the front door). Most of whom who boarded the bus with us were tourists and we all look kinda lost. Luckily we met an Australia family who were kind enough to show us the way to our destination! 
On the way up to the temple. It was a really scenic walk with lots of artsy architecture. I like the place! 
Shot of the temple which I look with my Olympus camera! Isnt it nice??  This is somewhat like a temple of Love? Legend has it that if you are able to touch the Love Stone with your eyes close while walking in a straight line, you will be able to find your true love. I didnt try though. 
At Kyoto Train station, all ready to go back to Osaka. Dinner of the day.. Yummy-licious Tonkatsu.. The restaurant is just located at the Underground shopping mall just below our hotel!  
Day 3 We started the day late, spending all of our time in Nara, where the DEERS RULE!!! It was simply a day of lazing around, enjoying the slower pace of life in the town. 
The ride to Nara was tough though. Dear and I got lost along the way. Luckily there were always some kind souls around who were always so ready to offer their assistance! 
The only time I ever got so close to a deer! And deer's fur isnt even soft. It's hard and spiky like a needle! 
Anyway, on our way to Nara Park, dear and me visited this really cool earthquake museum. They had this simulated earthquake chair which allows the visitors to test out the impact of earthquake. The magnitude of the earthquake was set to the 2 major earthquake that occured in Japan a few years back. I wasnt game enough to try it though. 
Pretty Nara Town.  
Cute deer!! Can you see that it's grinning at us? Day 4 On the last night in Osaka, Dear and me decided that it will just be a relaxing day of visiting attractions and shopping (yayness!!!). We had nothing much planned for the day except visiting Osaka Castle and to shop in Shinsaibashi area (which is a really big shopping street with lots of stuff to buy). 
Dear and me on our way to Osaka Castle. 
The park surrounding Osaka castle, which are full of singers-wanna-be and students performing. 
View of the Osaka Castle. We didnt take much photo as photography is banned on certain levels. 
And finally we tried out Japanese BBQ. Actually I dont really enjoy it that much. Still feel that Korea BBQ is unbeatable!!! Yeahsss!!!! Speaking of Korea, yeahhhhss!! I have finally booked my Korea air tickets. Cathay Pacific had this really fantastic unbeatable promotion which allows me travel during the Christmas period, with a stopover at Taiwan, which is totally what I wanted! Cant wait for my winter getaway!! -MS- | 
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