Travel log: Kyoto, Japan day 2. Part 1 ( 16 Nov 2013)

16 Nov 2013

There are 2 alternatives to get to Kyoto from Osaka. Either via the hankyu or the Jr train, being that we are so near JR, it only made sense for us to head to Kyoto via JR limited express train ( shin kaisoku = 新快速)

Side note: 

There are many passes options available in Japan for foreign travelers and u really need to calculate to make ur sums worthwhile. Unless u take 2 trips of Shinkansen to different prefecture, normally it isn't really worthwhile to buy the 3 day or7 day passes. 

Osaka subway

However, having the Suica train card ( bought from my previous Tokyo trip) is so useful because u don't have to look at the train chart and q to buy your ticket. There is no discount but it's the convenience that makes life easier. Unlike in Tokyo, It took me a few mins to figure out how to buy the individual subway train for my man since you must know the train line name in addition to the stop u need to make. 

The limited expres train ticket can be bought from the same ticket counter as per the normal trains, I wasn't too sure if that button that says Kyoto is the correct train, so I had the lady at the gantry to help me. I was correct but it's always safer to ensure it's the limited express (新快速) ( about under 30mins to Kyoto)  and not the standard normal train (普通) which stops at every station. 

We headed to the F&B section for breakfast. Not much that appeals to us really so we settled on fried rice. It was way too salty for mine so I couldn't finish it. I had the normal dry crab fried rice but my man had their popular egg topping crab rice. His was ok initially but after a while, he felt the thirst come on. I tried the add on (tsuika = 追加) homemade traditional almond pudding for 100 yen and that was nice.

I can't rem why it was more confusing the last time traveling from Osaka to Kyoto several years back then. Now, everything and signage is so darn clear that it's impossible to get lost I think. I could read the signs and instructions better this time round...but I'm sure they have made vast improvements with the streams of foreigners visiting Kyoto from Osaka daily. For one, I'm pretty sure there were no blue stickers on the ground in the past to differentiate the lines.

The train is jammed pack and very often u will be required to stand. I was lucky to get a seat but not my man. 

Tip

Very often, I find japan trains to be very warm inside each cabin so I have gotten smart over the years. Have a sturdy warm but light weight jacket that u can strip off and leave u with a Tshirt or loose top so that u don't have to sweat like a pig inside the warm train, and ur arms won't ache from having to lug the jacket the entire way. 

If u want a seat and are not rush for time, u can always stand in line and wait for the next train and u will be first in line. The trains depart about every 15mins apart though depending on the departure time, not all trains are limited express I think. U can check the website in advance for the train schedule. Else, grab the train schedule from the train station master before or while u buy the ticket.

Travel log: Osaka, Japan day 1. Part 2.

Osaka day 1 - part 2.

After the Yakiniku meal, the first place I simply must head to is towards my grilled crab place. Several years back when I came to Osaka, the grilled crab leg was the singular highlight of my stay. It would be a sin to pass it up! 

Before that, it took us a few turns to get to the right lane...had to find this lane that leads to the temple first...

My man was amused by all the huge cartoon like ornament depicting the food that was being sold, from cute puffer fish to octopus etc. despite the wide array of food options, I didn't stop till I hit my destination. Good thing the store remained where it was and so I could find it, though the shops opposite has a drastic change to the current tatsuya.there are also now Starbucks which was currently non existent back then.

The crab legs were as good as before, soooo freaking sweet. It is alittle tricky to eat while standing since the flesh is kinda hard to pick out with chopsticks with one hand. Took a little balancing but it was worth the hassle. Completely. I still rem taking my elder brother and sister in law here previously and we love it so much that we pack a whole lot back to my room since my hotel was nearby. Was staying in cross hotel back then. Lovely hotel by the way and though much smaller than ritz, for for a solo occupant, it worked out perfectly and a good size. Still rem they had great bathroom.

Any case back to Dotonburi, the street wasn't as packed as I last remembered, and despite filling up quickly, I bought a pack of 6 octopus balls for my man to try since he had never eaten tako balls all his life. As expected, I knew he didn't like it as it's too much of a flour dough for him. 

