Japan – Day 8

Today was a day which we had all been anxiously looked forward to. We are going to DisneySea! Months before the trip, we had prepared Julian for this trip by introducing him to Disney cartoons with the main characters like Mickey, Donald and Goofy. 

Julian was still sound asleep when we woke up early and prepared for our day in Tokyo Disney Sea.

  

When we were all ready, we pulled Julian up from bed and got him dressed up and washed up for the day!

 

A morning view of Tokyo Tower from our hotel lift lobby at 15th floor.

 

The benefit of staying in a Disney Good Neighbour Hotel was the free shuttle bus ride to and from DisneyLand and DisneySea.  Having booked the 9:20am shuttle bus on the day we checked into the hotel, we only had to bring our shuttle bus tickets with us to board the bus.  The ride to DisneySea was about 1 hour and our tired little boy went back to sleep on the way there.

 

Stopping by DisneyLand first before heading to DisneySea.

 

Welcome to DisneySea…

 

and finally, we arrived!

   

Julian was still half-awake at this time.

 

We got 2 adult tickets at 5800JPY (S$75) each while it was free for Julian.  Our little boy was still half-awake at this time.

  

But once we approached the ticket gantries, the sight of the attractions and the disney music got Julian wide awake immediately!  He was suddenly so excited!

 

Once we were in, we saw a group of kids training to keep the park spick-and-span.  It was so entertaining to see these kids of varying ages working together.

    

Practical lessons on cleaning up the fun way!

    

Standing at the Mediterranean Harbor with the Mysterious Island in the background.

  

The Venetian Gondolas was a ride we wanted to take but each time we went to queue, it was temporarily closed in preparation for a show… hmm.

 

Vintage car rides.

 

Walking to the American Waterfront to catch “Over the Waves”, our first show of the day.

 

The show was held outdoors and hence, sitting under the bright summer sun was a rather hot and sweaty experience.  However, we thoroughly enjoyed the catchy melodies and nifty footwork even though the show was in Japanese.  🙂

     

After the “Over the Waves” show, we went “sailing” around DisneySea on the DisneySea Transit Steamer Line.  It was a nice ride as we could see many attractions from the river of DisneySea.

  

As we walked towards the next attraction, we caught sight of the “Chip n Dale Cool Service” sailing down the DisneySea waters.  This was a summer attraction with Chip and Dale dancing onboard a ferry to the loud disney music.  Everyone along the river banks and on the bridges stopped to watch the performance.  Then suddenly, the ferry started spraying jets of water at everyone along the river banks and on the bridges!  It came really fast and even as we quickly retreated, we were wet with Julian getting most of the “cool service”.  It was a really entertaining experience!

  

Summer flowers in DisneySea.

 

DisneySea Electric Railway overhead!

 

Julian has been very fascinated with trains recently and this was certainly one of his favourites… a ride on the DisneySea Electric Railway train!

  

Little girls in kimonos… in the hot summer weather.  But they look really cute in them!

 

Ju watching kids playing at the fountain outside the Tower of Terror.

  

While we were on our way hunting for lunch, we saw a rather long queue outside the theatre for the “Big Band Beat” show.  It was 45 minutes to the show but with a queue already forming, we thought it must be good.  So we decided to postpone lunch and joined the queue.  We were glad we did because having joined in the queue early, we managed to get really good seats in the large theatre.  The show was very much like a broadway musical and we thoroughly enjoyed the music, singing and stage performance.  In fact, we felt that if there was only one show we could catch, this was the one that would make our tickets worth.

 

After the show, we had lunch at Restaurant Sakura.  Being in Japan and wanting to eat Japanese food, this was the place to eat because it was the only Japanese restaurant… haha.

 

Julian was hungry and couldn’t wait for lunch to be served, so he had his appertiser first… his favourite “Nak Nak”.

 

Lunch Time!  We had Tonkatsu, Udon and…

 

Anmitsu with Ice Cream for dessert!

 

After lunch, we managed to catch Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket.

  

Beautiful glow from the flowers in Disneysea during Summer time!

