Final & Osaka Day 5 Sarah Monday, February 20, 2012

With our bags packs, we were all ready for our final day of touring and wrapping our Osaka itinerary before heading to the airport. We went to a traditional hot spring area that was occupied by, as you may have guessed, many hot spring hotels and resorts. There was even a place for you to soak your feet in hot steamy spring water. In this area, it was popular to eat and buy these crispy and flat cookies cooked by coal and made with hot spring water. I bought myself a bag of `scraps` (the cookies that crumbled in the process) and it wasn`t too bad, tasted like bland corn flakes, but smoother in texture.

Our final stop was shopping at Doutonburi Street and the area of Shin Sai Bashi Suji (named after a bridge here). I couldn`t believe how much there was to do; there was one main street of eating, an area predominately selling the latest technology and electronics, and branches after branches of shopping and plentiful of malls, from high end pet clothes and accessories to socks and clothing. We had three and a half hours before we had to head to the airport in order to catch our flight back to HK, but that was not enough. However, we did find a lot of sales and didn`t resist the urge to use the rest of the yen we had. It was a great way to wrap up our Osaka tour as the sun had decided to come out as well!

For our late lunch, we had takoyaki balls from a stall on the food street that initiated all the other takoyaki businesses to open. I thought the takoyaki from yesterday at the takoyaki museum were better, probably because they were made right when we ordered them as they were rather busy, while these ones had been cooking on the grill already when we ordered them. I also bought corn soup (popular for the Japanese) from a vending machine and it came in a small heated can! It was actually really good and I wish our vending machines were half as cool as Japan`s.All in all, I had a lot of fun these past five days and I didn`t want to leave Osaka when it was time to go. This was only an initial taste of what was in store in Japan for me and I hope that one day I am able to spend an extended period of time here to be able to travel more. I would love to come back in the future to explore the rest of the islands and gain a deeper insight of this rising sun nation.


See you Japan!

Universal Studios & Osaka Day 4 Sarah Sunday, February 19, 2012

We spent the whole day at Universal Studios Japan. The last time I have been to Universal was when I was a ten year old girl during the summer of 2002. I remember how fun it was to run around to different rides and shows despite the high temperatures and long wait times. Today was a reminiscent of my childhood and how things were different give or take a decade ago.

Our group arrived before the gate even opened and there was already a lot of people waiting in line to get in. Groups of students going on fieldtrips (sweet eh?!), families, couples, couples, and more couples. Is it because Japan has a bigger population, therefore couples are more prominent, or couples are just everywhere you go in general? Anyhow, FYI, I would say 1 in 2 Japanese girls have dyed caramel colour hair, owns or wears a caramel colour coat, wears fake eyelashes, has heavy amounts of make up on, and if their pupils look dilated-they're definitely wearing circle lens. In my opinion, they look fake, and they all try to be very doll like, hence the term 'dolled up' right? I don't know if all guys like this type of girl, but I felt like they were all products of Japan, all resembling those hair models on the faces of Japanese hair products in TnT, in Ann's words "very homogenize."

Back to the topic, well in Japan, Universal Studio was definitely smaller and the map was just one big circle. From what I can recall, a lot of the rides were similar such as Back to the Future and Jurassic Park. The only thing the one in the States wouldn't have is the Snoopy and Hello Kitty themed area catering to kids and those whom are fans to these characters in Japan. Also, all the characters were dubbed in Japanese and even though we couldn't comprehend what Shrek or Spiderman was saying in the shows and rides, we still had a lot of fun. It was also quite a chilly day to be outdoors and waiting in line all day, but the 40min wait for the outdoor roller coaster didn't stop us. We ended up getting the first row of seats on the roller coaster and feeling as if we were about to fall out the whole time.

Dinner was on our own tonight as as there was a three storey mall of food next to Universal, we headed there to eat at the...get this... wait for it...TAKOYAKI MUSEUM! MMMM. It wasn't really much of a 'museum,' but there were at least five to six different eateries that sold different flavors of takoyaki. You first order from a vending machine and then hand your receipt to the person serving you. We got four different flavors and looked back on our day while eating these octopus filled balls. SO GOOD. We couldn't leave Japan not having tried their ramen, so we finished our dinner with a bowl of authentic Japanese ramen. To be honest, the ramen tasted similar to the ones you can get in Edmonton.
Before we called it a day, our tour made a final stop at the Fisherman's Wharf for us to capture some photos of Japan's darkened skyline. I wonder what will be in store ten years from now...

White Day & Osaka Day 3 Sarah Sunday, February 19, 2012

White day is the equivalent of Valentine's Day in Japan and the day we headed into the city. Being in the more rural areas of Japan the past two days didn't seem like I was in Japan. I had expected to see the high tech and more advanced side of this country along with sky scraping tall high rises and architecturally astounding buildings. Thus, I was really looking forward to entering the city later on.

