Japan Trip - Day Two in Osaka

When we were walking around to search for food, i discussed with dad about how many steps we had taken today. We calculated that we had walked about 15000 steps! We went to a lot of streets today, and all of them are a sight to behold! First, we went to Kuromon Ichiba Market. It is a market which sells vegie, fish, poultry, food, household items, flowers and et cetera. We bought some food a long the way. Tried their Takoyaki, fresh soymilk which is the strongest flavoured soymilk i have ever tasted, Negima Kushi, fried squid, flour balls with green tea flavour topped with crushed peanut, a bowl of taufu, fish cakes and other stuffs which were boiled with something, and smoked salmon which was very fresh. The market is quite clean and dry. If i have a market like this, i wont mind going there everyday!

Next, we walked along Omoro Nare street. The street was not really flooded with people but when i entered a fancy casino, i knew where they all went! I saw many old people gambling using pinballs! There were a few others along the road filled with old people too. Next, we reached Namba Street. It was a short yet beautiful street, lined with heavily decorated restaurants and other shops. We were actually searching for Dotombori. Along the way, we passed Ebisubashi street. Still lots of stuffs in it! Yesterday, i said that the Shin Sai Bashi street was like Petaling Street except it was much cooler. Actually, it is more like Pavillion where branded items are sold. This Ebisubashi street is more like PS as it sells cheaper items and more assorted ones. It is a very long street too. Ugh..actually i should not compare it to anywhere in Malaysia because the places in Japan are incomparable. They have everything and a lot of interesting streets to walk in. One of the most interesting among other countries. 

At last, we reached Dotombori after asking for direction. Unique street! Again, filled with restaurants which are beautifully decorated. After that, we walked towards the direction of Amerika Mura. The streets there are filled with American stuffs and things that depict America. Not really much at that place, but still interesting just the same. After that, we just walked randomly in all directions..whichever way that looks good because everywhere is worth looking. We passed some streets which look like a part of street in Melbourne. Nostalgic. After that, when we started to head back towards Dotombori, it was starting to get dark. Lights were lighted up everywhere and they were amazing. The colourful night in Osaka. Like the ones i saw before in tv. Passed through Soemon-Cho which is another tourist attraction. We stopped to enjoy the scenery on a bridge across Dotomborigawa River situated between streets where we could see the lights on buildings surrounding us. 

We had Korean food for dinner! :D Me ordered BiBimBap which was recommended by the restaurant. At night, we had a little session of drinking sake. This is my first time drinking and i detest it! It smells like thinner and tastes like thinner too! Anyway, i think sake is supposed to be heated up so perhaps thats why it tasted horrible because we couldnt heat it up. Ate sushi, fried squid, Takoyaki and strawberries with it. 

Thus ends my second day. Tomorrow we will be going to Kyoto. Will miss Osaka very much!

Japan Trip - Day One in Osaka

My feet hurts! And it is only the first day in Japan! :O i can barely stand at all now. Haha.

My flight was at 1am today and we reached at 8:15am Japan time. I was not really that excited as i should be before trips. Probably because i am not really a fan of Japan and also maybe the reality of going to Japan had not sunk in. But now, i am slowly accepting the fact that i am in this place! About time! After we got out from the Kansai International Airport, we went to search for our hotel in Osaka. During the process there, we met a lot of friendly Japanese. Despite not being fluent and some, not even able to speak any English at all, they offered help in guiding us to the right direction. Pretty good. Everyone here is very warm and polite. Especially those who are in service. On one occasion when we were in the train leaving the airport, the train operator, when walking through the coaches, simply troubled himself in bowing to everyone when he entered and left each of them, even when no one was paying any attention to him! Kinda impressive, to me, because if it was me, i would not even think it necessary! Japanese is Japanese. Anyway, seriously, it is really not easy for those who dont know how to read Chinese characters when traveling in Japan. They rarely translate anything to English, except the signboards at the train stations. We could not even find an English leaflet about the underground train.

We needed a little time to get used to the train system as there were many lines, in which some of the lines we were not allowed to take as we purchased the one day ticket Kansai Thru Pass. The ticket only provides transportation from the airport and anywhere that can be reached by subway.  But anyway, it is sufficient for us.

As i was too hungry until i could barely talk and not turn pale, we had our lunch in a classic Japanese stall called Yoshinoya. It is a small restaurant where you have to sit on high stools facing the kitchen to be served. I ordered a set which consists of peppered beef, smoked salmon, soup and rice. It was quite good.

