Day 8: (Osaka) Carpe Diem, Kaiyukan Aquarium, Shinsaibashi, Dotomburi
oh dear, after the last post i'm absolutely craving for crepes now. =(
anyway! when we arrived at osaka subway station's bus stop we were all arthritic and stiff backed. we gladly hopped off the bus...
ONLY TO HAVE OUR EYES ROLL BACK INTO OUR HEADS AND SHIVER LIKE MAD. the wind went straight into your bones man! so much for thinking osaka would be warmer than tokyo. :(
remember our donuts from the day before? they survived the bus ride (on alvin's knees the entire night - thanks dear)! we ate everything for breakfast while waiting for the Osaka unlimited pass office to open at 9am.
TA-DAH!!
want some?
peek-a-boo!
don't abuse your donut!
woah. it just... crumbled.
it's ok i eat it bit by bit. :D
i want more. =(
chuuling the donut murderer. SHE MAKES IT BLEEEEED.
it was nice just standing in the middle of the subway station and eating donuts. we were watching the osaka folk going to work and wearing their masks while they in turned stared back at us because we were really just standing there all nonchalant and munching.
ahhh... away from tokyo and their crowds. if we tried this in shinjuku our krispy kreme would be on the floor by now, and i'd be in tears.
after we munched our breakfast away and got our osaka unlimited 2 day pass (the guys went ahead to get the passes together with our passports, while me and chuu guarded the luggage), we headed for carpe diem at midoribashi.
as we were groaning up the slope, and hanbin was leading the way (he got us in the right direction this time! good stuff man you're improving!) this waif of a girl suddenly came running towards us while pulling her bicycle and started talking to alvin.
OH! she's miki from carpe diem and she was here to help us find our way in! HOW THOUGHTFUL... T_T
wow thank goodness she did, coz the directions to carpe diem are crazy complicated. you turn right at sarpino's, walk till you see a gas station, go down the road for about 3 minutes past the swing set and gorgeously cramped japanese houses then turn right again when you see 'carpe diem' hanging from a little cloth banner on the wires. haha. i'm sure i missed a turn here somewhere i think.
the metal door was a little hard to open, so miki did it and allowed the rest of us in through the gate. we stepped in, and EVEN THOUGH I'VE SEEN THE PICTURES, i was still pretty taken aback by how pretty the garden was. WOAH!!
she brought us to our room (ugh lugging the luggage... NOT FUN LEH.)
then proceeded to collect our rent for the next two days before leaving us to our business. this is part of the common room (which is like, a wing on its own.)
the view of the garden:
after we ooh-ed and ahh-ed enough, we washed up and set off for the aquarium!! despite how i keep threatening chuuling that we'll drop this from our plan, i was actually really looking forward to this. hehehe.
here we are!! man, it was so chill compared to tokyo... the streets were lovely, a LOT less people than in tokyo on the streets, the sky was so clear. i loved it. mmmm.
towards the aquarium!
woah.
on the way towards the aquarium itself.
WHALE (SHARK)!
at this point my eyes were going, 'ARGHHH THE SUN'
there were IMAX theatre tickets linked to the Aquarium Kaiyukan ticket bundle, but the IMAX theatre was only open on the weekend! bah! so we just bought the aquarium tickets. once we went in, we were called for a photo shoot already!
this was the non-professional shot. after some deliberation, chuuling bought the larger blown-up version at the end of the walk.
ok now. it's time for crap loads of fishy pictures.
the santa maria:
*squeal* OTTERS!!!
the great thing is the stuff you see are available on different floors, and certain exhibits extend through 3 or more levels so you can see the top, middle and bottom view of the fish. we started off at the top of the aquarium and made our way slowly down which was like a rotunda.
these 2 crabs were grappling with one another.
then we saw some giant otters!! O_O
aiyah so cute *wriggles*
AND A VERY FAT SEAL THAT WAS BERTHED ON HIS ROCK AND PRETTY IMMOBILE. HAHAHA.
the seals were frolicking so happily that we couldn't get a proper shot but these ones. but that's a good thing. they kept diving and swirling around each other and nipping and splashing up a storm. what a ruckus! :)
a two-toed sloth... sleeping. i can't get head nor tails of it.
amphibian alert.
i skipped the aruanas and other carnivorous fish because they are HUGE and ugly. they're on flickr though, so you can go take a look if you're interested. aha, here're the cuties. :D
*waddle*waddle*
they just stood there, with pieces of ice falling and collecting on their head. they seem to be having some weird kinda fun.
the vain one - it kept walking away, then back again to peer at itself. hilarious!
oh hai.
