A Peek Into Piddles World: Osaka 25

Finally started writing & finished on the 2nd part of trip, took me forever mann.. Blogging on travel photos are a killer! But at least there's something to talk about, so why am I complaining?

Here goes..

Waiting at the platform in shinjuku with luggages in tow, to tokyo station to switch to shinkansen (bullet train) to osaka. There's no line on the ground but the locals just line up obediently & automatically. I'm always impressed by them.

We were in the 1st cabin, and through the glassdoor I saw this petite (pretty somemore!) jap girl operating the train. Impressed again.

After purchasing tickets for the bullet train, there's still a bit of time to roam around. One thing good about their stations here is that there're a lot of shops inside! Locals travelling back to their hometowns for visits will buy foodstuff & souvenirs back. We went inside a bento shop to tabao lunch for the train ride.

My train tickets. The top one is the fare for transferring from normal to bullet train and the other is the fare for the onward journey to Osaka. Total cost a freaking S$209 per person.
Why must your Yen be so expensive!?!!!! *grumbling**

This was Roy's unagi bento, looking so plain but nonetheless tasty!

I'm a sucker for nice things so I chose a more colourful & expensive one. Finished everything to the last grain.
And it's really a good feeling to be able to eat openly in the train ride without being fined for it, you know? :D
But of course, we were auto enough to pack the rubbish into the paper bag & dispose of them, just like the rest of the locals did.

Other than bentos, they also sell food on board, just like those in budget carriers.

Clear blue sky just makes your day.

Those places that we went to, I'll try to buy their stickers for my luggage. I love 'I love Frankfurt' best.

Yeah, finally reached Osaka station in 3 hours time.

We stayed at Shinsaibashi, a lot of big brands there. Hotel just a few minutes away from the shopping stretch. Their drugstores are mind boggling, I can spend a long time in there!

Roy is one happy man cos finally we've decided what to eat. Katsu don!

A lot of the locals dine on their own. So lonely right.

There's always a nice chilled cup of green tea for every makan.

This was Roy's order. The vegetable's refillable, so good right?

Ahh, my favourite katsu don. I must have it at least once for the trip.

Both of us were in blissful heaven at that moment.

Bought all these in a wholesale store, for a mere S$20. Good deal.

And from the drugstore.

Roy met up with his japanese friend, Take-chan after he knocked off from work at 8.30pm at the hotel lobby for a while. He passed to Roy a softbank device that allows Roy to surf net on his iphone. This thing cost a freaking S$800, madness!

At the pokemon store. Feeling a bit too old for this.

You can find the japs playing pokemon game on their NDS outside the store. Apparently, they are playing wirelessly against each other.

The stuffies are soooo cute!

Their kids version of the table mahjong! OB would have love this!

Met up with Take-chan for dinner. As everything's in Japanese, he helped us to order.
The waitresses squatting down and explaining to him what's the popular dishes, a personal touch I would say.

It was cold that night, so warming up my frozen fingers..

A pose for me before digging in.

All the different parts of the cow. The darkest ones were the heart! Yikes! I dare not eat that.

Grilled mushrooms are the best!

Best of friends. :P

The bags were conveniently stored under the bench, simple yet ingenious idea.

Past by Krispy Kreme on the way back. Wanted to tapao but we were simply stuffed.
Tomorrow, I will remember to buy you back for my stomach!

It's not a ghostly shot. I wanted to show you normally after a hot shower, the mirror will get all fogged up. But I'm so impressed with this toilet, cos they actually installed a warmer behind the mirror so that it stay warm & won't turn foggy! Never fail to amaze me, Japan.

On the way to Universal Studios. It's nothing but I took this picture cos the girl in it bears a uncanny resemblance to a friend of mine. Mei, if you know what I mean.. :)

Why can't we have trains like this in sin? We also have Universal studios what!

They also kinda celebrate Holloween there, down to every detail.

We chose to go on a wednesday, the opening hours are slightly shorter but nonetheless, a good choice cos it's not crowded at all.

