Osaka ( Day 5 ) - Rest & See

Breakfast shop.

After some hard walking for the past few days, Wei informed us that we would be resting today as we would be doing only light travelling for shopping and for some light sight seeing in Namba,Osaka. 

We started out in the late morning by going to Kuromon Market and by this time, the market was abuzz with shops and people. It was interesting to see a young man and an elderly man skinning the fugu fish ( poisonous puffer fish ) with such deft skill and knife skills. There were also BBQ crab legs and other seafood around. Oysters, sea urchins , baby abalone,  scallops and fishes were abundance for sale and for eating. It was an interesting experience indeed. 

Some of the ladies starting going to the JPY100 shop to get some souvenirs and so on. I was just walking around knowing that I had nothing to buy and just wanted to enjoy the time spent there.

I remembered that we went to the Big C Camera Mall and checked out the mall. I had wanted to get a bottle of sake for a souvenir but I wouldn’t know which one to pick out. In the end, I ended up sitting by a bench watching the people pass by me. I realized that there is a lot of Filipinos in Osaka,Japan. They are either working or they are tourist. Yeah, there is just so many of them around here in Osaka.

Breakfast time..

Breakfast time

Fugu expert dissecting the meat from the poison....

While I was seated down at the mall, I also realized that there are a lot of Vietnamese tourists coming over to get some electronic gadgets from this store. I am not a genius but if I do my conversion right, it cost a lot of money to buy what they buy to be brought home. Out of curiosity, I had peeked out at one of the prices of a electrical item and there is a lot of JPY zeros and I bet you that it is going to be a lot of zeros too in that Vietnamese Dong of theirs too. I then walked around and headed to the liquor section.

I thought of getting a nice bottle of sake back home but I guess, I wouldn't know which one to pick out as there are just quite a few. Though they all seemed to look the same to me, I might as well not get any because I wouldn't know what is for what, actually. Hence, I decided not to get any. BTW, I had a peeked at the prices too and I am kinda stingy in that sense too. Yeah, I must admit that money don't grow on trees as far as I am concerned and so, I would like to be a little more thrify. I guess, I am not one who would splurged for anything but only after careful consideration. 

Crabs....

Crabs....

Live crabs...

Lobsters, cray fish and prawns

We were then off to Uemeda Sky Building somewhere in Kyoto for some sight seeing. It was Nippombashi Station again and then off towards Uemeda Sky Building. Upon reaching the said building, there seemed to be some sorta of a German/Russian fare going on. There were plenty of sausage stalls, beers, steaks and souvenirs for sale. We had wanted to go the 39th Floor of the Uemeda Sky Building but the queue was just too long and too crowded. We ended up walking around the building and the adjacent shopping mall. Yup, way too many people clamoring for some space to walk and to do their shopping. I guess, it was fun but I much prefer sitting by the water fountain ; seeing the crowd pass by. I find interesting to see the locals being in their element of relaxation on a weekend.

They do dressed up very nicely and cosy when they go out for shopping or just to relax. It is interesting to note ow well they dress up and fashionable they are. However, I have always believed that the locals lived in a bubble world of that perfection lifestyle and great expectations. I soon realised that they would have had a larger salary scale only to be killed in their cost of living. Older people are hardly seen in town but as one travels towards the country side, one would meet up with quite a few of elderly folks. This is really a fascinating observation on my side as I stood watch the people that day. Businesses especially food businesses are run by young people while even established stalls are manned by younger folks these days,

I realised too that Japanese women used a lot of make up and that;s why the cosmetic counters in the malls are usually full with women. I could hardly see any local women without having make-up on. BTW, the Japanese women looked good in make-up. You could not find any women in Osaka town without having make up on. Some form of foundation is a must while the No.1 language is Japanese while it was mind boggling to know that most of the local don't speak nor understand English. It is very hard to communicate about something when each do not understand the language.

However, the locals are proud of their own language while tourist and travelers do have a tough time communicating with the locals when it comes to places of interest and meals. The other that fascinates me is the use of bicycle in the city. You could rent a bicycle and cycle every where. There is a stipulated lot and bicycles are everywhere. There is law and order when it comes to rental of these bicycle and bicycles will not end up in someone's house like our Melaka bicycle system.

We then decided to get back and do some shopping at Daiso Store . This is a quite a store near the Dotonburi area. Everyone  was trying to get as much souvenir as they could but with JPY 100, it is quite obtainable. I managed to get some souvenirs ( magnet piece ) and I am happy about it. As usual, by 5.20pm,, it was already dark. Guess, by 5.30pm in the evening, shops would just start doing business especially the food business. Anyway, it was a leisure day for us and so we took it easy and went back after dinner and rested.

SLing and I had promised Ashley and Ryan that we would be in the hotel pyjamas and would take photographs together. That's what we did and after that, we just rested as we look forward for tomorrow program. It was an early night for all of us as we look forward to our next adventure........