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Thursday, April 30, 2015

PURIKURA IN KANSAI!

This is one of the things I love about Japan! PURIKURA! Or known as neoprints in Singapore (a dying business here..) Purikura is still a popular activity in Japan! Especially during weekends, the store will be full of local Japanese girls! Basically, Purikura is a photo booth where you take pictures in. After taking the photos, you can decorate and design them! Different types of booths give you different designs and effects to decorate your photos with! The Purikura booths also give you flawless & smooth skin, pretty hair and big eyes! 

It costs 400 yen for each photo session and you get 2 pieces of photo! So if you are taking purikura in pairs, you each get a piece of the Purikura photo! Also, in Japan, you can rent costumes and take purikura in the costumes! Purikura booths are all around Japan and in games arcades like SEGA, Adores game centre and Taito Station.
Kawaii costume rentals!

We visited SEGA arcade in HEP FIVE for our Purikura! It is located on the 9th level of HEP FIVE. The costume rental is charged there. One set of costume costs 100 yen or you can purchase a passport for unlimited costume rental for a day at 500 yen! The passport also comes with some accessories for you to rent, such as rabbit ears hair band and chocolate bar poster, for you to wear/hold when taking your Purikura! Normal flats can also be rented and it costs 100 yen for a day. 

Well... Enough of my talking! See the pictures for yourself! 
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First Purikura!
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Red and White Queen!
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Kawaii School Girls!
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We are sexy and we know it! >.<
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Shrine Maidens!
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Welcome to our Maid Cafe! 
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Occupation Cosplay, police & sailor!
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Characters' Cosplay! Can you guess which character?
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HARRY POTTER!!
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We also took Purikura when we were in Kobe! This store is located near Steakland. When you come out of Steakland, it is located towards the left hand side across the road! 
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We didn't plan on taking Purikura in Kyoto, but we wanted to take a photo with us in our rented kimono! So we googled around and headed towards MOVIX京都, Japan, 〒604, 8035 京都府京都市中京区桜之町, 中京区新京極通三条下る桜之町400. Before we reached there, we found our purikura booths! I think it was along Teramachi Street! 
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Purikura in Kimono!

Definitely going to take lots and lots of Purikura when I visit Japan again! :D 

Monday, April 27, 2015

DAY 1 IN OSAKA: Kansai Airport & Osaka

My first day in Japan! So this is my itinerary for Day 1!

Day 1:
• Reached Kansai airport at 7.20am.
• Breakfast @ airport
• Head to Craive New York @ Shinsaibashi to do hair
• Head to Osaka's apartment for check-in
• Dinner and shop around Osaka/Umeda station


You can read my review of my flight on Vietnam Airline >>here<<
Below are pictures of the food we had on the flight to Japan.
Pork with rice

Omelette

Once we are done from the immigration in Japan, we went to purchase ICOCA card (2,000 yen) and 1day Kansai Area Pass (2,060 yen) at JR ticket office as well as Kanku Chikatoku Ticket (1,000 yen) at Nankai Ticket Office at Airport 2F.
I highly recommend you research on the transportation route and passes you wish to utilise before heading to Japan as the transportation can be complicated and expensive! I used hyperdia to plan my route!
Nankai Ticket Office is just beside JR office; in front of their ticket gate. You may refer here.

My ICOCA card!

ICOCA card works the same way as our ezlink and this card can also be used for most transportation route in whole of Japan. The 1day Kansai Area Pass is to be used when we travel to Himeji. It is more worthwhile to get the Kansai pass as it is quite pricey to get there from Osaka. You can buy in at any JR office on the day you want to use it, but for me, I bought it in advance since I already planned the date we will be going Himeji. Kanku Chikatoku Ticket saves us 100 yen from the Airport to Shinsaibashi.

After that, we had a quick breakfast in the airport before heading to Craive New York. Sorry! Forgot the shop name, but it is located at Kansai Airport Terminal 1 Level 2. They were serving breakfast menu when we were there!
Omelette Toast with salad and yogurt (I never realised Japanese liked yogurt!)

