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March 12, 2018March 11, 2018

2017 Japan Trip – Day 8

Day 8 is another day when we plan to maximise our JR Pass and we have planned to visit Hiroshima and Miyajima. I added these two places in our itinerary not only for its distance, also we wanted to try Hiroshima’s style okonomiyaki. And while there, we might as well visit The Great Torii at Miyajima. Initially, we had planned to spend a night at one of the ryokan in Miyajima; however it just didn’t work out with our overall itinerary. So, it would just be a day trip then.

Day 8

We started today early again hoping to have enough time at Hiroshima and Miyajima since the last ferry service from Miyajimaguchi is 4.10 pm. We took the shinkansen from Shin-Osaka and the ride was about one and an half hour to Hiroshima. Hiroshima itself is a fairly big station, and once we exited the ticketing gates there are many “Hello Hiroshima” volunteers. These people will help tourists for directions and how to get to points of interest. As we must have been so easily identified as tourist, one of these volunteers helped us out with directions to go to city centre and recommended an okonomiyaki restaurant in the area.

We took an electric railway ride as per our guide to Hatchobori and from there we walked around the area using the Google map. We could not find the recommended restaurant, so we ended up going into one restaurant that seemed pretty busy with locals. Must be a good sign, right? We tried two types of okonomiyaki here and both were really good. They were different to the Osaka style, in which they have loads more vegetable here plus they are not served with mayonnaise although you can always ask for it if you want to.

From here, we walked to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, a designated UNESCO World Heritage site since 1996. It was a nice park as are many other parks in Japan, but seeing the Atomic Bomb Dome was really something. How the whole city was completely destroyed during WW II and look how advanced it is now, is amazing. Gotta admire the dedication and discipline of the Japanese! The park covers massive ground and it will easily take hours to wholly explore the area, which we didn’t have such time for. So, we took the free bus back to the station (note it is not free per se, but is covered by JR Pass).

From there, we took a train ride to get to Miyajimaguchi station and headed to the ferry wharf. The ferry services between Miyajimaguchi and Miyajima is frequent and served by two ferry companies, namely JR and Matsudai. The ferry ride was only 10 minutes each way and here we are at Miyajima. You would be able to see the Great Torii from the ferry ride towards Miyajima.

We happened to have only about 2 hours in Miyajima to make it to our reserved shinkansen back to Osaka. In that short span of time, we could not possibly able to do much in Miyajima. I had wanted to take to cable car to the top of the hill but that would not be enough time for this. So we only explored the market and walked to the beach nearby The Great Torii. It was low tide while we were there so the base of the six pillars of the torii are visible. Had we spend the night at Miyajima, I’d love to come by early in the morning during high tide to see it floating on the sea.

Anyway the market were busy, there are a lot of stalls selling Miyajima’s most popular snack: momiji manju and oyster. Momiji manju is maple leaf-shaped cake with various fillings, such as red bean paste, matcha, blueberry, cheese, custard and few others. Some stalls even sell deep-fried version of this cake, which we didn’t get due to the long queue. Oh, you will not miss a giant wooden rice paddle in the market as well. At first, I wasn’t sure what is the paddle supposed to be, was it an oar or something else. Then when I read some travel stories about Miyajima that the city is well-known for its rice paddle. So, you’ll see many stalls selling mini rice paddles souvenirs here as well.

What we ate on Day 8

Because it’s going to be a fairly long ride to Hiroshima, we got some ekiben for breakfast in the shinkansen. Shin Osaka has massive options of ekiben and all them looks delightful! I can happily buy one each day and will never get the same one for maybe few months or even a year. I find the kids ekiben more interesting for the packaging and had hoped to get the Hello Kitty one, but sadly they were not ready yet.

pork cutlet sandwich — Pork Cutlet Sandwich – ¥842 (with a oack of Matcha Pocky that forgot to take picture of)

What else to have than the famous Hiroshima style okonomiyaki while in town? We forgot the name of that famous okonomiyaki place in Hiroshima and for some reasons just Google search just failed us. In the midst of all confusion, we saw this restaurant that many locals went right in. So, we gave up on going to Okonomi-mura and instead came here.

We tried one of the original and the other with udon, both with pork. The udon one is a little too heavy and for that we prefer the original one better. In general, okonomiyaki here is really loaded with vegetables as you can see in the video below – it’s quite different to Osaka style. Our okonomiyaki was tasty and full of flavour, it is already rich without having to add mayonnaise. Although if you prefer it with mayonnaise, they can also accommodate the request. Total spent for lunch was ¥2,400 and that was super filling!

