Saturday, January 02, 2016

Osaka, here we come! - Welcome to Japan! Let's Shop in Rinku!

Hello! Happy New Year 2016, everyone! So glad that we started off this year with a not-so-planned trip to Japan and here we are, finally in Osaka! Ohaiyo-gozaimase! Haitt!

Where did I leave off? Oh yeah, our flight safely made it to Kansai International Airport at 8am (7am Malaysia time). So happy!

Breathtaking sight of dawn breaking from 10,000 above the sea

... Except for Khayla! She was really mad when we woke her up and told her we'd arrived in Japan, but there's no snow everywhere! She had been told there would be snow, been bribed with snow and bombarded with promises of building a snowman that the moment she saw the clear blue sky and concrete tarmac from the plane's window, she freaked out! 'Tak de snow pun??' Sorry sayang, not this year. Blame it on the El-Nino and global warming, not on mom & dad ya!

The first thing we had to do was to board a shuttle train to go to the main terminal, then queue up for immigration check and stamp. Since Japan is a very efficient country, they had airlines distribute the immigration and customs declaration forms during flight so it would be faster and less congested at the queueing line. So efficient they are that they even put officers to check the forms while people are queuing up to make sure only correctly filled forms reach the immigration counter.

When it was our turn, the officer told us that we had to provide detailed address of my sister's place in Fukui and to write the girls' names in the signature columns. Even the employment column should be filled up with 'student' or 'child', not leave dash '-' or 'n/a'. So we had to leave the line to re-do our form. It's a good thing we managed to get airport wifi connection and call my sister to request for her address!

Hey, at least we know their immigration officers are doing their job!

At customs check, we were not required to open our luggage so that's a huge relief. We went out to find my sister already waiting for us with her friend, Fifi. The first place to go is no other than to fill up our tummy after such a long journey!

There is a halal outlet in Kansai International Airport called 'Sanuki' at level 1. They even had a halal sticker posted on their glass window. Their food is not bad too.

Breakfast at Sanuki - halal Udon food

Food sample - don't they look real? Maybe sebab dieorang tak tau English sangat susah nak explain kat tourist apabenda itu ini so letak gambar makanan siap2 senang habis cerita...

Steps detailing how to place order for udon noodles. Mesti ramai orang Malaysia singgah makan kat sini sampai ada instruction dalam bahasa Melayu!

Tada!~ healthy and filling breakfast at ¥2000 for two. Yang kat cucuk tu ialah perut lembu direbus dalam sup. Sedap sangat kat tekak aku.

We also bought onagiri for Khadeeja who was still sleeping - onagiri is just like fried rice and chicken wrapped in cling wrap in the shape of a triangle. Easy to carry anywhere, all we had to do is to unwrap it, and eat on the go.

After breakfast, we went to level 2 to purchase Kansai Thru Pass tickets. This ticket is only sold to foreign tourists, so we had to show our passports to the sales officer before he issued us the tickets and the guide book. The ticket costed ¥5200 for an adult, while kids below 6 years old ride for free. If you buy the tickets in advanced in Malaysia (JTB counter in KLCC Isetan), the price will be a bit pricey - ¥5500.

Tickets and breakfast settled, time to head to our first destination - Rinku Premium Outlets! Haitt!

Day #1: Rinku Premium Outlets (Rinku)

Since we haven't bought outerwear for Suami Terchenta and Khadeeja, my sister suggested we look for those jackets at Rinku. We reached there to find huge crowds due to New Year hols, which means sales! sales! everywhere!

Seemed like at almost all outlets had 'Happy Box' sale. For Muslims, we are not allowed to buy the happy box due to its nature of transaction, which contains uncertain element similar like gambling. We have to know what we are buying, no? Just for info, Happy Box normally contains items that are more expensive that what we paid for. Imagine paying RM50 and finding an iPad in the box? (Ok, that's a bit exaggerating. Most probably getting items that are worth RM100 for RM50).

Rinku Premium Outlets are really shopping haven for shopaholics!

