will i am's delayed diary

Checked out of Swissôtel at 7:00 am. Took the train to KIX and had a breakfast of curry katsu udon at the terminal. Before heading to the gate, we made a toilet stop and when I got out, nobody was around. So I thought they had all went through the security check. As I was lining up, I saw SK and The Tribe, but mum and KH were no where to be found. Opps! I rushed back out to find mum at the toilet. Gosh. What a lapse of judgement to just go off without warning. And I saw KH making his back from the money changer. Past immigration, we did some last minute shopping. SK's colleague had the gall to order ten boxes of Royce chocolates. What a nutty request. She ignored her. We took longer than expected because there were limited cashiers. Finished our leftover coins at the vending machines and convenience stores. During the flight back to Kuala Lumpur, I watched two Asian movies. The first was "The Great Shurara Boom" , based on a Japanese novel. The story revolves around tw...

How could one week go by without visiting the market? Even on vacation in Japan we did no break this routine. LOL. Kuromon-Ichiba Market is one of the must-see places near our hotel. Dubbed as "Osaka's Kitchen" its just a short walk away. We were all very excited at the prospect of fresh seafood! Along the way there we passed by many restaurants that no doubt get their fresh ingredients from the market. An old man was also walking in the same direction and he made small talk with us in broken Mandarin. Ojiisan: Going to the market? Moi: Yeah. Ojiisan: The seafood is very nice. But expensive! Expensive coming from a local! Yikes. But anyway, we were prepared to gorge. The market looked like the shopping arcades of Shinshaibashi-Suji but with a difference in decoration. Giant seafood replicas were suspended from ceiling. The place was orderly, clean, dry and odourless, unlike the markets in Malaysia. Upon arrival at the market, SK immediately went for ...

Woke up bring and early the next morning to have breakfast at the 24 hour Yoshinoya just outside the hotel. A very small place with about eight seats at the bar. Got the beef bowl ( extra beef ) and unagi with rice. The beef was so tender and juicy. Much better than the Yoshinoya in Malaysia. And no weird smell in the shop. The next city in our list was Kyoto ( The Tribe went to Kaiyukan instead ). Took the Keihan Railway from the Yodoyabashi station to Fushimi Inari station. Another fifty minutes or so. True to the weather forecast, it started raining at 11:00 am, just as we alighted. The station is just walking distance to the Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine, dedicated to Inari Ōkami, the Japanese kami of foxes, of fertility, rice, tea and Sake, of agriculture and industry, of general prosperity and worldly success. The walk was pleasant, passing quaint little shops, a railway crossing and a river. The main feature of the shrine would be the vermilion torii lining the mountain path ...