Japan (Feb 2014) Day 5: Kinosaki onsen to Osaka. Stay at Osaka.
After a breakfast served in our room at the ryokan where we stayed at at Kinosaki onsen, we checked out of the ryokan and went to catch a morning train (3hrs train journey) from Kinosaki onsen station to Shin-Osaka station. It would be around 12:30pm by the time we arrived at Shin-Osaka station.
From Shin-Osaka station, we took a Haruka Express (since we are still using our 4 days JR Kansai Area Wide Pass) from Shin-Osaka to reach Tennoji station, where our hotel is located at.
After depositing our luggage at the hotel, we headed out to explore Osaka. We went to Osaka castle first, and then went to Shinsaibashi/Dotonbori area.
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| Our breakfast at our ryokan at Kinosaki onsen. |
We woke up really early, and the lady from the ryokan arrived at around 7am to our room to start setting up our table for breakfast.
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| Tofu. |
After breakfast, we took a 3hr Ltd Exp train ride from Kinosaki Onsen station to Shin-Osaka station.
Since we were using a 4 days JR Kansai Area Wide Pass, so instead of regular trains where we had to lug our luggage and squeeze with other commuters, we took a Ltd Exp Haruka Express train from Shin-Osaka to Tennoji station.
Our hotel is Tennoji Miyako Hotel, located just opposite JR Tennoji station. The thing I liked about this hotel is that there's an underpass linking the hotel directly to the subway station.
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| Our Double room. Costs us S$673 to book 2 rooms (1 Double, 1 Twin) for a total of 3 nights. |
After we put our luggages in our hotel rooms, we had a quick lunch at the basement of a nearby dept store before going to catch a train to Osaka castle.
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| Lunch. Tempura crab with rice. |
From Tennoji station, we took a subway to Tanimachi-4-chome station to reach Osaka castle.
The Osaka castle grounds is just a short 5-10mins walk away from the subway station.
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| Sister-in-law playing with a sleepy cat at Osaka castle |
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| Hubby bought this One Piece themed heat packs from the convenience store. |
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| Total of 5 heatpacks in the packet. |
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| Franky heatpack. |
Since plum blossoms where just starting to bloom, so we visited a plum blossom garden at Osaka castle.
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| Osaka castle |
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| Back to taking photos... |
After Osaka castle, we went to Shinsaibashi and Dotonbori for some light shopping and dinner.
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| Dotonbori |
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| The building with the large yellow ferris wheel (I think) is a 24hr Don Quijote store, where we went after dinner. The Ramen shop in the photo is where we had our dinner...Ichiran Ramen. (Ichiran Ramen also opens 24hrs) |
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| Awaiting for available table at Ichiran Ramen. |
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| Every table is partitioned. |
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| My Ramen order...no spring onions. 790yen. |
After dinner at Ichiran Ramen, we went next door to the 24hr Don Quijote store for some light shopping.
They sell snacks, beauty products, home appliances..etc..and the store spans over a couple of floors.
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| Inside Don Quijote |
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| Choc coated potato chips |
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| Beauty products section |
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| Cute socks! |
Hi Samantha,
ReplyDeleteCan I just say thanks so much for sharing the details of your trips to Japan, especially the Toyosato visit last year. I'm also quite a fan of K-On! And will be be visiting this place whilst I'm in Japan this week.
Thanks again!
Hi samantha,
ReplyDeleteWhy cant i go to your day 6 nara?
Sorry, I was originally intending to post the pics for Day 6 Nara, but I later decided not to since I kinda started posting the photos for my next trip and I didn't want to mess up the posting order.
DeleteSam, is it necessary to buy japan rail pass? Can the tourist just walk in to the counter to buy train tickets and at the machine? Does it complicated for tourist to buy the tickets there?
ReplyDeleteIt really depends on which airport u are using and what places will you be visiting.
DeleteIf your itinerary requires you to travel via alot of Ltd Exp trains as well as Shinkansen (bullet train) trains, then yes, getting a railpass MIGHT be beneficial.
If you are flying in/out via Tokyo, and that you are ONLY visiting Tokyo, then no, you don't need to buy railpass.
There are MANY types of railpasses in Japan. Some can be bought over the counter at Japan, while some can ONLY be purchased from overseas.
Regular single trip train/subway tickets can usually be purchased from ticketing machines (usually have a button that lets u select for English option).
Here's a guide to list of railpasses:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357.html
And also use hyperdia website to help u calculate how much your train fares would be, so that you can compare to see whether will it be economical for you to get a railpass:
http://www.hyperdia.com/en/