Trip - Japan - Day 6 - Osaka

Good morning Blog,

Yawning... Supposed to have a sixth day in Taiwan but that sixth day became our morning rush to the airport to our next destination - Japan. The country which I had been hoping to go to for five, six years ago!

Around 3am... We took a minivan to send us to the airport.

Honestly... Taiwan is so interesting, I hope to visit again.

You can't see anything... because it was in the early morning.

Seeing a group of sleepy faces

The Taoyuan airport was still operational.

Long queue to check-in.

FINALLY! OBTAINED MY DREAM JAPAN TICKET!

A waiting area for international flights looks like this.

FLYING TO JAPAN! I am so excited!

Thanked Heaven for a safe landing.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

JAPAN! MY DREAM FULFILLED!

I guess getting a wifi in Japan can be costly, best to get beforehand like an Esim which requires some setup. If not, getting a 2nd oversea Sim card is also worked. Anyway, Our first stop was to take a train to Osaka city.

We got ourselves an ICOCA card... In fact... now as I was writing... We could get ourselves a Japan Rail Pass... Suitable for foreign visitors to Japan who visit more than one region which offers unlimited, nationwide travel on almost all trains operated by Japan Railways and can cover either 7, 14 or 21 consecutive days. But, I recalculated again... Our whole Japan transportation trip only costed around 25000 yens so still not heart pain.

Simple but detailed Travel Guide

What interested me from this scene? The scene where the mixture of the old buildings and the new. Honestly, I will prefer to see the older architecture of Japan that has so much characters and cultural heritage elements in it. I guess I am just a 見貨 Jia huo (view product), pun of 賤貨 (bxtch) who is different from my group 吃貨 chi huo (foodies)...

EK, are you alright? He got covid at Taiwan so by now, he should have recovered then.

From this view, quite similar like Singapore train cabin.

After an hour train ride, we had arrived to Namba station.

Looking at the network of cables and numbers of train tracks here, Japan has one of the most complex but yet completed transportation for commuters to get to places. That is admirable.

We had arrived at Namba station. It was afternoon already, everyone was sleepy, tired and hungry. The first thing they targeted, was food at the Family Mart. Everyone was busy using their phone to scan the ingredients of the food package.

We needed to switch to another train line to get to our Airbnb. (can check in early) The group seemed tired so I don't suggest any shopping at Namba.

Japan has many different train companies providing transportation... Why can't they become as one or share same system? But in fact, they are quite united already unlike other advanced countries.

Even though they are different, but they have the same attitude and work together professionally.

Yes, BP, I know you are handsome, please stand there to spice up my pictures.

Hmm... They have different height for some handles for different people in different needs.

Finally, we got a chance to sit down but...

It was the last stop of the line. 😅🥲 Anyway, we arrived at Minamitatsumi station.

Let's check out our Airbnb!

Here was our Airbnb and getting ready to snap a group photo... But... I was blocked...

Time to start my exploration myself and had an official unblocked picture of me with my first Japan Airbnb.

Oh yeah, which Airbnb we were staying? It was Woo House. Let me show you what it looks like before I started my exploration.

A two stories high living room where we just had our discussion of which room to take and place to eat... 😵‍💫

Very classic dining table

Mini kitchen available

Clean and dry toilet, and the best is there are many toilets around for a big group like us.

Looks like a master room, we will let the lady takes this room herself.

...and you can hang your clothing here

Funny thing is... There is no door to close from the room to this toilet...

Because... For another toilet... Anyone can come in here too; as the door can't be locked.

Oooo! A bathtub! I heard from WC mentioned that their family regretted having a bathtub at home (Australia) as they barely use it. That made me wonder... After reading some info online, some are personal preferences like they just love having it, most of them hate to clean the bathtub, especially the difficult-to-reach counter and some feel it is too tall to get in and high risk of slipping. Personally... I won't mind having a bathtub, especially during travelling because... I don't own it and I will just enjoy it! 😇

Anyway, let me show you the other rooms.

Oooo, a balcony!

Quite a standard layout for a room

Personally, I am a weirdo... I picked the room upstairs and I had to drag my luggage up a narrow stairs and go through a small narrow door (3/4 of my height) then walk through a narrow path to reach my room. Err... Oh man... I didn't have a picture of my room? I think that I might have deleted it.

Wanted to experience and understand how the Japanese live their daily life. Hmm... But the rain somehow dampened the whole experience.

Oh, nice. This looks like a dandelion plant. I believe it will be beautiful to see it in its furry form.

You may ask, do I know where am I heading? What am I looking for? In fact, yes. Before the trip, I already took a sky view of where we stayed and checked where got my interest. Even though my Airbnb residence has nothing interesting, I will take myself as a new resident to know my neighbourhood. The first stop was to visit this park - Tatsumi-higashi Green Space.

