Osaka, Japan (29 Jan-31 Jan)

Osaka has always been one of my favourite places to travel to. Sheer cleanliness, people who have a proper system getting in n out of the subway system and on escalators, quirky, innovative items, trendy fashion and vending machines that virtually sell everything!

And of course, (drumroll...)the land of the rising sells my favourite bags, BURBERRY BLUE label. As we know, the ubiquitous Burberry is sold at every civilised country imaginable. From what i hear, due to the high demand of branded goods in Japan, Burberry decided to launch a younger label for Japanese youths, hence the Burberry Blue label was born. The Blue label still retains its signature checks, however, the colours are more girlish and subdued compared to the original label. And of course, as the bags are targeted at youths, the bags are much more affordable; a large bag costs about S$360 in comparison to a regular Burberry Bag which can go up to S$1200!

A trip to downtown 'Numbar' is an adventure by itself. The unique little shops along the way promises fashionable wearable winter outfits, accessories,etc. E.g: If you are obsessed with tights, Osaka offers a wide variety, with many tights offering very intricate details such as lace at the bottom, ribbons at the side, etc. Sometime you ponder of a country that has so much tradition embedded in the work/social system, the residents certainly know how to express themselves fashionably, in comparison to us South East Asian counterparts.

This is not only confined to fashion ,but also product, and even packaging of food items. All you need to do is to browse down any shopping mall in Japan and you can find innovative household inventions by the Japanese that makes life so much more convenient. Even food is packaged so prettily, I had to control myself from purchase biscuits just because of its packaging! ( As I was saving up for my Burberry Blue Label)

The only drawback about Osaka is the language barrier. English is not prevalent here which prevents you from really enjoying Osaka to the fullest.

Should you have time to travel beyond Osaka, not too far away is Kobe and Kyoto. Kobe is the original land of Kobe beef. You probably read about Wagyu beef before ( esp with the opening ( And closing!) of 101 burger in Singapore). Kobe is the original founder the Wagyu. The cows are massaged frequently and fed with beer to make the beef extremely tender, hence is great taste and its greater price. Kyoto whereas is the oldest city in Japan, with many historical temples still around and of course, geishas ( Popularised by the book/movie Memoirs of a Geisha).

Ok, back to Osaka, a trip to Osaka/Japan is never complete if you never visited the 100 yen shop. Never has any of my friends and I walked out of the 100 yen shop with no purchases!. You never know what kind of interesting items you can get there all for the price of 100 yen (approx S$1.30 at time of writing this blog). During this trip, I bought a few pairs of fake eyelashes which hopefully one day, I would have the courage to put it on. :)

Our lunch and dinner in Japan was certainly nothing short of fantastic. You can choose a variety of soups ranging from fish, pork, chicken, all tasty and of course, wonderfully packaged. Outside the restaurant, mock/fresh ingredients would be displayed and packaged and arranged in bowls, plates similiar to what would be served inside to allow customers to visualize what will be served in the meal. To aid customers esp foreigners, a price tag is usually available at the side.

We ended our Osaka trip with an ice-cream fest in Baskin Robbins! The taste was somewhat richer in comparison to my last Baskin Robbin in Malaysia. We reckon that it was the fact that they might have used the local cow milk instead. Our trip to Osaka was certainly a blast and we look forward to another trip to Japan!