Travelogue: Osaka, Japan

what is it about travelling that makes everything more beautiful? everything seems brighter. everyday things seem new, curious. you observe small things you would otherwise have ignored day to day. it's like seeing the things around you with different eyes.

also, cloaked in anonymity, and confident in the fact that because you are a tourist, any mild eccentricities will be overlooked and will not be immediately filmed and uploaded onto Stomp for all of Singapore to judge, you feel braver. freer.

even the shrubs look greener. okay, maybe i am exaggerating a little.

this lady, along with many others scattered around the park, was doing a watercolour sketch of the pond and greenery. in the sweltering heat. sitting in the middle of a mosquito nest that was the park (i got bitten only about 201 times, and i still have the scars to prove it). hence the long sleeves and pants and hat and gloves i guess.

we saw this cute little family was picnicking in the park. they each had a little cartoon-printed sitting mat, and cute bento boxes. again i repeat, in sweltering heat, although i guess it was a little cooler in the shade...

the largest and juiciest peach i have ever eaten in my life. it's from wakayama, and cost about S$7.50. we wanted to buy some back, but we couldn't find any supermarkets in our last couple of days there.

i wonder what this is called in english? or japanese, for that matter. the kanji written on the wooden ladles (奉納) is pronounced ほうのう (hou nou), and means offering, so perhaps it is a ritual of sorts as a sign of respect? basically, you scoop some water with the ladle, rinse your hands, then take a sip. but please note whether there are signs indicating that the water is safe to drink or otherwise.

what caught my attention is the fact that the paper lanterns are wrapped in plastic.

四天王寺 - shitennoji

i like road signs; it makes me think of travelling

cute souvenir charms at tsutenkaku tower. one thing about japan is there are souvenir charms for sale almost everywhere. particularly at tourist spots. which, isn't very special you might think, because it's typical in every country. except that you actually feel like buying them because they're all SO CUTE. okay, maybe it's only me.

view of the city atop the tower. the sun was actually only shining on certain areas, like a huge spotlight, although it's not very obvious in the picture.

the typical tourist photo

串かつ (pronounced kushi ka tsu) initially we had no idea what this was, 'cause we saw tons of shops with this written on the signboards, without pictures. so for dinner, we decided to randomly enter one of the shops. actually no, we were convinced by a lady touting that there was a promotion going on in her shop and that a 100 yen (S$1.54) per skewer was a good price.

basically kushi 串 means skewers, and ka tsu かつ means cutlet...i'm guessing together it means something like fried skewers? yes, my japanese is marvellous.

and i loved the skewers. i love fried food, although i do try not to eat too much. they had so many choices, i felt like eating all of them. the ones pictured are (from left to right) sweet potato, lotus root, quail eggs and prawn. they have like mushrooms and scallops and stuff topped with cheese too.

朝日ビル (asahi beer) to go with the skewers.

something about these food shops. we ate at several throughout the trip. the standard thing about them is that they tend to be shophouses with tiny shopfronts. tables are closely cramped together to fully utilize space, and the second level tends to be air-conditioned. so be prepared to smell like the food you ate for the rest of the day/night. and also, people are allowed to smoke in the shops.

so imagine me, cigarette-hater, sitting in the midst of all that second-hand smoke trapped within a small shop. not that i complained or am complaining. the first time we realized it, we were a little surprised, but it's just their culture there. i just tried not to breathe too deeply. but i went to these shops several times, as i said, 'cause they do have nice food.

And this is outfit post of the day, although you can't really see all of me. The kushi katsu mascot is so adorable though, isn't it?

Striped top - from KL; lace skorts - Wufenpu in Taipei; sandals - CharlesandKeith; bag - Guess; weaved hat - Shihlin in Taipei