Then off we go to take the Nankai train to Craive New York! We had to transfer to subway Midosuji line at Namba. My review of Craive New York >>here<<

With our pretty hairs, we traveled to Fukushima station to check-in our Osaka apartment booked through Airbnb.  The room was not ready when we reached there; our host was still cleaning the apartment. She was very cute; she didn't let us see the apartment at all. She told us that we can leave our luggage first and gave us the portable wifi and told us to come back later.

We went to have a late lunch instead at Negiyaki Yamamoto, outlet in Fukushima (ねぎ焼やまもと福島ほたるまち店). Detailed review and directions >>here<<
Store front


Yaki-soba!

Cute!

Beef Negiyaki!

Negikayi is basically a variation of okonomiyaki, where green leeks(negi) replaces the cabbage. We ordered and shared one yaki-soba and one beef negiyaki! The chef cooks it first before placing them to the hotplate in front of us, so the food taste warm throughout. The yaki-soba tastes fantastic, albeit a bit salty. As for the beef negiyaki, it doesn't really suit my taste but my friend likes it. The negikayi is a bit mushy inside but the flavour is good. I prefer okonomiyaki! We saw a Japanese lady eating and finishing one negiyaki by herself and we were impressed! We didn't managed to finished ours even though we shared half each! Also, I personally feel that I get sick of the taste and texture rather quickly; I would not have been able to finish one myself!

We saw a mart selling a variety of stuffs after our meal and we went in! Bought some jelly, custards and ice cream! :D We ate ice cream while walking back to our apartment! Who cares if it is 10plus degrees outside! ;P
The soda ice cream was surprising nice! MUST-TRY! 
The watermelon ice cream taste quite normal; full of chocolate bits; but it looks cool! 

We finally checked-in our apartment!  My review of my stay in Japan >>here<<






At night, we cycled to Osaka station to walk around. Osaka station is so big and complicated, we tend to get a bit lost there >.< We went to the Pokémon centre (lvl 13) at Daimaru. It has a variety of Pokémon items there! Dolls, stationary, key chains, etc. I didn't find anything that interest me to buy though.. or maybe I'm just too tired.. We did take a midnight flight to Japan! 
We also visited Uniqo at that same floor. Uniqlo items are cheaper in Japan than Singapore. I bought some skirts and Heattech clothings! Somehow, the Heattech products seem low in stock.. You can miss out seeing them completely if you weren't actively looking like me! Just a rack here and a section there.. Are they all sold out? 
The rest of the shops in Daimaru isn't very affordable, so we mostly walked around before cycling back to our apartment.

We bought onigiri from 7 eleven downstairs and ate them for dinner. We had our custards and jelly as well!
Onigiri

I think this is some caramel custard?

Strawberry custard, if I remember


Mixed fruits jelly and grape jelly

And... that's the end of Day 1! 

12D11N Japan Food Reviews (Osaka)!

A post on all the food reviews for the cafes and restaurants we been to in Osaka! 
P.S. I don't think I am a very good food reviewer but the directions to get there will surely help you!

Negiyaki Yamamoto @ Fukushima  (ねぎ焼やまもと福島ほたるまち店)
*English menu available*
Negikayi is basically a variation of okonomiyaki, where green leeks(negi) replaces the cabbage. Their main outlet is near Juso station. They have outlets at Umeda and Shin-osaka as well.
Store front


Yaki-soba


Beef negiyaki

Review: 
Food: Yaki-soba was great! The negiyaki's flavour is good but I don't really like the mushy texture; might be just me though! 

Service: The staffs were very friendly, We forgot to take our umbrellas when we left the store and a few steps later, we remembered and were walking back to the store. We saw that the staff had saw our umbrellas and was running out to find us! We quickly walked to him and thanked him! I don't think you often see this in Singapore.

Price: Their new website shows the menu and price! The link to Fukushima's branch menu and price is >>here<< It is reasonable priced!

Recommended?
YES! I would still recommend you to try it! 