These are what we bought at Miyajima market:

grilled oyster — Grilled oyster skewer – ¥300

miyajima maple cake — We bought eight of these momiji manju with different fillings: matcha, custard, and chocolate. Custard is definitely the best despite we both love matcha generally. These taste best when they are hot and the soft custard is still gooey – delish! Total spent ¥720

As for dinner, I was still aiming to get the Hello Kitty ekiben, and thankfully when we got there, I got one of the last two left! Mission accomplished, yay 🙂

And hubby got another okonomiyaki from a shop close to our AirBnb.

Takoyaki and Okonomiyaki from Jazz & BLues Octopus Cafe – ¥1,300

March 10, 2018

2017 Japan Trip – Day 7

Today is the first day we activated our 7-day JR Pass. Since this pass does not come cheap, we really need to make sure we get a good return on it. So, our schedule for Day 7 was going to Himeji Castle and Kobe.

Day 7

Since we have activated our JR Pass, we aimed to ride mainly on JR covered transportation modes. So instead of riding subway which is closest to our AirBnb, we walked to JR Namba and thankfully it was not that far especially with the underground shopping streets leading to the station. It also helps with staying warm walking underground than on the street during the cold windy morning or nights! Oh I also have to mention one of the ladies room near Namba Station even has a little space for powder area with chair, how thoughtful right??? I mean ladies would really appreciate this, you can do a bit of touch up before or after work in a comfortable space without worrying your stuffs got wet from the sink.

Himeji Station is quite big with a shopping mall attach to it. I saw some nice clothes here and considered buying them, but at the end I regrettably did not 🙁 Because the castle is visible on exiting the station, we could just follow that road leading to it without the need of google map. Along the street, you will see many cute Himeji mascot displays. The roads are wide and clean, also not too many cars – I totally love this place. I guess if you follow my Japan trip posts, by now you can deduce I like smaller and less busy towns than the opposite 🙂 I find its calm and peacefulness are what make them so attractive and perfect to wind down from your hectic working days.

Before came here, we already agreed not going inside the castle and would instead walk around the park outside of it. And we were content doing just so. In saying that, the castle is really something, it is grand and looks amazing. Hubby said he likes Osaka Castle better as part of it was covered in gold and makes it looks grander. Himeji Castle, which is one of national treasures and world heritage sites, is elegant in its white appearance. Apparently this castle has survived wars, earthquakes, and fires – it was never destroyed like many other castles in Japan.

Upon taking pictures of the Himeji Castle, we headed back to the station to catch another train to Kobe. We should have taken a shinkansen to Shin Kobe, but instead we had taken another train to Kobe Station. Only then we realized it would take another 30 minutes of walk to get to the restaurant we were heading for. Another mistake we made was we did not reserve a table ahead of coming so were told it was already fully booked for lunch. We then went to another restaurant, and thankfully still be able to get in.

shopping arcade Himeji — Somewhere in Himeji 🙂

After the delicious Kobe beef lunch (っ˘ڡ˘ς) we made our way to Shin Kobe Ropeway. Do not forget to claim the Kansai One discount for the cable car ride should you have the card, costs us ¥2,240 for round trip. The ten minutes long ride was well worth the price, the aerial view from above was wonderful. Half way through, we’d be able to see Nunobiki Waterfall, albeit not from up close but still breathtaking.

But, the highlight was the garden on the top platform. On the View Rest House with heavy theme of European village, you can find souvenir shop, fragrance museum, a little cafe and a tent with art workshop. As you walked pass the clock tower, there the rose garden and a concert hall at the back which boasted magnificent view. We did not walk down to the Glasshouse, but reading on reviews it seems like a really pretty place. Also, in here you can get stunning view of the Kobe city with its port and ocean background. I imagine it would be even more magical at night time with all the lights up. The cable car fee is actually cheaper at night, so if you happen to be in Kobe during night time you might want to give this place a try 🙂

Coming back down from the ropeway, we were on our way back to Shin Osaka. Because we only tried to reserve seats on the last minute, the only available seats was two hours away. So, bear that in mind to reserve seats earlier to avoid such situation especially during peak hours travel or high season.

Back in Osaka, we went right back to Dotonbori again for dinner, which we had planned for ramen night. And that was all for Day 7.

What we ate on Day 7

We bought some fried fish cakes at Himeji, they were yummy but unfortunately were cold unlike ones we bought outside of Ginkakuji Temple.

