Soup again, different brand but still good! Lesser meat in this though.
Simmered flounder, I think the one we had at Kuromon Market is better. This has a plastic-ky smell?
Hmm… Van Houten Cocoa drink is quite legit.
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Plan today is supposed to be Sagano Romantic Train Ride in Kyoto but I felt really tired to travel and there’s not much flowers or autumn leaves to see anyway.
It will just be a shopping day then. We traveled to Umeda.
First, HEP FIVE because I need to check out the Disney and Sanrio stores.
Why the Disney stores in Osaka don’t have Beast? 😧 I already have mine but my Sister wanted one too.
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Okonomiyaki and yakisoba – checked! Found this place via Foursquare, Yukari.
Condiments.
I’m having a ginger ale.
Kimchi pork. *facepalm* Can’t read menu, so just point.
Yakisoba. Yums!
There are two significant types of Okonomiyaki. First, the Osaka style, in which the ingredients are all mixed into a batter and then grilled. Second, the Hiroshima style, which a small crepe-like pancake is grilled and then other ingredients are layered on top. The Hioshima style uses much more cabbage than the Osaka style.
I prefer the Hiroshima style okonomiyaki, so here it is!
Got myself a Printoss! It’s limited to one per pax and blue was the only colour left. No batteries or ink needed. All you need is your instax mini films, sold separately.
So pretty! But need to pay ¥1000 per pax for entry which is too expensive for a flea market style place, where people are selling their plants. Pay to get in to buy plants? Weird logic.
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Umeda Sky Building
It’s only like 40 floors high?
Got the tickets. Went up and sat at the cafe.
Nothing much to see now. Going to wait until night time.
Ufufy bunnies!
Too cloudy to see the sunset.
So we went up.
Look at the ground, it’s glowing.
That’s all. Going back down.
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Fairylights on trees!
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Hungry and we decided to just for Indian curry because no queue and rating looks alright on Foursquare.
Depending on the combination that you are getting, you can choose from four different kinds of curry; beef pork, pork, chicken and veggie. Add on soft-boiled egg too.
Meal came with a tiny spicy soup, was told to pour it over at the later half. No idea what it really does.
There’s a lot of herbs and spices, like too much. 😂 Very herby. Even the egg does not do anything to enhance the flavour because the herbs just covers the taste of everything. A very unusual Indian meal.
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Starbucks!
I like the Earl Grey Tea Cream Frappucino! Very nice with a touch of coconut syrup.
TC had the Sakura Strawberry Pink Milk Latter, I die also don’t want to try because milk.
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Pudding as a late night snack, more like clearing the fridge since we’re leaving tomorrow.
Prepared noodles as breakfast, we shared a big cup which I think it’s just nice for both of us.
Bought Nissin’s new nugget and fries cup noodles. Looks interesting. The little pieces of meat really taste like nugget, whereas the fries… hmm… not so much. It’s like Jagabee potato sticks in soup. Nothing amazing about it, soup is just normal chicken soup.
The strawberries we bought the last time was sweeter. This has the sour note.
My favourite chocolate cake from Family Mart!
Out shopping and TC wants to get a Cremia to try, I had a little bit, it was soooooooo milky. I cannot.
So I got a chocolate waffle to wash down the milky taste.
Shopping got crazy when we were at Muji. Everything is so much cheaper than Singapore! some of them are even like 40% lesser because got sales. We bought things like cutlery, flooring mop, portable diffuser… Click here to see what other interesting Muji items that you can only get in Japan.
So we had to travel all the way back to our Airbnb to drop the stuffs, wouldn’t want to be carrying the bags around Nara.
Fluffy egg & ham sandwiches, honey toasts and coffee. Simple fare but sooooo good.
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Heading to Todai-ji Temple!
Pick acorns and see deers.
Enjoy the scenery.
Almost there!
Shunie is not at the main temple. We have to travel up to another site.
I guess these will be the bamboos that the monks will be using for Shunie later.
Always arrive early to get a good view! Shunie starts exactly at 7pm, so it will be good to reach at least an hour earlier.
Remember to prep some food and drinks too, just in case.
The crowd.
Oh. Let me give some background information first.
“Shunie, a series of events held annually from March 1 to 14 at Todaiji Temple. This collection of Buddhist repentance rituals has been held every year for over 1250 years, making it one of the oldest reoccurring Buddhist events in Japan.
