maples and mochi

Published on 08/03/2013 on nsmz

Assalammualaikum

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

-written before formative one, hence the word 'revise'-

Instead of revising, I decided to do a post on some of my recent travels - late 2012 and early 2013. It's okay, I call this 'taking a break'.

Around November 2012, I was given the chance to visit the Land of the Rising Sun.

I'm going to act like this is a travelogue, so this post would be exceptionally long but please kindly bear with it. Hah.

All praise be to Allah. We arrived in Osaka in the morning and went to the hotel. The hotel offered various services and facilities which includes Wi-Fi, business centre, free hot drinks at the lobby, pyjamas and much much more.

As it was not the check-in period yet, we dropped our bags and went to our first destination which was the Floating Garden Observatory aka Umeda Sky Building.

How lovely it is to be finding one of my favourite things of Germany- Weihnachstmarkt

For sightseeing, the Osaka Unlimited Pass for 2 Days came in handy. The pass entitled us for unlimited use of trains and buses on top of free admission for 28 tourist attractions, as well as other privileges at 14 attractions and roughly 40 hotels, shops and restaurant.

When buying the pass, we received a rail map showing which line to take and where to alight for sightseeing.

The OUP was (and is) definitely worth it. We managed to save a few thousand Yens.

Moving on to Number 2 on the list of 28 must-visits was the gigantic HEP-Five Ferris Wheel. A good rest after wandering around trying to find the Observatory.

Next was the Osaka Museum of Housing and Living, where the late Edo Period of Osaka is stimulated for tourists to experience. The setup felt very familiar, it was as if we slipped in time. For those who love Kimonos/Yukatas, you could put one on free of charge and wear it while you venture in the museum. We also witnessed a magnificent minute-by-minute transition of day to night Osaka.

The fee would have been 600 Yen. It is a bit tricky to find the museum, and there was not any English sign either, so I am sure that this detailed instruction will come in handy.

From the station's Exit 3, go through glass doors to the left of the escalator and take the elevator to the 8th floor.

((Hey keep in mind I'm pretending that my blog is a travelogue so don't laugh at the above statement))

This museum was and is my most-favoured. I'm so glad we made it here, it was so easy to overlook the museum.

So that sums up this post.