Various fried fish cakes – can’t remember what flavours we got there ¥498

Canned milk tea that we got from vending machines near Kobe station.

We actually thought this was plain milk, turned out to be milk tea, yummy ¥100

And, the highlight lunch we had been waiting for: Kobe beef! Since we could not get a table at Steak Aoyama, we ended up going to Steakland Kobe. We both had the Special Kobe beef steak set each, that includes special soup, grilled vegetables, salad, bread/rice, and tea/coffee/juice. The cook showed everyone on the table the piece of meat with certificate before started slicing and cooked. And yes, the meat was so tender and delicious – absolutely worth the price (total: ¥10,960). Tips: come here during lunch time for a more economical meal 🙂

And for dinner, we ended up at Kyushu Ramen Kio. This small ramen bar was almost full when we arrived together with a big group of international students. Thankfully they managed to get us a table right away, yay. These were what we ordered (I really can’t recall the exact name now):

Black garlic chashu and Deluxe chashu – ¥2,080

As for dessert, we decided to queue for the melon pan at Dotonbori, the one that always had a super long queue. Since tonight is our last night in Osaka, we thought we really should give this a try. It was good! Crispy pastry and rich ice cream, so fresh and delicious! No wonder this little van always busy.

March 1, 2018February 28, 2018

2017 Japan Trip – Day 6

After a really fun day yesterday, on day 6, we only wanted to go to Nara for half day and spend the rest of the day in Osaka, maybe Tsutenkaku tower, Den den Town, Shinsaibashisuji Shopping Street. And finish off the day with a proper okonomiyaki from one of the restaurant in Dotonbori 🙂

Day 6

When I first did our itinerary planning, I wasn’t sure to add Nara in our list. Having seen many people say how nice Nara is and that it could easily takes two days to explore the area; my initial thought was exclude Nara this time. Maybe we can save this to our next Japan trip. Then I saw few travel bloggers who did Nara in half day, went only to the major temple and they seemed to have lots of fun regardless. So in the end we decided to include Nara for half day and if we like it, we could come back again next trip.

Our trip to Nara started with a train to Nara Kintetsu station. There are two major train stations in Nara: JR Nara and Nara Kintetsu. Nara Kintetsu is more popular due to its closer proximity to some major tourist attractions in Nara also more economical than JR train.

Honestly, I just totally forgot to do some research before came here. I just assumed it will be a one big temple with a park and many deer. Now that I am doing this post, I just realised we had missed out a lot!!! That’s what happened when you go unprepared 🙁 Arrghhh anyway, there shall be another time.

On exiting the station, we mainly just followed where most people were going which was to Nara Park and Temples. As we walked towards Todaiji Temple, we passed some parks and saw many loose wild deer on the street! Most of them just mind themselves, they approached you only when they think you have food for them. There are a few stalls that sell shika senbei (deer crackers) for ¥150 per bag. We did not but any, just tried to be invincible to the deer and avoid being chased heheheh

As we came here without research, we didn’t know what to expect of Todaiji Temple. Worse, we only explored the outer area of the temple without knowing there are many other buildings within the grounds. That’s because even the outer area itself was already massive. We passed the Nandaimon Gate guarded with two huge fierce looking wooden statues aka Nio Guardian Kings. Apparently these statues with the gate itself are designated national treasures. Then we walked along the pathway and spotted the museum which was closed then. I have no idea why we could have missed going inside the Big Buddha Hall (Daibutsuden), considering this is the world’s largest wooden building and that is despite it is now only two third of its original temple hall’s size.

We then walked back to the Nara Kintetsu station for the arcade just next to it. Filled with many restaurants and shops with Nara’s deer-themed souvenirs, it’s somewhat a consolation over what we just missed out. From there, we walked to JR Nara which from memory was a bit of walking over many blocks of buildings.

And here we are back to Osaka, got off at Tennoji station to walk to Tsutenkaku. We walked past Keitakuen Garden and Osaka Tennoji Zoo before getting to Tsutenkaku, where we also had lunch at. Next destination was Den den Town, the well known geek culture and electronic district of Osaka. We walked in to few stores as hubby was looking for some action figures to add to his collection. As we were heading back to the AirBnb, we also passed Kuromon Market, which is an absolute must visit for foodies! The fresh seafood and varieties of food were so overwhelming, I’d absolutely love to go back here again.