Heading out the country side lead us to Minabe Plum Forest to see cherry blossoms, but we were out of luck as this season has been colder than usual, so there was only some buds and early bloomers to see. Next was the coal museum, one of the most popular natural resources of Japan. Who knew that coal acts as an effective humidifier, absorbs smell, and is even good for the skin? At the souvenir store they also sold coal infused cookies which tasted like danish cookies from those aluminum tins. You could buy coal too, but after 9/11 it was illegal to travel on board a flight with it, even if you put it in your luggage- we couldn't be 'naughty' even if we wanted to.

Next stop was lunch at a fish market where we had the option of adding on a ~$100Cad authentic and fresh sushi boat. We turned it down for obvious budget reasons, but were happy with our decision upon seeing the size of our meal and the large boat filled with different selections of sashimi that everyone else on our tour ordered. After lunch, we looked around at different fishes being sold and packaged Japanese snacks. There was even a fish about a meter long being slaughtered on the spot. Surprisingly, the fish market didn't smell at all, no fishy essence in the air or anything pleasant to the nose (I assume the fish was extremely fresh).
As we entered Kobe and the city we definitely saw the more urban side of Japan. Another thing about the city is that there are many Ferris wheels. By now I saw about four different ones and mentally noted that I must come back to explore all the outdoor amusement parks in the future. We stopped at Tasaki, a pearl chain store in Japan and had a lesson on how pearls are derived, what determines their price points, as well as a demonstration on how to cultivate your own pearls (only a 40% chance that it will work though). None of us could afford anything in there so you can imagine just how expensive it was, though it was enriching to learn so much about pearls in a half hour sitting.

Then we street shopped in Kobe. With approximately three hours on our own, we tried to hit as much boutiques as we can. Many people have commented that Japan is quite an expensive place to live, eat, and shop and I couldn't agree more. Some things are ridiculously over priced and not worth your money. I question how Japanese people can afford to live in Japan if they don't make a certain amount, or else they must have to live fairly modestly. When it came to shopping though, we went with a plan to just look at the sale racks as the prices are similar to the those back home. We realized it must've been around the time retailers change seasons or turn around their goods as there were quite a few sales wherever we went. Nonetheless we left satisfied and couldn't wait to do more on the last day of our tour. I really had to withheld myself from buying jewelery, especially earrings as I'm a sucker for them.

Alright, the best meal (or should I say meat) and most ridiculous amount of money I ever spent on one thing was this evening. We opted out of the sashimi boat add on, but went with the Kobe steak for the grilled bbq dinner as this area was known for it. All the side dishes, raw meat, and veggies were all you can eat, but this beef was to die for. I thought it be cook when we had placed an order, but it came raw, which made sense seeing that we grill everything ourselves. Well, we savored every moment (and bite) of this expensive piece of meat. It was about the size of the palm of your hand and evenly marbled with fat. The only seasoning we had on it was pepper and that was enough to get our taste buds sizzling. The texture was tender, the bite juicy as the fat had melted, and flavor-so delicious. It was definitely worth every piece of yen.

Monkey See & Osaka Day 2 Sarah Saturday, February 18, 2012

Today was the first full day in Osaka and a day filled with sightseeing in the more rural side of Japan. After a Japanese style breakfast buffet at our hot spring hotel we had about a two and a half ride to our first destination, one of the three largest waterfalls in Japan. In my opinion, it was quite a small waterfall, but a nice sight nonetheless and it was interesting to see a little shrine up there and witness some Japanese traditions such as washing their hands and perhaps even drinking the water from a fountain before heading to put incense in the shrine. They also clap their hands after making their "wish" or saying a prayer in front of the shrine.

Next stop was an area of natural rock formations. These geological forms ranged from huge boulders to ones large and close enough for you to hop from one rock to another. This scenery was also facing the Pacific Ocean so it would have been very pleasant just to sit and look out into the horizon if we had more time.
Lunch was delicious as the meals have been so far and consisted of a hot pot broth where you cooked your raw meat, vegetables and noodles in it. Afterwards, we headed to the aquarium next door and looked at different fishes, sea creatures and even giant turtles! I have never seen such large turtles before (they must have been in their hundreds in human age) and there were also little baby ones swimming in a tank.

The underground cave we went to was the highlight of my day. When you arrive at the building, you take an elevator underground where the cave is. Upon exiting, you see a traditional painting along the wall with some headless traditional figures you can take photos with. With our tour guide leading the way, we went around the whole cave and looked out to bodies of water (possibly the Pacific Ocean again), the view, different natural structures and colours of the cave, as well as some fixtures and cultural home settings that were man made.

Our last view of the day was an area I would described as flattened hoodoos. The colours and textures of the rocks resembled that of hoodoos, but it was on the ground, some flat, some rough.

For dinner, we had a traditional Japanese dinner back at our hot spring hotel and it was one of largest table set dinners we ever seen, I couldn't finish everything, it was way too much. Even though I disliked wasting food, our diet has been too abundant these days and we realize we were starting to become pandas and that we had to stop eating in excess. To end off a wonderful day of touring, we enjoyed our last night of hot springs like the locals do.

