Assalamualaikum, Konnichiwa and Hi!
So, how was the 1st part? I hope it helps. And again I want to tell, especially if there's any new reader, that I'm just sharing some tips and info regarding Japan. I'm not an expert but I'm just trying to help especially for the 1st timer and at the same time I'm carving my memories in my blog.
I have to tell you that we went to Japan in spring, so most of the places that we went were meant for us to enjoy the spring as much as we can especially the sakura bloom. So if you're going in other season, you may take some tips here but arrange it according to suitable places for you to enjoy that season.
And as usual, if you're only interested in the cost and useful info, just skip to the end of this entry. Every entry will be ended with cost summary and some useful information.
Now, let's continue!!
We woke up a little bit late on our 2nd day, thanks to the Japanese mattress or futon that was sooooooo comfortable, even after Subuh we decided to sleep back because the futon was so tempting.
These are examples (from Google Image)
left: ready to sleep! right: wake up and fold hehe
We checked out around 9.30 am, one hour late from the scheduled time, but hey, we're on our own so a little bit late here and there doesn't really matters haha.
The Hostel owner was very kind to let us leave our bags in the hostel until end of the day, so that it would be easier for us to walk around and enjoy the sightseeings. She even gave us tips and directions for our next locations. We even showed her our timetable and she was soooooo surprised on how accurate the table was. Credits to my sis for her hardwork!!
Above: pic with the Hostel owner
below: Pic of us 3 at the balcony, ready to go out!!
1st location for our 2nd day was Osaka Castle and Nishinomaru Garden. Ok, remember the Amazing Pass? We knew that we could get free admission by using the pass, but what we didn't know was, we did not need to queue with the others who did not have the pass. There was a staff who held a board with some pictures of many types of pass but all instructions were in japanese. He kept pointing at the board when he was beside us and all that we can think of was maybe he's trying to tell us that we can use the pass for free admission, so we just nod our heads, where he was actually trying to tell us that we need not to queue and just go to the counter and scan the pass hahahahha...but we just knew about it when we almost reached the counter hohoho...so tips here (Osaka castle only), if you have the Amazing pass, no need to queue, just go to the Pass counter and they will scan your pass and you may save some 10-15 minutes of time haha.
Yeah, we were excited when this view was sighted. Sakura tree with full bloom flowers, and fresh air, very fresh air. As you can see from the picture, the day seem like a little bit dark, and wind was quite strong sometimes. But we pray hard that there will be no rain.
Pictures along the way to the castle
You can choose to take the elevator or the stairs, and as we did not want to wait long for the elevators, so we took the stairs (plus all us 3 are young ahaks!). It has 8 stories, so be ready to climb the stairs. It is advisable to start from the 8th floor, then going down floor by floor.
Top floor will be the observatory place where you can see beautiful views surrounding the castle. And going down you will see museum exhibitions. The exhibits were quite interesting. Some also use hologram to reenact the history events happened there. It was very interesting and interactive, even for me who is not really into history subject.
Some of the views. The blue things that you can see in the pic were plastic cover for hanami (flower viewing)
The holograms. What amazed me more was how good it was maintained for years.
Some more exhibits
As you can see, though the day started with a little bit dark cloud, but it turned out it was only for a while. The weather for the day was amazing and beautiful. Alhamdulillah
Again, funny story. We used our monopod to take some pictures and it surprised us on how much people amazed with our monopod. You can hear applause, given two thumbs up and cheering, even some 'ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh'. And it's not only the Japaneses, but also some foreigners from other countries. Is it only Malaysians use monopod???
One of our picture taken with monopod and gathered many crowds cheering and thumbing up hoho
Tips: if you come on spring, maybe you can prepare a mat and some food so you and friends/families can enjoy the hanami that is 'flower viewing'. You can google the term and see the images. I love to see how happy people are, socializing with families and friends while enjoying the sakura under the tree.
We were a little behind of our schedule, much behind actually *LOL*, but we enjoyed every moment that passed, so nothing really matters hehe. After fully satisfied with the time spent in Nishinomaru garden, we departed to the Museum of Housing and Living. The ultimate reason why we chose this museum to be included in our trip was, we want to try the kimono and strolling around in them and this place offer you that service with very affordable price. The admission fee is 600 yen, but free for those with amazing pass, but for the kimono, you will have to pay 200 yen (you can enjoy wearing the kimono for 30 minutes).