View of Tsutenkaku Tower from Keitakuen Garden

We rested a while at the AirBnb before went back to Shinsaibashisuji Shopping Street for some window shopping. Then back to Dotonbori again for dinner and that wraps up our day 6 🙂

What we ate on Day 6

Before we went to Japan, we always said how those roasted sweet potatoes that you see in Japanese comic books or manga looks so yummy and that we will have to try these. But ever since we arrived in Kansai airport, we have not seen one of these at all anywhere we went. Finally spotted one street vendor near Nara Park and we just had to get this. It tasted really tender and sweet, perfect for cold days and one more thing to tick off of our list.

nara roast sweet potato — Roasted sweet potato ¥900

We had our lunch in Shinsekai district, near Tsutenkaku and there were so many kushikatsu restaurants. Since we had tried Ganso Daruma at Dotonbori branch last night, we decided to try somewhere else for comparison. After considerable browsing, we decided to try Yokozuna Tsutenkaku mainly for its stand-out food display. Instead of getting the set menu kushikatsu, we picked ones we wanted to try. They tasted pretty good and on par with the ones we tried last night, maybe served slightly less hot. We also tried okonomiyaki and that was not great but not bad either. The stew, we think Ganso Daruma’s one tasted better. While we were there, a table of four students ordered a massive plates of takoyaki and looked really good – I would have done that too if not for saving my stomach space for something else later 😅

yokozuna tsutenkaku — From top left clock wise: pineapple mocktail and beer, kushi katsu, okonomiyaki, and stew – Total ¥3,381

These were what we got at Kuromon Market. We got to try the sashimi sushi which were devine – the sashimi was so fresh and smooth, they practically melt in your mouth. In the same shop we also got the sliced melon and this too is delicious, super juicy and sweet.

kuromon market sushi and melon — Sashimi sushi and cut melon at Kuromon Market – ¥1,048

Then we noticed this grilled scallops and decided to join the queue. Did you notice the size of those scallops? The meat was fresh, plump and tender – so good!

Kuromon market grilled scallop — Grilled Scallop ¥500

At Dotonbori, we finally got to try this charcoal grilled crab. We noticed this stall yesterday but it was too crowded and today at least it has not been that busy yet. This huge piece of crab leg did not come cheap, but considering the size and it was meaty and sweet, is well worth it.

Originally we planned to try the famous okonomiyaki at Mizuno but once we found the place and saw how long the queue was, we went to its neighbour instead, Kyo Chabana Dotonbori. The restaurant was about three quarter full when we got there and we ordered groza, okonomiyaki and yakisoba. Everything we ordered was a delight, loved them all. It was fun too watching the chef prepared the food, the service was great and we had a good time here. We were glad that we did not wait over one hour for a similar meal next door!

kyo chabana dotonbori — Gyoza and Pork Okonomiyaki, also Yakisoba with dancing bonito flakes (below) at Kyo Chabana Dotonbori – ¥2,690

Lastly, some dessert to finish off today: Pablo mini matcha tart and Purin from 7 Eleven. We tried the Original Pablo few days ago and this time we tried the mini tart version. We love the mini tart better, the crust is thicker and more crumbly than the original one; which is my favourite crust texture. And we also got purin from a nearby 7 Eleven, and that was yummy – the slight bitterness of caramel is a great contrast to the sweetness of that smooth custard flan. Do anyone else amazed with Japanese convenience stores? 🙂

7 11 purin — Purin from Seven Eleven ¥150

February 26, 2018April 23, 2018

2017 Japan Trip – Day 5 Universal Studio Japan

Day 5 is the second most exciting day for me, because we were going to Universal Studio Japan. I could not remember when the last time I went to a theme park, must have been over two decades ago. So, in this Japan trip I just had to go to both of its most well known theme parks namely Universal Studio Japan and Tokyo DisneySea!

The USJ tickets were bought from Klook as they worked out cheapest at that time. Since we thought we only had such limited time there, we decided to get the express pass 7 standard as well. This express pass works for these following:

Harry Potter and Forbidden Journey in 4K3D
Flight of Hippogriff
Despicable Me Minion Mayhem
Space Fantasy – The Ride
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man – The Ride 4K3D or JAWS
Hollywood Dream – The Ride or Backdraft; and
Jurassic Park – The Ride or Terminator 2: 3D

We got to USJ around 8.15 am for opening time 9.30. It was so cold that morning with light rain that then developed into heavy rain in the afternoon. Back to the time we arrived at USJ gate, there were already fair amount of people lined up outside the gates. We should have bought some breakfast to have while waiting for opening time. And another mistake we made was we did not bring umbrella or rain coat knowing that it was going to rain that day!

