THROWBACK: Japan Honeymoon 2016 (Day 1 & 2: Osaka, Instant Ramen Museum, Ikeda Castle, Dotonbori)

I know that it's been 2 years already but since I've just started writing again, I thought this is a good chance for me to blog about the honeymoon cos I spent so much time and effort in drafting an itinerary. I was over ambitious by packing our days to the max, probably only covered 50% of what I've set out to do, but I'm so proud of my work that I just had to blog about it. LOL.

So the both of us really love Japan, so it was kinda conclusive that we will head to Japan for our honeymoon instead of the popular Europe. (Till this day, I'm not sure if I ever wanna go to Europe. :X) So I recalled that a uni-mate once mentioned that Osaka is a super nice place. You can enjoy all the shopping that a city provides but at a fraction of the prices in Tokyo, and get some nature and history. I really loved historical and cultural stuff ~~compared to nature~~ so it was easy for us to pinpoint where exactly in Japan we will head to.

While I would love to take Japan Airlines again, SQ was having their 2-to-go promo, we went ahead with it and ended up paying SGD1,343.60 for the air tickets. Chose the SIN-KIX-SIN route since both of us were not keen to go to Tokyo. As for accommodation, I've always wanted to try AirBnB but DarHub was never keen. But the prices of hotels at Osaka are exorbitant and it was a compromise for him to stay in an AirBnB in Osaka and a hotel in Kyoto. But for a total of 10 nights, we still spent SGD1,708.61 just on accomodation!

The itinerary that I started planing probably 6 months in advance

So we had an afternoon flight and by the time we reach, the area was quiet with most stores closed. We just randomly walked around to a nearby ぎゅ丼 place, Tokyo Chikara Meshi. So this place is known for 焼き牛丼, which comprises of grilled seasoned beef slices unlike your typical beef bowl. DarHub had to settle for Gyoza as he doesn't take beef. I guess I was so used to the Yoshinoya kind that this bowl didn't blow my mind, coupled with the fact that we were exhausted from trying to find our AirBnB earlier.

Day 2

So after a good rest, we were gearing to cover as much of the itinerary as we could~

Ready to go!

Picked up breakfast from the nearby コンビニ

Really pretty garden near Namba Station

So first stop was The Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum to make our very own cup noodles!

So the ride was quite long and so I decided to camwhore in train. So i was damn bolian that I kept posting with and without my shades and when it was time to alight, I was in such a rush I left my shades in the train! Was pretty upset cos I really like them and it was bought barely a few months ago from Taipei :(

The very "last time" my shades were seen

Love the clean and quaint town look!

Interesting that this museum was nestled in the middle of a residential area!

Posing with the Halloween-themed mascot

So we had a tour of the history of instant noodles and how this Japanese invented instant noodles and cup noodles. Read the story here.

We also wanted to go for the Chicken Ramen Factory Class but only to find out that you will need to pre-register for it. Such a pity as it looked really fun and interesting.

So we could only move on My CUPNOODLES Factory where you can customise your cup noodles with your favourite ingredients.

DarHub drawing on the cup

So after you are done doodling, you queue up to select the 4 out of 12 ingredients & the soup powder you want. They then will seal it in an air package for you to bring home.

The stitch is rather odd but you get the idea of the massive history board

Not exactly a super big place but I think it's worth a visit especially since you will be walking through a really nice and scenic neighbourhood.

Owed it to this guy who invented instant noodles!

You can probably tell we are very happy with our loots

Reminiscing on Japan a month later~

Had lunch at a random home eatery as we make our way to the train station. Not the most fantastic meal around but I guess this will work.

And saw the cutest school bus ferrying the kids home

DarHub decided that we didn't have time to visit 旧西尾家住宅, so we should just go somewhere much nearer, so we decided to stop by 池田城跡公園 which turned out to be a nice and beautiful place as well!

You can tell I was still very into PokemonGo back then :X

Had to walked tons of tiny and steep steps to get to this view!

The other side, overlooking the residential area

Having your period during travelling is not fun at all!

Not exactly the easiest place to get to

Then headed over to アサヒビール but it was closed for some maintenance when we reached. So we decided to head back for some rest before going to the famous Dotonbori(道頓堀)for dinner.