Dear Dayre,
I was happily writing my Japan post halfway and then Dayre crashed on me and I lost all my momentum πππ
So it's ok I will carry on Part 2 now!!
#yinagoestojapan
Day 3!
We had breakfast at Hotel Universal Port before heading out and WOW their breakfast π It's such a spread! I especially love the Japanese style breakfast because everything looked so tasty and well-presented!
For instance check out those takoyaki balls that came in little paper boats and you could put how ever much dressing you wanted on them! They legit tasted better than Singapore's takoyaki stalls no joke.
That cute egg thing is an egg dumpling and next to it is a Japanese pancake!
Also highly-acclaimed is that plain looking spam onigiri that was yummy yummy. ππ»
One picture in our hotel lobby with the cute minion dressed up as Dracula for Halloween and we were off to our first sight-seeing spot for the day, Osaka Castle!
Osaka Castle is probably the most iconic landmark of Osaka and it's so iconic that it even has its own emoji REAL ONE π―π―π―
Looks exactly like the castle itself leh!
We went into the museum (The castle has been remade into a museum) and it was pretty interesting to read about the history of the castle/Osaka and look at the artefacts from the Samurai era, during which the castle served as a stronghold for various powerful samurai families that ruled over parts of Japan.
Tip: to get a really gorgeous view of Osaka Castle, head to the garden on the left of the castle where you'll find a small pond that reflects the castle beautifully on a good day!
It's also less crowded at this spot so it's perfect for taking pictures with/of the castle ππ»
Pretty ain't it!
On a side note, the food trucks in front of Osaka Castle are pretty expensive ya so don't anyhow buy! Haha
After our time at the castle, we took the train to Tenjinbashi (longest shopping arcade in Osaka) and had lunch around the area before popping over to Osaka Museum of Housing and Living.
I love fruit flavoured water that you can find at any random mini marts – this is momo (peach) flavoured and it was quite good!
Lunch at a hole in the wall restaurant that served up a HUGE plate of curry rice π
I had Wagyu beef curry and it was so flavourful and delicious!
ππ»ππ»ππ» Happy happy π
That's Keita-san our translator and Ishida-san who's from JTB!
Keita brought us to a nice hippy area where we had desserts at this place called "HUG".
Despite the English sounding name. They don't speak English and don't have English menu ya #justsaying
Food and food all day long in Japan π I'm surprised I didn't put on a lot of weight haha!
Banana chocolate toast that we had. Yummmm!
I'm so biased towards japan. These streets aren't anything special but I love how they look!
Ticket to Ishikiri Station!
Well we were just wandering around randomly and Keita suggested visiting this shrine at Ishikiri area. Off we go!
Train ride selfie π
Just a typical Japanese train station.
π Coupley shot thanks to Keita!
At Ishikiri Tsurigiya shrine π
The crochet dress is an upcoming piece on TVD and it's love! β€οΈ
If you happen to pass by this shop, you must go in and buy some donuts!
And get these round mochi mochi donuts cuz they are sooooo good!
They are totally different from American donuts! π©π©π© Not oily and very light and airy and chewy π
π I liked them so much that we dabaoed them back to Singapore!
Dinner time – Kushi Katsu at Daruma, Shinsekai!
Kushi katsu are basically fried skewers and they come with a dipping sauce.. no double dipping! π«π«π«
Watching the chefs prepare the kushi katsu fresh!
Starters that came with our skewers set. The beef thingy was so yummy or maybe I was hungry π
A variety of skewers ranging from pork, beef, prawn, asparagus, and even fried cheese!
The happiest person = YZ because he loves fried food π
I love the sewage covers in japan. Every city has its own design and this one shows Osaka Castle with Sakura flowers!
So much thought and effort into aesthetics even on a sewage cover.
Got home and did my bath bomb ritual with this Lush bomb π
Day 4 – Off to Koyasan we went!
So excited to finally depart on our own itinerary π
Checked out of our hotel and began our two hours journey to Koyasan!
I blogged about the entire process of booking accommodation and getting to Koyasan on my blog so hop over for the really long version! I'm just gonna share a condensed version here π¬
Whomping willows on the way to our second train station… Super good weather again #lucky
Tickets for Koyasan!
We tried this bacon potato pie and it was πππ»
Taking a tram up up upppp Koyasan…
And finally reached after another bus ride!
Was so so happy to see the autumn foliage π
Our temple accommodation on Koyasan!
The rock gardens in our temple. So nice π
Our Japanese style tatami room π―π΅
And yay to outdoor onsen!
