Umeda 11 Jun 2015

I drove down to Umeda. It was a shopping day. 

We met up with Ayumi Chan at Grand Front Osaka, a new shopping complex. 

Rika brought us to The Cosmopolitan Restaurant for lunch. A very hip place, somewhat like fine dining. 

The food was exquisite and tasty. And it just cost us about S$30 per person for the set lunch. So worth!

We did our shopping really unhurriedly. The whole day was just Grand Front Osaka and Lucua. 

Had buffet dinner at almost the same price as lunch. 

Tired out after a day of shopping, though was doing it leisurely. 

Osaka 10 Jun 2015

It was a rest day for Rika and for ourselves. Yoshi left about 10 for his work trip to Tokyo. 

The morning was spent relaxing at home.  Then we went out for lunch at this nice Udon restaurant. 

After lunch was just some casual shopping at Aeon. 

A relaxing "zho-bo" (doing nothing) day

Kobe 9 June

Today, we broke camp, not literally though as we were supposedly on a camping trip. It was raining the whole time the night before and we were glad that we managed to book a cabin for the second night of our camping trip. 

We headed straight to Kobe and was praying in my heart that we would not encounter an earthquake. That night, my friend text me that there were earthquakes in Japan and Greece, Athens. Thank God. 

First stop in Kobe was a restaurant which was converted from a church. Five of us shared three breakfast sets. 

Then it was shopping at Kobe Sannomiya in the afternoon. We went to Tomorrowland and just opposite, there was a building that has a level that sells cloth. And I bought $80 worth of cloth. 

By the time we reached home, it was about eight. Rika cooked us Yoshi's favourite pasta dish - Cod Roe Pasta. It was a simple dish but was delicious. 

Put the cod roe, some butter, a little cream and soy sauce in a big bowl, then put in the boiled linguini into the bowl and mix well. There you go, we have the delicious Cod Roe Pasta. 

Oishi neh!

Awaji Island 8 June

I survived the camp in the tent, waking up with a neck ache and suffering from restless sleep. 

Though it's summer, it's like Singapore's weather in December, cooling. 

We left the camp site for breakfast at a bakery cafe known as Posche, which serves sumptuous breakfast set at 500 Yen only. The breakfast comprised of toast with ham, mash potato, salad and coffee. We also ordered Ala carte assortment of bread. The bread were soft, chewy and flavorful. I always wonder why bread in Singapore always taste so different from these. 

After breakfast, we met up with Acco san who brought us to this garden. Not all flower beds were blooming with flowers, but the air was cooling and refreshing. 

Most of the afternoon was spent in a home run cafe having lunch and coffee. 

Dinner was good, we went to this supposedly the number one udon restaurant in Awaji. The soup bases were flavorful. We had duck and Yuzi, onion and beef soup and they all tasted different and of course very delicious. We also had 关东煮 and all cost us only 3000 over Yen. Gone are the days that people cry "expensive" in Japan. 

An unpleasant episode happened at the close of the day though, something which I thought will

Not happen in Japan. The beach bar waiter refused to let us use the toilet as we did not purchase anything from the bar. We were trying to avoid using the common toilet at the camp site. I was disappointed and really displease by this incident. 

What a way to close the day!!!

Awaji Island 7 June 2015

Today, we made a trip to Awaji Island. 

Rika has planned a camping trip. We will be putting up in a 5 men tentage by a beach. It was pitch dark at night and the tent was lit by a few oil lamps. 

For lunch, we stopped by a restaurant for Japanese food. 

We also dropped by Seapa Onsen for bath before heading for BBQ beef dinner.

 

6 June 2015 Osaka Day 1

We set off to Osaka today. 

When we arrived at Kansai Airport, it was already 9.15pm and to our shock, there were such a huge crowd at the immigration. 

We had to catch the last bus to meet Yoshi so that he didn't have to come all the way to the airport. 

At first, the queue inched forward as there were not many immigration counters open. But thank God, so more counters were opened and we also managed to be at the queue which cleared faster. 

Once cleared the custom, we dashed towards the luggage collection to grab our luggage and then made a run to the bus stop. 

While looking for an information counter to asked for direction, I spotted bus stops outside the airport. At last, we manage to be at the bus boarding point 15 minutes before time. 

The bus journey too us an hour which was faster than the scheduled duration by half an hour. Yoshi picked us at the station and we went to have supper at the usual Ramen place which served hot and cold Yuzi Ramen. Each bowl was only 800 Yen and the ramen was delicious. 

We slept only at 2 am after presenting our gifts to our ever friendly hosts and catching up a little.