10D9N Spring Japan Trip: Curry & Katsudon Kuromonya, Namba Station

 Namba Station is one huge train station in Osaka as it houses three station buildings for Namba Nankai Station, JR Namba Station and Osaka Municipal Subway Station. Thankfully, we did not get lost in Namba Station at all while on the other hand, we got lost in Shinjuku Station for I don't know how many times, really. In addition, Namba Station also has a lot of restaurants which open until quite late at night. For example, there is a curry & katsudon restaurant called Kuromonya.

The restaurant looks small and there is only one man handling the kitchen. We were actually pretty confused on how to order as the menu are in Japanese. Thankfully there is a display outside and we were standing there mulling over what to order for a long time. I suppose we really pondered for a long time because the man behind the kitchen ended up coming outside to ask if everything's okay. He ended up taking our order as we pointed out which dish that we wanted to eat. 

He ushered us in and asked us to take a seat while he prepared the dishes. The condiments provided on the table is pretty extensive from pickles, chilli powder to garlic. 

My order is ready within 15 minutes or so. I ordered pork katsudon and it tastes very good even though this comes from a random restaurant in Namba station. Other than us, we spotted a lot of office workers having their dinner here too. The meal can be considered pretty cheap in Japan standard and I guess that's why a lot of office workers come here for after work meal.

We wanted to check out some bread at Cookhouse, a bakery located inside Namba Station, before it closes. So we quickly made our way there after finishing our meal at Kuromonya. If you visit Japanese bakery in spring, you will be able to find limited edition flavor such as Green Tea & Cherry Blossom bread. The bread does look pretty delicious. 

There are cheesecakes on sale too but I ended up buying the above cherry blossom bread. #victimtomarketinggimmick

If you are looking at hotels which are conveniently located near Namba Station, you may want to consider staying at our accommodation in Osaka, Hotel Monterey Grasmere Osaka, as it is located somewhat connected to Namba Station (most of the path leading to the hotel is covered from rain). 

10D9N Spring Japan Trip: Shinjuku Gyoen, Tokyo

Shinjuku Gyoen is my 2nd most favourite cherry blossom spot in Japan. Nakameguro is the first in my list for its beautiful cherry blossom spot. As Shinjuku Gyoen is located near to my accommodation in Tokyo, JR Kyushu Hotel Blossom Shinjuku, we visited the park on the last day of our stay there. 

One major difference between Shinjuku Gyoen and other parks in Tokyo such as Ueno Park and Yoyogi Park is that visitors are required to pay admission fees (200 JPY for adults, 50 JPY for children) to enter Shinjuku Gyoen. 

Another main difference is that there is a rule restricting visitors from bringing alcoholic beverages into the park. I don't mind this kind of rule as there is a strong alcohol smell in the air at both Ueno Park and Yoyogi Park. I prefer inhaling fresh air to air filled with booze's smell when I enjoy looking at those pretty cherry blossom flowers, thank you very much.

Our admission ticket comes with a barcode which will be scanned by the security staff standing guard at the park entrance. Your bag will be checked for any alcoholic beverages so don't even try to sneak even a bottle inside. 

On the last day of our trip, the sakura flowers have fully bloomed in Tokyo. At last, we were able to see sakura at its full glory (am I being too much? Hahaha). Shinjuku Gyoen is filled with so many people, especially families, that morning. 

Once again, we were lured by another white sakura tree. 

Sakura flowers in full bloom. Aren't they pretty?  Sakura does not last very long especially when it is raining a lot. Better enjoy it as soon as it has bloomed. 

Shinjuku Gyoen opens daily (except for Mondays) from 9AM to 4.30PM (last entry is 4PM). If you visit Shinjuku Gyoen during the cherry blossom season (late March to late April) and the Chrysanthemum Exhibition (first half of November), Shinjuku Gyoen opens every day. 

10D9N Spring Japan Trip: Line Friends Store Harajuku, Shibuya

There are so many things that you can do in Shibuya but there is a particular store that I'd really like to visit there. I've always been a fan of Line, which is a messaging application developed by the Japanese. The characters from Line are so cute and guess what's there in Shibuya? A store dedicated to sell Line's merchandises. Yes, it is the Line Friends store. Aaawww~~~

I have visited Line Pop-up store in Singapore before but since it was a pop-up store, you can't just revisit the store whenever you like. However, in Shibuya (to be exact, Harajuku), Line Friends has its fixed store there so I was really happy to come here. And the first thing that I did is obviously taking picture with the main characters from Line Friends. Hehe.