Next thing I knew I spotted Mizuno which is another crazy popular okonomiyaki place. Everyone seems to eat there tourists and locals alike. I didn't bother since we are stuffed. Next trip perhaps!?

After having a good look, we decided to grab the subway back. The Osaka metro subway station was a nightmare. We wanted to go to Harbs and ended up in the wrong building. Thankfully this girl knew where it was and gave me directions to the hankyu mall which was on the opposite end of where we were. My man really wanted Harbs ( I should not have got him addicted to it back in Tokyo as Harbs is my fav haunt) so off we go....

It wasn't easy to find honestly and even the aunties working there didn't know where is Harbs but a young chap overheard our conversation and volunteered the directions. Amen! 

We had our usual mix fruit cake since the other one I wanted was sold out. I'm in japan too early and so the seasonal queen of strawberry shortcake isn't available yet. Darn. I miss that...the fresh cream still lingers in my mind after all these years....

The Harbs here is either offering a smaller menu or they had taken out my fav "wedding tea" which I had in Tokyo branch. So we settled for flora herbs tea instead. Once our sweet tooth was satisfied...it was a long walk back to the room....but hey, it was a satisfying first night in japan. Gotto sleep early for Kyoto tomorrow! 

Travel log: Osaka,Japan day 1. Part 1 - (15 nov 2013)

Osaka day 1: 15Nov 2013

Upon reach Osaka and check in, we decided to have our first go at yakiniku. As we didn't make any prior reservations and being Friday nite, all the highly recommended places are already fully book, ESP Kobe beef. Thankfully, I did some homework before flying and asked to check ourselves in to this place, Matsusakagyu Yakiniku. Apparently it's quite a popular joint with the locals too.

We could have taken the subway but being tight for time, we took a cab to the destination and it cost about 2000yen but the driver was very nice. Chatted abit and while he hasn't been to HK, he went to Singapore for his honeymoon like 20years ago. The only description he has for our city state "clean". Hahahaha. All these years, that's about the most common if not, only adjective I have heard from foreigners about my hometown...sad if u think about it but that's for another day.

We were shown into a small private cubicle and handed the menu which has both English and japanese version. 

What I really like is that they have a menu describing all parts and ranked from fattiest to leanest. Had to take this since it's so freaking useful!

In the end, we chose the assorted platter which is the easiest and has the widest choice. When the meat arrived, I Thot it looked a little lesser than I like and so I topped it up with another order of wasabi beef rice which was rather average. The yuzu wine was really nice though.

Over here, u get to cook your own meat. The suction works very well and so there was virtually no funny stench commonly associated with BBQ places. My man was the one who cooked the meat. Meal always taste better when I don't have to lift a finger. Haaa haaaa.

Jokes aside, while the meal was ok, it wasn't spectacular. Definitely have had better Yakiniku in Tokyo before. Still, it was sooo central and close to Dotonburi, it was good place to go to if u need a quick fix. Plus the place comes with free wifi which is a rarity in japan. 

After the meal, I took my man straight to Dotonburi for snackies part 2! The nite is still young! 

Travel log Nov 2013: Trip to Japan. First stop Osaka.

Time to update on my recent Japan trip to Osaka, Kyoto and Kyushu. Let's hope I have the energy to complete it since I havent even got started on my travel to Jeju that was in July!!! Looking at the load of pictures and my massive headache begins already.

Initially the plan was only to head to Kyushu but I had trouble to book the ryokans that I wanted and so my man decided to just book a place in Osaka as our springboard to Kyoto. However as luck would have it, we managed to get available ryokans elsewhere and so it became a city-prefecture hopping trip instead of just holing up in Kyoto alone. That made me happy since I had already been to Osaka and Kyoto previously and frankly not my cup of tea. Osaka is just boring and Kyoto is just Old.....

