The posts and summary for the whole trip, can be found here
♥Dec 3rd Tuesday♥
Last day in Japan, and I woke up with a massive migraine. I asked the hubs to bring the children out without me but they preferred to stay in with me. Good thing was after sleeping for 2hrs, the migraine went away, and we could still shop and explore for one last day before we left.
First stop was Doguyasuji 千日前道具屋筋商店街, a small shopping street which sells kitchen and baking wares/utensils. For a small street, we spent quite some time there, and I got myself a clay pot, a bread knife, a cast iron kettle, two thermometers and an aluminium pot; I made sure everything I got was Made In Japan to worth the effort for carrying them back.
There were other interesting shops around Doguyasuji, but we didn't have time to check them out. O
Cycling seems to be very popular in Osaka and Kyoto; if it wasn't for the busy traffic, we would have opted to use the bicycle too; maybe in future trips when the girls are older.
After that it was off to lunch. Our first western meal in Japan at Bene Pesce.
For about ￥800 for a set lunch, the food was not bad and of good quality, like all things Japanese.
We lugged all the things we'd purchased, and headed to Namba Station to store them in the locker.
Because the hubs has patiently waited for me to shop at Doguyasuji, I had to agree to go to Shinsekai 新世界; one of the poorest area in Japan, it has a unique character and tackiness that is not found in other parts of Japan. The moment we got out of the train, it's as though we'd been transported back in time to a notorious and dangerous part of Japan.
People were sloppily dressed (Zara said every one looked like a gangster), some looked dirty and zombie like as though they had not taken a bath or rested for quite some time. Shinsekai is famous for cheap eats as well; we saw lots of small restaurants lining the streets, and they were mainly 'standing bars' or in Japanese 立吞, where the Kanji characters translated to 'stand and swallow' (I understand it's now also a popular restaurant concept in Taiwan).
There were a couple of adult movie theatres that we came across with their bold posters, the girls squealed every time they came across one, "Eeeyer!!!! Humsup!!" "Eeeyer, she's showing her boobs!" "Eeeeyer, they look like they are mating!" o.O"
I had to ask the hubs walk ahead of us to ensure the 'coast' was clear before we followed him.
There are a lot of Pachinko Parlour in Shinsekai too; hubs went into one of them to have a look.
If the restaurant signboards in Dotonburi is tacky (but acceptable), the ones in Shinsekai brought it to another level. Most of the restaurants have the Shinsekai Mascot Billiken that's supposed to bring luck. Luck or not, it looked hideous.
We didn't have dinner there, because the girls were uncomfortable with the people they saw there. So if we were not after the cheap food, why were we there? This was all because the hubs wanted to photograph the vibrant colours of Shinsekai (no doubt it's colourful) and the Shinshekai Tsūtenkaku 通天閣, which means "Tower Reaching Heaven".
We were there late afternoon till night time, so the hubs could take the tower under natural light, and also when it's litted.
So he took photos of the tower from different angles, of the tower itself, and also from the busy street.
He spent so much time there, the girls and I got really bored since there were no shops interesting enough for us to spend time in; and we had tackiness overdosed!
Finally when it was time to go, we were so happy! It was back to Dotonbori 道頓堀 and Shinsaibashi 心斎橋 for more shopping.
While we were walking around looking for restaurant to have a quick meal, a group of men were standing outside a small eatery chatting loudly. They started chatting with us too, i.e. where we were from, if we were enjoying ourselves etc. We asked what they were waiting for, and one of the guy mentioned onigiri. He told us the eatery sold really good onigiri, and we should try it. And so we did! It was one of the best onigiri we had tasted, they were made on the spot, it was so good we went for seconds. For the record, the name of the eatery is めはり屋文在ェ門 (pronounced as Mehari-ya Bun-zaemon).
After our light meal, we did all the girls' shopping at GU, sister company of Uniqlo, where things were much cheaper. The girls bought 4 pairs of shoes from there, 3 were UGG like boots which were going for ￥500.
Then we came across Laduree at Daimaru, so we had to had some (moreover, a mochi costs the same amount as a Laduree macaron, i.e. ￥300, in Japan). We took 2 each, as we absolutely love (good) macarons. Choosing which piece of heaven we wanted to taste was tough though.
Finally, a little more of Osaka by night, and it was time to go.
The following day, after breakfast, it was time to leave for the airport. It's been a good trip, and we can't wait to return again.
♥Dec 3rd Tuesday♥
Last day in Japan, and I woke up with a massive migraine. I asked the hubs to bring the children out without me but they preferred to stay in with me. Good thing was after sleeping for 2hrs, the migraine went away, and we could still shop and explore for one last day before we left.