 

While Julian was having his nap in his stroller and we were waiting for the Mystic Rhythms show to start at the Lost River Delta, it was a time for Joan and I to relax and take a stroll around the area instead of taking any rides.  So we decided to get frozen mangoes to enjoy and cool ourselves in the hot summer heat.  The sweet sour taste was really refreshing!

  

The crowd before the Mystic Rhythms show started.

 

It was a nice display of rhythmic dance.  But with the whole family rather tired in a setting so comfortable with the cool air and hypnotizing rhythms, we all fell asleep at some parts of the show… heh heh.  Look at Julian still yawning after the show.

 

A view of Mount Prometheus.

 

Julian checking out the toys!  Well, more like us trying out the toys on Julian… heh heh.  Julian loved it anyway!

 

Evening time at the Mediterranean Harbor.  Throughout the day, we spotted many people carrying a nice yellow Chip n Dale container of pop corns but each time we approached them to ask where they bought it, they would say “DisneyLand”.  So we gave up trying to look for the yellow Chip n Dale container and tried settling for a nice alternative instead.  But every time we spotted a booth selling pop corns, we either didn’t like the container or the flavour of the pop corn (e.g. black pepper pop corn).  By evening time, we gave up trying to find a nice container of pop corns for Julian.  Hopefully, Disneyland would still have nice pop corn containers the next time we visit… hmm.

   

I had a busy time taking photos for this group of Japanese kids with their disposable cameras.  When I finally finished, I couldn’t resist taking a photo of them with my camera as well.  🙂

 

The night scene before leaving DisneySea, which was celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Tokyo Disney Resort.  We all had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  Although this was not the first time Joan and I visited a Disney theme park, it was our most enjoyable one even though we couldn’t ride on the most popular rides due to height restrictions for Julian.  We told ourselves that we would be back again one day and visit both DisneyLand and DisneySea.  🙂

 

After we took the Disney shuttle bus back to our hotel, we headed down to this restaurant at Shinagawa Station for dinner.

 

And this was what we had to cap off the wonderful day… Ramen, Gyoza, Fried Rice and Unadon.  As usual, it was a very satisfying meal!

Tomorrow, we shall head to the Imperial Palace and Ginza!

Japan – Day 7

Sunday morning… well, almost noon time by the time we got down to the hotel lobby after waking up late and spending some time washing our clothes.

  

A Japanese boy was entertaining Julian with a balloon in the hotel lobby before we set off for lunch.

 

We walked down to Shinagawa Prince Hotel opposite Shinagawa Station for lunch in this family-friendly restaurant that was recommended in the Summer 2008 Restaurant Guide.  We ordered Oyakodon (Chicken, Egg and Onion Donburi), a rice set meal (with mushrooms, minced meat patty, miso soups and side dishes) and a kids meal (tomato-flavoured rice with fried sausage, dessert and orange juice).  

The meal was good for Joan and I. As for Julian, he does appreciate the tomato rice, hotdog and pudding in his kids meal. All he ate was our plain rice and his orange juice…

  

After lunch, we walked back up to Takanawa Catholic Church opposite our hotel to attend the 2pm English mass.  The church only has English mass on every 4th Sunday of the month and it was the 4th Sunday of the month!  But on hindsight, Joan and I thought we should have attended a Japanese mass to experience one.  Haha… well, next time then.

   

The congregation in church was mainly made up of Phillipinos.  The priest was also a Phillipino and he gave a very good homily.  🙂  After mass, there was a healing service with lively music to start with and Julian certainly enjoyed it… dancing to the beat of the music!

   

The hymn book used in church… and the children’s choir practising in the church canteen.

 

Surroundings outside the church.

  

After the mass ended, we headed for Shibuya!  Outside Shibuya Station, we posed with the statue of Hachiko The Dog.

Hachiko was a white male Akita dog born in Odate, Japan in November 1923.  At the age of two months, he was brought to Tokyo by his owner Professor Hidesaburo Ueno of the Agricultural Department, Tokyo University.  During his owner’s life, Hachiko saw him off from the front door and greeted him at the end of the day at the nearby Shibuya Station.