Oooo, this plant caught my attention. Checked out the shape of the leaf - smooth and veinless. Hmm... I searched online and it is called Ginkgo biloba, one of the oldest living tree species in the world aka a living fossil. They look like fern relatives but they aren't. I thought can grow them in Singapore but they can't take the hot climate that well.

Funny, right? Usually, tourists will have visited other places but I picked this weird place... Due to rain, the park was empty.

Hmm 🤔 quite a similar structure in Singapore except the playground here, has sand as the foundation.

The sand playground is so nostalgic.

I can imagine and hear the kids playing and running around. They had their own game rules and everyone was playing happily.

The funny thing was... That I was just imagining... Oh... It started to rain heavily.

Ooo... Something interesting about these seats. Hmm 🤔 I can't label these as seats though... It can be served as that or a chair of randomness.

Honestly... What is this for?

I know these. These are aeroplanes! 😂

As a kid, this playground will be my favourite! So many playing possibilities!

The way how they put the blue metal frame, is to prevent anyone especially children from running into the swings. What a smart idea 💡

Quite a standard slide and did you see how the designer for the slide ensured safety here? From Google images, other slides are also built in this way, as compared to the old days.

Here is the overview of a lonely park.

Oooo! Maple tree! Aww if I come in autumn, I believe this will be a beautiful sight. I understand it is a common sight in any seasonal countries and also gives many issues too. I guess the part which I mentioned is beautiful because it is different from the norm in my world.

Japanese love baseball sports. I thought of getting a set of attire of a baseball player because at least, I got to display a attire of confidence.

Okay, what was next after visiting the park? I saw some shop houses somewhere, I will like to take a look to compare the price.

Along the way, I spotted some old houses. What a beautiful house which I can't own.

I had arrived to Japan 100 yen shop. Here is like Daiso and we can purchase daily products at a low price. Perfect for a budget lifestyle.

Oooo, beautiful weed yet it grows invasively. It is a Thistle. The thorny body can really irritate many people who are trying to get rid of it.

Ooo, this apartment looks so familiar... Like how I always see in the manga. It was great to see something in the anime or manga live.

After visiting their local market or mart, I returned to our Airbnb. We were about to step out but I could tell that they were tired... I told them that we had to walk nearly 2km of a  distance from a train station to our next destination, Shisenkai... Along the way, they started to feel tired and reminded me why can't make a better and more relaxed option... And asked me to be more sensitive and aware of the situation... Honestly, I don't feel great, as I had already told them and even suggested they can rest at our accommodation... Sigh... I guess I have to take a step back and shut up than have an argument overseas.

It seemed like Family Mart will become our daily meal in Japan because it is challenging to find vegetarian food. By the way... I was shocked at how open they displayed those magazines...

Oh my! These beverages taste delicious! Love Melon Milk more than Strawberry.

When we arrived at Shisekai, I told them that there was a shopping area on Google Maps... Besides Don Donki... I was so wrong... It is a mall of pachinko! Jinjja! 😩

Ooo, the street at Shinseikai is a food street (don't have vegetarian restaurants...)

But along the street, what captured my attention, is the intricate layout of store advertisements - so loud, colourful and vibrant.

It is just like a popout painting!

Sometimes the decorations have nothing to do with what they are advertising but still revolved around the idea.

The pop-out effect does leave a great visual impact.

Sometimes, it relies on the painting skill to exaggerate how much our vision can take in. We tend to look at things in certain portions but with such big artwork, we can only stay focused on small parts and then move on to the next. When you view it as a whole, it got visually overwhelming.

Nothing got so Overwhelming when they put their menus as their decoration!

(Credit XY) No matter what... since we were here, then made full use of this location for... photos!

(Credit XY) I know taking photos in Japan's lilted street is also beautiful!

(Credit XY) if there is a water puddle, it can make a beautiful reflection but it depends on the model; if you have a lousy model like this... the water puddle will become shxt puddle. The passers just tried to avoid me.

This tower... should light up! WHERE IS THE LIGHT like this!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alright... Thanks, Heaven for having beautiful bottom light for the tower.

(Credit XY) Actually... I didn't know the main reason why this place was deserted... either the stores closed early today or whatever... This quiet street was rare... so... TAKE PHOTOS! POSED!

Ahhh. Love the manhole cover artwork of Osaka. I feel like collecting photos of these manhole covers in Japan. I google them and yes, there are many of them! LET'S COLLECT THEM ALL!

(Thanks XY) Alright everyone, time to return to our accommodation and get ready for tomorrow.

Overall... I was kind of disappointed to make the wrong choice to explore Osaka at Shinsekai first... I should go to Dotonbori... Oh well... my life is filled with regrets... I hope to visit there one day.

Jeff