Senin, 07 Maret 2016

JAPAN TRIP: DAY 13 & 14 Osaka Shopping Heaven - Shinsaibashi Suji & Dotonbori


I spent the last two days of my Japan trip around Namba area, to be more specific, Shinsaibashi Shopping Street and Dotonbori. If you are a shopaholic, you would go crazy for this spot. Those lines of stores and restaurants will make you go back and forth along the road and alleys. You will also meet hundreds of neon lights and mechanized signs of restaurants those will attract your eyes.
We left Kyoto not so early in the morning by train, and within less than an hour ride, we arrived at Shinsaibashi Station - Osaka. There many train routes options to reach Osaka from Kyoto that vary in prices, from less than JPY 1000, until more than JPY 3000. Just pick the most convenience one for your budget. At our first day back at Osaka, we stayed at Villa Fontaine Hotel. Why did I stay at two different hotels in two days? Because I already booked this hotel when I got notice from the airlines that our flight schedule was changed that we had to spend another night in Osaka, and guess what? The hotel was fully booked for the next day.

Since it wasn't check-in time yet, we put our luggage at the receptionist and so we started to explore the area. A straight walk from Shinsaibashi-Suji will lead you to Dotonbori. There were so many tourists here, I saw many groups of Chinese tourists spending their time at those shops.


If you are a fan of Uniqlo, you should prepare your money and shop like crazy here since the prices are much cheaper. Cheaper and more variety! Another shop that I visited several times was ABC Mart - a Japanese footwear store that sell branded sneakers. You could find a pair of laced Converse sneakers in polkadot those you won't find elsewhere. I think there are three ABC Marts along the road.







Other than shopping, our goal that day was to try the JPY 100 sushi go round restaurant. By the help of Google Maps and quite plenty of walking, we found this restaurant called Isono Ryoutarou (map attached at the bottom of the post).


Here, we sat in front of the sushi belt, and we could also see the sushi prices in front of us. They also provide hot water tap on each seat, so you just have to put the ocha powder that was also provided to have a glass of hot ocha for free.




The sushi on the black & white plates are JPY 105 (100 + tax). There were quite plenty of sushi that were priced at that number. I think a JPY 100 sushi go round restaurant is something you should experience when you visit Japan.






Don't forget to take a mandatory photo with the Glico Man sign when you stop at Dotonbori.


My other goal that day was to try Pablo cheesecake! We found the shop that located around Dotonbori (map attached). 



I tried their Fresh-baked Cheese Tart (JPY 800) and instantly fell in love with it.


The cheesecake was so soft and light, and the pastry tart was crunchy and nice. You could just finished the whole tart by yourself. A must try! Oh how I miss you cheesecake :(


You could also find Pablo's other products (biscuits etc) at the souvenir shops also at the airport.

The next day, we still wandered around this area but too bad it was raining the whole day. 


Our first destination at our last day was Don Quijote! Don Quijote is a discount chain store that you could easily find all around Japan. We visited the one at Dotonbori (map attached) and shopped some snacks. You could find those common souvenir snacks here - Green Tea Kitkat, Green Tea Pocky, and others.



And since it was raining, we went to the underground shopping area and had lunch there. We decied to have lunch at Omurice-Tei.


This restaurant served you variant of Omu-rice (omelet rice).



This lunch set costed me JPY 880. It tasted pretty decent.


We spent the rest of the day hopping from one store to another. I visited Tokyu Hands, a one-stop shop that sells many unique products, from stationery to living ware. If you love Japanese products, you shoul really visit Tokyu Hands. Too bad I got so busy wandering around the building and forgot to take pictures.

But the kind of store that I visited regularly back at my trip to Japan was konbini. Here's why, they sell varieties of food and drink that you won't get bored of. And they tasted more that good also!

varieties of coffee
varieties of packed food
varieties of onigiri

varieties of dessert


As I continued wandering around on that rainy evening, I thought to myself, I'll definitely miss this country and I should prepare more money on my next trip here. 





Another konbini food to close the day!


And finally brothers and sisters, I've wrapped up these Japan Trip series! If you have any question, just put one down on the comment section or send me an e-mail. Meanwhile I should do some packing right now, I'll be flying for another trip tomorrow. Follow @niyaoke at instagram to check the updates. See you!