ARGH SO FAT SO CHUBBY SO HUGGABLE :D
this one's hard at work:
on to the next showcase:
OMG DOLPHINS!!!11!! again, just like the seals, they were incredibly active! :)
the entire brood of japanese children that came to visit are super cute too :D
the great barrier reef showcase:
flatfish!
tussling octopi (they were really rough):
then we saw it. the central exhibit. the whale shark.
mr sting ray says hi!
these fish swim with their jaws wide open.
alvin's really excited about seeing sting rays (and then manta rays after that).
me too!! XD
big gorgeous thing. :)
we can see the seals frolic under water (we're 2 floors below by now)!
haha sunfish look dumb.
'whaaa...??'
MANTA RAY (alvin's favourite)
it was kept separate from the whale shark by a net. maybe they tend to attack each other, i dunno. there was a very nice viewing gallery for you to watch the manta ray and whale shark swim their circles while they played grandiose music softly in the background. very nicely done.
the music reaches a high point!!
alvin turns into a little boy again:
and then he's contented. :)
hewooo i love youuu...
sardines:
cuttlefish:
the whale shark's belly:
i still cannot get over the fact that it's HUGE:
it's feeding time:
the manta's really excited about feeding, hehe:
turtle!
dolphins again, but underwater view now:
LUNCH:
BAI, SEE YOU AGAIN:
aiyah, so chubby. *pinch*
the thickness of the acrylic glass between us and the fish:
the jellyfish section:
GFP JELLYFISH!
and after about 2 hours spent in the dark, THERE WAS LIGHT! i almost stepped out of the place but i followed a staircase up where i could hear something like a show and children squealing... an otter showcase? OOH I WAS RIGHT! AND MORE! WE CAN SEE PENGUINS AND TOUCH THE STING RAYS! YAY! hehehe. think it's for kids, actually.
alvin's totally happy right now, can you tell?
aww that was great!!! after chuu bought her photo for keepsakes, we left for the gift shop!! you know, in japan somehow gift shops are pretty great shopping spots coz things are cheap and all their knick knacks are so creative!
outside, i went gachapon mad and got the best run of gachapon ever - i turned the machine 5 times and none of the items were REPEATED!! AND I GOT THE WHALE SHARK AND MANTA RAY AND OTTER!!! XD
inside the souvenir shop, chuuling bought some hanging fish that she could place in a tankful of water so that it looks like a mini-aquarium, AND I BOUGHT THE CUTEST OTTER I'VE EVER SEEN OMIGOSH WITH TEENY EARS AND...
i was playing around with hanbin and he, as usual, was being retarded so while my hand was in the otter puppet i punched him. it emitted a squeak. O_O
'I'M SOOOOOO BUYING THIS.'
doesn't this remind you of the seal in mother garden?
hanbin's confused.
small seal big seal.
the osaka seaside:
bye kaiyukan... :(
alvin just stopped in his tracks, LOLed and snapped:
'it is strong in time, and it is gently to time tough at time.'
???????????????
well, it's time for lunch at shinsaibashi. i love this place: IT'S SHELTERED. and all types of shops, small shopping, disney store, big brands like lesportsac and agnes b, bakeries... I LOVE IT.
grand afternoon tea:
we were looking for a particular udon (YOU MUST HAVE UDON IN OSAKA) shop listed in the osaka book that ingrid lent us:
IT WAS EASILY FOUND!
it's like an ikea concept. you can collect tempura or random food stuffs before ordering your udon meal. me and chuu caught on right away while the guys were like 'WHAT DO WE DO??!???!?!?!' hehe.
mine:
alvin's:
chuu's:
hanbin's:
wow it was such a good meal. cheap (about what, 600Y only?) and satisfying. *pats belleh*
now for the disney store! for more disney stuff! (disneyland and disneysea not enough laaa)
i am an ugly stepsister BECAUSE I HAVE LARGE FEET.
i almost died laughing at this.
HOW FULL OF AWESOME IS THIS??! HUH? HUH??? EVERYONE, MEET MY FIANCE:
then we headed for a cosmetics store and bought a whole load of gel eyeliners, thin eyeliners, coloured eyeliners and mascara. YAY.
and then suddenly it's the end of shinsaibashi and the start of dotomburi! extremely recognizable by the GLICO MAN!!!
we also passed by soemon-cho, but didn't have time to explore the place:
dotomburi is super well lit - very bright.
hehe i went in and bought some breast pudding. FOR ADREAN!! wahahahahaha. there's something about sisters who keep buying this for their younger brothers... hmm.
alvin went straight to this:
alvin was posing here at the smaller glico man (see the time, it's 19:59)...
