Himeji & Kobe

We were going to Hanshin-Umeda to take the train to Himeji. Himeji is located in the Hyogo prefecture, still within the Kansai region. The train ride was long, bringing us from Osaka to Kobe and finally to Himeji, all in about 1 hour and 40 minutes. From the Sanyo-Himeji Station, it's about 1km to walk to the castle grounds. It was sunny, at about 11 - 13 deg ... very pleasant weather for walking.

 What a beautiful and sunny day to be walking towards Himeji Castle ... 

Himeji Castle is also known as Hakuro-jo, meaning White Heron Castle. Its exterior is all white, and it is supposed to resemble a white heron taking flight. It is supposedly built in 1333 and expanded through to the 1600s. It has remained intact ever since, surviving wars and natural disasters. It is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site.

To get in, we had to pay ¥1040, and this was inclusive of the entrance to Koko-en Garden which is located next to Himeji Castle.

So majestic!

To enter the interiors of the castle, we took off our footwear and put them in a plastic bag which we had to carry with us. Then we nagivated the wooden interiors of the castle, climbing up steep and high wooden steps up the 6 storeys .... it was quite a tiring climb!

Inside Himeji Castle - it was certainly well-preserved!

View of Himeji City from the top floor of Himeji Castle

There's a shrine here on the top floor, and some people do pay their respects, bowing down in supplication. There were also staff who were repeating, "Congratulations, you have reached the top floor of Himeji Castle ..... " Lol .... 

Then it was a long climb down ..... 

View of the castle against the blue sky ... so beautiful ... 

View of Himeji Castle from the West Bailey, Nishi-no-maru

A visit to Himeji Castle would not be complete without a stopover at Koko-en Garden. This is a beautifully-landscaped Japanese garden. The late autumn colours were so lovely! Indeed the whole garden exudes peace and serenity .... 

Breathtakingly beautiful! 

Loving the colours! 

I could sit here all day .....

So tired from all that walking, we stopped by this little shop on our the way back to the Sanyo-Himeji Station, and saw that it sold bento lunches .... and we stood for a while there, perusing what they had. The young man inside was really nice ... and he came out of the shop so that he could see for himself which bento set we wanted to order or which bento set we were pointing at.

The shop

My Bento Lunch

Ta-da! All for ¥590.

A lot of rice with an umeboshi on top; the meats consist of a piece of fried chicken, pan-fried salmon and a battered chikuwa; then there's a piece of tamago, a piece of very flavourful braised daikon, carrot, konniyaku, lotus root, kamaboko, a sweet tofu and I loved the radish pickles! So much food and it took us such a long time to eat everything! 

Ikayaki, ¥250

This was bought from the shop next door .... it's some sort of a flattened egg crepe with tiny bits of squid inside, and drenched with a sweet bbq/okonomiyaki sauce and topped with bonito flakes ....

The shop owner came out to give us free Japanese nori! So unexpected, so kind of him.

The shop owner came out another time and gave us free chicken karaage! 3 pieces! We kept mouthing our thank yous ..... so kind of him! 

Lunch was a happy occasion! We were so full. But I could not resist an ice-cream .... 

Choc almond ice cream, ¥200
I bought this from the shop that sold us the ikayaki; The banner said "soft ice-cream" but it's not exactly soft serve .... I saw the lady vendor taking a tub of ice-cream and putting it into a machine which pressed it out onto a cone; not smooth but quite tasty with generous bits of almonds inside ....

We took the Hanshin train back to Kobe-Sannomiya ... and from here, we took the local subway to Shin Kobe. That's where to Nunobiki Ropeway was located. We paid ¥1400 for a return trip on the cable car. It brought us up to the Top Station Herb Garden, giving us an astounding view of the city of Kobe ....

On the way up .... Kobe in the background ....  

At the top station ....  

There's a rose garden here, but there weren't many blooms, it being winter and all; and also a fragrance museum which we could visit.

Beautiful blooms I saw while walking down to the mid-station

More greens on the way down .....

We took a leisurely stroll down to the mid-station ... it was such a leisurely and relaxing afternoon and I enjoyed the peace and quiet and serenity of this place.

We got back on the subway from Shin-Kobe to Kobe-Sannomiya ... and from here, we could either take the Hanshin or the Hankyu line back to Umeda-Osaka .... we saw the Hankyu sign first, so we followed it and took the Hankyu train back to Osaka.

We visited a konbini or convenience store down the road near our apartment, Family Mart and bought some food. I bought a Banana Baum (yes, they sell baum in the convenience store!! I do not think I can find baum anywhere at all in Kuching), my favoure ham & cheese mayo buns, green tea latte and a fried chicken to snack on .... all cost ¥582.