Khadeeja and Suami Terchenta posing in front of a Ferris Wheel

After going to various outlets and checking out numerous winter wear, we finally decided to get their jackets at Gaps outlets. They are seriously cheap! I got Khayla's jacket in Sogo for RM159 but Khadeeja's jacket only costed me ¥1490 (RM53). Dayyummm! I should have waited until I reached here instead of going on shopping spree in KL!

Khadeeja wearing her spanking brand new Gap jacket and H&M boots. Dah macam anak Jepun aku tengok!

Muslim shopaholics would be glad to know that Rinku also has prayer room in its compound! All you need to do is to inform the staff at the information / service counter to use the prayer room. They will issue a card and a security staff will escort you to the prayer room.

The prayer room is complete with ablution area but the tap water is cold as ice! Brrrr!

After spending the whole day here, it was time to leave for Fukui. The road trip took more or less 5 hours, but we hardly noticed because we were busy catching up on our sleep. We only stopped for fuel (and I cried inward when I swiped my credit card to buy fuel) and toilet break. The impressive thing is, we didn't have to alight from the car to re-fuel since everything from swiping the credit card to re-fueling were done by the petrol station attendants. Siap tunduk2 cakap terima kasih padahal dia yang buat semua!

We finally reached Fukui at 9pm. It was like reaching a ghost town, not a soul can be seen, nor did we pass that many cars on the road. Luckily the sushi restaurant we wanted to go to, Hamazushi, was open. Our dinner costed us ¥1080 (approx. RM40) for the four of us.

Taking order is computerized and the monitor will alert customers once the food is ready to be picked up at the conveyor belt

Although it wasn't snowing, the temperature was hovering just over freezing point. Khayla and Khadeeja were super excited when they could see their breath that they forgot it was freezing outside!

After dinner, it was time to head back to my sister's place. The girls stayed in the same block but due to its very confined space, are renting separately. Monthly rental is approximately RM1000! T_T Japan is definitely not a cheap place.

Next entry, will blog about our trip to Kanazawa. Haitt!

Friday, January 01, 2016

Osaka, Here we come! - How to Fly In Peace and Quiet to the Land of the Rising Sun

Since we are traveling to Osaka on AirAsia flight, I took extra cautions making sure we don't bring more than the allowed quantity / weight of hand luggage, and getting to the airport as early as possible. I certainly do not wish to repeat my last AirAsia flight experience where I ended up forced to check in my luggage at the last minute and running like hell to the boarding gate as my name was being called for final call. With AirAsia, it's better safe than sorry.

In fact, we were so early for this trip that we finished window-shopping at all retail outlets in KLIA2!

Our flight was past midnight so we decided to bathe the girls and change them to their night outfit before boarding. Expecting the baby changing room to be like KLIA equipped with a large basin equipped with hot water, we were hugely disappointed to find KLIA2 baby changing rooms much smaller and only consist of diaper changing area, a small sink, a breastfeeding area and maybe a small improvement of hot/cold water dispenser to prepare formula. To be honest, I prefer KLIA's baby changing room.

KLIA2 however, does have shower cubicle at a few restrooms (with only cold shower though) so we were able to get the girls showered and changed to their night outfits (although we forgot to pack towels and had to dry them using their previously worn shirts!)

We were wayyyy too early at the airport and the girls became very restless with nothing much to do! They watched aeroplanes arriving and departing from the viewing gallery, chased each other in the airport, watched Shaun the Sheep which I downloaded and saved in my iPad to while the waiting time, and basically kept very active - so in a good way, this will guarantee them to fall asleep upon boarding the flight later on that night.

Nothing much to do but look at aeroplanes

At 10PM, we finally could check in our luggage and obtain airline tags for our stroller. And finally, FINALLY! we got to enter the international departure area!

Happy faces of finally being able to enter the departure area.

The girls were in high spirit and really made us exhausted chasing after them!

It's been awhile for us since we last flew to another country so we were really impressed by Malaysian Immigration's latest security screening procedure - the iris and facial recognition device. What we have to do is to look straight into a camera device that scans our iris and face and then matches it with our passport photo. Apparently this is a new security procedure only implemented last year following MH370 incidents and an added measure to combat transnational crime such as human trafficking and drug smuggling.