As the gate opened and mostly everyone ran towards Harry Potter area, as did we since our timed fast pass for the ride was 10.30. It was amazing, the walkway, that blue car, the buildings, the locomotive, and of course the castle. Everything was so pretty and mind-blowing, I kid you not! We tried to line up at 10 and were told to come back at the designated time. So we went to Jaws instead where there was no line whatsoever and that was also really fun albeit getting wet pants 😁

After that we went back to Harry Potter again for our fast pass and this time we joined the fast express queue right away. The ride was in Japanese, so we did not understand the conversations – but if you watch the movies or read the books, you’ll get the gist of it. It’s a nice ride with just enough adrenaline kick, not too much and it was short too, before you know it, you are already back to where it started 🙂 After Harry Potter ride, we went pass the locker room to get our belongings then passed the souvenir shops where they displayed our pictures taken during the ride, in case we wanted to buy it. Then we were going to queue for the Flight of Hippogriff. I personally thought this mini roller coaster ride was over hyped as it was super short!

While in here, we also went for the Ollivander’s Magic Wand and that was really cool!! Another highly recommended attractions, queue up if there is not a long line. There are so many photo spots in the Harry Potter are so make sure to spend enough time here.

We bought ourselves a cup of the famous butter beer and they only had a hot version while we were there. It was good, a little too sweet, such a contrast to the salty buttery foam on top. I read on many reviews that the cold version tastes better and less sweet, unfortunately we didn’t get to try and compare them.

Next, we walked towards Jurassic Park and as we were walking, we could hear loud scream came from the that roller coaster. Hubby said no to that ride right away so we did not try that. Instead we walked to Minions area and that was uber cute. If you love minion movies and think they are cute little buggers, you’ll be so happy here, I guarantee. Because our allocated time for the ride was still few hours away, we ended up at Spider Man Ride. I enjoyed it too, and thought it was a nice ride with all the amazing effects. Again, fast pass proved to be really useful here.

Not too far from here, was the Space Fantasy ride. Not knowing what this is, we just queued up and used our fast pass again. I actually love this one, the decor was so pretty. However the ride itself gives you more a lot more adrenaline kick than Harry Potter one. I totally enjoyed it, while hubby on the other hand just couldn’t be happier when it finally came to finish hehehe. And he just said enough after this 😅

And finally it’s our Minions ride allocated time, yay! It’s also when it started raining – but even that rain hasn’t dampen people’s mood; with or without rain coat/umbrella. I guess that’s the power of great theme park, right? Minions ride turned to be our favorite ride at USJ. And even with fast pass, we still waited at least a good half an hour here. But, it was so worth the wait and we absolutely recommend getting a fast pass for this ride.

For express pass (6) we chose Backdraft which we did not enjoy and a little boring for us. As for express (7) we chose to do Terminator 2 and it’s an OK show just a little too long on the intro. And final show we did was Shrek’s 4D Adventure – this also was really nice. Mostly all the attractions at USJ are in Japanese, so that’s a little difficult for non-Japanese speakers to understand. But then again, for most of them you can just really enjoy the ride or the shows for the effects without having to understand it.

Another must do at USJ is having dinner at Three Broomsticks and Hog’s Head Bar. Try to get here after dark and find a seat on the outside to enjoy your meal with a light show on Hogwarts Castle. We both think this is a must do and magical.

To summarize our day 5 at USJ, here is the order of attractions we enjoyed most to least: Minions, Harry Potter, Jaws, Spider Man, Shrek or Space Fantasy (depends on who you asked 😋), Terminator, and lastly, Backdraft. The Christmas carol was amazing, though we missed the first part of the choir. And light show at Hogwarts Castle is also another not to miss attraction in here.

We left USJ around 8 pm and went to the 7-11 shop just outside of the Universal City station to get tickets for Doraemon Museum. Then of course we stopped by at Dotonbori again for more food before headed back to our AirBnb. A very fun day being kids again!