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JAPAN TRIP SERIES 2019
Furano-Biei Day Trip: Farm Tomita, Shikisai No Oka, Blue Pond
Sapporo: The Food Journal
Sapporo: The Vibrant City of Hokkaido (And Where to Stay)
Falling in Love with Yokohama's Charm
Starbucks Reserve® Roastery Tokyo
Reasons to Stay Around Asakusa (or not)
My Third Japan Trip - The Intro

JAPAN TRIP SERIES 2017
Konnichiwa! I'm back!
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Preparation and Cost
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Back to Dotonbori
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Fall Foliage at Minoo Park and Quick Visit to Kuromon Market
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Autumn in Kyoto
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: A Day In Takayama
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: November Snow at Shirakawa-Go

JAPAN TRIP SERIES 2015
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Kamis, 03 Maret 2016

JAPAN TRIP: DAY 12 Fushimi Inari Taisha & Ichiran Ramen (Kyoto)



It was Sunday and we woke up a little bit late. Our first destination that day was Fushimi Inari-Taisha (Shrine), you might have seen the pictures of this place a lot. A place with rows of orange torii gates. From our guesthouse we walked to Kiyomizu-Gojo Station for a train ride straight to Fushimi-Inari Station.
Before entering the station, we had breakfast at Subway nearby the station. 



4 stops after Kiyomizu-Gojo Station, we arrived at the Fushimi-Inari Station. The ride costed us JPY 210 each.


From the station, we had to walk around 5 minutes to the shrine. The area was quite packed on Sunday noon.




Like other tourist spots, you would find many stalls and shops before the shrine. Food, souvenirs, you name it.




The entrance was for free. Fushimi Inari Taisha is the head shrine of Inari - the Shinto god of rice.






Foxes statues could be found around the shrine, as foxes are regarded as the Inari's messengers.



At the back of the shrine, you may find Senbon Torii - thousand of torii gates. Each gates are donations from individuals and companies, as the donator's names and donation dates are engraved on the gates. The cost of each gate are different depending on the size of the gate. For us tourists, these gates are the mandatory photo spot. If you happen to visit Fushimi Inari Taisha on Sunday and planning to have a photo session here, just come earlier. It was hard to take a good picture at noon since people passed by all the time due to the large crowd.






Smaller shrines can be seen at the back of these torii gates.





If you want to, you can hike to the mountain summit to enjoy a great view of Kyoto. But we were too lazy to hike and just walked down.




Taking dogs to the shrine on a stroller? I think after I saw a goat dressed in kimono, this view was just something common in Japan.


I really love Kyoto environment. Even an effortless photo turned out to be like the photo below. No editing, no filter, the color tone was just as nice as it is already.


As we walked to the station, we found this tofu-gelato stall that caught our eyes. My friend bought one and I just tried a little since I was having a cold symptom that day. The tofu on the top of gelato was soft and delicious. If you are weak for ice cream, Japan is a dangerous place, for ice creams are everywhere!




And I wonder, why did students wear their uniform on Sunday?


Since it was passing lunch time, we headed to our next destination, Ichiran Ramen! I think it is one of the most well-known ramen chain in Japan. We stopped by at the branch nearby Nishiki market (map at the bottom of the post). We had to queue for the ramen.


As we reached the entrance, we were given these papers to choose our reference regarding the ramen we ordered.



We had to purchase our ramen through the machine below. Just click which ramen you want to choose, and what additional condiments do you want, then insert the money into the machine.


Then the machine will print tickets like below, I picked Tonkotsu Ramen - JPY 790 and tamago (egg) - JPY 120.


After we had our tickets, we still had to queue for seats.


From the panel on the wall, we could see which seat is occupied or not.


Finally I got my seat. Each of us got a private booth. I handled my tickets and preference paper through the window in front of me.



First, my tamago was served, unpeeled!


And finally, this bowl of ramen arrived. The tonkotsu ramen with thin noodle, sliced pork, green onion, and Ichiran's original red sauce. It was said that this red sauce recipe is only known by 3 of their experts, therefore only those three could produce this red sauce and regularly supply it to all of their branches, including the overseas branches. And one more thing, Ichiran claimed their tonkotsu ramen trans-fat free! Should I feel healthier after slurping down the whole bowl?


The thin

It was delicious! And since I knew that the most expensive part of ramen is the broth, I always finish it to the last drop.


After our lunch at Ichiran, we walked around the area, visit some shops and headed to Kyoto International Church for Sunday service. I had this bowl of Unagi-Don at Yoshinoya after church, and headed back to our guesthouse after dinner.


One more post to go and I'm wrapping this Japan trip series up. Also, another trip is coming up soon! Hint: somewhere I've been before. Oh I'm so excited already!







-------
JAPAN TRIP SERIES 2019
Furano-Biei Day Trip: Farm Tomita, Shikisai No Oka, Blue Pond
Sapporo: The Food Journal
Sapporo: The Vibrant City of Hokkaido (And Where to Stay)
Falling in Love with Yokohama's Charm
Starbucks Reserve® Roastery Tokyo
Reasons to Stay Around Asakusa (or not)
My Third Japan Trip - The Intro

JAPAN TRIP SERIES 2017
Konnichiwa! I'm back!
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Preparation and Cost
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Back to Dotonbori
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Fall Foliage at Minoo Park and Quick Visit to Kuromon Market
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Autumn in Kyoto
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: A Day In Takayama
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: November Snow at Shirakawa-Go

JAPAN TRIP SERIES 2015
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