Japan 2023 Day 7 & 8: Osaka
DAY 7: 17 JUN 2023
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| Osaka castle |
It was our second last day of the trip and we decided to visit Osaka castle.
It was sunny and warm with clear blue skies above us!
The distance from the train station to the castle was quite far and we took close to 20 minutes to arrive at the castle.
Long queues were seen at the entrance of the castle.
To enter the castle, you have to pay an admission fee of 600 yen.
As we were disinterested in exploring the interior of the castle, we decided to hang around the perimeters instead.
As the heat was getting unbearable, we slowly made our way to Shinsekai!
We settled for lunch at a cozy shop called okonomiyaki usagiya.
Usagi refers to rabbit in English and the shop was full of cute bunny decors.
We were one of the first few customers and were seated at the counter tables.
Counter tables are the best as the chef cooks the okonomiyaki right in front of you.
Our okonomiyakis were left on the grill for us to enjoy while keeping them warm.
For the generous portions they offer, the prices were indeed affordable!
With our tummies filled, we moved on to explore Shinsekai!
There were so many interesting stores and signboards, both quirky and beautiful.
A mega Don Quijote was located in Shinsekai and we were all set to shop!
Although the mega Don Quijote is located only on one floor, there were so many items available!
From household items, beauty, lifestyle to food.
It's no surprise that we spent about 3 hours there.
My basket was filled with snacks, of course.
My mentality was "just buy, don't regret".
Some must-buys at Don Quijote are Ichiran instant ramen and premium hi-chew!
You can always get these in Singapore's donki, but you leverage on the good currency exchange rate by purchasing it here.
We checked out at the tax-free counter.
Do note that the cashier will seal the bags for tax-free items as you are not allowed to consume them in Japan.
The immigration officers may conduct random checks on the seals when you are departing.
As we bought a lot of items, the best decision was to return to the hotel and leave our purchases there.
Thereafter, we made our way to Dotonbori for more shopping!
Uniqlo and GU were places we had to shop at.
I purchased a jogger pants at Uniqlo and a white eyelet skirt at GU.
We also managed to get immediate tax exemption as we hit the minimum spend.
Shopping is best paired with good food!
We had the 100 yen coin along Dotonbori and Ichiran ramen for dinner.
We also had the famous Cremia soft serve.
I had the original flavour.
The soft serve was super milky and it was served in a biscuit cone.
So yummy!
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| Amanda's takoyaki |
How can we not end our trip with takoyaki!
Amanda and I shared takoyaki and it was so good!
And that was a great last night in Japan together (:
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DAY 8: 18 JUN 2023
We were due to return to fly back to Singapore with an overnight layover in Hong Kong.
As we had some time before our flight, we took a train to Rinku premium outlet which was near the airport.
The outlets offer a wide variety of brands and it is definitely worth a visit before heading to the airport.
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| Breakfast set at Yayoiken |
Before we checked out of the hotel, we decided to have a hearty breakfast at Yayoiken, a few doors away from our hotel.
I had the mackerel set which was so affordable and delicious!
Thereafter, we made our way to Rinku premium outlets.
There were many luggage storage options available.
As we were worried that those located near the outlet are fully utilised, we settled for the coin lockers located within the train station.
I got Champion tees for Zhi Sheng and I!
We also spotted a Tokyo milk cheese factory store!
The prices were way cheaper than that in Singapore and we just had to get some items home.
We purchased the cheesecake to share and a biscuit set each.
As we had a long layover in Hong Kong, we had the cheesecake as desserts in our airport hotel.
The biscuits were so good too.
Sadly, this marked the end of our Japan trip.
Japan will always be one of our favourite countries to visit and I can't wait to return!
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