Omizutori is performed at Nigatsudo Hall, a sub-complex of Todaiji, which stands not far from the temple’s main hall on the slope of a hill. Nigatsudo literally means “second month hall”, referring to the second month of the lunar calendar, when Omizutori has traditionally been held. The second month of the lunar calendar roughly corresponds to March of the solar calendar.”
We are going to Universal Studios today! Weeeeee~!
TC getting a hot drink for me and the vending machine sells hot soup too. 😮
We have people complaining about getting toxicated by heated plastic and here I have a hot drink kept warm by the vending machine.
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Here we are! It was crazy when walking over from the train station, I almost got blown away by the wind. Many girls were screaming and all I know was that I was struggling to keep myself on the ground. I gained quite a lot of weight leh!
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I bought our tickets from Klook, so no queueing for them! Just need to scan the QR code on the printout to enter.
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Took a picture with Charlie Brown! Snoopy lookd a bit distorted, so I don’t want to take picture with it.
So paiseh! I waited too long until my phone locked itself, so when it was our turn… I had to let Charlie wait. 😂 Sumimashen! 🙇🏻♀️
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I’ve never watched any Shrek movies. Erm. Ya. Hahahhaha.
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Minions! Omygawd. I think I got too excited.
And look what I got! So cute! 😍
Eating Bob’s brain. 🤣
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Snacks first! Shared a hot dog and snoopy meat bun. It was not bad, in fact so much better than all the food sold in Singapore’s Universal Studio.
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This is a very cute place to visit!
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Sesame street section, such happy colours.
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Going into the Wizarding World! Anyone could easily spend 3 to 4 hours in here.
So many fun things to see!
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Late lunch at Three Broomsticks. Luckily we shared a main and a side, if not we would not be able to finish the food.
Chicken & pork BBQ platter, soda bread and butterbeer.
Soda bread tastes like biscuits.
The platter was not bad, the corn was a little tad dry but still very sweet.
Butterbeer does not have butter smell! Phew. It’s like ice-cream soda with cream on it.
You want some too?
“Kelvin, where are you? 😯”
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The castle. Went in for the ride, queued for almost an hour. Ride was fun, except the 3D parts. Makes me dizzy.
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In Ollivander’s shop of wands. If you are lucky to be selected as part of the show, you may get a free wand.
They are shifting rocks. 😞 Hmm… let’s not bother them.
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Jaws. Ride was closed for maintenance.
Hey! You’re not supposed to be there!
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TC says I need a hot drink.
Guys. Tell me why their whipped cream so nice? Why? I feel like I was eating ice cream even though it’s warm. 😍
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Old movie. There were 3 parts, first 2 parts are just boring because it’s mostly back story of how the film was made… all in Japanese. I understand nothing.
The actual thing was quite fun. Tip, try to leave the place last, so you can see the things shifting back in place and also… I think this is the best place to warm up if you’re feeling cold.
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Minions! Didn’t take the ride because we need to go to the other ride before the park is closed.
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You kiss Spiderman here.
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Oh yes! Final Fantasy!
Cactuar churro, apple flavoured. Tastes like I’m having apple pie. Nom nom.
Went in to queue 2 hours for a 5 mins ride. 😂
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Time for a break warm up break. Croissant brulee was yummy.
Didn’t try this but looks nice if you like Sailor Moon.
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Going back to take a look at the Wizarding School, for night scenaries.
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TC found this highly rated and affordable sushi. Minimum ¥100 per piece. I ate so much.
Hungry. Grabbed food at the nearby Kuromon Market.
Wolfed these strawberry mochis down our tum tums.
Unagi tastes quite standard. Scallops are quite good but not as good as the ones we had at Nishiki Market.
Came to this stall to get their delicious oden and fish. Everything is sooooo delish. 😋
Didn’t get these pufferfish.
These strawberries are so huge, it’s like a small apple but the price…
Meal for two!
Although this fatty tuna sushi looks good… Don’t get them. It’s too big and thick. Not fat enough to melt in your mouth too. Very difficult to chew. I have once again lose faith in tuna.
They are better eaten microwaved and dipped in the leftover fish sauce.
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Shopping happened at Dotonburi.
This melonpan with ice-cream is popular but I didn’t get it because there’s a very strong butter lingering around the area.
Dessert before dinner at McDonald’s!
Oreo McFlurry is ¥290, a little more.expensive than Singapore’s but they are way more generous with the oreo bits.
Tried the new premium hazelnut chocolate pastry pie. It’s soooo good. There’s like two dollops of nutella. 😋
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Yakiniku at Matsusaka M. Finally back to satisfy my craving.
Ordered a 2 person share fatty beef platter, and I’m the only person having it because TC doesn’t eat beef.