When we got there, there were not so many people. I think maybe because it's not a large attraction, still, for us, it's worth our time there. Love it so much! You can stroll in the streets that was re-creation of the Edo period. You will also experience a fast day-to-night experience, including some rain and thunders (with no 4d water) while strolling in your kimono there hehe. We were actually too excited to notice the changes between day and night, and just thinking about it again after we went out from that place. Silly of us! haha.
While waiting for our turn to wear the kimono, selfie kaki! haha
you can choose your bag and slippers to match your kimono (and to put small things in there like phone)
An uncle was sooooo kind to offer his help taking pictures for three of us, but after 5th trial, the best that he could get is this picture below
still, thanx kind uncle!!!
Then after 30 minutes of strolling, and playing (you can find some traditional japanese toys like kendama), we returned our kimono (sadly) and proceed to the exhibitions.
You can learn the differences of 'Old Osaka' and 'New Osaka' through the interesting exhibitions. Some are interactive even attract the adults to learn.
As we need to catch our overnight bus to Kofu (for Mount Fuji) in Namba OCAT, so we depart to our Hostel to fetch our bags and hurriedly go to Namba OCAT.
While waiting for the bus, we went for shopping including some food and water as the station located in a shopping Mall. From Namba OCAT, Willer express provided a shuttle bus to bring us to the Umeda building, and wait for the overnight bas to depart to Kofu.
We did not cover all attractions in Osaka because our plan was to travel from regions to regions in 10 days. Maybe in Japan 2.0, more time will be spent in Osaka. InsyaAllah.
Other attractions that we did not go, but recommended to you in Osaka
1. Umeda sky building - It has floating garden and you can enjoy sunset with beautiful view from there
2. Universal Studio Japan - we cancelled this place few days before we depart for Japan because there were some reviews regarding restrictions on people with hijab to ride the roller coaster. Even if that's not the issue, we also thought that one day will not be enough for USJ, so we will put it in our Japan 2.0 schedule. Plus, Harry Potter rides will be opened this July. Yatta!!
3. Osaka Banpaku Park : refer HERE
Updated on 26.6.2014
4. Osaka Aquarium : info refer HERE. We passed this Kaiyukan becasue we planned to go to Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium
3. Osaka Banpaku Park : refer HERE
Updated on 26.6.2014
4. Osaka Aquarium : info refer HERE. We passed this Kaiyukan becasue we planned to go to Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium
Tips again: We recommend you to search for halal Japanese food in Osaka because it's easier to find it in Osaka and Tokyo than other regions. We forgot to search one because we were too busy enjoying the sceneries and only felt hungry once we're in Namba OCAT, so we just bought our food in the convenience store.
Another Tips: Whenever you want to go to places using subways or trains, one thing that you need to alert is which exit that you should take after you arrived at the station. Take your time to read the sign after you are out of the train (don't forget to not disturbing people's path, go to the empty space and read the signboard). And if you want to confirm, before you go and scan your pass, ask the staff 1st whether it's the right exit or not. Every place is easier to find if you take the right exit.
Cost Summary for the day:
Subway and train for transportations to all the places: all included in the amazing pass, so yeah, FREE!
Osaka Castle admission : should be 600 yen but free with Amazing pass..again!
Nishinomaru garden : should be 200 yen but again, free!!
Museum of Housing and living: 600 yen, but free for Amazing pass holder.
Kimono for 30 minutes : 200 yen
Overnight bus from Osaka (Namba OCAT) to Kofu : 6000 yen per/person (we could get cheaper but because I was late a little in term of booking, only seats at this price were left. But it was way cheaper than other mode of transportation)
Food and beverage from convenience store : less than 1000 yen per pax
Total for Day 2nd: ~ 7200 yen (Kimono + Bus + food)
Total up to 2 days cost: 17, 240 yen
Japan Part 1 HERE
As usual, souvenirs were not included in the cost here. Questions are very much welcomed.
Some useful links here..
Osaka castle : http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4000.html
Osaka Museum of Housing and Living: http://www.city.osaka.lg.jp/contents/wdu020/toshiseibi/english/museum.html
Osaka Amazing Pass: http://www.osaka-info.jp/osp/en/index.html
Our favourite picture with the monopod (got some oooooohhhhh from a group of Japanese girls)
See you again in Part 3. xoxo ^_^
“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.”
~Pat Conroy~
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