Japan Day 5 - Ginza

Day 5: 20 March 2017

Waking up as early as possible, we got ourselves prepared and left the apartment by 9 am. From there, we headed straight for the Shin-Osaka station for our Shinkansen.

When we arrive at Shin-Osaka, there was still time. Thus we decided to go grab some breakfast at a cafe in the station itself.

The food was really good. I like the toast especially, not burnt and still crunchy. The tea which I ordered in my opinion was the best of the meal. The tea came in a small pot as shown in the picture above (above the plate). After waiting for 3 minutes as said by the waiter, we can then pour the tea into the cup and drink. Although the tea gets more and more bitter as we drank to the bottom, it gets more and more satisfying, the fragrance of tea with no sugar and no milk is the best for me.

After which, we were really full. Although we still need to have a bit of lunch, I decided to just go into a Bellmart on the platform itself to get myself a small bento, a bento with Karaage and rice. It was cold but it is still really good.

I used my luggage as the table as it was really crowded, there wasn't space for me at the top area. Also, it was too heavy for me to carry it up, thus I just left it at my seat.

We arrived at Tokyo at 2:40 pm. We headed straight for the Prime Pod to check in. Although only at 4 pm then you can enter the Pod, we were allowed to check in first, since it was already almost 4 pm.

After we settled down our luggage and baggage, one group set out for their own plans. I actually didn't know they went Ikebukuro until they had left, as I thought we were supposed to go Shibuya together. Thus it was already late and the remaining of us decided to just walk around Ginza and find something to eat.

I actually wanted to try the burnt miso ramen, but after walking for about half hour we were not able to locate the shop. Thus we walked back to Yurakucho station. There we saw a shop serving rice with curry. We ate there for our dinner. It was really good, much better than what I expected, and also really filling. It was really good that I ate 1 and 1/2 portion (shared with my friends).

On the way back, we saw some cherry blossom display just outside a mall. However, as I was on the move, I never really got a good shot. This image was the best and I was never able to locate this place again to take a better picture. A bit of a regret but better than nothing.

We headed back to rest for the day after this.


Winters

Japan Day 4 - Shitennoji Temple

Day 4: 19 March 2017

Although I woke up pretty early, at around 7.30 am, but we only managed to leave the apartment at around 10:30 am. We went to a bread shop located at Tengachaya train station, bought our breakfast. Only when we reach Tennoji station did we start eating our bread as we walk to the Shitennoji Temple.

Viewed from a distance as we made our approach

It wasn't that difficult to find. The streets were also quite peaceful, a very nice neighborhood in my opinion.

What surprised me the most was that there are a lot of street shops inside the temple. The temple is also bustling with activity. There was so many people that we never really got a chance to enter the temple itself. However, just walking around the temple would already take hours. It was so big and so fascinating.

We bought some food inside to eat for lunch. One was a stick of ball which looks like fishball, yet the texture feels like mushroom, we can't really tell what it was.

My friend's cousins actually tried their Takoyaki with soup. It tastes really good, the soup was extremely delicious, although it felt more like Egg Tofu with soup, yet it's still really good. Plus the food are all at very affordable price.

There was a long queue of people queuing for the Okonomiyaki. This is the Japanese pancake, the traditional kind of egg. As the others are mostly with soba, we decided to try this. Plus it was only 100 yen per piece, extremely affordable and also well worth the price.

Before leaving, my friend bought a mochi to try.

We were lucky enough to be able to see some cherry blossom trees in the Shitennoji Temple. Although it wasn't much, but it was a really nice experience.

After this, we decided to go explore Umeda and Osaka station.

The place was amazingly huge. However, it was a bit confusing to me and difficult to navigate. Even with google maps, it was difficult to pinpoint our location and direction of travel.

After wandering around for abut an hour or so, we went to the Ikari Super Department Store. At there, we bought some snacks that can be brought back home. I myself bought one box of Financiers and one box of brownies.

We decided to head back to Tokyu Hands again to buy some boxes, since many of us bought a lot of box and I was thinking to check in the food in the box, checking in as fragile, same as what we did when we were at UK.

The return to Tokyu Hands was definitely the most fruitful to me. I actually manage to locate some Wood Veneers for some upcoming personal project. Wood Veneers are near impossible to locate in my country, thus I was really happy to be able to get them, even though they ain't that cheap.

When we are done, we headed to the Yaki-soba store we saw the previous day to have our yaki-soba. The wait was really long as we are in a group of five, but the wait was definitely well worth it.