The flights to Osaka in Nov was pretty much booked out by late September. Talk about CRAZY. That's how much Hong Kongers love Japan. That's how frequent they travel to Japan. For Hong Kong, Japan is our backyard playground. Kinda like how Singaporeans love to flock to JB. So we had to depart on Fri instead of sat since that was the only flight we could board for 10.30am.

Since my man has the Cathay diamond FF (yes that's how much they made him fly for work..poor chap), we headed to the sit in lounge that morn since the business class lounge noodle bar hasnt started serving that early. Apart from cooked fresh eggs orders, even soy bean drink is being foamed here. Funny!

Sit-in First class lounge 

My frothy soybean drink!

Beautiful morning before we set off.

You guys have NO FREAKING IDEA how much prep work I did for this trip.
I'm serious.

It wasnt just a let's go on holiday pack up and go trip. I basically labor over every details a month ahead, plan each day to the hour and figure out transportation, estimated cost and travel time, dining places, driving sighting seeing spots in Kyushu, calculate time and distance travelled to fit in various spots etc. As we didnt know if we can get a English navi for our rental car, I had to try to google how to read some of the places that are in Kanji. It was PAINFUL, anally painful.

My eyes were tearing and popping out just from visiting the various Japanese websites, google maps,getting advice about train tickets from various sources etc, Japanese navi maps, getting mapcodes etc. It was stressful I'm telling u. One would have thought I'm taking a tour group instead of just my husband alone! lol
Just to give an idea of some of the sites visited....

Still, it was worth it.
EVERY Hour and minute prepping for the trip made the holiday a breeze and we both had a good time.

15th Nov

When we landed in Osaka, I decided to forgo the train and took the limousine bus instead. Yeah time to put my Japanese into good use. It was alittle nerve racking since I havent used Japanese since I quit school since July. so i'm kinda 4 months rusty but I did alrite though my tenses and grammar was all over the place. Sigh. Some Japanese I had spoken to, it was easy to understand them but some, I simply couldnt catch them. It could be the same content but I think it has to do with the speed or intonation. I'm used to certain Japanese tone and pitch but not some. I am starting to understand why my man commented he cannot understand some Singaporean's English because it sounds incomprehensible to him. It isnt that we use the wrong words, its the way of saying it that makes it difficult to understand when the ear is accustomed to certain words in certain tones. Then again, I'm no expert and I'm not fluent in the Japanese Language to be sure.

Anycase, because we are putting up at Ritz Carlton in Osaka, after speaking to 2 different ladies at the airport. The information counter lady was of no help at all because she didnt know much about the travelling time comparison, she could only tell me how much the train cost but not the bus. I had to walk out of the airport to find the bus ticket counter and asked the lady there for details. The bus lady told me bus was a wiser option as it brings us closer to hotel with less walk.

For me, less walk is good because it means less navigation. With no wifi and access to google map, I hate to lug my luggage around an unfamiliar city.

Another advantage of the bus, we get to see the sunset in Osaka! It's like a preview to the city!

So once I got the instructions and bus stop number from the lady, I bought our bus ticket 1500yen per pax and was ready to head off! Def slightly more expensive than if we take the train but I didnt regret this option. There was also another HK family who was staying at Ritz who did the same, and this wasnt their first trip. In terms of time, it was almost the same but the bus was slightly faster by about 10mins than via train. If i include the lesser walking than if we had taken the train, then, the extra yen was worth every yen.

A beautiful eve as we were on way to our hotel.

Travel Log: Eating at Sushi Dai@ Tsukiji Fish Market

The last time I was here in Tsukiji was many years ago, before the ban of visitors in the auction site. I didnt bother then, I didnt bother now. I came here the last time but I missed out on the 2 famous sushi joints. This time round, going with my galfrens, we decided to brave the 3 hours long wait in line. You should have seen the shocked expression of my Japanese hotel's concierge when I said 3hours. He thought it was madness! hahaha!

We arrived at 8.30am and the line was already crazy long!!! So it was chatting and playing i-phone to pass time, as well as the eagle eyes of counting how many patrons are going in and out of the tiny place!

