Osaka Day 6 and 7

Woke up early again. The body clock is very zun. 

Ate pablo mini cheesetart for breakfast, bought yesterday night by the sister in-law. Waited until 6 am for the gym to open so I can jog on the treadmill to lose the 3 kg. 

Check out the Family Mart socks. Given to me by my colleague last year. 

After the 6 km jog, went for a soak at the onsen. 

Today we are checking out from Osaka Hinode Hotel. 

Let me give a review of the hotel.

Good: 

- Very near mrt station exit

- Near to the major tourist attractions

- Good breakfast spread

- Onsen 

- Free massage chairs

- Gym

- Complimentary ramen at 9 pm, and good queue management by the staff

- Complimentary drinks and ice cream at the lobby from 330 pm onwards (alcoholic beverages is 330 pm until 830 pm)

- New towels and toiletries placed nicely in a paper bag hanging outside the hotel room. Kudos to the housekeeping staff.

- Front desk staff can speak English

- 24 hour Family Mart is just opposite the hotel

AFI: 

- The lobby was very crowded and rowdy at night. Many of them had alcoholic beverages on the table. I fear for my safety sitting among them. 

- Room is a bit small, but rooms in Japan are typically like this, so is ok. 

To summarise, I do enjoy the stay at Osaka Hotel Hinode. Is a pity that I did not go to the top floor to explore the garden and enjoy the Osaka city scenery. 

Our next destination is our final airbnb of the trip. I chose this airbnb because is near the airport, as our flight is early in the morning at 10 am the next day, so we need to reach the airport at 8 am. 

This is Yuan Ze and Yuan Yi's favourite room. Because can watch Youtube and got massage chair. 

The airbnb is a traditional Japan house, with a very nice garden. The moment I saw this on the airbnb website, I know I must book this and stay here. 

The airbnb owner is very hospitable, and is already waiting at the airbnb for us. He gave us a very comprehensive room tour, and also prepared welcome gifts for us. Very impressed by his hospitality. 

Lunch was at an okonomiyaki restaurant, recommended by the airbnb owner. A very small eatery, that can only seat about 20 people. You know this place is definitely for the locals and not touristy. OMG what a good recommendation. All of us enjoyed the food. Yuan Ze and Yuan Yi enjoyed using the metal plate to "cook" the daikon from the oden.

The oden was really very good. Different league as compared to the oden from the konbinis. And omg we didnt know mustard can go so well with the oden. 

Next we went to an orange orchard to pluck fresh oranges. OMG I underestimated the weather. It was so cold. But the oranges were good. Fresh from the trees, and very sweet. Yuan Ze and Yuan Yi enjoyed themselves plucking the oranges. 

And we wrapped off our final night in Osaka by having dinner in the airbnb, eating da-baoed food from a few different restaurants near the airbnb. 

Thank you Osaka for the wonderful memories!

Osaka Day 5

Woke up early at 5 am, and went to the Family Mart opposite the hotel. Happy to see the oden! Just what I need for the cold weather. 

Onsen opened at 6 am and went to have a soak. Weighed myself and to my horror, I gained 3 kg. Not surprising because I have been eating very well at Osaka. 

Even though I gained 3 kg, I still ate very happily at the hotel breakfast. 

First destination for today is Cup Noodle Museum. Spent 500 yen to customise your own cup noodles. 

The next destination is Katsuoji. A temple with many cute figurines, and nice scenery. They have a activity whereby you collect different stamps on a card and after putting all the stamps together, you see a beautiful picture. Yuan Ze and Yuan Yi very hardworking in collecting the stamps. 

After Katsuoji we went to Daimaru Umeda. Amazing shopping mall with 15 floors, and the main reason to go Daimaru is because there is Pokemon store, Nintendo store and Harry Potter pop-up store at 13th floor. Yuan Ze and Yuan Yi bought some stuff at Pokemon store. The Harry Potter merchandise look very tempting but I decided not to buy because they are too expensive. 

Went back to the hotel for dinner, eating the food we da bao from Daimaru. And of course the final night of onsen and ramen. 

We sat strategically near the start of the ramen queue. The moment we hear the staff make the announcement, we rushed to the barricade and ta da, we are the FIRST in line. Hahahahaha. Tonight's ramen flavour is miso ramen. 

Osaka Day 4

Went for another run at the Asashiobashi neighbourhood. 

I do enjoy my ME time at the airbnb during this 3 days. Slept at 9 pm, woke up at 5 am, go to the 7-11 and buy sandwich for breakfast, watch youtube and eat the sandwich. This simplicity is bliss. 