You can find those merchandises which you never see anywhere else before. For example, I have never seen the Brown T-shirt before anywhere else. 

The Line Friends store in Harajuku has a pretty extensive collection of clothes from t-shirt to pullover and even to socks. If only they have sneakers too, I would probably end up buying them all. Really. 

There are the plush toys from Line Rangers series. This looks like special edition as I have never seen this anywhere else. I should have gotten one Brown plush toy here. The blue one on the right looks pretty cute.

But the thing is, once I started trying to get Brown, I would end up buying Cony too. And my Japanese Yen was running low at this stage of the trip. Priority priority...

I wonder if I should pick a hotel nearer to Shibuya the next time I come to Tokyo. It seems easier for me to do all my shopping when I stay in Shibuya area. That means more damage will be taken by my wallet though. XD

10D9N Spring Japan Trip: Sakura Season at Ueno Park, Tokyo

As part of our "sakura journey" trip, we included Ueno Park inside our itinerary. It turns out that Ueno Park is a popular place to have a hanami (i.e. picnic under the cherry blossom tree) and the area is swarmed with people on Saturday morning. This is the view right outside Ueno Station. Well, I guess we did not have to worry on how to get to Ueno Park. 

During the early stage of our planning, we noticed that there are quite a number of hotels with reasonable prices near Ueno Park. We ended up choosing hotel in Shinjuku for our accommodation in Tokyo,but, if you don't mind staying near to Ueno (which means near to Akihabara and Tokyo Skytree), you can probably choose one of the hotels nearby.

Right outside the park, there is a big white sakura tree. Since I managed to find a good spot under the tree, I just took my shot here before it got too crowded to stand. Hahaha.

Ueno Park is really beautiful during spring and it is no surprise that the park is completely packed by people. 

There are a lot of variety for the cherry blossom trees in Ueno Park. It has the white color sakura as well. 

And the slightly pink sakura too.

If you want to secure a good spot under the row of cherry blossom trees, you must chop the spot. The Japanese loves hanami so much they can really do anything under the tree. Eating with your friend or family or simply nap under the tree. Although I highly suspect that those people who nap under the tree is guarding the place while waiting for their friends/ families to arrive with the food. Hahaha.

Toward the other end of the row of cherry blossom trees, we spotted a mixture of pink and yellow color tree. Not sure what kind of trees they are but they look pretty nonetheless. 

There is no admission fee to enter Ueno Park. If you'd like to, you can visit the temples which are located around Ueno Park. For example, there are Kaneiji Temple, Kiyomizu Kannon Temple and 

Bentendo. There are museums nearby too such as Tokyo National Museum and National Science Museum. 

10D9N Spring Japan Trip: Night Time Shopping in Ginza, Tokyo

When the night has fallen and you got nowhere else to go, it's probably time for you to hit Ginza, the high fashion center of Tokyo. Ginza has a lot of upscale shops and restaurants, it guarantees nobody will get bored in Ginza. There are so many exits in Ginza, I suggest to just come out from whichever exit and explore Ginza from above the ground instead from underground (unless it's raining or snowing).

If you like to shop, there are a lot of places to shop in Ginza from the luxury brand to local Japanese brand. Most of the stores open until quite late at night you don't have to rush doing your shopping task. Ginza is also home to Tokyo's oldest and most prestigious department stores. Wako is probably the most exclusive department store in Ginza.

If you prefer to eat, there are so many popular restaurants in Ginza. Be prepared that the popular restaurants may require a certain degree of perseverance from the diners. For instance, a lot of travellers need to queue for at least three hours to secure a seat at Sushidai (i.e. the sushi restaurant which was visited by President Obama during one of his visits to Japan). 

I'd prefer to do my shopping than eating in Ginza that night but I don't have wallet capacity to buy a branded bag here. So I went to the fashion stores which are friendlier to my budget. If you are limited by budget like myself, you may like visiting store like Gu and Uniqlo.

In fact, Uniqlo Ginza has earned Certificate of Excellence from Tripadvisor. I recommend you to visit this Uniqlo (can I call this the HQ?) building in Ginza as it is so huge and there may be some limited edition items only sold in Japan.

A cool display in Uniqlo. I ended up buying a Tintin tee from Uniqlo but turned out Uniqlo Singapore has one too. The next time I decided to go to Japan, I should really take note of what's available and what's not in Uniqlo Singapore. Hahaha.