On May 21 1925, Professor Ueno did not return because he had suffered a stroke and died at the university.  For the next nine years, Hachiko returned to the station and waited for his beloved master precisely when the train was due to arrive at the station before walking home, alone.  Nothing and no one could discourage Hachiko from maintaining his nightly vigil.  The fidelity of Hachiko was known throughout Japan, owing to an article, “Faithful Old Dog Awaits Return of Master Dead for Seven Years” in the 4 October 1933 issue of Aashi Shinbun (Asahi News).

Upon his death in 1934, newspaper stories led to the suggestion that a statue be erected in the station. Contributions from the United States and other countries were received.  Today, a bronze statue of Hachiko at his waiting spot outside the Shibuya Station pays silent tribute to the breed’s faithfulness and loyalty.

 

The Shibuya Crossing outside Shibuya Station (Hachiko Exit).  This crossing is famous for its scramble crossing where vehicles in all directions stop to allow pedestrians to flood the entire intersection.  The Starbucks store overlooking the crossing is also one of the busiest in the world… and I’m sure I don’t have to explain why.

  

Walking along the streets of Shibuya.

 

Familiar face… Colonel Sanders outside KFC but who was the young guy inside?  His son perhaps… 

 

Familiar restaurant!  It looked more rundown than those in Singapore but we were told the food tasted better.  They even serve Unagi (Eel)!  Too bad we only knew the part about the food after our trip.  Next time then…

 

Finally, we arrived at Tokyu Hands!  7 Storeys of shopping for just about anything… toys, handicrafts, stationaries, bags, home improvements, furniture and even a cafe!

  

Rows and rows of paper at Tokyu Hands.

  

We spent about 2.5 hours at Tokyu Hands and by the time we walked out of the store, it was sunset with a slight drizzle.  But what struck us was the sky, which had an amazingly beautiful orange-purple glow!  What you see in the photos is exactly what we saw at Shibuya… just beautiful!

  

We took a train ride to Harajuku, just one stop away from Shibuya.  It was Sunday… the day where Cosplay Kids would be out parading in their costumes but it was already evening and hopefully, we could still see some of them.

The first Cosplay kids we saw was at McDonald’s.  They were not Japanese and certainly not matching the “standards” of Cosplay kids we saw in guide books.  In fact, we were wondering for a moment whether they were Cosplay kids.  Anyway, I decided to snap a photo of them from outside McDonald’s but what followed was a rude gesture from the kid dressed in red telling me to stop taking photos and go away.  This was our only rude experience in Japan… from non-Japanese.  Guess they have a lot more to learn from the Japanese.

 

As we walked along Harajuku Street, we shopped at Daiso, the largest franchise of 100-yen shops in Japan. The one in Harajuku was 4 storeys high and we spent the last 1 hour of the store’s business hours shopping.  There were so many things to look at, especially wooden toys and figurines at only 105JPY each (after the 5% tax).  It was just so tempting to buy all of them (close to 50 types) but after careful selection, we bought about 20 different types.  New toys for Julian!

This is a shop selling costumes and accessories for Cosplay kids.

  

Posing outside a restaurant inside Shinagawa Station with a vending machine behind us.  Here, customers order their meals at the vending machine and present the meal tags to the chef in the restaurant for their meals to be served.  Meals are cheap here to serve high customer volume.  Hence, it’s not suitable for families with kids like Julian who take a long time to finish their meals.

 

Finally, we ended our day with dinner at this nice restaurant above Shinagawa Station serving a fusion of Japanese and Western food.  We ordered Roast Chicken and Beef Stew with rice and bread and the food was really good.  It didn’t come cheap though at a price of around 4000JPY ($52).

For Julian, he was contented just eating the expensive bread and plain rice.

    

A night view of the Tokyo Tower from the corridor window outside our hotel room.

Tomorrow, we shall head to Tokyo DisneySea!