... when it suddenly exploded into the glico song because it does that at every hour. alvin kept repeating, 'HAHAHAHA WHAT THE SHIT? WHAT THE SHIT?? HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!'
hanbin and his takopachi hat:
BONITO FLAKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
giant puffer fish:
ramen... which we didn't go for YET.
we made a right turn into a separate alley full of shopping and we saw a pet shop full of kittens!!! another reason why i love japan is because there're more cat people there. :D so happy. hanbin was completely hypnotized by a kitten that kept jumping into the glass to try to get to him. AWWWW!
then, chuuling spotted a REALLY cute skirt and we headed towards the shop. the shop owner bargained with us a little, so chuu went to try the skirt on.
while she was changing, the shopowner said, 'ME, JAPAN. YOU?'
'singapore! :) er... here... okonomiyaki?'
'AH! ah-no...'
he pointed straight, then he used 4 fingers on each side of his face to make a very very funny and cute impression of a crab.
me: 'kani?'
tensho: 'AH, HAI! HAI! ah-no...'
then he made a right turn with his hand, and paused for very long, then said, '50... minute.'
at my shocked face he retracted, 'AH! METER. METER!'
i breathed a sigh of relief. so i repeated everything in action. walking, crab impression, turn right, walking... he also gave me the name but i forgot!! danggit!
well, chuu didn't buy the skirt, but we made it to the okonomiyaki shop in the end.
here we are! tremendous load of sauces that we can add onto our okono:
not okonomiyaki:
alvin and i shared our yakisoba because we still wanted some ramen. my goodness the yakisoba has no huang mian taste!! PASS!!
hanbin's and chuuling's:
hanbin's mesmerized by the hypnotic movement of his bonito flakes:
after our half dinner, alvin and i went to si tian wang to have part II.
mine:
alvin's, which was the much better one:
after dinner we could walk no more! so home we went... we saw namba hips!
carpe diem's garden at night:
burrito boy:
anyway! when we arrived at osaka subway station's bus stop we were all arthritic and stiff backed. we gladly hopped off the bus...
ONLY TO HAVE OUR EYES ROLL BACK INTO OUR HEADS AND SHIVER LIKE MAD. the wind went straight into your bones man! so much for thinking osaka would be warmer than tokyo. :(
remember our donuts from the day before? they survived the bus ride (on alvin's knees the entire night - thanks dear)! we ate everything for breakfast while waiting for the Osaka unlimited pass office to open at 9am.
TA-DAH!!
want some?
peek-a-boo!
don't abuse your donut!
woah. it just... crumbled.
it's ok i eat it bit by bit. :D
i want more. =(
chuuling the donut murderer. SHE MAKES IT BLEEEEED.
it was nice just standing in the middle of the subway station and eating donuts. we were watching the osaka folk going to work and wearing their masks while they in turned stared back at us because we were really just standing there all nonchalant and munching.
ahhh... away from tokyo and their crowds. if we tried this in shinjuku our krispy kreme would be on the floor by now, and i'd be in tears.
after we munched our breakfast away and got our osaka unlimited 2 day pass (the guys went ahead to get the passes together with our passports, while me and chuu guarded the luggage), we headed for carpe diem at midoribashi.
as we were groaning up the slope, and hanbin was leading the way (he got us in the right direction this time! good stuff man you're improving!) this waif of a girl suddenly came running towards us while pulling her bicycle and started talking to alvin.
OH! she's miki from carpe diem and she was here to help us find our way in! HOW THOUGHTFUL... T_T
wow thank goodness she did, coz the directions to carpe diem are crazy complicated. you turn right at sarpino's, walk till you see a gas station, go down the road for about 3 minutes past the swing set and gorgeously cramped japanese houses then turn right again when you see 'carpe diem' hanging from a little cloth banner on the wires. haha. i'm sure i missed a turn here somewhere i think.
the metal door was a little hard to open, so miki did it and allowed the rest of us in through the gate. we stepped in, and EVEN THOUGH I'VE SEEN THE PICTURES, i was still pretty taken aback by how pretty the garden was. WOAH!!
she brought us to our room (ugh lugging the luggage... NOT FUN LEH.)
then proceeded to collect our rent for the next two days before leaving us to our business. this is part of the common room (which is like, a wing on its own.)
the view of the garden:
after we ooh-ed and ahh-ed enough, we washed up and set off for the aquarium!! despite how i keep threatening chuuling that we'll drop this from our plan, i was actually really looking forward to this. hehehe.
here we are!! man, it was so chill compared to tokyo... the streets were lovely, a LOT less people than in tokyo on the streets, the sky was so clear. i loved it. mmmm.
towards the aquarium!
woah.
on the way towards the aquarium itself.
