Most of the planning were done by myself with a little help from Juan. I don't really have the knowledge about Japan except for Shibuya Crossing and Hachiko statue cause that was my aim for this trip since we had to cancel our Tokyo Disneyland trip.
After arriving at the apartment that we booked via AirBnb here, we rested about an hour, learned how to use the toilet seats (they have sooo many buttons), learned how to operate the heater, the shower and stove and washing machine. Most AirBnb apartments will provide a file that contains basic information on how to use the things around the house. If not provided, consult Mr.Google.
During our arrival in KIX airport, we purchased the 1 day Osaka Amazing pass that costed us 4,600 yen at the tourist information counter in the airport, the next morning. There are many subways you can access with this pass:
Osaka city subway, Nanko port town line, bus,
Hankyu (Umeda-Kanzakigawa, Mikuni, Aikawa, Shimoshinjo-Tenjinbashisuji 6 chome),
Kintetsu (Osaka Namba-Imazato, Osaka Abenobashi-Yata),
Keihan (Yodoyabashi-Senbayashi, Nakanoshima-Temmabashi),
Hanshin (Umeda-Amagasaki, Osaka Namba-Amagasaki),
Nankai (Namba-Sakai, Namba-Nakamozu, Shiomibashi-Kishinosatotamade)
Make sure you know where you want to visit in Osaka before purchasing any pass. You might end up NOT using them at all. We took a few days to get familiar with their subway system. It was be very confusing but Google can provide you accurate information on which train you should take, which platform and which station. We rented our pocket wifi from 4gpocketwifimalaysia. Very good service and super fast connection. Internet connection is very important in Japan.
Our first stop was the Osaka castle. The 1 day pass that we purchased entitle us a free entry to the castle. If not the cost of entry is 600 yen. Osaka Castle is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and it played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period.
You can climb up the stairs to the main castle tower. There are 8 floors in total. Each floor has a unique display of weapons, fabrics and story lines of each era. It's a one way up and one way down entry.
There are food stalls at the exit of the castle but the prices are extremely expensive. We bought ice cream (yeap!) and jagung bakar. It costed us 850 yen. But the jagung bakar was soooo sedap and hot. It took us about 3 hours to finish exploring the whole castle and its surroundings. There are parks too where you can have picnics with your family. Everything is well preserved so be careful with touching some of the display in the castle and please do not litter.
Our next destination was Tsutenkaku where the famous Osaka tower and the iconic puffer fish lantern are situated. We didn't climb up the tower because I was too afraid of height, so we end up walking around the area. Food are quite expensive over here but for the sake of trying their famous soft crepe, we bought a strawberry and whipped cream crepe that cost 450 yen. It was soooooo good.
The shops here closes very early between 6pm to 8pm because it was the end of winter and operate late morning around 11am. They don't open till late night. So I suggest that you start exploring the city around 10am.
Final destination of our first day was Dotonbori. The Glico running man and the iconic gigantic crab were here. There were tonnes of people on the street that no one can ever found me if I got lost in between the crowd. We didn't spend our dinner here instead we headed home to have a bowl of Brahim's pre-packed curry chicken and bought the microwave heated rice from Lawson (their version of 7 Eleven) that costed around 180 yen.
Make sure you have umbrella spare in your bag. Japan's weather can be unpredictable. It can rain anytime.
