There’s something about small lanes in Japan. Their lanes look lovely, often brighten up by pots and pots of flowers and colorful bicycles. It really makes you want to stop walking for a while and embrace the moment, admiring back lanes that are so different back home.

#1 Aren’t they lovely?

It was a rainy day on our third day stay and it created quite a fair bit of trouble for us.
Wet shoes in a very cold weather, we couldn’t explore much and we have to forego visiting Osaka castle.
Not visiting Osaka castle equals to not visiting Eiffel tower at Paris, more or less.

For our first meal, we went to Osaka Central Wholesale Fish Market for Endo Sushi.
Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market is very well known but if you’re at Osaka and not Tokyo, Osaka fish market is a really good alternative.
You can wake up at 4am, head over to Osaka fish market and witness the all time famous fish auctions but if you’re not willing to sacrifice few hours of sleep it is still worth a visit. Or multiple visits.

#2 While waiting in line to try out really fresh sushi.

Do expect a 15 to 20 minutes walk from train station to Osaka fish market.
To avoid waiting in line, do go before lunch time or after.
Endo sushi’s menu consists of 4 to 5 sets of sushi and for each set, there are five pieces of sushi available.
Each set of sushi costs 1050 yen which is fairly reasonable considering how good the sushi is.

#3

#4 Le mom and le aunt having some serious talk?

#5 The sushi were very fresh and tasty, we enjoyed it a lot!! It was the best sushi I ever had in my entire life so far!! Fresh, juicy, sweet, all in one!

After enjoying our sushi, we continued eating elsewhere.
We were just really random the entire trip, mainly because I find it really hard for me to read their address and navigate.

#6 Beef innards.

#7

#8 We then moved on to Sennichimae Doguyasuji which mainly sells kitchen related products for the aunties to shop around.

#9 And continued eating again after that.

My aunt did not really enjoy the eating part mainly because she’s not used to Japanese food and as for us, we ate like there’s no tomorrow haha.

#10 My mom insisted that she wanted to eat puffer fish sashimi or Fugu sashimi as the Japs called it but it wasn’t her first time. I guess she just really wanted us to try. Thank God I’m alive by the way because puffer fish if not prepare right has the ability to cause death with it’s tetrodotoxin poison.

#11 One of the must eat in Osaka besides takoyaki and okonomiyaki is kushikatsu. I wanted to buy this man home (in a keychain form) but it was too expensive! T_T

#12 Kushikatsu is actually fried food in sticks (very different from tempura) and you eat them by dipping into a sauce that’s provided on every table. The rule is to only dip into the sauce once.

#13 It’s a great snack for light eating, fried to perfection and the sauce tasted salty with a tinge of sweet and sourness in it.

#14 Too-funny-to-be-ignored-statue. It was raining the whole day so I was really tempted to buy their plastic see through umbrella but I figured it’ll be too much of a hassle for me to bring back home. Rain eventually stopped too and what happened next was a lot of Japanese just leave their umbrella on benches everywhere on the street.

So what I did was to pick up a free umbrella and brought it home. HAHAHA CHEAPSKATE SIAL!
Sometimes I cannot believe what a cheapskate I am but a thrifty lady makes a good housewife you see.

#15

#16 Three of us; petite, skinny, and short but eat like monsters wtf.

I once ate a bowl of beef noodle and then ordered another plate of chicken rice from the stall beside and finished everything by myself. If it weren’t for the genes from my parents, I would’ve become a freaking giant by now. Sometimes I scare myself wtf.

#17 At about nine, we met up with Ian and his wife and they brought us to a hot spring near our accommodation. Vending machine for towels and other necessities.

#18 Took this picture when the place was closing.

The sections were separated between female and male and all guests are require to strip of naked before going into the designated area.
I know these are very common in Japan but it was a very embarrassing moment for me!
I really don’t go naked in front of anyone and I believe most people don’t just go naked randomly either so it was quite nerve-wrecking for me. I can only go naked in front of one person WTF hahahaha!

It became even more embarrassing when I have to be naked in front of my mom and vice versa seeing her naked.
Thank God I’m a petite so I can actually block whatever that is needed to be block with the face towel I purchased.

You can choose to stay indoor or dip yourself at their outdoor hot spring and I find it quite enjoying to do it in the outdoor area when the temperature was really cold.

#19 That’s how you’re suppose to shower after all the dipping, sitting on a small stool.

Although embarrassing at first but it turned out to be really relaxing and a place like such in Japan is a must go!

#20 Ended my night with a bottle of milk before packing up my luggage.

#21 If you’re a person who couldn’t stand cold like me, heat pack is a must to cold places! For few ringgits a pack, it’ll keep you warm for about 12 hours and I’d say I was glad I bought those. One is for you to keep your hands warm, just place it in your pockets and another is for you to stick on your chest or wherever. You can buy these heat pack here from travel stores.

#22 Alas, Tokyo Banana given by our host to us as a gift. How sweet. The flowers on banana looks very appealing and cute but I don’t know how it tastes like cause I gave mine to Fatty. I don’t eat banana. :)

This is the end of my very short but delicious Japan trip. Japan is such a nice place I’m sure when I get the chance to explore it with Fatty, we’ll have the time of our life.

Another city marked off my world map, life has never been better in my travel chapter.
And it’s just gonna get better and better. :)