WHALE (SHARK)!
at this point my eyes were going, 'ARGHHH THE SUN'
there were IMAX theatre tickets linked to the Aquarium Kaiyukan ticket bundle, but the IMAX theatre was only open on the weekend! bah! so we just bought the aquarium tickets. once we went in, we were called for a photo shoot already!
this was the non-professional shot. after some deliberation, chuuling bought the larger blown-up version at the end of the walk.
ok now. it's time for crap loads of fishy pictures.
the santa maria:
*squeal* OTTERS!!!
the great thing is the stuff you see are available on different floors, and certain exhibits extend through 3 or more levels so you can see the top, middle and bottom view of the fish. we started off at the top of the aquarium and made our way slowly down which was like a rotunda.
these 2 crabs were grappling with one another.
then we saw some giant otters!! O_O
aiyah so cute *wriggles*
AND A VERY FAT SEAL THAT WAS BERTHED ON HIS ROCK AND PRETTY IMMOBILE. HAHAHA.
the seals were frolicking so happily that we couldn't get a proper shot but these ones. but that's a good thing. they kept diving and swirling around each other and nipping and splashing up a storm. what a ruckus! :)
a two-toed sloth... sleeping. i can't get head nor tails of it.
amphibian alert.
i skipped the aruanas and other carnivorous fish because they are HUGE and ugly. they're on flickr though, so you can go take a look if you're interested. aha, here're the cuties. :D
*waddle*waddle*
they just stood there, with pieces of ice falling and collecting on their head. they seem to be having some weird kinda fun.
the vain one - it kept walking away, then back again to peer at itself. hilarious!
oh hai.
ARGH SO FAT SO CHUBBY SO HUGGABLE :D
this one's hard at work:
on to the next showcase:
OMG DOLPHINS!!!11!! again, just like the seals, they were incredibly active! :)
the entire brood of japanese children that came to visit are super cute too :D
the great barrier reef showcase:
flatfish!
tussling octopi (they were really rough):
then we saw it. the central exhibit. the whale shark.
mr sting ray says hi!
these fish swim with their jaws wide open.
alvin's really excited about seeing sting rays (and then manta rays after that).
me too!! XD
big gorgeous thing. :)
we can see the seals frolic under water (we're 2 floors below by now)!
haha sunfish look dumb.
'whaaa...??'
MANTA RAY (alvin's favourite)
it was kept separate from the whale shark by a net. maybe they tend to attack each other, i dunno. there was a very nice viewing gallery for you to watch the manta ray and whale shark swim their circles while they played grandiose music softly in the background. very nicely done.
the music reaches a high point!!
alvin turns into a little boy again:
and then he's contented. :)
hewooo i love youuu...
sardines:
cuttlefish:
the whale shark's belly:
i still cannot get over the fact that it's HUGE:
it's feeding time:
the manta's really excited about feeding, hehe:
turtle!
dolphins again, but underwater view now:
LUNCH:
BAI, SEE YOU AGAIN:
aiyah, so chubby. *pinch*
the thickness of the acrylic glass between us and the fish:
the jellyfish section:
GFP JELLYFISH!
and after about 2 hours spent in the dark, THERE WAS LIGHT! i almost stepped out of the place but i followed a staircase up where i could hear something like a show and children squealing... an otter showcase? OOH I WAS RIGHT! AND MORE! WE CAN SEE PENGUINS AND TOUCH THE STING RAYS! YAY! hehehe. think it's for kids, actually.
alvin's totally happy right now, can you tell?
aww that was great!!! after chuu bought her photo for keepsakes, we left for the gift shop!! you know, in japan somehow gift shops are pretty great shopping spots coz things are cheap and all their knick knacks are so creative!
