Kuromon Market (黒門市場) & Aizendo Shomanin Temple (愛染堂)

Arrived in Osaka, freshened up at the girl's place in Shin-Imamiya and off we go to Kuromon Market~!

Website: http://kuromon.com/en.php

We came across this store that sold sea urchin and had a long queue, so we decided to join them too!

We ordered the most expensive sea urchin at 2000yen and most expensive scallops at 800yen each,

For the uni or sea urchin, we got to pick the one that we wanted and the person will open it up in front of us, while removing the guts. As a shell only has like 5 pieces, he will topped it with more sea urchin from a box.

Here's our freshly frilled scallops. Kinda pricey actually~

At there market, there are many stores selling fresh food

Spotted this huge oden pot and had to try some~ The lady there was sooo cute, she was like, ours is the best! 

This sushi stall was just nearby and as we were queuing , we spotted something that we wanted to try!

Look at the amount of freshly prep food~!!!

Out oden which consists of daikon, yaki chikuwa, and fish cake! That daikon is soooo delicious!

This beef is also from the same sushi stall. Nicely seasoned and juicy~

This is our 3000yen sushi~ My favourite is the tuna because it just melts in your mouth!!

Ooo.....what a zeitaku breakfast!!!!

Snap all the pictures we could since we spent so much! hahaha....

After breakfast, we walked around the market and I spotted some really interesting fruits. This here is the red kiwi which I've never seen before! Would love to try them if I could find them in my local supermarket.

Premium strawberries~

Premium white strawberries that I've yet to try!

After Kuromon market, we wanted to visit the nearby Owl cafe but unfortunately, it wasn't open, so we went to Aizendo Shomanin Temple (愛染堂) instead.

Website: http://www.aizendo.com/

I read about this temple in an article online. It was recommended that those who are seeking for love to come and pray~

We prayed hard for love <3 May God bless all of us~

This here is a very old pagoda behind the main temple.

Group pic with Amanda who met up with us there

Lol~

Another group pic before we head for Tsutenkaku

VIP Liner bus from Tokyo to Osaka and Osaka to Tokyo

Booked a night bus with VIP Liner to Osaka from Tokyo.

VIP Liner: http://vipliner.biz/

This is the Tokyo VIP Lounge, located at Nihombashi, which has sofas and tables where you can charge your phones.

Tokyo VIP Lounge: location

Once you arrive, you are required to check in by keying in your phone number on the stations located at the counter and you will be provided with a detail of your travelling details. 

So as you can see here the bus that I am taking is called the Grancia. The bus departs at 10.15pm and arrives at Namba at 7.15am.

There's this cute little robot at the lounge~ You can see this quite often at shops around Tokyo.

At the lounge, you get free flow of miso soup....

....as well as tea and coffee!

Blanket to keep me warm on the overnight bus ride.

As you can see from this pic here, there are 2 seats on each side of the aisle, with a curtain separating the two adjacent seats.

My comfy seat~

There's TV and even a game console~

If you want to read, there's lights too, You can control the air conditioning too.

Overall, the ride was very comfy and I managed to get some sleep. This bus does not have a toilet but fear not, they stop almost every 2 hours at a rest stop. While no announcement were made, I can tell when the bus has stopped and parked. If you are unsure, just wait to see if there are anyone getting off the bus.

For my return trip to Tokyo, I booked with VIP Liner too. They have a lounge in Osaka too called Osaka VIP Stand and this is what it looks like. Slightly smaller than the Tokyo one but it's sufficient. Same thing, when you have arrived, don't forget to check in and just wait for the announcement for your bus.

Osaka VIP Stand: location

My TV, no game console this time....

Dinner with ex-colleagues

Met up with ex-colleagues from 6 years ago in Yurakucho for dinner~

Lol, I feel so old suddenly!

Felt happy and blessed to meet them again. I would never have thought that one day, we would all meet again in Tokyo. Also, I gotta thank them for treating me to dinner.

The top is an appertiser that we got with burdock, carrot and konnyaku.

We had fried potatoes and omelette with mentai sauce, which was really good! The egg was fuwa-fuwa and went sooo well with the mentai sauce.

Some yakitori~

Deep fried tofu with minced ginger~

Fried squid which was super yummy~ My favourite dish of the night!

And, sashimi~!!! 

After that, we went to a nearby bar for our nijikai.

Also, A san was really nice. He remembered that my B'day was a few days away and prepared a B'day present for me! :D

Autumn Hallowen

Working on a weekend and we had to dress up!

I bought my red riding hood costume online and was happy that it fit me perfectly~ If I were to gain any extra weight, I don't think I'll be able to wear it again.

Here are some pictures from that day.

Hopefully, I could still use this next year as it's pretty pricey! hahaha

Can you guess who were they dressed as?

After that, I was so hungry, I rewarded myself with sushi before heading out again in the evening for ym hair appointment.

I also got a kakiage as a snack!

This is the outcome after dying and cutting my hair~

Don't think I've ever had my hair this short in the last 20 years.

Overall, I'm satisfied as it gave me a fresher look~

:)

本家(ボンガ/BORNGA) 新宿職安通り店

Another lunch date with Pat at 本家, Shin-Okubo.

Website: https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1304/A130401/13189601/

Our meal came with 4 banchan and a soup. My favourite is the radish kimchi in the black plate~ best radish kimchi I've had.

The first set of veg that we got was this huge platter of mixed vegetables. Some we felt were too weird to eat raw, so we placed them on the grill.

The soup was served cold and it's slightly sourish.

We ordered 2 sets of beef and a set of pork. This here are the beef. We thought that we would be able to grill the beef pieces by pieces but apparently not, as the waiter just placed the entire stack onto the grill for us each time! hahaha....

As the cut was really thin, the meat cooked really quickly.

I really like the beef with the kimchi, wrapped in lettuce.

While the banchan were refillable, we had to pay to order more vegetables. This time we ordered only the lettuce as that was the best!

The pork were good too. I like that they gave us lots of garlic, so we can enjoy the meat with grilled garlic as shown below. Lol~ probably a little too much, but it's sooo good with the meat!

After that, we shopped around Shinjuku area and parted after Pat shared her amazing drama like story on how she and her bf got together. 

So happy for her~ 

Hearing her story gave me hope too! heehee....

According to Pat, "If we believe, it will happen!"

2017 resolutions

2017 resolutions

1. I will build a career that I am pasionate about

2. I will learn to control my emotions and not to be affected by others easily

3. I will make many sincere and honest good friends

4. I will work hard to improve my health