Alive & Osaka Day 1 Sarah Thursday, February 16, 2012

It feels good to be back in the world of blogging after being isolated in Japan. The first two days there was no WiFi in our hotel as we were up in the hot springs/rural area (well there was a very crappy computer with turtle-slow connecting speed). Then the following two days, my laptop's battery died despite having WiFi, and my battery plugin wasn't compatible with the outlets in Osaka. Well, I guess that just made me aware of how reliant I am on technology, though it was nice just to journal as I embarked on my five day tour and have a full on cultural experience with minimal technology involved.

Thus, I will probably be doubling up on posts from now on or updating as much as I can each day about my previous five days. So much occurred and even though the tour started off kind of slow, the itinerary picked up speed as each day came and went, and now I'm back in HK again.

So why did I decide to visit Japan?

I have wanted to go to Japan since I was in grade two, having first studied about this little country, big population in Social Studies. Since I was seven, I have been fascinated with different cultures, and thought if I ever had the opportunity to travel to Japan, I would! Growing up, my auntie worked in Japan upon receiving her international business degree, yet, my family never visited her. I always thought I would follow my auntie's path and perhaps study abroad in Japan, but guess what, who knew Korea would be the chosen destination? Well, acknowledging the amount of time I would be spending across the Pacific Ocean, I had to include Japan somewhere into my approximate five month stay in Asia. After taking into factors of my student budget, length of the trip, specific destinations, and going on my own or with a tour (thankfully its the latter as my mom firmly advised I wouldn't be able to afford it on my own, and its true), we picked one that appealed to my friend and I.

(Day 1)

Fast forward, and I have arrived in the KIX (Kanzai International Airport) and was so overjoyed that I was actually in Japan. I kept smiling to myself and I was so anxious to get started on our tour plans. At the same time, I was quite reserved and held back as our tour consisted of couples. I had totally forgotten that our tour had fallen over Valentine's Day, so it wasn't like this wasn't expected. I'm glad my friend and I made the most of everything we did and didn't let such a miniscule aspect stop us from enjoying our tour. Who says you can't tour as friends right? Another thing was, that first night, we were staying in a hot spring hotel as I've mentioned earlier. The catch is, for Japan, going into the hot spring means wearing your birthday suit. WHAT?! I was so self conscious and I could literally feel my self esteem retreating every moment we inched closer to that item on the list. I wanted to be buried alive instead (I'll leave this topic for later)


Destination: Osaka, Japan
So the actual first item on our itinerary was shopping at Rinku Premium Outlets. If you ever been to the "Premium"outlets in the states, its basically the same layout and consisted of your typical high end stores such as Coach, Armani, etc. Major difference was that as this was in Japan, there were Japanese outlets as well. Though some items were beyond my modest budget, there were lots of cute pieces and well made garments I only wish I could buy down the road. Each store had a section of sale apparels that were not too bad in price, like the prices in Canada's shopping malls.

After that, we had our first Japanese meal. We were amazed at the layout and selection of our food upon sitting down. We had a little pot of vegetables, a bowl of miso soup, a tray of sashimi and sushi, a bowl of rice, and a juicy and sweet strawberry. It was abundant, and it was only our first meal.

With our tummies full, we arrived at Daiwa Royal hotel where we settled down and mentally and psychologically for our first Japanese hot spring experience (you can stop here if don't want to read about it).

I can rant on and on about this experience-the extent of my self consciousness, the trembling fears I held on to, and all the negative feelings that resided in me that day. Despite these previous anxieties, I won't be doing what I have listed. This is because now that I look back on my first nude hot spring, I feel as if I have surpassed myself and achieved something I could have easily passed up or made an excuse to not partake in. Also, I don't want you to turn this hot spring opportunity down if it ever comes your way. You might not believe me after having said all this, but I actually had a great time. Once you get over the initial awkwardness, you realize that everyone in your surroundings just minds their own business (even though you might think otherwise). As well, once you immerse yourself into the natural hot springs, you feel as if your being boiled in a very nice way. Its so relaxing and comfortable that you automatically begin to feel at ease. All the stress and tension you held on to prior to the burning sensation will vaporize as your body soaks. Its such a zen feel and so good for you too!

Best part was that before and after you enjoy your hot spring experience, you are provided with unlimited use of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face cleanser, skin peel scrub, etc. There was coal infused as well as horse oil S&C for greasy and dry hair respectively. After you wash and dry yourself, there is also a station provided with the necessary amenities to dry your hair, cleanse and moisturize your face, and even callous remover cream (it works and makes your skin baby butt soft). Even though everything was done by myself for myself, I felt so pampered and happy. All it took was ignoring the surface level of your circumstances and wanting to literally immerse yourself into a one of a kind cultural experience. For obvious reasons, no photos were allowed, thus you will just have to try it out for yourself when you get the chance.

You also get to wear kawaii yakuzas, to and from this experience. To end off the night, we treated ourselves to ice cream cones and drinks from Japanese vending machines.