TC’s fatty pork, pork kalbi and chicken.
Scallops! (We had so much scallops during this trip. 😋)
Almost forgot the hotpot garlic rice.
Mmmm…
Together with beer and highball.
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We were just in time to watch a praying a progress, at the little shrine right outside the restaurant!
The horn that they are blowing is actually a huge conch shell.
All the while wondering is the paper garlands hanging at the top will catch fire or not.
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Slow-roasted sweet potato for supper. I saw a lot of people queuing to get it, so I joined the queue. (Singaporean’s logic; got queue means got good stuff)
Then realise that it isn’t cheap leh! Approximately $10 for a large sweet potato.
Can you see that I already can’t wait to take out all my knitted wear?!!
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Kyoto apartment and Osaka apartment booked!
Not the prettiest but most importantly, very centralised. I can go around until very late and go back whenever I want to!
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Today got feels for vegetarian and this is only $3!
First time at Newton Circus. Probably never going back. 😅
Woohoo! 3 mths to Osaka!!! Finally got something to look forward to, before depression sets in. 😂
🤔 it’s going to be very cold though. I might get frozen.
Then I will secretly hope that it will snow during the week I was there. 😁
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Lunch! Just ordered the cheapest thing on the menu.
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Colleagues lead me out go eat snake, then boss also at the same place. Hahahhahaha. Seriously wtf. Whatever la, don’t care. It’s not like they are really working too.
Colleague kept saying the wanton skin very nice, then he kept craving for it. But it damn normal la. So easy to make. 😑 $14 for this… just wanton skin and imitation crab salad.
This is my breakfast. From family mart obviously. Ketchup onigiri with omelette, there’s a little curry sauce inside too. Yakisoba bun. Really is ‘面’包. It’s quite nice actually. We got this castella cake from Tokyo Domestic Airport. Hoping that it would be as good as Taiwan’s Honey Cake. ‘Batman’ icon wrapping inside. Looks really good. This does not have honey. It has a very strong taste of egg in it. Cake is a little more firm. Nice weather outside. The garbage truck so cute one! Our plan was suppose to be Nara Park today but we realised that the Cup Noodle Museum will be closed tomorrow, so we changed plans.
We’re heading for the Cup Noodle Museum instead. Get down at this stop. Then we have to walk to another train station. Quite a lot of walking to do when the stations are not near. Buy tickets again. So many platforms here. Omg. Cup noodle museum is near Ikeda station. Almost there.
Photo with the founder of nissin.
Opening hours here. Please note that they will be closed on public holidays.
There are people who can speak english or chinese to guide and give you a short introduction.
Or you could use the guide available.
Take a look around the museum, look at the range of instant noodles that was available throughout the years.
This one cute leh. Oooh. Yakisoba. The earliest instant noodles. The steps to making our own cup noodles. And we queue… Now we get our cup. 300 yen which is $3.60 for an experience. Totally alright! If you have no small change, don’t worry. There’s a money exchange machine just beside. Our cups! Clean hands with alcohol spray. Yay! Getting excited! And we start drawing! Totally no idea what to draw. Anyhow. Boyfriend’s. Once ready, we get back in the queue. This time to get our noodles. This guy got talent. Long queue ahead. Our turn to get the noodles in! Then we have to choose what we want to add inside the cup. There are 4 soup flavours and 10 toppings to choose from.
So we have to choose 1 flavour and 4 toppings. I chose curry flavour and my choices are… – Naruto (fish cake) because it’s so cute. – Egg – Roast pork – Garlic
Queuing up to get sealed
Tight fitting. Done! Yay!
Now we put them in bags.
Puff it up for protection. Tie it. And it’s a bag! This place was fun, I recommend everyone to go at least once. Now we shall head back…
Many berries on the trees.
Gonna have our lunch at Ippudo!
There’s only a few choices.
We have to queue here too.
Almost our turn. I like how the Japanese always serves tea before taking our orders.
Ramen is good, above average but I wouldn’t say it was superb.
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Off we go again~ To Daimaru because there’s a Calbee shop here, which we thought was something like Nissin too. The window displays are very interesting to see. The food level is a dessert heaven. Allow me to show you… I bought some very expensive honey and honey cake and everything was very nicely wrapped up. Aww~ Thanks to the lady at the booth. Had some yummy matcha ice cream too. Bought candies to give out. The Calbee shop was just a booth, selling very premium and expensive potato chips. There was a crazy long queue, we choose to skip it. I was sick of holding on to the Nissin bag, so I tied it to my bagpack. And boyfriend tied his too. -.- I got this maple nuts cake from Family Mart. It was yums.