My friend, ME bought a piece of Butter Baum - we found it a bit dry 

 Clockwise from the top: Green tea, 2 sticks at ¥124; Banana Baumkuchen was ¥170 - it tasted like any other banana cake, slightly more moist than the plain butter version; my favourite ham and cheese mayo buns were only ¥108 and a ham and cheese croissant I bought the day before and have yet to eat, ¥128

Fried chicken, ¥180

Hot and crispy and salty and yummy! 

We snacked in our apartment before calling it a day. Today was great! Everything ran as I had planned it - the trip to Himeji and Kobe was smooth. The best thing today were the unexpected freebies from the kindly bento shop vendor ... that's Japanese hospitality at its best. :)) 

Out & About In Osaka

We woke up bright and early. It was another pleasant day at 13 - 14 deg. Today's first attraction would be the Osaka Castle. We took the subway from Daikokucho to Hommachi, and thereafter changed to the Chuo Line, and got off at Tanimachi-4-chome. There are sign boards at every station, which we referred for the exit to take. It's Exit 9 for Osaka Castle. From her, we walked about 5 minutes to get to the site.

First glance of the castle wall Southwestern corner of the castle grounds
The moat and walls serve as a main defense measure for the castle

I loved the serenity this place exudes! Everything seemed so calm, quiet and peaceful! From here, we entered the castle grounds via the Otemon Gate. 

Osaka Castle Tower

The original Osaka Castle was built in 1583. It was destroyed and rebuilt in 1620. However, the castle caught fire and was burned down. The present castle was built in 1931 and then refurbished in 1997. 

We decided not to enter the castle, which housed a museum. Instead, we hangout out at the vicinity and visited the food stalls selling all sorts of Japanese snacks. We bought some .... 

Matcha Warabi Mochi

The Warabi Mochi had a jelly-like texture. I found out later that it is made from bracken/fern starch.
The vendor was so generous with the powder - I think it's a mixture of matcha and kinako/roasted soybean powder  

This cake was soft and chewy, and had the aroma of eggs instead of matcha; reminded me much of our local kuih bahulu.

Matcha soft serve, ¥450

Not too sweet, and light matcha flavour, but milky, smooth and very enjoyable to eat.

There were also many food trucks that lined up to sell popular Japanese snacks like chicken kaarage, takoyaki, ice-cream and so on. We lingered a bit, and then proceeded to the Nishinomaru Garden which is located next to the castle. Nishinomaru Garden was supposed to provide a commanding view of the castle, but it was which unfortunately was closed that morning. Too bad.

We then proceeded to a monument outside the castle ...

The monument  

I loved the golden leaves scattered all over! 

For a while, I sat on the ground amongst the leaves, just enjoying the magnifcent colours and the cool winter air .... it was so blissful.

So beautiful! 

From Tannimachi-4-Chome, we took the train to Sakaisuji-Hommachi, and took the Sakaisuji line to Nippombashi. And that's where the Kuromon Ichiba Market was. Kuromon Ichiba has about 190 years of history and tradition, and is known as Osaka's Kitchen. The market is 580m long and has about 150 stalls ..

Kuromon Ichiba Market

It was big with many stalls on the left and right. Our noses were tickled with the smoky aroma of grilling seafood, making our mouths water. 

We walked around, browsing the food sold .... 

Squids and scallops 

Salmon and other fish ...

Pickles!

We finally ate some .....

Buttered and salted scallop, ¥500

Uni, ¥1800

I loved the scallop! The price actually depended on the size - and there were 3 sizes S, M and L and they cost ¥500, ¥800 and ¥1000 respectively. The vendor will then pry the scallop open, clean it, cut it and then grill it with a dollop of butter, a spray of something (I think it's salt water or maybe just water) and just a sprinkle of black pepper. It was really very delicious! The juices rocked!

I was excited to get my first taste of uni or sea urchin. It was terribly tiny. It looked firm, but disintegrated as soon as I picked it up with my chopstick. It tasted like roe - briny, creamy, just a little sweet. Hmn ... it was a new experience and I probably needed to eat it a few more times to get accustomed to it. :P

We stopped by a stall and ordered some food so that we could sit down to eat.

Takoyaki

Okonomiyaki with pork

Yakisoba with beef

Of the 3, I think my favourite was the yakisoba. I loved the slightly sweet sauces coating the noodles. The takoyaki and okonomiyaki were mushy pancakes with heady sweet and smoky sauces which I really did not fancy much. In fact, we struggled to finish up the food - so filling! 