Packed our bags, bring the heavy luggage down from 2nd storey to 1st storey, and off we go to our next accommodation, Osaka Hinode Hotel Nipponbashi. I chose this hotel because there is a hot spring, got complimentary drinks, ice cream and ramen at the lobby every night, and is near to the happening Osaka areas such as Shinsekai, Dotonbori and Shinshaibashi. In fact it is 2 min walking distance to Shinsekai from Osaka Hinode Hotel Nipponbashi. 

Fried skewers, local specialty at Shinsekai. 

Tsutenkaku Tower at Shinsekai. Touristy landmark. 

After Shinsekai, we went to Dotonbori and Shinshaibashi. I brought Yuan Ze and Yuan Yi for some arcade games and claw machines at Round 1 Stadium, while darling brought the in-laws to shop at Dotonbori and Shinshaibashi. 

Happy kids with their loot from the claw machines. 

I changed dunno how much yen to let them enjoy themselves at the claw machines and arcade. LOL. 

The kids linked up with darling and in-laws at Don Quijote Dotonbori, giving me some free time to shop at Shinshaibashi. 

Bought this adidas tee for myself. 

Of course must pose in front of the iconic glico man. 

The ichiran ramen building that caught fire a few months ago. 

Dotonbori is still very happening and crowded with people. 

Tried the hot spring at night. The hot spring is in a separate building from the hotel building. And there is only indoor hot sprint, no outdoor hot spring. But it was still good to have a hot spring. Soaking in the hot spring after a whole day of walking, removed all the fatigue. Yuan Ze and Yuan Yi enjoyed themselves at the hot spring too. 

And now, I need to mention the free ramen, that is served every night, from 9 pm onwards, at the hotel lobby. After the hot spring, we sat at the lobby to wait for the ramen. It was around 830 pm, and there were already alot of tourists at the lobby, eating da-baoed food, and talking very loudly. From their language, I guess they are koreans. I start to think how are the staff going to manage the queue. And then at 850 pm, one of the staff make an announcement on the free ramen, and where to queue. So I quickly walked to the queue, and to my surprise, Yuan Ze is already in the queue, and HE IS SECOND IN THE QUEUE. It turns out that he was exploring the lobby, and then happen to see a tourist who is first in the queue, and he ji tao queue behind her. Is this luck or is he smart. LOL. 

The ramen for today is tonkotsu ramen. Taste surprisingly good. Darling was super happy with the ramen. The ramen was nicer than the one we had yesterday at the local ramen restaurant. LOL. 

Good news is, we can enjoy the ramen again tomorrow night. 

Osaka Day 3

The weather forecast very zun. It started raining early in the morning. 

Our first destination is Osaka Kizu Wholesale Market, that is a market that sells fresh seafood, and fresh sashimi. 

Upon reaching there, Yuan Ze and Yuan Yi dun like the smell of the market, and asked to leave the market. So I decided to bring both of them to the aquarium, while darling accompany her parents and sister at the market. 

2015 vs 2025. Omg the rain really no joke sia. 

There were alot of people at the aquarium today. So it is really very fast touch and go. 

Darling and in-laws came to find us because they bought alot of things at the market and wanted to put the things at the airbnb, unfortunately I am holding on to the key to the airbnb. 

And then we had a shooting game. 

Today is our last night at the airbnb, and we are craving for ramen, so we went to a ramen restaurant recommended by the airbnb owner. 

Really can tell is a local restaurant, because of the limited number of seats, and the owner/chef is a one man show. Ramen was normal, but the curry fried rice was very good.

Tomorrow morning we will change hotel to Osaka Hinode Hotel Nipponbashi. Will miss the quiet Asashiobashi neighbourhood.  

Osaka Day 2

Started the day with a morning run. 

Omg it was so cold sia. This was taken at 617 am. And I was dressed in long pants and sweater top. The 1st km I was shivering while jogging, and it got better from the 2nd km onwards when my body has acclimatised to the temperature. 

Jogged past this park with very nice trees. 

Day 3 was supposed to go to Ikomasanjo Amusement Park and weather forecast says it will rain the whole day on Day 3. So I suggested to go Ikomasanjo Amusement Park today as the weather today is good. It was a good decision as weather was indeed good, and it really rained the whole day on Day 3. 

Before going to Ikomasanjo Amusement Park, we went to the shopping mall beside Ikoma station to buy new shoes for Yuan Yi, as his shoes spoilt the previous day. OMG it was a very well equipped shopping mall with a food street at the basement. The in-laws shopped for food at the food street and we shopped for shoes for Yuan Yi, and in the end also bought a pair of shoes for Yuan Ze. 

Ikomasanjo Amusement Park, in my opinion, is very worth going. Rides were old school, but suit everyone from young to old. Our lunch was the da-baoed food from the shopping mall, Yuan Ze and Yuan Yi had a good time running around while eating. 

Very worth going! So glad that we came here instead of USJ.