Wandering WeeN: Japan 2012: Osaka Day 1 and Day 2

Reached 大阪 (Osaka), at a little bit before 8 am on the 21st June.

I picked 大阪駅 (Osaka-eki = Osaka Station) as my stop, because I thought it would be best to stop somewhere well-known and work my way to the hotel from there (yes as of that time I didn't even know how to get to my hotel yet!)

Was dropped off with some other passengers at the 桜橋口 (Sakurabashi exit) of the station. It was raining heavily but luckily the bus stop was covered since it was located beneath the underpass.

That was when I had another fml moment.

I actually walked inside to figure out my way but was SO overwhelmed by the number of people exiting from the station that I froze for a moment, and started flipping through my guidebook. Then I saw a map at the station and looked and..

..couldn't figure out anything.

I looked at the subway map and.. freaked out again.

I didn't even know where to go!

So I followed the crowd, crossed to the other side into a building, and looked for places for breakfast. Looking at Google Maps, it was showing that I was heading towards Umeda station (but not the subway line!) so I walked through the building, got to its other door and saw...

Buildings.

I freaked out, backtracked, and decided to settle in a cafe since my Pocket WiFi was running low on battery and the cafe was offering some nice breakfast sets.

Turns out the building that I went into was called 梅三小路 (Umesan Kouji), a mall.

morning set C with hot coffee for 430 yen, which is about RM17+ (that was cheap i thought, at that time -_-)

PRONTO IL BAR at Umesan Kouji is one of the chain cafes/bars of PRONTO corporation. Other cafes/bars are listed here.

Sat there for about an hour or two, had another cup of coffee (a large mug of Americano at 300 yen, which is about RM12+ ohlord so expensive haha i gotta stop converting to minimise heartache) before deciding that I had to get going.

I planned to drop by ヨドバシ梅田 (Yodobashi Umeda) before going to my hotel. It took me awhile to bravely move from the cafe. I decided to walked opposite direction where the bus stop is, and crossed into the station, since I saw a lot of people walking towards that direction. Was even asked by an uncle on how to get to 淀屋橋 (Yodoyabashi) but I apologetically said, "あ。。日本人じゃない (Ah.. I'm not a Japanese)"

It was a good call, because then I found out it was another bus stop for local buses, and then I saw that the station is actually huge, with ISETAN and many shops!

I found out that Yodobashi Umeda was nearby so I placed my bag in one of the lockers at the station.

Saw some signs showing the direction of Yodobashi Umeda but I thought of just following Google Maps. So I walked out a little bit, and saw that I needed to cross the road. Then I looked up and saw:

WTF. Such a coincidence. I thought it would have taken me some 10 minutes to get there or something. So to be safe I followed the signs and reached the building in a whimp!

WIN.

Was there to get something Pakwan asked me to buy so I didn't purchase anything for myself. But, to give you a jizz of what Yodobashi is for us Malaysians, it's like Low Yat Plaza. Or Digital Mall but with more stuff.

Floors and floors of electronic gadgets from laptops, smartphones, accessories for phones and laptops, books, CDs, cameras and their accessories, TVs, home theatre systems, watches, some branded bags and wallets AND even musical instruments!

There's even UNIQLO ok. And a floor for clothes. Sorry no photos I was too awed by the place and then I got hungry hahaha. So I went up to the floor where all the restaurants were at. There were Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Western so you'd be spoilt for choice, like I was. So I decided to have meat (and because there were too many people at the sushi restaurant I wanted to go)

Hamburg with demi glaze sauce and steak with Rush sauce (set C) which comes with rice and salad at 1,280 yen (I AM NOT GONNA CONVERT WTF) and draft beer (480 yen wtf I should just shoot myself).. mmmmmmmmm..

I love the steak cubes! The Rush sauce tasted something like wafu sauce, which I am a fan of. And the grilled veges were yum too!

Left, took my bag, and I can't remember how the heck I ended up in 梅田駅 (Umeda-eki = Umeda Station) LOL.

Thanks to reviews of the hotel, I found out that I needed to get to the 長堀橋駅 (Nagahoribashi-eki = Nagahoribashi Station) using the the Sakaisuji Line (brown) or Nagahori Tsurumi-ryokuchi Line (light green). So from Umeda Station, I went to 心斎橋駅 (Shinsaibashi Station) (red Midosuji Line) and got on the light green line. Was confused at Shinsaibashi Station for a moment, but I managed to find my way.