After a few hours of shopping and walking around, we stumbled into a waffle store called Manneken. There are some occasional buyers coming into the store so we thought the waffles must be at least not bad. 

So many selection to choose from but I ended up loyal to my chocolate glazed waffle. Yum!

My friend stayed in Ginza before and she loved the experience (if I'm not wrong, she stayed in Mercure Tokyo Ginza). The hotel does receive a lot of positive feedback in Tripadvisor so I guess she must be right. Otherwise, you can check out other hotels in Ginza area for your consideration.

10D9N Spring Japan Trip: Foodie Adventure at Ginkakuji Temple Street, Kyoto

A traveller does not have to fear hunger when he or she is walking on the path to...any temple in Japan. The temple path that we were walking on that day is the path to Ginkaku-ji Temple, the Silver Pavilion, in Kyoto. The sun nearly set but the temple street is still operating at full force. Which means hooray for us, the foodie adventurer. #foreverhungry

Okay, if you ever see this store. You MUST ENTER AT ALL COST. Why is that so? Well, it's because this is one of the rare store which provide testers for visitors to try for nearly all of its food products. Of course it will be good if you can buy something, but they will not force you to buy anything if they are not to your liking. To be honest, it will be very difficult for you not to buy anything from this store because their mochi is yummy!

First, there are matcha chocolate. This taste a bit like Royce's chocolate. 

Second, there is this green tea candy snacks which is mixed with nuts. It can be too tough for the teeth so eat with care, ok?

The store has various taste of mochi. The green one is green tea mochi while the pink one is strawberry mochi. The filling for both mochi is the same, red bean. I like the green tea and ended up buying one box at 540 Japanese Yen.

This snack looks like an egg roll with green tea cream filling. Taste not bad but I prefer the mochi. 

Banana mochi, anyone? If I was not wrong, my travelling buddy bought this mochi as she said she seldom find banana mochi anywhere else. Hmm, that may be true as I did not see banana mochi anywhere so far. 

There is a bun stall right opposite the mochi store. The bun is pretty popular and we were pretty lucky snatch some before they close. It has meat fillings and taste so yummy under the cool breeze of spring.

If you want to visit Ginkaku-ji Temple in the afternoon, it is better to visit it first before tasting all the good food at the temple street. This is because Ginkaku-ji Temple closes at 5PM and you don't want to miss it even though the food is very very tempting. XD

10D9N Spring Japan Trip: Diver City Tokyo Plaza, Odaiba

After spending some time admiring Rainbow Bridge from the waterfront, we continued our journey to visit another main attraction in Odaiba. Ever since my friend and her family visited Odaiba sometime back in the year 2014, we had been planning to visit this attraction. Thankfully, we could finally managed to do that in 2015. In order to visit this most-raved attraction in Odaiba, you have to make your way to Diver City Tokyo Plaza, a shopping mall designed with a theme of creating a "theatrical city space".

Hello, Gundam! Diver City Tokyo Plaza is home to the world's only full-size Gundam statue. If you visit Odaiba in the evening, Gundam is lit up everyday from 6PM to 11PM. There are performance during both day and night. During the day, Gundam's head will move and mist spray at 12PM, 3PM and 5PM. While at night, there is a performance with wall video at 7.30PM, 8.30PM and 9.30PM.

The long queue that you can spot from afar is the queue to dine at Gundam Cafe. It looks pretty interesting but the queue makes it impossible for us to fulfil this mission today. I guess we had to leave it for another day. There is a Gundam store and take-away counter inside the cafe so you may want to give it a visit anyway even though it looks pretty crowded if you are a Gundam fan. 

There is a park nearby to Diver City Tokyo Plaza. If you comes to Odaiba in spring, make sure you visit this park because it has a very pretty pink sakura tree. 

The park has more than one sakura trees but this is the first one that had bloomed. The sakura flowers are exceptionally beautiful compared to those that we have seen so far. 

Could not get enough of sakura flowers, really. You have to make sure your camera has a lot of memory to capture this beautiful creation of God. XD

A close-up look of sakura flowers.

We totally had fun in Odaiba up to the point we did not realise that it is near to dinner time. If you are hungry in Odaiba, you can eat inside Diver City Tokyo Plaza as it has a lot of restaurants. I think it will be nice if you want to spend a night at hotels near to Diver City Tokyo Plaza as there seem to be a lot of fun activities happening in Odaiba at night. Based on what I see at Tripadvisor, Grand Pacific Le Daiba seems to be one of the popular choice amongst the travellers. You may want to give it a look? Tell me if it's really that nice! =P