Breakfast to go. My favourite peanut butter bread.

Most of the girls dressed for the occasion. They really take the trouble, time & money to make themselves the center of attention.

Isn't she cute? :)

I wonder do they recycle the props once holloween's over?

Roy's not really keen on theme parks but I made him go with me anyway.

I love anything that's retro, specially the 60s to 70s stuff.

This is antique lor..

Don't want to spend on a portrait of ourselves so I just took a shot of it. *Cheapo**

Land of Oz.

From left: The Scarecrow, The Cowardly Lion, Dorothy & Toto, The Tin Man on the yellow brick road in The wizard of Oz.

Even their little girls look so cute.

I like the nice shade of green.

After the Jaws ride. If the replica is the actual size of the great white shark, it's definitely scary!

Outside Snoopy's Playland. Snoopy's holding onto a pumpkin too.

Piddles became Miss Othmar.. :P

Ultra love their popcorn! But as usual, it's a tad more expensive than the rest..

Finally had a chance to watch more performances this time. Previous trip there was just spent on waiting for hours for rides.

Even though the weather was relatively cooling but it's super sunny! And I want to stay out of the sun as I duwan anymore freckles on my face, so there you go.

All the nice props by the pool, really elaborate.

Peter pan & Wendy flying in the background.

Had a quick bite of burger at Mel's Drive-In cos other restaurants were too ex!

Street performance of Hello Kitty.

One of my favourite store to go spend some money on was the Big Face Shop.

Sesame Street is still my all time favourite.

I adore Cookie Monster! Very cute ear muffs but not practical to buy them cos I'll look ridiculous in them outside unless I'm in universal studios.

I not shy one. We can just pose & take pictures anywhere & nobody gives a hoot!

At the pink panther cafe. The blogger Xiaxue will love this place.

All the cute & colourful underwears. I got the cookie monster boxers for Roy too.

Spotlights shooting up in the sky. It's around 6pm but already turned nightfall. Daylight is so short during winter, no wonder ppl find it depressing.

2 brothers squeezing & sleeping in the stroller. I have to take a picture to show you cos it's just so cute!

There's a store outside the themepark too. And these stuffies were really placed on the ground.
Really kawaii & feel like bringing them home. But will just end up collecting dust. :P

We were just too famished to walk further so settled for a buffet dinner just outside the studio.
I simply love the salad & had many rounds of it.

Making sure everything I took within bite size so that I don't overstuff myself.

Another food that I love is their japanese rice! I can even eat it plain (which I normally hate) but of course to go with their style of curry would be the best combination.

My favourite chocolate fondue would be with banana. I just add the cornflakes for taste.

The buffet restaurant is actually opened by Mos Burger! We should have it here in sin also.. *grumbling**

I took this secretly in the subway. The girls looked so good with boots and tights there.
Most of the locals who left universal studios were seen carrying big bags of mechandizes. They really have great spending power. Wonder where they keep all the stuff in their tiny apartments.

I only bought stuff from the big face shop. The rest were deemed less cute.

The tiny Elmo & Cookie Monster will spin if you turn the straw.

Meet up with Take the next day. He actually took leave to bring us out sightseeing, so sweet of him! Brought us lunch too.
This was Roy's lunch. We changed the usual cold soba to udon instead. Normally I dun take soba but the cold ones was really nice & chewy!!

Mine was a ladies meal. Portions were smaller & also healthier.

We went to Umeda Sky Building in Osaka City, which is the 7th tallest in Japan.

The top gallery is circular so you can walk one round and have a bird's eye view of the city.

I find this building very interesting. Take said the building came first, then the highway. :P

Small figures of us..

Well, I can safely say I can take better pictures anyday.

Take was tickled that I kept asking him to pose for me, even on the escalator. LOL.

At namba.

Queuing up for something local and nice!

Yeah! Takoyaki!! Even the guy looked round.