The only reason why we splurged on this temple was cus I read that it had an outdoor onsen.. yup yup
So soooo shiok
Dinner time! π
Vegetarian cuisine, shojin ryori. This is standard fare on Koyasan!
After dinner – concussed on the futons that were laid out for us π΄π΄π΄
I was really really really glad we got to see some autumn foliage cus I was keeping my fingers crossed so hard! Prayers were answered heh.
It's colder on Koyasan so the leaves turn red a little faster than in Tokyo or even Osaka!
The largest cemetery in Japan, Okunoin!
Hubby and I enjoying a gorgeous walk in Okunoin π
Those autumn foliage just sooooo lovely πππππ
Ice cream from a vending machine!
We were so blessed with great weather! ππ» Everything looked extra pretty on Koyasan, somehow.
ππ
There are so many temples and shrines on Koyasan but the good thing it's less crowded than Tokyo or Kyoto so it feels a lot more idyllic and tranquil. Of course there were still tourists but not the throngs we encountered in Nara or Kyoto!
Can't get enough of the beautiful fall colors π
So nice!
Full Koyasan blog post: www.yinagoh.com!
All too soon, it was time to depart from Koyasan and head to our next accommodation, near Dotonbori!
Super convenient because it was like a few mins walk away from Namba Station.
I spotted my fav Belgian waffle shop at the station! These are so good especially when they're fresh!! Bought the maple one to munch on π
Yay! Checked into our new accomm, which was super cheap! It's a room with private bathroom, only cost us $145, or $36 per pax a night!
ππ»
Good location too.
To get $40 off your first airbnb booking,
ππ» bit.ly/yg-airbnb
Best part of all, there was a Matsuya right downstairs our apartment!! In fact, our apartment was right on TOP of a yakiniku restaurant π Really no scared no food lor!
Also had a 7-11 and a Daiso. Hehehe
I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but if you don't already know, Matsuya beef bowl is so cheap and good!!!!
Legit wins Yoshinoya (in Singapore) hands down. ππ»ππ»ππ»
Random selfie π
We strolled over to Dotonbori area and started eating everything in sight π
Like this gelato that we chanced upon! Pear and maple walnut flavours π
Famous Glico Man at Dotonbori!
Walked past a supermarket and was tempted to get these persimmons. They are in season now and SUPER sweet and juicy, please try!!!
What I was saving my stomach for. Takoyaki! πππππ
Aiyo we were so greedy and ordered 10 pcs after which I regretted it π Too much ah hahahaha!
Can't find takoyaki like this in Singapore tho! So gooey and mochi and delicious!
Can't believe we actually spotted FarFetch'd on the pokeradar but then it just disappeared with a poof! π No luck really. I go Taiwan also cannot find, go japan also cannot find. Is it must go Hongkong and try now?
Instead, we ran into my area MP hahah Mr Low Thia Kiang! So qiao he was on family vacation in Osaka too! YZ had to ask him for a photo (very buay paiseh de) cos we always see him around the neighbourhood and he's so friendly and well-respected.
After which his daughter-in-law asked if I were Yina Goh and stunned me for a bit π
Went snack shopping at Don Quijote and lookie, yuzu and pepper chips!! They were quite nice too!
All these funky flavours, so fun! #onlyinjapan
We stayed out til quite late and even had supper at Ichiran Ramen that's 24 hours!
Day 5 – We slept in that morning and only got out of the apartment at 11am!
From Osaka, we took a train to Nara to do some deer visiting π¬
Really didn't bother to dress up too much on this trip but I love this trench dress/jacket! It can be worn as a dress or as a light coat. Very nice! On TVD soon π
We spotted this MASSIVE dog at Nara and everyone couldn't help but to stop to get a picture or give him a pat because he was sooooo fluffy and cute!!
It's like a bear, not a dog!
Wah this is just too nice! Nara's sewage cover has deer motifs on it π
And off we went to look for hungry deers at Nara Park!
This time round, the deers weren't very hungry leh. The first few deers that we encountered totally IGNORED us and the deer biscuits!!!!
Is it they eat until sian already π I felt so stupid trying to get them to eat the biscuits π
Baby kind of deer so cute hehe
And then we spotted one with antlers and suddenly it started butting a Chinese tourist…. in the butt HAHAHA!