outside, i went gachapon mad and got the best run of gachapon ever - i turned the machine 5 times and none of the items were REPEATED!! AND I GOT THE WHALE SHARK AND MANTA RAY AND OTTER!!! XD
inside the souvenir shop, chuuling bought some hanging fish that she could place in a tankful of water so that it looks like a mini-aquarium, AND I BOUGHT THE CUTEST OTTER I'VE EVER SEEN OMIGOSH WITH TEENY EARS AND...
i was playing around with hanbin and he, as usual, was being retarded so while my hand was in the otter puppet i punched him. it emitted a squeak. O_O
'I'M SOOOOOO BUYING THIS.'
doesn't this remind you of the seal in mother garden?
hanbin's confused.
small seal big seal.
the osaka seaside:
bye kaiyukan... :(
alvin just stopped in his tracks, LOLed and snapped:
'it is strong in time, and it is gently to time tough at time.'
???????????????
well, it's time for lunch at shinsaibashi. i love this place: IT'S SHELTERED. and all types of shops, small shopping, disney store, big brands like lesportsac and agnes b, bakeries... I LOVE IT.
grand afternoon tea:
we were looking for a particular udon (YOU MUST HAVE UDON IN OSAKA) shop listed in the osaka book that ingrid lent us:
IT WAS EASILY FOUND!
it's like an ikea concept. you can collect tempura or random food stuffs before ordering your udon meal. me and chuu caught on right away while the guys were like 'WHAT DO WE DO??!???!?!?!' hehe.
mine:
alvin's:
chuu's:
hanbin's:
wow it was such a good meal. cheap (about what, 600Y only?) and satisfying. *pats belleh*
now for the disney store! for more disney stuff! (disneyland and disneysea not enough laaa)
i am an ugly stepsister BECAUSE I HAVE LARGE FEET.
i almost died laughing at this.
HOW FULL OF AWESOME IS THIS??! HUH? HUH??? EVERYONE, MEET MY FIANCE:
then we headed for a cosmetics store and bought a whole load of gel eyeliners, thin eyeliners, coloured eyeliners and mascara. YAY.
and then suddenly it's the end of shinsaibashi and the start of dotomburi! extremely recognizable by the GLICO MAN!!!
we also passed by soemon-cho, but didn't have time to explore the place:
dotomburi is super well lit - very bright.
hehe i went in and bought some breast pudding. FOR ADREAN!! wahahahahaha. there's something about sisters who keep buying this for their younger brothers... hmm.
alvin went straight to this:
alvin was posing here at the smaller glico man (see the time, it's 19:59)...
... when it suddenly exploded into the glico song because it does that at every hour. alvin kept repeating, 'HAHAHAHA WHAT THE SHIT? WHAT THE SHIT?? HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!'
hanbin and his takopachi hat:
BONITO FLAKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
giant puffer fish:
ramen... which we didn't go for YET.
we made a right turn into a separate alley full of shopping and we saw a pet shop full of kittens!!! another reason why i love japan is because there're more cat people there. :D so happy. hanbin was completely hypnotized by a kitten that kept jumping into the glass to try to get to him. AWWWW!
then, chuuling spotted a REALLY cute skirt and we headed towards the shop. the shop owner bargained with us a little, so chuu went to try the skirt on.
while she was changing, the shopowner said, 'ME, JAPAN. YOU?'
'singapore! :) er... here... okonomiyaki?'
'AH! ah-no...'
he pointed straight, then he used 4 fingers on each side of his face to make a very very funny and cute impression of a crab.
me: 'kani?'
tensho: 'AH, HAI! HAI! ah-no...'
then he made a right turn with his hand, and paused for very long, then said, '50... minute.'
at my shocked face he retracted, 'AH! METER. METER!'
i breathed a sigh of relief. so i repeated everything in action. walking, crab impression, turn right, walking... he also gave me the name but i forgot!! danggit!
well, chuu didn't buy the skirt, but we made it to the okonomiyaki shop in the end.
here we are! tremendous load of sauces that we can add onto our okono:
not okonomiyaki:
alvin and i shared our yakisoba because we still wanted some ramen. my goodness the yakisoba has no huang mian taste!! PASS!!
hanbin's and chuuling's:
hanbin's mesmerized by the hypnotic movement of his bonito flakes:
after our half dinner, alvin and i went to si tian wang to have part II.
mine:
alvin's, which was the much better one:
after dinner we could walk no more! so home we went... we saw namba hips!
carpe diem's garden at night:
burrito boy:
posted by feline @ 8:50 AM