And it's not the same as those sold here in sin. Theirs were sooo fresh and soft and melt in your mouth! So shiok.

The master is conducting a class on something..

Ooohh, mocked tempura!

Take drove us to his folks place but before that we did some groceries at the supermarket.
All the fruits were super fresh & nobody's seen choosing or poking at them. They just picked and go!

Packing the grocs ourselves.. A lot of countries are doing that, maybe we should too..

Settling down in the dining hall. I crossed my legs iso folding behind, more comfy this way.

Nowadays for guys, who will put their arms around each other har? :P

Japaneses are very hospitable people, visitors to their homes they will always offer the delicacies to them. This glutinous red bean balls tasted yummy, and surprisingly not that sweet. The leaves were a bit salty so counter the sweetness, what a good match!

Take's family are well to do, so we didn't get a chance to see small small homes. Their 2 storey house comes with a garden patch & another home at the side where his sister & family are staying now.

And they grow a lot of vegetables for home meals & some even sell to the locals.

Take took us for a 10minutes walk from his home to this big patch of land. Those that you can see behind you actually belongs to Take! His grandfather left it for him! (Roy & I were dumbfounded for a moment)...

Too bad he's already married with 3 boys.. Alas... ('',)

Went back to the house. Take's mom scared that my feet'll feel cold so she handed me a pair of slippers. *blush**

I felt bad sitting & waiting in the dining area so I tried to make myself useful by offering help in the kitchen. End up chatting with mom though..

It's a simple yet most delicious home cooked meal we've ever tasted in Japan! Top left is hota hota (dunno wat fish), top right is black beans & bottom right is terriyaki chicken. I almost wept with joy as I'm tucking in. And healthy too, no wonder Japs are well known for living long lives.

Take's mom & youngest sister. Pretty hor? The sister.. Haha!

Dad & mom. So lovey dovey. Not the traditional wife stay and walk behind the husband kind.

I'm glad that we got a chance to peek inside the lives of the local japanese & their way of life.

Priceless.

Back at shinsaibashi.

Finally we've left some room in our tummies for Krispy Kreme, yeah!

Why we don't have it here in sin, damn lousy!

Even their staff look so kawaii & chirpy, makes you wanna buy more from them!

Anything pokka dot catches my eye, let alone it's from Krispy Kreme!

All the different varieties & flavours.

And the original glaze donut is my favourite. The rest are just too fancy for me.

We stay quite near to the shopping district & you can see a lot of girls who are very pretty & dress well too. Well, the guy in black is actually a video pimp who will zoom in on those photogenic girls to act in AV (or so called porn) films. Easy & fast bucks guaranteed.

Kids at elementary schools need to carry the same type of schoolbags by rule but it's atrociously expensive!!! A average one will cost you around S$600! *faint**

Found a random ramen shop for lunch. I'm the only girl in the entire shop, even the servers & cook are male. @_@

Nicest dan dan mian I've ever tasted again.

This was Roy's brunch set, very traditional & cheap. Around S$8.

On the way to Shiga, a small town off Osaka.

What a long flight of steps. I'm already tired just by looking at it..

The sky is already bluer on the other side..

Their version of castle, occupied by warloads hundreds of years ago.

The rooftop beams made of huge tree trucks, no nails at all.

The stairs were so steep that you have to hang on for dear life.

The square on the left was outlet for cannons, and the one on the right for guns.

Taking pictures of each other, so er.. fun..

The castle is actually at the highest point of Shiga, so that the guards of previous era can see if the enemies are approaching from far.

What a tranquil feeling. Just make your mood feel right that moment.

Whoever is staying in those huts can actually jump out of the windows straight into the pond!

What about fishing too? Hahaha!! I'm so bored..

Too bad we're a tad too early to see the maple leaves turning red. Should be very nice in another 2 weeks time.

Cherry blossoms in Oct? Apparently Take mentioned there were 2 blooms in a year, once in spring and the other in autumn. Guess weather nowadays are unstable & unpredictable..