What we ate on Day 5

Most people would agree that theme park experience will not be complete without the theme park snacks, correct? Here are the food we had at USJ:

harry potter hot butter beer — Hot butter beer – ¥750

USJ turkey leg — Chicken turkey leg – ¥880

usj minion bun and churros — Minion’s chocolate banana churros and Minion-shaped meat bun – ¥1,100

While it rained cats and dogs after the Minion’s ride, we went to Parkside Grille Restaurant for lunch. It was a very nice restaurant with beautiful interior and Christmas decoration at the time. We both got the Aging Steak Set that includes salad, steak, soup, dessert and tea/coffee @ ¥4,000 + tax. The service was incredible so were the food, highly recommended if you want to have fine dining style meal in USJ!

parkside grille Corn Potage and Clam Chowder — Corn Potage and Clam Chowder

parkside grille Chef's Salad and Aging Steak 125 g — Chef’s Salad and Aging Steak 125 g

parkside grille dessert — Banana tart with vanilla ice cream and Caramelized apple crepe with vanilla ice cream

A quick dinner at Three Broomsticks while enjoying the light show at Hogwarts Castle is a must. Whilst the food itself was not outstanding, it was not bad either and it was part of the experience.

Then we went to Dotonbori for the famous kushikatsu at Ganso Daruma. This tiny restaurant was jam packed with diners and there were even queues outside after we finished our meal. We’d suggest to visit the branch near Tsutenkaku for less crowd. The kushikatsu were deep fried to perfection each piece and served piping hot – they are absolute delightful to our taste buds 🙂 we’d love to go back for kushikatsu again!

ganso kushikatsu daruma — We ordered Combo C for 15 skewers and a beer for hubby – Total ¥2,948

February 20, 2018February 19, 2018

2017 Japan Trip – AirBnb in Osaka

When looked for an AirBnb in Osaka, I was not sure where to begin with. Unlike for Kyoto where I already knew I wanted to stay close to Kyoto station for easy access to everywhere. However, in Osaka I didn’t think we’d like to stay in Umeda area closer to Shin-Osaka. The other option would be Namba area which is arguably the liveliest part of Osaka. And finally, we just decided to be close to Dotombori for one and only reason: the street food! And it is in walking distance to Namba station as well, which is within the Osaka Loop line.

The main confusion for me to decide which AirBnb to go with was there are three Namba stations in the map: Nankai Namba, JR Namba, and Namba subway. And being first time visitor, I just could not get my mind around how it works and which would be the most useful one. As it turned out the AirBnb we stayed at was closest to Nippombashi subway station and also in walking distance to both Nankai Namba and JR Namba. So, our AirBnb in Osaka actually turned out to be in a great location.

My first communication with the host was to ask about the pocket WiFi and washing machine availability. The host, Taka, responded promptly and confirmed both are provided in the apartment; even unlimited data on the pocket WiFi. Communication with Taka had been easy and we found no issues with that. He even let us dropped our luggage before check in time (3 pm). He also provided a document with instructions to get to the apartment from various stations. Also in the instructions is how to get the apartment keys from mail box. I printed out the instructions and found it to be very useful as they are detailed with actual photos of buildings/streets.

The apartment building is located very close to Dotombori, but not that close that the noise would bother your sleep. It’s actually very quiet inside considering there are few bars and restaurants close by. Once we got back to the apartment after got lost in Umeda, we found it had been nicely cleaned. Taka even left us a bag of croissant with few packs of instant coffee, it was very kind of him. We found everything we needed in the apartment, there was even facial wash in the sink/vanity area.

The Apartment

The apartment is actually a really good size, with two single beds plus another sofa bed. It is definitely bigger than the AirBnb we stayed at in Kyoto. I find the mattress to be softer than my liking, but fortunately it had not given me backache. We had good night sleeps here and wake up refreshed every morning.

The bathroom is typical Japanese bathroom, a separate room for toilet and bath. We love the bath tub and had a good hot bath every night after all day walk was a bliss. The water pressure and hot water worked fine, we had no issues during our stay.

Generally, the apartment is very clean and in good condition. Under the bed was a little dusty, but it had not bothered us much, can be easily wiped off with the floor wipes provided in the cupboard. That would be the only complain we had if we had to be picky. Apart from that, everything else worked well, all the other amenities provided was more than enough during our stay (soap, shampoo, hair conditioner, washing detergent). Taka even provided shoes/clothes deodorizer as well as umbrellas (which we should have taken with us to USJ). Oh more importantly, the building has a lift! Such a relief we did not need to drag the luggage through stairs 🙂

I would definitely recommend Taka’s apartment if you like to stay close to Dotombori or if you are first time visitor to Osaka. This apartment is in walking distance to many markets and easy access to various stations as well. On top of that, the host had been really easy to deal with and answered to queries promptly. We were grateful for his hospitality during our stay in Osaka.

And here is the link to our AirBnb in Osaka.

If you are new to AirBnb, get AUD50 off your first booking by registering using this link.