Osaka & Kobe (Day 3 -->One Day in Kobe)

19th September 2011

First thing in the morning, we checked out from the hostel and went to train station to go to Kobe Sannomiya 神戸三の宮. Since 5 of us would stay in Sannomiya that night, we went to the hotel to put our bag, while others found locker in the train station to keep the bag.

Kitano Ijinkan was near the hotel

Kobe signal

First, our plan was to go back to the train station to take bus to go to Kitano Ijinkan 北野異人館 (an old foreign residences area). However, as we walked towards the hotel, we found out that the Ijinkan was not far from the hotel. So, we decided to just walk to the Ijinkan because it would be nearer than walked back to the hotel. Then those still in station took bus and met us there.

After reaching the area, we found out that the entry tickets was expensive. And there were lots of foreign residences open for viewing. Then, we decided to go to the famous one only. We went to the Weathercock House, a former Thomas Residence. Maybe I was not a architecture person, I did not think that this has any special significance. This was just an old western building, frankly, it was around the same with the 'Glover Garden' in Nagasaki. Then, we went to Moegi no Yakata 萌黄の館. A former American ambassador, Sharp Residence. Also so so only. Felt the money wasted. But for those that like this kind of buildings, maybe they will enjoy themselves.

匣の中の失楽(a novel by Takemoto Kenji 竹本健治)

I found this novel in a book fair. I was quite piss with that so called 'international Chinese book fair" which claimed to offer a variety of books, and blah blah blah. Most of the books were about finance, self-help, classics and many translated book in Chinese. The choices were not much, and it really did not ignite my interest to buy. Even the collections on Romance were bad. I really regretted that I took 2 hours bus ride and then took LRT to KLCC for this. Wasting my time and money. So, to feel that I achieved something, I brought this Japanese Detective Novel by Takemoto Kenji. It was translated into Chinese by one Lim Min Sheng 林敏生. Quite expensive compared to the books I brought normally, it costs me around RM40.

匣の中の失楽

After that, this book remained in my possession for quite some time until I ran out of book to read on the way to work inside the train. So, I started to read this.

Osaka & Kobe (Day 2 --> One Day in Universal Studio Japan)

18th September 2011

Since the USJ will open on 9pm, we slept until quite late, just in time to catch the train to USJ. While in the train, there were a lot of parents with children. All happily waiting for USJ. Some kids already wore cartoon character clothes and hats. When we reached there, there were a lot of people queuing up to buy tickets. Luckily for us, my friend already bought the ticket in Osaka Station. We just waited in another queue to get inside, skipped one queue. Once inside, I quickly grab a bottled drink because I was out of supply, it was so expensive, it cost 200 yen per bottle. No wonder I saw a guy brought a big bag full of bottled water.

Universal City Station

the big globe

this ticket was bought from JR counter in Osaka station

exchanging the ticket on the left for this USJ ticket

After went inside and took a photo with the big globe, we rushed to the "The amazing adventures of Spider-man - The Ride", our first ride. There were long queue already. However, there were 9 of us, so we kept talking, so it was not boring. Inside the Spider man building, there were a long hall way for people to queue. There were mock Peter Parker's office and all things related to spider man. I particularly like the quotes from Parker's editor, sound like most bosses anyway. The ride was ok, but the effect was awesome, well in my opinion anyway.

Osaka & Kobe (Day 1 --> One Day in Osaka City)

17th September 2011

Since 19th September was holiday.  One of my friend planned a trip to Osaka and Kobe from 17th to 19th September. To go to Osaka from Kumamoto, Shinkansen cost around 18000 yen. Although bus was cheaper at 8000 yen. I was not ready to take night bus and it would take 10 hours. So, after much searching, 3 of us took flight and it cost us 14000 yen. We took ANA airline.

Our flight reached Osaka Itami airport at 9.05am and we took monorail to Hotarugaike 蛍池. It was so expensive, it cost 200 yen for 2 minutes ride. Then, took another train to Ikeda 池田 using Hankyu Takarazuka line 阪急宝塚線. After that, we waited inside the station for other friends from Tokyo. After we gathered, then we walked to Instant Ramen Museum. Entrance was free. The main attraction was that you can custom made your own cup of Ramen for 300 yen. Inside the museum, there were explanations about how the inventor Momofuku Ando 安藤百福 invented the first instant noodle. The first instant noodle flavour was 'chicken flavour'. There was an animation about how Mr. Ando created the first instant noodle cup, it was very funny. Other than that, there was a wall full of instant noodle cups, ranging from big, small, round, square, cute, colourful, etc. Then, there were footages of the old advertisement for the instant noodle, so cute! However, the funniest thing was to custom made our own Ramen cup. First, need to pay 300 yen, then a cup will be given for you to draw on it. After that, choose the flavour you want, there are a lot of ingredients to choose from. After that, queue up to have the cup vacuum and packaged. The most difficult part was to draw on the cup, I was a very bad painter. Among all our friends, my cup was the worst. So, I decided not to keep the noodle cup as a souvenier and ate that as a breakfast the next morning. After a tour of Instant Ramen Museum, we decided to skip Osamu Tezuka Museum 手塚治, a famous Manga artist in Japan due to time constraint.

Dolls sold as souvenier in the Instant noodle museum, so cute!