– – – – –
We traveled back to Dotonburi! Going to have dinner at the angry man restaurant. It’s just some fried stuffs on sticks, I don’t really know how to appreciate this. So you dip the skewers into the sauce before you take any bite out of it. If you need more sauce, use the cabbage to spread the sauce on your food, also one time dip. I think only the grilled rice is the best out of everything that’s ordered. The skewers are quite expensive and not filling, so we went to an Okonomiyaki store that was popular on Tripadvisor. The restaurant’s name was Mizuno. Look at the queue. It was about a 30 mins wait for us to get to the entrance, which also at this point of time… we realise that the waiters weren’t aren’t very friendly. This is the first time we met with such unfriendly service in Japan and probably the only time.
The waiters would fry the okonomiyaki right in front of us. We ordered a Japanese yam, Yamaimo-yaki, a special that’s only served during the winter season. And their usual, the Mizuno-yaki. The yam was gooey and we’re just not used to the texture, while the usual was just alright. I wouldn’t recommend this place. The restaurant that we went to in Hiroshima was far far better then this.
This was the only best thing we had in the restaurant.
Even the cripsy fried chicken salad, can go wrong… Where is the cripsy???
Strolled around… to see the famous Glico man.
Looks like pufferfish. Shopped at the “Mustafa” of Japan, Don Quijote, or you could call it, Donki. It was a shopping heaven! Must go! This branch here has this ferris wheel looking structure, the other branches have a huge penguin on the signboard. Here are some of the things that I have gotten… like powdered green tea. Bath salts. Hair brush and a teeth whitening thing. Foot masks. Loads of salonpas. Very good for travelling, especially when we have to walk a lot. And we thought that it would be nice to have some coffee before heading back. Honolulu, nice place with seats facing the ‘river’. We ordered a chiffon cake, donut and some drinks. So much better than the dinner earlier on.
This is how the buffet queue looks like! As we woke up later today, there wasn’t much of a crowd. I can go back for seconds!
Today I have fluffy pancakes, grilled mackerel, potato salad, curry rice and more melon!
Egg benedict fail. Only realise the bread was chocolate chip after toasting it… and onsen egg is not runny egg.
We’re travelling to Osaka via the Shinkansen! A whooping ¥9,710 per person, which is around SGD $120. T.T
And fast forward… We’re at Osaka!
Then… we got a little lost when looking for the subway.
Finally got to the right place.
Bought tickets to the station near our Airbnb apartment.
I like their subway trains. I’m serious. So old school and pretty. Faster and better than MRT.
Had to walk a bit to the apartment. This area sells a lot of gadgets and many many sexy stuffs, like sexy anime and porn posters around.
Found it!
Can see the Shinsei-Kai Tower from here.
Left our luggages in the apartment, couldn’t go in yet because the lady is still cleaning and we are way earlier than the check-in time. So we’re heading out!
Followed a group of old aunties and uncles. Haha!
No la… We were on the way to another train station and they were there.
See beautiful houses.
There’s a kitty up there.
Totally in love with this house.
Omg. This station doesn’t have english. O.o!
We asked the train conductor but… fail… tell us wrong stop.
So… we can always just hop on the train first.
Because you can always find a machine like that near the exit. Just have to slot in your train ticket, the machine will calculate how much more you have to pay for the shortage.
Pay.
Then it provides you with a new ticket to exit the station.
This line, this station. It’s near the owl cafe.
There’s a supermart right beside the exit.
It looks like the Japanese don’t have to lock their bikes but if you see properly, you can find very small ones just locking the wheel. I can’t find it now.
If you see this. We’re at the opposite of that. Hahahaha! Actually, don’t have to cross any roads. Walk towards the bikes and turn right.
Walking through.
There are many things to see. Like this handpainted signboard.
These ramune soft drinks with their colourful packaging.
Woah. This takoyaki stall looks good.
This curry place looks good too but it was closed.
Tadaa~! We found it! It’s the Owl Family Cafe. We placed our reservations for the earliest time slot before going somewhere nearby for lunch. They do not take online or call-in reservations, you have to be there personally to reserve.
Okay, turn back to find food.
Went back to the Takoyaki store that was just nearby. Got to try it, right?
Which is about SGD $3.60 for 6 balls.
Not crispy. It was just runny and chewy at the same time. Very difficult to explain. Lol. Just not the usual kind of thing that we have in Singapore.