Address: You can paste this ねぎ焼やまもと福島ほたるまち店 to google maps. OR the exact address is Japan, 〒553-0003 Osaka Prefecture, Osaka, Fukushima Ward, Fukushima, 1 Chome−1−51 堂島クロスウォーク

Opening hours: 11.30am to 10pm daily

Endo Sushi (中央市場 ゑんどう寿司)
*English menu available*
Fresh and tasty sushi!
Store front



English menu

Plate 1

Plate 3

Plate 4

Review: 
Food: The sushi are all very fresh and yummy! You can request for no wasabi in your sushi if you don't eat wasabi like me! The wasabi amount put is not a lot though! I shared Plate 3 with my friend and the sushi has wasabi inside, but I was able to accept the taste! The miso soup is one of the best I have tasted in Japan! (where's my photo of the miso soup?? >.<) The soup is filled with clams and seaweed and it doesn't taste too salty! Very flavourful!

Service: It's a small shop but the service was quite fast! The queue moves quite quickly as well.

Recommended?
YES! YES! YES!

Address: Endo Sushi, Japan, 〒553-0005 Ōsaka-fu, Ōsaka-shi, 福島区野田1丁目1−86. You can also visit their website for more details.

Opening hours: 5am to 2pm

Kani Doraku Honten 
*English menu available*
Famous crab restaurant with branches in other locations! Affordable lunch sets!


Crab meat!!

Chawamushi!




Sweets!


Matcha Ice cream!

Review: 
Food: Can't remember the name of the set we ordered and shared, but it was a satisfying amount for both of us even though we shared 1 set. It was a unique experience as the set consists of food we never ate before. We relied on the staff to teach us how to eat the food ;P Everything was tasty except for the pasta (see picture with cream sauce above). We ate cooked crab and raw crab and they were both very fresh and amazing! 

Service: They limit the number of guests that enter and eat in the restaurant to ensure good service. Even though we waited for 2 hours, when we were seated, the place was not packed and noisy. The service staff were kind enough to tell us how we are supposed to eat the meal. And it is mostly shown through gestures and a few simple English!

Price: Don't really remember the price but their lunch sets are acceptably priced for their quality and quantity.

Recommended?
YES! Try their lunch menu!

Address: Kani Doraku 蟹道樂, Japan, 〒542-0071 Osaka Prefecture, Osaka, 中央区道頓堀1−6−18

Opening hours: 11am to 10pm; but you should to go there earlier to ensure you are able to get a seat

551 Horai @ Namba station
Known for their steamed buns!


Review: 
Food: The bun is ok. Meat filling is a tad salty for me. I don't really think it is very special and sometimes the queue get quite long.

Recommended?
If the queue is not long, you can try. Otherwise, don't spend your time queuing!

Address: 3 Chome-6-3 Nanba, Chūō-ku, Ōsaka-shi, Ōsaka-fu 542-0076, Japan

Kougaryu (甲賀流)
It sells takoyaki. From wikipedia, takoyaki is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a special takoyaki pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus.
Store front

Original flavour!

Black pepper flavour~


Review: 
Food: Light and hot, you don't get sick of eating it! It doesn't taste thick and 'flour-y'. We tried both the original flavour and black pepper one, and they were both GOOD! 

Service: The queue was not long when we were there and it was served to us quickly!

Recommended?
YES! It's our favourite takoyaki store among those we tried!

Address: 2 Chome-18-4 Nishishinsaibashi, Chūō-ku, Ōsaka-shi, Ōsaka-fu 542-0086, Japan

Opening hours: 11am to 8pm daily

Pound House Osaka
Desserts anyone?


Review: 
Food: Sorry! Can't remember the names of the cakes we had already! The strawberry one is quite normal but the cake on the left side is not bad! Need to buy one cake each! 

Recommended?
If you are looking for some cakes and a place to chill, why not?

Address: パウンドハウス, 1 Chome-18-17 Higashishinsaibashi, Chuo Ward, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, 542-0083, Japan

Itamae Yakiniku Itto (板前焼肉一斗東心斎橋店)
*Chinese menu available*
They served grilled meat!
 Store front

Grill meat and orange juice!

Grilling meat!

Review: 
Food: Meat were very nice and tender. The sauces add more flavour to the grilled meat. 

Notes: You need to take off your shoes before entering the seating area. Seats are elevated so you can place your legs down (not traditional Japanese seating). This restaurant is not too smoky for a Yakiniku restaurant. However, other patrons can smoke inside. I didn't smell their cigarette smoke though. 

Recommended?
Yes! After all, you should try at least one yakiniku place in Japan!