The table itself is a hotplate, thus be careful not to touch it. It is also important that we stir the yaki-soba fast and eat fast. This is because when we didn't it fast enough, part of it actually got burnt and became inedible. As you can see from the top few images, some of us also ordered some Okonomiyaki to try.

After eating, we actually met up at the JR Namba station to book tickets for our Shinkansen travel back to Tokyo for the following day. Luckily we went to book, as majority of it is full, although we are separated, it is better than missing the train for the day entirely. 

The train timing is at 11:43 am, thus we quickly went back to pack our luggage and prepared to move out early.

Winters

Japan Day 3 - Cup Noodles

Day 3: 18 March 2017

Due to the late timing which we slept last night (around 1 am), many of us slept in a bit. I woke up at around 7 am to prepare with a morning bathe and packing of my day pack.

After having everyone wake up and prepare, we left the apartment at 10 am. At Tengachaya station, we went to the Macdonalds at the station, since we decided to try the menu from a different area. I bought the usual Sausage Egg McMuffin. Although this was available at my country, the burger was prepared in a way that it was much better than what I usually eat.

The tea at the McDonald was also different. The tea that I always have is already brewed in the cup. While here, the cup came with hot water and we were given 2 packets of tea bags, depending on how strong you want your tea to be.

After finishing our breakfast, we headed to the Instant Ramen Museum located at the Ikeda station. We get to view the history of Instant Ramen and get to have a customized cup of our own. Each cup will cost 300 yen, but the experience and also being able to bring home the cup is totally well worth it.

There was also a 100 Yen shop on the way, a really good experience.

When we left the Instant Ramen Museum, it was already about 1 pm, time for lunch. We went to Namba walk to have our lunch. However, due to us taking the train to JR Namba station, we were unfamiliar and it took us almost an hour to locate the shop. The walk was well worth it was the food was really good. I ordered the 3 Prawns set.

The prawn was really well fried, and the egg was something which I had never tasted before. To me, it was pretty unique. The miso soup was also something unique to me, the taste just about right.

There was this plate that tasted average to me, but I heard that it's really expensive, just that I'm not quite sure what it's called.

When we are done, we separated into the same two groups as yesterday. The other group headed for a shop called Red Wings while we went to walk the Shinsaibashi streets. Before we really went in, we dropped by to grab an ice-cream puff. Not quite sure what it's called but it's located at the street opposite Dotombori, where we had our Ramen the night before.

Taking the walk all the way through to Tokyu Hands, we went into Tokyu Hands to explore the place. I bought some wooden sake cup holders, a small puzzle and also Shogi.

After which, we walked back down the Shinsaibashi street. I saw a really nice antique book store, I told myself that once I can understand or at least read Japanese, I must return to get a book.

As we were all really full, we actually gave Luke's Lobster a miss although it was along the streets. Rather, we headed straight for Maison De Gigi to get some waffles and a place to sit and rest.

Not quite sure if we bought the right one, I bought the Matcha flavored Brussels Waffle. Not too bad, the combination was really nice. Along with the sauce, cream, ice-cream and bean paste combination, the flavor is really unique. However, I think that the round ones which they sell are the best one, although I never really got to try it.

While heading back  to the Namba station, we saw a Yaki-soba shop. As we were already full, we decided to save it for the next day. We met up with the other group to get the key for the airbnb, since there was only 1 key and its not with us. While waiting, we went to check out an arcade full of claw machines.

After which, we headed back to the apartment first to rest for the night. As both our groups have different places in mind to go to, we agreed to let them have priority to prepare and leave first, since they must reach early to the aquarium.

Something which I learnt today is that when we are calling for the waiter or waitress, we do not raise our hands. Rather, we just look at them and they would come to us.


Winters

Japan Day 2 - Osaka

Day 2: 17 March 2017

Day 2 was in my opinion a bit rush as we had to get up early and prepare, rushing for the train timings.

I woke at 6:45 am to prepare with a short morning bathe. After which, we went to have breakfast. In the Prime Pod when we booked our rooms, we paid for breakfast in the hotel. The breakfast which we had in the Prime Pod was although simple, it was flavorful and satisfying. To get the original taste of the hot dog they prepared, I decided not to add any toppings.

The breakfast set too comes with either coffee or tea. Both of which can be selected as hot or cold.

At around 8:20 am, we left the Prime Pod to head for the Tokyo station to take our Shinkansen. Before going to the platform, we went to the Bento shop in the train station to get our Bento for the ride. The Bento is supposed to be our lunch.