Walked all the way back to the front on the street… decided to have this even though there were so many other shops around. It’s like Tamoya Udon.
Collect my food.
There are high tables, so I think this is a fastfood concept? Eat and go.
Condiments available.
This is what I’m having. Plus a vegetable kakiage.
Boyfriend’s.
The udon was just alright, wouldn’t say it was amazing. The fried items are cold and has already become a little tough for chewy. Wasn’t a very good experience.
Went for a coffee because food wasn’t great and we still had time to spare.
No english. We had to put google translate to good use again.
Syrup packaging can be pretty too.
Had my matcha soy latte. It was mmmm…. very good!
How could I miss out the cakes, right? I love Mont Blanc. The sweetness of the chestnut cream was just nice. Cake was fluffy and moist. Plus, it melts in your mouth.
The mille crepe was very good too. I wanna try making this one day.
Back at the Owl Cafe. Reading through the instructions carefully.
Everybody gets a cup of drink.
Please sanitize your hands before touching the owls. All pet owners should know that very well.
This is how the cafe looks like, the other side is where the owls are.
The owl that was used for demonstrations. We were told to only pet the back of the owls with only the back of our hands or finger depending on the size of the owl.
Something like that. Lol.
Okay. Picture spam time.
I did hold that owl too. Hehe.
Little ones. That one is stretching its wing.
This has got very big eyes. You’ll get lost while starring at it.
This is my favourite. Pretty owl. If she was my pet, I’ll name her Chocolate or Cocoa.
I don’t trust you. Lol.
The lovers. They really really love each other de. Keep snuggle and sayang each other
There are babies too.
This is the big one.
Big right?
Huge claws.
Happy face?
Absolutely cute.
I had one on my head. All I was thinking in my heart, “Please don’t poop. Please please please don’t poop.”
We walked pass this shop a few times. They have cut fruits and it looks good. The prices were affordable too.
Going back to Namba aka Dotonburi.
I love the train. The brown interior and those green seats. Nice!
Namba~!
The place where we will be having our dinner later. Matsusaka Beef!
We were still quite full, so we walked around a bit more. Anyway, it’s not our reserved time yet.
Japanese family taking photos.
Walked around the arcades, boyfriend’s favourite spots.
Guess what?
Got the bunny at my first try! Lucky!
Didn’t know Singaporeans wear such traditional costumes.
The famous crab place. Nope, it’s not in my itinerary.
That baby thing right there is just eerie.
Pufferfishhhhh..
Okay. Back to the main highlight. Dinner, here I come!
Must change shoes first.
We ordered the Premium Course each, except boyfriend because he doesn’t eat beef. This is already almost SGD $100 per pax.
Beef lard to oil the grill.
Cheers to yummy food! I had a Umeshu Soda. It was good.
First, the salad. I crave for veggies and fruits in Japan because we hardly get proper fibrous food here. I’m getting constipated.
Small appetizers. Shared this with the boyfriend since he couldn’t order any sets.
Beef sushi. It was goooood… beef was super tender and slightly cooked with some burnt edges until fragrant.
The waitress brushes the hotplate with lard. By the way, the waitresses here can speak fluent Chinese and English.
Sliced beef with scallions. Wah. Drool liao.
Mmmmmm…. smells delicious.
Smooth, tender, juicy goodness.
We were each given a little small bowl of beefy bits, cooked until it has absorbed lots of flavour. Sweet, like yakiniku beef. With just a little bit, I could eat with a bit mouthful of rice. It was so so soooo good. Made me finish all the rice. O.o
I’ll give boyfriend’s meal a little showtime.
This is porkie.
And this is chickie. That’s all. Whether it’s good or not, I have no idea.
4 different parts of beef. This is for 3 people. We only have 2 pieces of each part. Sirloin is the best out of all which also happens to be the most expensive out of all. We’ve got expensive taste.
Just the thought of it makes me drool.
This is No. 2!
This has a little tendons, a teeny bit chewy.
This part was too fat. Oil oozes out when we bite into it… Good, but really too oily.
Even the dessert is yum.
Total bill. Expensive but really worthed it.
Started walking back to our stay after dinner. Must burn some calories ah.
Arcade again.
Cute bunny but so difficult to catch.
Night view from apartment.
First time see this! It’s a lock which you can store something inside. In this case, the owner kept the key. Of course, we have to open with a code.
Let’s take a look in the apartment!
Dining area.
Living room.
Kitchen.
The other couple sleeps in this room.
While boyfriend and I stayed in this. We left our luggages open on the other bed. Haha.
laa laabi 