First stop was Doguyasuji 千日前道具屋筋商店街, a small shopping street which sells kitchen and baking wares/utensils. For a small street, we spent quite some time there, and I got myself a clay pot, a bread knife, a cast iron kettle, two thermometers and an aluminium pot; I made sure everything I got was Made In Japan to worth the effort for carrying them back.
There were other interesting shops around Doguyasuji, but we didn't have time to check them out. O
Cycling seems to be very popular in Osaka and Kyoto; if it wasn't for the busy traffic, we would have opted to use the bicycle too; maybe in future trips when the girls are older.
After that it was off to lunch. Our first western meal in Japan at Bene Pesce.
For about ￥800 for a set lunch, the food was not bad and of good quality, like all things Japanese.
We lugged all the things we'd purchased, and headed to Namba Station to store them in the locker.
Because the hubs has patiently waited for me to shop at Doguyasuji, I had to agree to go to Shinsekai 新世界; one of the poorest area in Japan, it has a unique character and tackiness that is not found in other parts of Japan. The moment we got out of the train, it's as though we'd been transported back in time to a notorious and dangerous part of Japan.
People were sloppily dressed (Zara said every one looked like a gangster), some looked dirty and zombie like as though they had not taken a bath or rested for quite some time. Shinsekai is famous for cheap eats as well; we saw lots of small restaurants lining the streets, and they were mainly 'standing bars' or in Japanese 立吞, where the Kanji characters translated to 'stand and swallow' (I understand it's now also a popular restaurant concept in Taiwan).
There were a couple of adult movie theatres that we came across with their bold posters, the girls squealed every time they came across one, "Eeeyer!!!! Humsup!!" "Eeeyer, she's showing her boobs!" "Eeeeyer, they look like they are mating!" o.O"
I had to ask the hubs walk ahead of us to ensure the 'coast' was clear before we followed him.
There are a lot of Pachinko Parlour in Shinsekai too; hubs went into one of them to have a look.
If the restaurant signboards in Dotonburi is tacky (but acceptable), the ones in Shinsekai brought it to another level. Most of the restaurants have the Shinsekai Mascot Billiken that's supposed to bring luck. Luck or not, it looked hideous.
We didn't have dinner there, because the girls were uncomfortable with the people they saw there. So if we were not after the cheap food, why were we there? This was all because the hubs wanted to photograph the vibrant colours of Shinsekai (no doubt it's colourful) and the Shinshekai Tsūtenkaku 通天閣, which means "Tower Reaching Heaven".
We were there late afternoon till night time, so the hubs could take the tower under natural light, and also when it's litted.
So he took photos of the tower from different angles, of the tower itself, and also from the busy street.
He spent so much time there, the girls and I got really bored since there were no shops interesting enough for us to spend time in; and we had tackiness overdosed!
Finally when it was time to go, we were so happy! It was back to Dotonbori 道頓堀 and Shinsaibashi 心斎橋 for more shopping.
While we were walking around looking for restaurant to have a quick meal, a group of men were standing outside a small eatery chatting loudly. They started chatting with us too, i.e. where we were from, if we were enjoying ourselves etc. We asked what they were waiting for, and one of the guy mentioned onigiri. He told us the eatery sold really good onigiri, and we should try it. And so we did! It was one of the best onigiri we had tasted, they were made on the spot, it was so good we went for seconds. For the record, the name of the eatery is めはり屋文在ェ門 (pronounced as Mehari-ya Bun-zaemon).
After our light meal, we did all the girls' shopping at GU, sister company of Uniqlo, where things were much cheaper. The girls bought 4 pairs of shoes from there, 3 were UGG like boots which were going for ￥500.
Then we came across Laduree at Daimaru, so we had to had some (moreover, a mochi costs the same amount as a Laduree macaron, i.e. ￥300, in Japan). We took 2 each, as we absolutely love (good) macarons. Choosing which piece of heaven we wanted to taste was tough though.
Finally, a little more of Osaka by night, and it was time to go.
The following day, after breakfast, it was time to leave for the airport. It's been a good trip, and we can't wait to return again.
[...] Part 10 : Day 11 – Osaka Castle 大阪城 Dotonbori 道頓堀 Shinsaibashi 心斎橋 Part 11 : Day 12 – Osaka Doguyasuji 千日前道具屋筋商店街 and Shinsekai 新世界 Useful links : Japan Guide – I refer to this a lot when planning the trip Kyoto Tourist Guide [...]
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