Japan – Day 6

Today, we head back to Tokyo!  After we had all our luggage packed up in the morning, we left them in the hotel room and headed to the train station at the ground floor to book our Shinkansen tickets back to Tokyo.  We wanted to take the 1056hrs ride but it was full, so we got the 1156hrs ride instead.  With an extra hour, we took our breakfast and shopped at Isetan in the train complex before checking out from the hotel.  On our way to the Shinkansen platform, we bought lunch to munch on our ride to Tokyo.

We got a 130g pack of roasted chestnuts (AKA Gao Luck in Hokkien) for 530JPY.

 

Here comes our Shinkansen!

  

Lunch time!  3 varieties of dumplings and a pack of cold cream puff for Julian but Julian’s cream puff ended up on the floor instead… and Mummy feels guilty for dropping it.

  

These were the last 4 eye-catching candies we bought from Nara.  Although they tasted just like sugar, Julian loved them!  He would always hold it in his hands and bite off the green part first before putting the remaining candy into his mouth.  I think the sight of these colourful candies was just so appealing to him.

 

After lunch, we kept ourselves occupied… Julian and Joan colouring his book while I was downloading photos into the laptop.

  

Julian taking his nap during the 159 minutes Shinkansen ride…

 

and finally, we arrived at Shinagawa station!  Hooray!

  

We finally reached the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa after a 5 minutes walk from Shinagawa station.  5 minutes of pushing the luggage up the slope in the hot summer was enough to drench us in sweat!

 

When we approached the front desk at the lobby to do our check-in, we were told that our check-in would be done on Level 16 and the bellhop loaded up all our luggage and showed us the way.  Having paid 1000JPY more per night for a better room on The Club Floor that came with complimentary Internet access and complimentary breakfast, afternoon tea and evening drink at its lounge, we had our private check-in done at the lounge at Level 16.  It was the first time we had such pampering treatment at a hotel that made us feel like VIPs!

 

Our room on Level 15 was great!  It was just as big as the one we stayed in Hotel Granvia Kyoto but more business-like as they had a working desk in the room.

 

Another bathroom with a high-tech toilet bowl…

   and a view from the balcony.

 

Before we set off, we decided to pop by the lounge and have a drink and some Japanese snacks.  It was a great way to refresh ourselves before exploring Tokyo… especially when everything in the lounge is free-flow!

 

We headed back to Shinagawa Station for a train ride to Asakusa at about 5pm, where we would join about 10% of the Tokyo population (i.e. 1 million people) in Asakusa for the annual Sumida River Fireworks Festival!

 

As we walked through the streets of Asakusa, many roads were closed for the human traffic.  There were signs everywhere and fortunately, many signs were in Kanji so we could roughly figure out the directions given. For the first time, the weather felt really cool so heat was not a problem in the crowd.

 

Mingling with the crowds outside Senso-ji Temple with throngs of worshippers walking through the temple’s symbol, the Furai jin-mon (Gate of Wind God and Thunder God) adorned with a large red paper lantern that bears the inscription “Kaminari-mon” (Thunder Gate). .

  

Well, we didn’t understand a word from the policeman here.

 

Crowds sitting in designated areas to watch the fireworks display.  In Japan, people are allowed to “reserve their seats” by pasting their groundsheets on the floor with their names written on it 24 hours prior to the event.  They would then leave their groundsheets and return on the event day to occupy their “reserved seats”!

 

A view of Asahi Breweries Headquarters Building from Azuma Bridge over the Sumida River. The 22-storey Asahi Beer Tower with amber-colored glass windows and top frieze of white external walls captures the essence of a sudsy glass of beer. The adjoining Asahi Super Dry Hall was designed by the noted French designer Philippe Starck with the “Flaming Ornament” on the roof as a symbol of Asahi Breweries’ dynamic heart.

 

There was even a rooftop concert going on!

  

It was difficult to get a viewing spot.  The roads along Sumida River and all bridges across it were closed for safety reasons as fireworks were launched from floating platforms on the river.  The only places we could view them were at road intersections, which were full of people who reserved their places a day earlier.  Finally, we found a spot between 2 cars parked at an intersection.  We had a partially blocked view of the fireworks display but it was still better than no view.  🙂

     

But Julian was so tired that he dozed off while watching fireworks!  Considering how excited he was at first, he must have been really tired to doze off in the midst of the excitement!