After lunch, we intended to visit the Momofuku Ando Museum at Ikeda. That required for us to take the Hankyu Takarazuka line from Umeda. So to get to Umeda from Nippombashi, we had to change trains at Dobutsuen-Mae.

And that's where Shinsekai was. Shinsekai 

Tsutenkaku Tower, at 103m was built in 1956

We found that there were many eateries at this area, but in fact, they sold the same thing - the kushi katsu! These were skewered meats and vegetables which were deep-fried. We thought we might come back for dinner .... 

Next, we rode to Umeda Station and took a Hankyu train out to Ikeda. We were supposed to visit the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum ... but it was closed. Closed on Tuesdays. Urgh! How could we have been so careless and did not check the schedule! 

So we strolled about Ikeda ... and walked right to Satsukiyama Park ... 

We headed back to Osaka. At Hankyu Umeda, we exited the building. It was a mistake because we actually got lost walking around the area ... and by the time we got to Osaka Station City, it was already dark.

The Umeda Sky Building as viewed from Osaka Station City

The wind was really cold and we were freezing ..... 

And we seeked refuge inside the building .... I went to Daimaru to look for my Blue Label bag to buy .... but of course, I did not find any. Yet.

Dinner was at a random shop at Shinsekai ... indeed it was another mistake as this area was hardly alive at night. Shinsekai was reputedly a seedy area in town .... hmn ... to me .... it just seemed deserted.

Dinner was rather costly and meagre. Cost us ¥1923 .... I ate a mere mouthful of each .. sigh. 

Fried rice, ¥540
I ate a few spoonfuls of the fried rice ....


Beef udon, ¥540
Had a few strips of noodles ....

Tried a bit of each of the skewers .... cost us ¥843

The fried rice tasted ok, the noodles were pathetic, and I did not like the skewers at all. It was a bit frustrating ..... So at the convenience store at the corner of our apartment, I bought some buns and ice-cream to snack on.

Ice-cream

Convenience stores or konbini are a must-visit in Japan. They sell a variety of food at reasonable prices. The one that's just around the corner where we stay is called Sunkus and we go there at least once a day. We normally buy our breakfast there - bread, puddings, cup ramen, fresh bananas, chocolates, ice-creams, fried chicken, etc. There's this ham and cheese mayo bun which I liked that cost only ¥108 for 2 pieces, and the ice-cream cost ¥140. And they made me happy. :))

Our first day in Osaka ended. And we would be venturing to Himeji and Kobe next.  

Arriving in Osaka

The train network in Japan is very extensive. There are many rail companies and many types of trains ... and initially, when I was researching it, it gave me much headache. Then, there are many types of train passes available .... and selecting the most suitable one for us was also difficult. This map helped me a lot.

In the end, for ease of getting around Osaka, we decided to get the Kansai Thru Pass (KTP), which allowed for us unlimited rides on trains (except the JR trains) and subways in and around Osaka and Kyoto. The pass for 3 days would cost ¥5200. With the exchange rate at 0.041, it meant that the pass cost MYR213.20.

We were staying at the Daikokucho area. We booked a small apartment from Airbnb. It was really small, enough to fit in 3 mattresses ... but we had our own kitchenette, our own bath and toilet, a balcony, and our own privacy. The price was a steal - RM1517.20 for 3 pax for 4 nights. That's about RM126.45 per pax per night.

Our Airasia red-eye flight flew at 2.30 a.m. on 05 Dec 2016. Initially, it was supposed to depart at 1.00 a.m. but then the flight was re-timed due to the late arrival of the aircraft from its previous sectors. It took 6 hours and 55 minutes to reach Kansai International Airport ... so we arrived at 8.30 a.m. local Japan time.

Efficiency was the key word for the Japanese immigration - so though there was a crowd, we went through the immigration checks and obtained our bags in 30 minutes. We were also impressed that some luggage had been pulled out from the conveyer and arranged neatly in a row - these were bags that looked alike, and to prevent people from collecting the wrong bags, they had been lined up together. The official urged us to check our bag tags to ensure that we had really gotten the right bag.

Exiting from the arrival hall, the Visitors' Information Counter would be on the right. And it seemed that most people converged here. The queue at the ticketing counter here was really long. So having decided to get the KTP, we went to the train station which is just next to the airport. We had to go up the elevator to the second floor and walked to the next building. Here we bought our KTPs. We bought 2 KTPs each for us to use for 6 days. 

