|
||||
|
We woke up in the morning and it was a pretty good sleep actually. We had the privacy of having the room to ourselves and the bed wasn't as small as we thought it would be. Sure, it was a double-decker bed but it was still considered comfortable. They gave us two sheets for covering the bed with and a case for the pillow. I took the lower deck because 1. I wasn't too fond of the upper one 2. I was afraid I would fall when I was sleeping 3. My friend was used to sleeping on the top deck. In the beginning, she thought that I would want the upper deck because I have not slept on one before.
Since we did not bathe the night before (it would be almost 1 am if we did and if we had to dry our hair, someone might come out of their rooms and whack us.), we took one in the morning. It was my first time taking a bath in a shared bathroom! You had to press a button for the water to flow and had to press again when it stops. It's just like the taps you see in some toilets. I didn't really like that but it was ok. I went into an empty bathroom but realised I had left my soap outside. Therefore I went to retrieve it, and saw a woman in her bra with a towel wrapped around her waist who wanted to enter the bathroom, thinking that I was finished! I was pretty shocked, but still spoke to her normally... After I was done, I waited for my friend outside the bathrooms. I met a guy who was waiting for an empty one. He was a British and had been in Japan for some time. He and his friends were medical students. We spoke a bit and then my friend came out of the bathroom after some time. So began our adventures in Osaka! We talked a bit to the reception people and they gave us a map of the surrounding area and some tips on sightseeing in Osaka. We were planning a trip to Shitenouji but Ken-san told us it would be better to go the next day for they had a flea market! Somehow or other, we planned our itinerary and left, wondering what Osaka would be like. First and foremost, we had to get some breakfast. I was pretty hungry, for I did not really have much for dinner. We passed by a Mister Donut when we first came and therefore decided to try one. One thing about the donuts, there is such a large variety of them! I was pretty stunned to see the amount they had. In Singapore, the variety of donuts we get are the different coloured sugar coating they use and the different toppings they put on them. They pretty much taste the same, the only difference being the type of toppings they use, eg fruits, Koko Krunch etc. However, Mister Donut in Japan has a large array of donuts, and some of them even use a different kind of dough. (Now Singapore confectioneries, you know why you can never ever beat your Japanese counterparts! Even though there is some kind of a donut craze in Singapore now with stores selling donuts popping up everywhere, they are just... I would rather ask my relatives to buy back Krispy Kremes for me.) My friend chose a traditional one with icing sugar while I opted for a special one that had chocolate added into the dough! We chose the cheapest ones however, for we are backpackers. Backpacker Rule #1: Do not spend unnecessary money. We skimped a bit on breakfast so that we can have better stuff for lunch. Here's a pic of our breakfast!  We sat in the store for that was how it was served to us. It was only 2 donuts anyway and we could finish it in no time. We finished our donuts and started on our journey. We were told to follow the JR Train line which was above ground to get to Osaka (大阪) station. Backpacker Rule #2: Always walk if you can save money. Because we were not using the JR line for our journey, we did not want to spend the money buying a ticket to get to Osaka station because it was only a stop away from Fukushima station. So we walked, trying our best to follow the tracks. We weren't sure at first and stopped many times to check our surroundings. Then we walked into a sheltered walkway that had many restaurants and it was pretty cheap too! I thought maybe we could eat in one of them some time. And then we found ourselves just opposite Osaka station! Yayy! The sign was GARE Osaka, which was some shopping place near Osaka Station I think. Osaka Station is huge, and there is an Umeda (梅田) Station near it. Umeda Station is on the Midosuji (御堂筋) line, the main line if you want to visit the shopping areas in Osaka. It is coloured RED on the city subway and tram lines. We decided to walk around the Osaka-Umeda area first because it is also a famous shopping district with many departmental stores. But first, there was something we needed to do: Buy a pass! There is a pass in Osaka that allows you unlimited use of the city subways, tram lines and buses. However, it is only valid for the Osaka city area and only for a day. It is very useful for travelling to far places, visiting many places in a day or when you are lost! It even provides discounts for tourist attractions! It is called the 一日乗車券 and costs 850 yen. On Fridays, it is called the No-My-Car-Day Pass and costs 600 yen. (Who cares about the bad English, the pass is useful!) However, referring to Backpacker Rule #1, if amount you would be spending on transport would be less than the amount you have to pay for the pass, do not get the pass. We calculated the amount we had to spend on transport on another day and we did not get the pass, for we only spent about 440 yen. But if the discounts on the attractions offset the amount you would have saved on transport if you did not get the pass, get it! Backpacker Rule #3: Always calculate and plan on how much you spend. Every single cent counts for a backpacker and planning and calculating carefully can lead to sizable savings and these savings would come in handy for your omiyage! Labels: backpacker rule, osaka |
|
|||