  

Stalls selling Takoyaki!  Since we didn’t have enough of Takoyaki in Osaka, we bought another one again after the fireworks display.  But this time, it was a bigger version but just as delicious!

    

9pm… Asakusa was still buzzing with excitement with shops still open.  We headed for Nakamise Shopping Street in search of dinner.

  

Here, we found a shop selling handmade sweets called Kibi-dango Azuma.  They looked like miniature balls of mochi that came in sticks and coated with soybean flour.  They were really delicious with a sticky chewy texture that is firmer than mochi.

    

Nearby, we were attracted by the more Japanese desserts.  As we were not sure what they were, we bought one of each although queues of Japanese were buying them in boxes!  The yellow coloured dessert was a bar of tapioca and it was delicious!  We couldn’t say the same for the violet coloured dessert though.  It looked like a soft gelatin-like dessert but it was rather firm, dry and pasty inside, which tasted somewhat like red bean paste.  Joan took only a bite while I finished the rest, as usual.

  

As we continued searching for a dinner place, we were attracted by the sight of this restaurant with a chef making soba and a queue outside.  We joined the queue and after a short wait, we were shown to our table on the 2nd level.

  

We were delighted by the sight of our table as it was our first soba meal in traditional Japanese dining style.  We sat on tatami with a low table and ordered a hot soba with Ebi Tempura (i.e. Prawn Tempura) and a cold soba with Unagi Tempura (i.e. Eel Tempura).  We have never tasted cold soba before but since soba is the specialty of this restaurant, we decided to give it a go.  We were glad we did!  The restaurant also served us a tea pot of hot beverage without tea cups.  Not knowing what it was, we asked the staff by pointing to the tea pot.  The staff nodded her head and went off, coming back in a short moment with English explanations on a small piece of laminated paper.  Only then did we know that the tea pot contained water used for boiling the soba in preparation of the cold soba.  As soba is made from buckwheat, the water used for boiling soba contained the rich nutrients of soba.  To enjoy it, we simply pour the soba water into the small bowl of soba sauce (i.e. cold dipping sauce for cold soba) and drink it!  It tasted really good!  The meal was one of the best ones we had in Japan… truly memorable!

  

After dinner, we headed out onto the busy streets of Asakusa, where we had our final glimpse of the Furai jin-mon (Gate of Wind God and Thunder God) before heading back to the hotel.

That wrapped up our first day in Tokyo and our second consecutive day of fireworks display.

Tomorow, we shall head to Shibuya and Harajuku!

Stumped!

While we were having dinner last night, Julian said he wanted to get down from his high chair.  So I told him “You can’t come down because you haven’t finished your dinner yet”.  Julian then said in mandarin “Ju Ju Bao Le”, which meant “Ju Ju is full”.  He still had half a bowl of porridge left!  But since he said he was full, I didn’t force him to finish his food and carried him down from his high chair.

While we were preparing to leave home for a prayer meet after dinner, Joan asked me if I wanted to fill my water bottle with sweet corn drink, which she prepared earlier in the day.  Julian heard our conversation and said immediately, “I want to eat corn!” and he went straight to the kitchen, took his plate out from the kitchen cabinet and came back insisting “I want to eat corn!”.  So i decided to ask Julian a trick question, “Are you hungry?”… if he said “No”, I’ll reply “Then don’t eat the corn if you are full.”… if he said “Yes”, I’ll reply “Then why didn’t you finish your dinner earlier?”.

Julian paused for a while before looking at me with his reply “I’m hungry for the corn.” and gave me a big grin!  I was STUMPED by his answer!  After that, Joan and I just couldn’t help bursting into laughter.  Where did he learn to reply like that?  I have no idea… but this is just one of the many reasons why I just love talking to Julian.  He never fails to amaze us!

Japan – Day 5

It has been 8 weeks since I last updated my blog on our Japan trip.  My apologies for the long break and it sure feels great to be back blogging about it.  🙂

Today, we set off for a day in Osaka!  