In fact, they may be cheaper options than the KTP to enable tourists to save more on transportation - i.e. the Osaka Amazing Pass, the 1-day subway passes and so on. Anyway, with our KTP, we took the Nankai train to Namba Station. And Namba Station was overwhelming! It was huge and there were many stations converging there - Nankai, Kintetsu, Hanshin, and the subways .... There were so many exits, and for a while we did not know what to do and where to go. Exiting the Nankai line, I only knew that I had to get to the Midosuji Line and take the subway from Namba to Daikokucho, where we would be staying. 

Meanwhile, we exited via the Central Gate, dragged our bags around ... looking for a place to eat. There was this little shop which displayed a set meal outside its shop ... and I wanted to eat that. I could only say "Set A" as indicated on the signage outside the shop .... and yeah, the staff understood. Lol. 

Food was served quite quickly and we got a complimentary cup of hot green tea. 

A set meal for ¥650

There's a huge bowl of rice, potato salad, cold tofu, a miso soup and a main course

Menchi-katsu and Chicken Kaarage

Deep-fried minced beef patty and fried chicken, everything tasted great! 

I don't normally eat so much rice ... but I thought it rude if I did not finish up everything. So in the end, I wiped out everything on the tray. So filling! 

After filling our tummies, we went to look for our subway. In fact, there were many signs overhead, and it was not difficult to find our way around. Soon, we reached the Daikokucho station. According to our instructions, we were to exit from Gate 4 and walk straight. Our building was just a few blocks away on the right. We were also to open up the mail box with a few turns of the dial to obtain the key inside. Which we did. Everything was self-service ... Lol. I never met my host the few days I was staying at her apartment. 

Source: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/9416041

Source: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/9416041

Source: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/9416041

We rested a bit, and that night we took the subway to Shinsaibashi - the largest shopping area in Osaka. This covered arcade was about 600m long, and there was so much to see! There's chain retail stores, trendy boutiques and even high-end department stores! 

So crowded with people!  

Though not hungry, I was tempted to try a baked cheese tart ... 

San Roku 36 Cheese Tart, ¥197

The crust was rather crispy, and the filling was rich and creamy and cheesy .... it was a very satisfying dessert! 

We browsed around and noted the things that we could buy home for our friends and families back home. We would only buy them on our final day in Osaka. Meanwhile, I enjoyed soaking up the lively atmosphere! 

Day 1 in Osaka had been great! The weather was about 15 deg, and it was really pleasant. 

Visiting Japan

Japan. Admittedly, I do not know much about its culture and its people. My knowledge of the Japanese language is limited to sushi and donburi and teppanyaki and what not. But indeed, Japan was a place I had always wanted to visit.

We visited a few travel agencies and obtained several itineraries - most 7-day tours cost about RM7000 onwards. Travelling would take up 2 days, with most agencies arranging for visitors to enter via Osaka and exit via Tokyo. Then, many such itineraries would arrange for 2 days to be spent at 2 major theme parks - Universal Studios Japan, Osaka and Tokyo Disneyland. So that meant that visitors would be left with 3 days for the other attractions. 

After doing our survey, we ultimately decided to go on our own. Free and easy. Instead of 7 days, we were going for 11 days and we were going to concentrate on the Kansai area, and maybe its nearby prefecture.

In April, we bought our air tickets to Osaka, and thereafter, started planning our route - we read up on the places we wanted to visit, booked our accommodation online, and researched the transportation network. So over the 11 days, we traveled from Osaka to Himeji to Kobe to Nara to Kyoto to Takayama and finally to Nagoya. We saw so much and experienced so much. It was really enriching.

People tell us that Japan is an expensive place to visit. Well, it is especially now that our ringgit has depreciated so much! Exchange rate was RM1 to ¥0.041 at the time. That meant that everything cost more than 4 times over for us!

But we were adamant to go on a budget travel. And all in all, airfare, accommodation, transportation and entrance fees cost us about RM4600. I spent RM1000 on food and RM500 on souvenirs. And I also splurged about RM800 on a handbag. All in all, the trip cost me about RM7000 as well. I do think it's money well-spent, and I do wish to make a return trip some time in the future. :))

Attractions ... we visited many, and the places were really beautiful. Food wise ... we probably did not eat as much as we would have wanted; we mostly ate buns from the convenience stores - the convenience store food weren't bad, actually.

But as I remisnisce the trip, I'd think of the following and they would top my list:
1) Hida Beef - The sweet and juicy, and tender slices of meat were so good! I do not think I'd get any
                        cuts of beef of this quality in the whole of Kuching!
2) Daifuku - I'd always remember that sweet, juicy strawberry inside the chewy pastry .... very
                     indulgent to eat!
3) Domyoji - I loved the salted cherry leaves on the soft, warm and chewy rice cake!