I actually wanted a seafood bento, but due to my lack of understanding of the Japanese language, I decided to go for the safer option to just get a beef bento.

We waited for the train but only after 10:03 am did we realize we were on the wrong platform. Running to the ticketing office again, we bought another Shinkansen ticket at 10:33 am, Shinkansen Hikari.

Finally at the correct platform, we headed for Shin-Osaka. We reached Shin-Osaka at around 1:26 pm. Once we were there, we took a train down to Osaka station using the Tokaido-Sanyo Line. From there, we took the JR Loop Line down to Shin-Imamiya. After which, we took the Nankai Line to Tengachaya station, where our Airbnb apartment is.

It took us about 10 mins to locate our Airbnb location as we walked the wrong direction. After we settled down in the Airbnb, we went out to the street between Namba and Shinsaibashi. As we walked towards Shinsaibashi, we turned towards the street which was opposite of Dotombori.

When we were there, we had Takoyaki first.

After that, we went for Ramen at 四天王.

After having Ramen, we split into two different groups. The group that I was with went to Pablo to have some Matcha Cheese Cake.

After eating, we went to explore underground of the Namba station. It's called the Namba walk between the Namba station and the Nippombashi station. After which, we linked up with the other group and headed back to the airbnb. Taking turns to take baths when we are back, we went to sleep and prepared for the next day.


Winters

Japan Day 1 - Arriving

Day 1: 16 March 2017

The first day, in my opinion, is the most important day. This day will be filled with fear of getting lost, excitement of what to expect, and bravely taking the step forward. Day 1 is always the unforgettable day.

This day, our flight left the country at 6:55 am. I was already at the airport before 4:00 am to collect the portable wifi which I had rented from the airport days earlier. We reached Tokyo Narita Airport at around 3:00 pm.

Upon arrival, we cleared the customs and picked up our luggage. We headed straight for the JR ticket office in the airport to collect our JR pass. At the same  ticketing office, we reserved a seat with the JR pass for the Narita Express (N'EX) train to get us to Tokyo station. As we had only 10 minutes before the arrival of the train, we rushed straight for the platform.

The train arrived at exactly 3:44 and it took 1 hour to reach the Tokyo station. When we were at the Tokyo station, we took about half an hour to locate the JR ticketing office to book our Shinkansen for the following day's trip to Osaka. Using the JR pass, we booked the train that was bound for Shin-Osaka on 10:03 am the following day.

After booking the Shinkansen, we headed for the JR Yamanote Line, taking 1 stop down to Yurakucho station. From there, we took about 20 minutes to make our way to Prime Pod Ginza Tokyo. The actual walk is actually only about 10 minutes.

The Prime Pod Ginza Tokyo is a Capsule hotel with a really good rating.

When we arrived at the Prime Pod, we settled down after checking in, resting a bit in the capsule. We asked the counter for a really nice place to eat Yakitori. What he gave us was just at the basement of the Prime Pod building, a really nice shop.

That shop can only mostly speak Japanese. However, they have English menu upon request. Whatever that we wanted to order, we just pointed at the menu and they would take the order for us.

This shop allows their customers to smoke while eating in the shop. As this is more of a local shop, the Yakitori are served more slowly as its more of to chat and eat together like a bonding session. Only the main courses are served much faster.

My group of friends each ordered a main course while waiting for the Yakitori. Some of them ordered the noodles while I ordered the Japanese Style Fried Rice.

 The rice was beyond my expectations, one of the best fried rice I have ever tasted. The noodle and its soup was nice, however its not filling enough for a meal. Their Karaage too was extremely good, makes me wanting to order more plates of it.

The rice was so good that I started eating first before taking a photo.

As a recommendation, this place is not for someone who wants fast meal, and the main course might not be filling for many people. Plus the smell of smoke in there can be at times unbearable, to me anyways, since I never really liked smoke smell in the first place.

However, the food was really good and definitely would recommend to go back to eat.

After settling the bill, part of the group wanted to walk around. As for me, it was already getting late and have been tired out through the whole day of travelling. Thus I headed back to bathe and sleep.

This sums up my Day 1 :D


Winters

Japan Trip

Hey all!

So it's been a while and I would be going off on a trip to Japan with my friends, sort of like a Graduation trip. As I won't be using my phone for blogging and definitely not bringing along my laptop, I would update my itinerary and what are the things I did there after I get back from Japan.

Stay tuned till I come back :D


Winters