First stop of the day is Kaiyukan Aquarium and as usual, we made our way there by train.  We loved the experience of travelling amongst the locals there as there is just so much to see… boy scouts, newspaper vending machines and of course…

  

the experience of buying train tickets!  Even Julian loved it!

     

Osakako station… here we come!

 

While we were walking to Kaiyukan Aquarium, we saw grapevines growing outside the walls of a building sealed off for reconstruction.  The sight of numerous bunches of grapes hanging on the grapevines really amazed us especially Julian since it was the first time he saw grapevines!  They looked so different from the ones we saw in France and Australia as these were much bigger, probably because they were not pruned.  It was really tempting to try the big juicy grapes but to be safe, we didn’t try them.  🙂

   

We decided to make a short detour to Suntory Museum first for a view of Osaka Bay since it was just beside Kaiyukan Aquarium.  But we ended up spending more time at the museum shops selling interesting toys, books and crafts.

  

A view of Tempozan Market Place and Tempozan Ferris Wheel while walking to Kaiyukan Aquarium.

 

We finally arrived at Kaiyukan Aquarium!

  

This was a great place outside the aquarium to cool down… a powerful spray of cool water mist!  But after awhile, Joan and Julian walked off with very wet hair.  Yes, it was that powerful!

 

 So many fishes!

  

Feeding time for the Sea Otters!

  

A Harbour Seal (AKA Common Seal) sunbathing and a curious Brazilian Giant Tortoise.

  

A Green Iguana…

 

and baby penguins in their incubators… and the rest of their family… the King Penguins.

  

Pacific White-sided Dolphins swimming…

 

and the star of Kaiyukan Aquarium, the Whale Shark in the 620 sqm tank holding 5400 tons of water!

 

One of the Whale Shark’s companion, a huge Manta Ray… the largest of all rays.  Look at its size… it really made Julian look so small!

 

Here we have the Ocean Sunfish and a starfish…

    

Schools of sardines and mackerels…

 

and Japanese Spider Crabs.

 

During the aquarium tour, we bought a toy that Julian was eagerly waiting for since he arrived in Japan… toys that came in capsules sold in vending machines!  I remembered Julian wanted to buy one at Watsons Toa Payoh on the day we departed Singapore for our Japan trip but I told him “Ju… we buy one when we go to Japan ok?” and Julian stopped insisting on getting one but nodded his head instead.  So you can imagine how trilled Julian was when we gave him 2 100JPY coins to buy a toy capsule.  It didn’t matter what toy was inside… Julian just loved slotting the coins into the coin slot and turning the release dial to get the toy capsule out.

Once we finished our aquarium tour, Julian managed to remove the wrapper of his toy capsule.  When we opened it, we were trilled to get a miniature model of the Whale Shark!  Wow!  We got a model of the aquarium’s star attraction!  I think I was more trilled than Julian was… haha.

Toilet break… another high-tech toilet feature… a basin that has sensors to automatically dispense soap, water and then blow dry your hands (on the hidden side of the basin)!

  

Lunch time!  We were attracted to this restaurant by Joan’s favourite cartoon character… Doraemon!  Even Julian loved it and kept saying “Xiao Ding Dang”!

  

We ordered Katsudon, Mushroom Porridge and an Udon Soup kids meal!  The food was great!  Look at how much Julian enjoyed his meal!

  

Julian pretending to eat the huge ice cream displayed outside the restaurant… I think he still had space in his little tummy.

 

After lunch, we headed for a ride on the Tempozan Ferris Wheel.  Julian was just so excited to ride on it! The view of Osaka Bay at 112.5m was just breathtaking!

        

Julian was so tired that he dozed off soon after the ferris wheel ride.  So we took that opportunity to relax… spending time eating ice-cream and window shopping in Tempozan Market.

  

Once Julian was awake, we headed for Tempozan Park where Julian got to touch and feel a variety of flowers, although there weren’t many.