Walked towards Exit 2A and was at the one end of CRYSTA Nagahori, an underground shopping mall, when I realised there were so many exits and no signs of exit to my hotel. Using Google Maps, I roughly tried walking then I realised I've passed the hotel. Backtracked and decided to take the 北3口 (North Exit 3).

Walked up the stairs and was greeted with the sight of my hotel!

Sometimes I feel I got too lucky during my whole Japan trip that I scares me now thinking about it.

My third hotel in Japan is one of the Chisun Hotels - Chisun Hotel Shinsaibashi located in Minamisenba, Chuo-ku (Chuo Ward).

My room was a superior single non-smoking room as well, booked through Booking.com at got it at 4,900 yen (around RM200) for a night.

not much of a view because it's beside another building

As usual the room and the bathroom were small, but no complaints because I was very comfortable.

Dinner was at one of the restaurants at CRYSTA, おむらいす亭 (Omurice Tei), which serves omurice, or rice wrapped in omelette. Malaysian equivalent would be nasi goreng pattaya. ^^

salad and corn soup which came with my omurice set. i love the ごま (sesame) dressing! salad was simple but refreshing when paired with the dressing while the soup is full of creamy goodness! the good thing was both sides were served in smaller portions so that you would not be too full when you start on your main dish

this is really.. *ROLF* though i didn't ROLF when i had it with my omurice

my beef hash omurice. rice chosen was butter rice (the other option was ketchup). delicious when hungry especially the gravy but i think the butter made it harder for me to eat too much

Japanese coins. had problem getting used to them that i kept using notes. i remembered being so awed being able to purchase starbucks' drinks using just coins!

Retired to room, and ended the night with:

just gotta have it to sleep well

The next day, UVERworld Live Tour 2012 at Osakajo Hall day! ^^

breakfast

Checked out at around 11 am, and headed to Starbucks for.. brunch? LOL

Ah. I miss the mango pudding frap. And the scone was awesome as well. Didn't need any clotted cream or jam to go with it. From Nagahoribashi Station, I rode on Nagahori Tsurumi-ryokuchi Line (light green line) to Osaka Business Park (大阪ビジネスパーク) Station.

map at the Osaka Business Park Station

the long escalator up to exit the station

greeted by the view of the 大阪所 (Osakajo = Osaka Castle) Hall, which further excited me since I would be there that night

my hotel, which i thought was the only one at that area

Checked into my room at The New Otani Osaka at 2 pm. Very impressed by the service. The hotel staff are quite good in English so my check-in was so smooth. Even when they saw me walking towards the counter one of them immediately asked me whether I was checking in and directed me to the counter. There was even someone helping to escort me to my room!

No doubt this was the most expensive room I've stayed in during my Japan trip, as I thought it was the only one available in the area. Then I found out a fellow UVERfan's hotel was just behind mine -_-

Unlike the other four hotels, I booked this one through the hotel's website itself, because it was cheaper than Booking.com.

i think i didn't use much

bigger bathtub yay!

would you just look at the bed..too bad i was alone :'( #foreveralone

My Superior Double Room with a Queen-sized bed was on the 13th floor (!!!), having a view of the hall and the castle.

My bag from Fukuoka arrived safely. 宅配便 (takuhaibin = express delivery) service ftw!

you see? even wrapped up!

Had some food for teatime to fuel myself up before the show (wtf sounds like i'm the one having a concert pulak) of onigiri and this vegetable juice.

If you wonder why I bought the juice, I shall blame it on the advertisement of this drink starring AKB48 with Atsuko Maeda (google herlah!) as the lead. She looked so blur but cute (especially in that Gundam-robot-like suit) in the advert LOL and I was sold that the drink would be good for my stomach.

But look at my expression when I tasted it:

Honestly, it tasted like Brand's Essence of Chicken okay? Luckily my stomach didn't reject it or anything.

Then at night, it was one of the three nights to remember! :)

After the show, I went to look for dinner somewhere nearby.

showing at BRAVA! Theatre. the middle guy at the bottom acted in 家政婦のミタ (Kaseifu no Mita), starring Nanako Matsushima, who is also Takeshi Sorimachi's wife