Malay set meal

We had a workshop the other day and they provided us lunch. Old town's Ramadan set meal that came with a gula melaka ice kacang dessert. This is the first time I had such a meal that came with all these combinations and also a first taste of lekor. Lol...guess I'm not very malaysian yet.

七夕祭り

今年も七夕パ−ティがありました。初めて茶道を経験しました。面白くて楽しかったでした。

Choc obsession

I really shouldn't be taking in so much choc especially at this hour but I can't help it.  Kekeke.....

Osaka castle

Without wasting anytime, after our trip to the bay, we immediately headed to tanimachi-4-chome.

On the way to osaka castle from the station we passed by the NHK building.

No idea what this is but it looks interesting....

Beautiful sakura....

Wish I could see this every day.

So picturesque

Look at how much area the castle covers!!!! And we both actually walked around the entire castle in 3 hours!!

Aoi sora

Nice cafe......

Everything looks so pretty...

Entrance to nishinomaru-koen which is once again free, thanks to our 2-day pass.

Pretty proud of this picture that I took because it looks good enough to be on a postcard! ahahaha.....

Ppl booking their spots for hanami!

Food stalls selling street food~

Everything is so clean even though there's so many people because they clean after themselves well. Something that we should learn from~

So romantic~ taking wedding pictures with sakura in the background! 

As much as I dislike toilets like these.......these were pretty acceptable because they were much cleaner that what I'm used to here.

Off we go towards the castle~

Met a bunch of really friendly ojiisan there.....who helped us snap this pic.

 

And told us to take picture here because this is one of the few big stones around the castle!

Whee~ finally~

The expo capsule~ learned about this in jap class! Truly happy to see it in person~

A nice ojiisan brought his cute little birds out to play~

No pictures inside the castle......where we climbed 5 stories up just to get this view! Entrance to castle was covered by the pass once again.

So happy when we finally reached the top because there were so many people inside~

After enjoying the view from above, we walked back out to look for food.

As the background is so beautiful, every picture that we took there looks amazing.

See the sakura petals floating on the clean water? Everything looks so serene there.

We must've gotten picture of the castle from all sides~ hahaha....

Yay~ finally reached the stalls!

After nyom-ing, it was time to move on to our next destination......Umeda, where we rode on the Hep 5 ferris wheel~

So pretty~ I seriously can't get enough of the castle during the sakura season~ 

It was a long and tiring walk around the castle, but it was worth it. The weather was perfect, sakura was in full bloom and it was our first time there.......not sure if I would still walk around the entire castle again though. hahahaha.....

Taking trains in Osaka

I really took a lot of trains this time round. 

One thing I realized is that all the platforms look different. Well of course, since they are of different lines and companies. Plus the platform and also differ depending on whether the train is underground or above ground. 

Underground platform. More common in the city, e.g Namba area.

Above ground. This one was taken at the bay area. See that little 'box' there? If it's too cold outside, you can sit inside to wait for your train. I guess it works the opposite way during summer.

People usually queue up neatly behind the yellow line. At busy stations there will be station masters telling you to queue in 2/3 at behind the line to make the queue shorter.

Then when the train arrives, please move to the side to avoid blocking others.

One reason why you will never board the wrong train. 

I think it is quite impossible to board the wrong train in Japan. With this you will know the train type, whether it's a normal train or limited express, where it is headed to and the time of arrival. Usually if there is anything out of the ordinary, the notices can be found there too. If something is late or stalled for even just 30 seconds, a notice will be out.

Chairs for your to sit while you wait for your train.

To make the ride more pleasant, there are signs everywhere in the train and even through the PA system.

You can usually hear:

1. Please stand behind the yellow line as the train is approaching

2. Please make sure you do not leave any of your belongings on the train

3. Please silent your phone so that you do not disturb others

4. Please do not block others

etc......

Good manners = Pleasant ride

Well, ppl are usually either reading, sleeping, sending texts or playing games on their phone in the train. I think they have mastered the art of sleeping while standing and maintaining balance.

There are also announcements asking the passengers to totally switch off their mobile phones or other similar devices. I think I hear it every single time I get on the train. At first I was confused, but according to Keio's website (http://www.keio.co.jp/english/manners/), it is because they may interfere with the pace makers especially at the priority seats area. 

erm....this one says it's illegal to do anything pervert.

Be careful of the moving doors.

I find it amazing when there's a woman in super high heels who can maintain her balance, without holding onto the railings, while I'm like holding onto the railing super tightly. Such good balancing skills~

Then there's also these sign boards and maps

Thanks to this, you will never have to get lost in Japan! Conveniently located at every station is a sign board that tells you where to exit depending on your destination. And once you exit, you will find a map to tell you your exact location so that you can navigate to your desired destination.