   

But the main reason for coming to Tempozan Park was to climb Mt. Tempozan.  Yeah!  Since it was the first time the whole family was going to climb a mountain together, we figured that this mountain would be a great start to our mountain climbing experience.  Why?  That’s because Mt. Tempozan is the lowest mountain in Japan… standing at an amazing height of 4.53m above sea level!  Yes, Four metres and Fifty-Three centimetres above sea level just in case you thought I made a typo error.

Here, you can see Julian climbing up the mountain on his own, hydrating himself at the peak of the mountain and finally climbing down the mountain.  For the record, Julian conquered a mountain at the age of 2 Years and 2 Weeks old!  Great job Julian!  Too bad we forgot to plant a Singapore flag at the peak… haha!

   

A last view of Tempozan Ferris Wheel before leaving Osaka Bay area.

 

While walking to the train station, we came across this eye-catching structure.  It is not a building under construction with scaffoldings around it but actually a multi-storey car park with an elevator to transport vehicles up and down the car park!  It really felt kind of strange to see such a crude-looking car park in Japan, a country famous for high-tech facilities!

 

Next, we headed for Kids Plaza Osaka, the place which we came on Day 1 but was closed.  This time, it was open and we all had a great time exploring it.  Kids Plaza Osaka is a fun museum for kids that aims to bring kids fresh discovery and surprises from everyday things through playing and enjoying themselves.

 

It has 3 main floors starting with The Let’s Try Floor of the 5th floor that gives kids various experiences through exhibitions and workshops that teach through playing.  This level resembled a mini science centre where we had fun exploring the world of physics through play!

      

The Let’s Play Floor of the 4th floor is where kids can enjoy the ladders and steep slides of Henteko-na-machi (strange town), the symbol of this plaza designed by the Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Julian was so brave to walk through the suspended bridge on his own!  Joan and Julian also had fun trying on costumes of different countries but it was the various types of percussion instruments that kept Julian really busy!  

          

On the Let’s Make Floor of the 3rd floor, kids can experience the joy of making things with computers or their own hands and feet.  There were many rooms with different settings and one of the most popular ones was a supermarket setting with everything kids size ranging from small shopping carts, shopping items and cashier counters!  Julian was so happy shopping for eggs and milk and playing at the cashier counter!  He was so engrossed playing pretend-roles in all the other rooms that we ended up as the last visitors to leave the museum! 

      

After we left Kids Plaza Osaka, we headed towards Okawa River to watch the Tenjin Matsuri Festival Dedication Fireworks Display.  Tenjin Matsuri is the biggest festival in Osaka with history dating back over a thousand years.  It is also the world’s greatest boat festival, which started on the morning of 24th July and climaxes on the evening of 25th July with a display of 4000 fireworks!

Many people who were heading towards Okawa River walked through Tenjimbashi-Suji shopping street.  The street that looked so empty on Monday evening was now packed with people!  All shops were open this time with many of them selling takeaway food… mouth-watering food!

 

These Takoyaki (Octopus Balls) looked really tempting although we have never tried them before.  So we bought a box of 8 and it were fantastic!  We loved it so much that we went hunting for Takoyaki when we returned to Singapore but we still haven’t found one that tasted just as good.

  

We got a glimpse of Tenman Shrine, where the festival is held and where Sugawara-no-Michizane (845-903) is deified as Tenman Tenjin, the patron god of learning and art.

  

And finally, the highlight of the evening… the Tenjin Matsuri Festival Dedication Fireworks Display with about 1 million spectators lining the streets closed for the festival.  The thought of sqeezing among 1 million people seems crazy but hey… how often can you do that as tourists?

    

After the fireworks display, we headed back to Tenjimbashi-Suji shopping street to hunt for dinner.  Joan was so happy to see her all-time favourite food, KFC!  We even posed with Colonel Sanders but too bad, it was full-house inside.  With 1 million people in town, we wondered which eatery would have seats.

  

So eventually, we ended up with takeaway dinner from McDonald’s near the train station, where even the Mconald’s crew were dressed for the festival.  With recommendations from Julian’s Godpa, we tried the Shrimp Burger and it was delicious!   Wished they have it in Singapore.

So this wrapped up a wonderful end to our day in Japan.  Tomorrow, we will head back to Tokyo!