is Japanese rice mixed with flavoured green-tea soup or hot water. Think of it as not-so-cooked porridge.
the toppings to go with the rice…
my first ochazuke
on a side note…the following type of kettle in Japan can be a little confusing, especially for first-time users. You need to push the lower white button on the left first and then the upper pink button on the left to get the water flowing out. I’m guessing the white button must be a child-lock or something. And the buttons are not always located in the same locations. The best way to not look like a fool with no water flowing out from repetitive pressing, is to memorise the characters. It isn’t that hard.
was worth it. Most fascinated by the forest, the nature. Well directed as demonstrated by the scene where Jake was to tame the Toruk. He jumped from his ikran onto the Toruk and the scene was cut to him appearing riding on the Toruk. There was no repetition of how he conquered the creature. It was just understood that the bond was sealed. Jake’s crippled legs also seemed very real…thin and abnormal-looking. The Floating Mountains looked a lot like a scene from Studio Ghibli’s Laputa:Castle in the Sky.
Favourite thing from Avatar is not one of the characters but the Woodsprites, seeds of the holy tree. Fascinating. Like glowing jellyfish.
Landed in KIX – Kansai International Airport. It wasn’t as modern as i had thought it would be, considering this is a newer airport. It felt a little like an airport in China. The current Beijing Airport is probably a lot more modern.
a toilet break after baggage claim and clearing customs
searching for the train to get to Osaka
Headed to the hotel but unable to check into the room yet because it isn’t 2pm yet. We were able to leave our luggage at the hotel though, which will be taken to our room for us.
Feeding time at a soba/udon shop a short walk from the hotel
after purchasing the ticket, you need to hand it over at the counter and tell them whether you want soba or udon. Learnt this from first hand experience. The first time at one of these soba/udon shops, i just handed over the ticket to the shopkeeper and walked back to the table. He waved for me to go back to the counter and placed 2 bowls of noodles in front of me. One containing some soba and the other containing some udon. It must be obvious that i am a foreigner. I got it instantly that there is a choice between the 2 types of noodles and we need to tell them our choice.
wandering around the Hep 5 area, waiting for check-in time
Namco City – entertainment centre
Fuasto Kitchan or Fua-kin for short. I don’t really know if the Japanese do refer to First Kitchen as fua-kin for short or it’s just a joke.
hotto kouhi at Pronto Cafe
finally able to head back to the hotel to check-in and rest for a bit after the hours of flying. The view from the room was great, considering it is a more of a budget hotel. Overlooking Umeda Sky Building.
the bathroom
the entryway
the room
from the window…
Umeda Sky Building at dusk
Ramen for dinner, a few shop away from the sobo shop earlier. The menu. Sometimes, it’s just point and find out, especially the ones with no pictures or display at the front. Fortunately this shop had displays at the front, so we ordered by pointing at the display instead of the menu.
walking to the nearest convenience store to get some refreshments and tidbits
stocking up on drinks as this machine sells 100yen per can which is among the cheapest we came across. Prices are normally 120-170 yen for cold drinks and 130-150 yen for hot drinks.
I find that Japan is quite a materialistic society in general. Look at the number of people inside.
what we got from 7-11…
product packaging is very well thought of in Japan. that’s probably what makes most of the things there so interesting to look at. this chewing gum for example…
there is a separate compartment for disposal wrappers for chewed gum.
Lost one of a pair of pom-poms on my dress today. Searched two levels of the Hep Five shopping centre, including the toilet and the fitting room in Uniqlo, in vain. It must’ve fallen off somewhere. The dress feels incomplete now. *sigh*