After checking in at Sheraton Miyako Hotel, which is just right beside of the subway, we headed to the famous Osaka Castle in Chuoku. It is a castle built on top of a hill. It looks kind of ordinary, like a
temple only. Surrounding it are gardens and parks. Quite a relaxing place for those who want to take a break from the city. Indeed, i saw many old people strolling with their dogs or just simply enjoying the view. The place would be much more beautiful during spring as you can see sakura flowers everywhere. During winter, like now, all you can see are brown trees, trees with no leaves and browns. Quite dull-lah. Must come here again during the two-week spring when the sakuras are present! We bought ice cream on our walk back. I tried the millet cake soft ice cream which is a specialty from Osaka. Love it. Oh, one thing i like about winter is that ice cream will not melt easily even if you enjoyed it slowly. I just felt like i was eating ice cream in a fridge! 


So after that, we went to Shin Sai Bashi-Suji! Very cool place! It is a bit like Petaling Street back at home except, it is a thousand times more splendid! You can just see all kinds of shops. Girls will love this place very much. Hehe. We walked only half of that loooooong street and changed our course to another street called Soemon-Cho. This street is much much much quiter. Probably only during the day. Not at night tho as it is filled with pubs and bars and places where you can hire prostitutes and gigolos! Man, the gigolos are very handsome! Like those you can see on the screen! 

For dinner, we went to search for food in Hi Hi Town. Inside this "town", it is like a maze filled with cute little Japanese restaurants at every corner. At last, we went to one, which i dont know what name it is cuz its in Jap again. I ordered tempuras with rice. It is quite good too. Except, after the meal, i am feeling a bit bored with the bland Japanese food. On the first day! Again. Haha. 

After makan, went to walk around a supermarket called Harves. The place and the surroundings simply reminded me of Melbourne.

So, thats Day One. :)

P/s: sorry for no pictures. Next time!

You Are Special Card

Recently, Alice recommended Pinterest to me and it has got me hooked tremendously! I am just simply drawn to the Art & Craft section where websites that show crafty works are pinned by the members in Pinterest. So, wanting to try something out, i decided to make a card simply because it is one of the easiest to make and i do not have any materials except a few colour ink pens and papers.

Here is my first work!

I drew the outline first using a mechanical pencil.

Started colouring using the colours that i have. Actually did a mistake of the colour at the biggest love there. The colour combination does not look that good.

Continue colouring.

And colouring.

Draw the outline of the shapes.

Add on words! Here, I used Calvin and Hobbes font.

So this is it!
Hope you like it :)
Credit to JessWitty.

Two is better than one

A couple of days back, i found out that there are actually people, friends, who are waiting for me to post pictures in my deviantart account. I thought no one would have the urge to open that account of mine. So, because of this support, no matter how small it is, i have revived it again. Well, the reasons why i stopped updating were because i was busy with my semester and also it required me quite some time to navigate through my slow netbook. So, most of the time, i can only do it when i have ample of time, for example, now. :)

This is the first piece i have made in this new year. I have been wanting to do it last year because i just love the little windows on the rooftop. However, i didn't know what software to use for that black and white with a little colour left effect. Well, the brush effect is pretty crude though. Sorry for that and hope you like it anyway. :)

Blessed 2013

Today is the first Sunday of the year 2013. Today is also the day i finally am able to quiet down myself, lie back and reflect on 2012 and think of 2013. Well, for the previous year, i kind of gave up on making any resolutions but i think that maybe it is good to have one even if i may not follow it throughout the year. I figure, at least, it can provide me on where to start, to set my sails right. 2012 had been a really crazy year. So many bad things happened and also it was also a year full of amazing things. A boring, monotous year, punctured with excitements and adventures. A joyful year and also a year with many tears and pain. A year when i lost friends and gained new ones and loved ones. A year when i turned 21. Pretty significant eh? I don't know what 2013 has installed for me. It should be another challenging year. It will. But i hope that, at the end of everything, i would be able to tell myself that i have gone through it, whatever honey or crap, and arise a much better person. That i have learnt and taken a step nearer to understanding this life and to cope with it. By wanting to understand and be in tune, i have to allow myself to be involved. Not a person who is sitting at the bench, watching life goes by, but to be a person who is in the game. Hopefully this blog will help a little in keeping me on track. :)