Live and Let Live!: Japan part 1

In 2 weeks' time, we booked a flight and hotels and off we went to Japan.

It's a good time to escape from the haze in Singapore and enjoy some cool weather.

Flight

JAL flight meal (breakfast). A bowl of pumpkin porridge, a little salad and fruits. The most healthy and lightest meal I've seen on air.

We chose to fly by JAL because it's the flag carrier of Japan.

No, because it was cheapest.

We first flew to Haneda Airport then flew to Itami Airport. It was cheaper and less hassle than switching to the Shinkansen.

The transit was very smooth. Haneda doesn't seem like a very busy airport. Except for the 15 min queue at the customs, there was no queue at the transit or bus transfer to the domestic terminal. We made it with lots of time to explore the domestic terminal.

Takoyaki

This deserves a topic of its own because it's the first dish we had in Japan.

When we reach Osaka at about noon time on the first day, we stopped to buy these takoyaki at Shin Osaka even though we were still struggling with our luggage because they look so yummy.

On the third day, we had takoyaki again in Teramachi, Kyoto. We already finished dinner but i could not resist buying a packet.

Osaka's takoyaki are smaller and more expensive (¥600 for 8) than Kyoto's (¥450 for 8). Taste wise, they are the same, we think.

Hotels

For the first night, we are staying in Remm Shin Osaka, just directly above the main train station of Osaka, because we need to take a train to Kyoto for the 2nd and 3rd day.

The futuristic entrance of the hotel...

super small room with a super small bed. It felt smaller than a queen size!

Cannot stand...

Hardly room to walk. Luckily got this small table, otherwise I have to eat the takoyaki on the bed.

(Unless my husband goes out of the room, he has to appear in the photo, no place to hide)

In Kyoto on Day 2-4, we stayed 2 nights at a traditional japanese style hotel, Watazen Ryokan.

At night, the hotel personnel will convert this living room into a bedroom. I am a bit upset about having to sit on the floor all the time and no bed to lie on for most of the day, but it turned out I'm not in the room until nighttime anyway.

I couldn't decide which one is worse...

Tiny bed or no bed.

Sleeping on the floor is something quite foreign to me. Despite the thick mattress, I could still feel the hard tatami floor. I woke up many times at night, wondering why I do this... Haha

The 3rd hotel we stayed in, when we returned to Osaka from Kyoto, was the best.

Big king size bed..

It is a serviced apartment so it has a living room and a kitchenette.

The first thing we did was to do our laundry. When we came back in the evening, the clothes were already washed and dried. Fluffy...

We were able to buy fruits, milk and cakes from the supermarkets back to the hotel room to enjoy because we now have cutleries and plates. A luxury.

The only downside was that the hotel recep was close at midnight. But it doesn't really bother us anyway cos old people go home for bedtime fairly early.

The basements of Department Stores

The food mall at the large department stores has a great variety of food with reasonable prices. We thought it was a great way to enjoy japanese food.

Katsudon and charashidon at the Isetan food mall. Our lunch on the first day.

On the second day in Kyoto, we found that there was a good discount if you go to the food mall near 8pm when it's closing.

The 3 croquettes were bought at Takashimaya at a discounted price of ¥100 each.

My suggestion is to buy non deep fried stuff, cos they are a bit soggy already.

Takashimaya Namba Osaka

Kyoho grapes at ¥1280 and japanese rice ¥652 from Meidi-ya at Takashimaya

Shopping

We visited Yodobashi Camera Umeda on our first day. It has levels and levels of electronic goods, games, cameras and watches etc. It was quite fascinating.