Address: 板前焼肉一斗東心斎橋店, 1 Chome-7-20 Higashishinsaibashi, Chuo Ward, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, 542-0083, Japan

Opening hours: 5pm to 1am daily

牛角福島浄正橋店 (no idea what it is called >.<)
*I don't think they have English menu*
They served grilled meat!
Store front


Meat!!

Salad


Review: 
Food: The salad is nice! I don't really eat raw cucumbers, but after coming to Japan, I started to eat them! We ordered a set that comes with a few types of meat parts. If I didn't remember wrongly, I do not like the chicken only.

Service: Limited English here, we ordered using pictures in the menu.The downside of this restaurant is that the ventilation is quite poor; it is very smokey in the restaurant.

Recommended?
Sure, if you don't mind the smoke, the food is nice!

Address: 〒553-0003 Ōsaka-fu, Ōsaka-shi, Fukushima-ku, Fukushima, 5 Chome−9−11, 牛角福島浄正橋店


Opening hours: 5pm to 11.30pm daily

Ramen shop @ Fukushima (sorry, can't find the name! Refer to picture below!)
*English menu available*
Ramen & Gyoza!
Signboard

Store front

Interior


Ramen

Gyoza

More ramen!

Kaarage

Additional tamago!


Review: 
Food: Delicious ramen & gyoza! The ramen soup is flavourful and tasty, the egg is cooked to perfection, the pork slices were tender, flavourful & literally melts in your mouth! The gyoza skin is thin and crispy, filling was tasty and hot!
However, when we went on our last day to this shop, the gyoza was not hot enough! Hopefully, that's just a once-off carelessness of the cook!
On another note, this is a small shop. There weren't any queue or crowd when we went there. So it's a nice and peaceful place with good ramen!

Recommended?
YES!!

Address: I don't have the exact address, but this shop is beside 太陽のトマト麺. So I shall put the address for that 太陽のトマト麺, 5 Chome-13-18 Fukushima, Fukushima Ward, Osaka, Osaka, Prefecture 553-0003, Japan

Kushikatsu-janjan (串かつじゃんじゃん 新世界本店)
*English menu available*
Fried skewered food!
Store front


Melon soda


Fried kushikatsu set

Fried ice cream

Fried strawberry and pudding

Review: 
Food: The beef in the first picture was a bit salty, as with some of the food we ate in Japan. The set is a good thing to order if you want to try more variety of kushikatsu. It taste good! Hot food on a cold day! When we saw the fried desserts on the menu, we wanted to try all of them! :P But limited space in the stomach.. so we each had a fried ice cream; hot and crispy on the outside, cold and sweet inside, and another fried dessert each. I had the strawberry which was coated with condensed milk or something. The pudding one was good too!

Recommended?
Yes! Remember to try the fried desserts!! :D

Address: 串かつじゃんじゃん 新世界本店, 2 Chome-4-16 Ebisuhigashi, Naniwa Ward, Osaka,, Osaka Prefecture 556-0002, Japan

Opening hours: 11am to 10.30pm daily

春駒
*English menu available*
Sushi!
Store front






Review: 
Food: The sushi are all fresh, as with all the sushi we had in Japan. The roe one was not bad! I prefer the salmon sushi I had at Endo Sushi. Unagi is good!

Recommended?
If you are in the vicinity and the queue is not too long

Address: 春駒, Japan, 〒530-0041 Osaka Prefecture, Osaka, 北区天神橋5丁目5-2

Opening hours: 11am to 10pm daily

Brooklyn Parlor
*English menu available*
Cafe! 
Store front

Down the stairs~

Entrance to store!

Big seating area


If I didn't rmb wrongly, it's some apple pie..

Coffee

Teriyaki burger with fires and salad!


Review: 
Food: The apple pie was good! The sweetness is just right! The burger was quite a big portion; we were lucky we decided to share, otherwise we can't finish one each :/ It was nice~

Recommended?
Good place to relax and the coffee and food are good too!


Address: ブルックリンパーラーオオサカ, Japan, 〒542-0086 Osaka Prefecture, Osaka, 中央区西心斎橋2丁目2-3

Opening hours: 11.30am to 11pm