By this time, most of the other stalls are empty except for sushi dai which still has a long long long line waiting to enter their premises just for a taste of their infamous fresh sushi. So like the many others before and after us, we stood in line patiently waiting..and waiting..and waiting....

Finally after almost 3 hours, we finally reached the "entrance". While waiting from the outside, we peeked into the tiny establishment and started to "grumble" about how slow some people are eating inside. Collectively, we were urging them on from outside to hurry up and eat, stop talking! stop taking pictures! Stop laughing! Just stuff it into your mouth and GO!

What was worse was the old granny in this picture, and the single women. The granny has got to be the world's slowest eater. She probably only chew on one sushi while people next to her had gone on to theor 3rd and 4th!!! It was frustrating to see her eating soooo slowly, and talking, and sipping her tea in ultra slow motion. Ok...after 3 hours, the wait was really killing my feet..and so patience and a growling tummy was not making me the nicest lady on earth.

What was even pissing us lot out here waiting in the cold was this crazy specky woman who brought along her stupid Paddington bear with her. I simply could not believe a grown up woman like her to be taking out her bear and putting it under the sushi serving table, and as she ate, she WAS PATTING and TALKING to her bear! I nearly fainted!!!! Seriously! How old are you again woman?

Probably hearing our curses from outside, the old granny and the crazy paddington bear woman stood up and left. Clearing out seats so that the next 7 of us could get in and have our turn. The chefs were still so damn chirpy after 7 hours since they opened shop, excluding the buying fish hours. How the hell do they do it? Smiling away, working away... RESPECT!

The meal at Sushi Dai is not Ala-Carte. You get to choose between the Omakase (~3950yen) or the cheaper meal (~2780yen). However, the cheaper option does not give you the Uni (sea urchin) and the Otoro. Which idiot will pass up on fresh Otoro and Uni here in the home ground of fresh seafood?

Ever since I watched the documentary of the increasing pace of possible "extinction" of Blue fin Tuna. I kind of stopped eating Otoro （おトロ）for a year now. However, being in japan, remembering the taste of the soft buttery melting fish, I told myself I would restrict to one piece only. This singular piece made my abstinence from Otoro on other days totally worth while! Just look at the darn marbling!

 Sweet tamago. I dont usually eat eggs in Sushi joints. This is an exception. It was warm and not sickly sick!

I have to declare that before this, I had only eaten uni once in my entire life. After which, I always shudder at the thought because the last one I had was terrible. So this time, I confronted my usual disdain and popped this straight into my mouth. I had the greatest shock in my life.

The damn Uni （ウニ）was sooooo freaking sweet! It was almost like it was raised in syrup water or something. I have never ever expected or tasted any seafood so sweet! It was OH MY GOD goodness! If my eyes could grow any wider, it would be popping out of its socket! I am officially a converted fan of Uni in Japan!!! It's orangey, its not even the weak plastic yellow sick looking shit you see in some stores outside Japan. This is the real deal!

 Marinated tuna. Its fresh but doesnt have that wow factor for me.

This fellow arrived on my table still wriggling and moving. I was all ready to pop it into my mouth when my galfren grabbed my arm and asked "Will it stick to my tongue?" I started laughing. Of course not! This is not octopus! It's shellfish! The taste was unbelievably fresh!

I typically hate to eat fish that you can see pieces of skin on it. They tend to be very fishy. Frying them seemed to be the only way to eat them without the repulsive stench in Asia cooking. However, when my gf and I pop this into our mouth, we were completely stunned by the fact that it was sweet and not a single smelly fishy taste! This is what freshness is about!!!!! 

いくらもおいしいですよ！

At the end of the Omakase meal. You get to choose the last sushi of your choice. I was undecided between Otoro and Uni. Otoro was obviously more expensive but since I dont typically eat Uni elsewhere, I went for my second uni...no regrets there! My gf picked chu-toro (semi fatty toro) and she said it was equally good!

Before I left, I waved for a happy shot for all the chefs I am thankful for the good meal today! Thanks guys for your hard work.
こころから、感謝しました！ごちそうさまでした！（お腹がいっぱいですよ！）