A hilarious scene ensued but apparently it didn't hurt that much and all that happened was that said tourist got a rude shock and gave a little yell. π
This deer wanted to eat my chocolate biscuits that were in my bag! π‘
Cremia ice cream. Must buy if you see it anywhere in Japan ok? It's like an ice cream version of η½θ²ζδΊΊ and the combination of milky white chocolate and cookie cone is just super yummy la!
We found it selling in one of the food stalls leading up to the big Nara temple!
Dusk approaching as we returned to Dotonbori because I booked us dinner at a nice yakiniku restaurant!
Matsuzakagyu Yakiniku M!
We booked two days in advance and they only had one slot left at 5-7pm. That's how popular this restaurant is but apparently it's mostly frequented by tourists, probably because Japanese people don't usually splurge that much to get such high-quality beef? πΆ
So we ended up going for the platter with 6 different kinds of Matsusaka beef, at a very costly 13,800++ yen.. *gulps*
But must try at least once in your life time, right?
Pay so much must pose for a picture with the expensive meat π Check out that fat marbling!
The meat was really WOAHHHH. I can't describe exactly how it tasted like but we were savouring every bite!
Some cuts like the ootoro was a little too fatty for us and those cuts nearer to the middle range (neither too fatty Nor too lean) were our favourite.
Matsusaka beef is supposed to be the highest grade above wagyu and kobe beef so it's the best beef you can get in Japan!
We had the platter, a bowl of CRAZY GOOD garlic fried rice, and desserts, and our total bill came up to 17k yen πΈπΈπΈ
I would say it's worth it for the experience and the amazing quality of meat! You won't find this at the same kind of price in Singapore, for sure.
It was our most expensive meal in Japan and I definitely wouldn't dine like this every meal nor have the means to π
After dinner, we met our Japanese friends for karaoke! π€π€π€
Keita (our translator) is also a musician and he suggested we go karaoke together!
We made friends with Hikari-San last year when we went to a kimono rental shop and bumped into her! Hikari-San is an English teacher! She was super nice and helped us translate for the staff who didn't speak English well and that's how we became friends!! When Hikari-San saw that we were in japan, she immediately texted us asking to meet up! π
This is one of the most popular karaoke joints in Japan, called Karaoke Room!
So much fun! π―π―
The KTV has got lots of English and Chinese songs btw. Wasn't too expensive too, cost around $100 plus SGD for 4 pax with free-flow soft drinks and some snacks we ordered! ππ»
Blessed to meet kind souls π
On our last morning in Osaka (already, so fast π) we headed to Kuromon Ichiba market, for food food food!
This place sells everything from fruits and veggies to fresh seafood (they will deshell your uni for you on the spot) for prettt decent prices!
It's usually full of tourists but ok lah still worth going!
Pears larger than your fist, anybody?
Lol stupid YZ trying to be Farfetch'd with that leek π
This scallop was DA BOMB π£π£π£
Grilled in butter soy sauce, super huge! They quartered our scallop and every quarter was as big as one regular scallop in Singapore hahaha π So tender and sweet too!!!
1000 yen for the largest sized scallop. Expensive but mmmmmm so good π
Snow crab for 5800 yen! π
Wah two of us feasted on snow crab until I was so full π΅
And then we saw these oysters….. and thought "Why not, let's try them YOLO"
Each oyster as big and long as your hand.. π¨
SLURPS!
*pardon the no makeup face last day too tired to wear makeup by then π»
Taste-wise, the oysters were really fresh and weren't as scary fishy as I thought! But that being said, I think I prefer the round and creamier oysters than these long flat ones that tend to have a stronger taste and texture.
With our bellies exploding, we departed to Kansai International Airport (via airport train from Namba Station) πππ
Bought more rubbish snacks from airport before heading into the immigration area… For Kansai airport, there's way more shopping to be done outside immigration area!
Lots of snacks π
This is Yuzu and vinegar jagabee!
This flavour was also good. Some sort of mayonnaise or mustard flavour?
Found these pretz at Daiso and they were yummy! I bought the cheese flavour one back!
There's a shop called 3 coins (you can find it around the cities too!) that's like a slightly more upscale version of Daiso, with 3 coins (300 yen exclusive tax) you can buy lots of stuff!
Sushi tote bag!
These chopsticks at only 300 yen. So cute!
Went back home with an additional tag on my battered luggage. I suppose this is one thing off the bucket list heh!
So that brings my Dayre post to an end!!
More posts coming on my blog with in-depth details on various parts of my trips so if you're planning your trip to Japan, feel free to take a look or leave me questions/comments here! π¬π¬π¬
Thanks for reading! π