Everyone managed to go through this process smoothly except for Khadeeja who was very uncooperative! She ran away, laughed as we chased her and when I finally was able to catch her and lift her to be scanned, she refused to look at the camera. I had to trick her that there's Shaun The Sheep in the camera in my desperate effort to get her to look at the camera! Glad the trick worked though, phew!

Mommy, look! KLCC...

After going through two baggage screening points, we finally were able to sit down in front of the boarding gate and just let the girl run around to expend their extremely high energy levels!

Khadeeja managed to lose her boots and ran around barefooted

They started chasing each other and being really noisy as we waited to board the flight.

But we didn't mind so much this time knowing that they will most likely fall asleep once they are settled in their seats later.

True enough, minutes after taking this photo, Khadeeja complained she was really sleepy and then slept throughout the flight while other kids started to fuss and cry!

Both girls busy flipping through the in-flight magazine before they zoomed off to dreamland...

Actually, AirAsia teamed up with Optiontown to offer empty seat options (ESO) in the event the flight is not fully booked. The idea is to sell off empty seats to passengers so they can maximize their comfort level i.e. buying empty seat next to you or the whole row or upgrade to premium seat / flatbed at really, really cheap price (75% off the normal price!).

I didn't take up the offer though and ended up regretting it because I had to share my row with a Japanese couple - and I sat at the window seat, so it was cumbersome for me to get out to stretch my legs or go to the restroom without disturbing their sleep. Throughout the flight, I wistfully thought of how comfortable it would be if I had bought the flatbed.

But luckily, the couple did not snore and did not mind so much when I apologetically asked to be given way to get out of my seat. Still, I was really glad when the cabin crew announced that our flight will be landing shortly.

Overall it was a smooth flight and we were quite well-rested by the time we arrived at Kansai International Aiport. Next, will blog about our first destination in Osaka. Stay tuned!

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Osaka, Here We Come! - What to Bring / Where to Shop

There seems to be a lot of preparations to make before we fly off to Japan, especially since we are bringing small children.

Being a typical mom, my first and utmost concern is whether the kids will be warm enough in the cold weather. Will it snow? Have we bought enough winter clothing to protect them from the cold? What creams should I get so our family will not suffer from dry and cracked skins in the freezing temperature? Will they be able to journey on foot or do we have to bring their stroller? Should we get them flu shots before the trip?

Secondly, my concern is on our budget. Are we bringing enough cash? Do we have to standby our credit card? Can we withdraw money using foreign ATM machine there? Do we have to bring instant food to save on dine-out / take-away? Will I have enough cash to bring back souvenirs for our family since Japanese retailers largely don't accept credit cards?

Lastly, I am contemplating on the luggage to bring - should I get a bigger suitcase for all our stuffs so we don't have to carry too many bags? (Already our winter clothes are taking up space in one cabin-size suitcase, leaving us with only one other cabin luggage to stuff our everyday items, toiletries, shoes etc.). Will our baggage allowance be enough or do we have to buy more?

I like to take things in stride, so I think of these as part of the excitement of our trip - so many things to get ready before our trip, yippee!

Of course, the first thing to do is to do some shopping (I know I will cry buckets when I see my account balance and credit card bills once we return from our trip!). Despite my research earlier, it is still a challenge to get good quality winter jackets at affordable price and the right size, not to mention that Khadeeja refuses to wear anything other than pink, which sadly most her size have already sold out!

Luckily my friend advised me that winter jackets for kids in Japan is aplenty and the best part is, it's half the price sold here! So we are postponing the shopping till we get there (too bad I had bought mine and Khayla's here!)

Some of the winter clothes we managed to get at Uniqlo, Universal Traveller & Winter Time

Then we moved on to moisturizers. Being a first-time winter traveller (if there's such term), it didn't occur to me at first to get special moisturizer. My ex-boss happened to mention that winter will cause skin to dry and get really itchy so moisturizer is a must!

We can get good moisturizer at any good pharmacies but I decided to get ours at Sephora since I need to get a few makeup items as well (I left my makeup kit at home!).

For facial cream and lip balm (super important since our faces will be the most exposed to the elements in Japan), I bought Burts' Bees day cream and lip balm. I like the lip balm which is not too 'heavy' and has nice color, but my worry is its performance in cold weather - I sure hope the balm will protect us from chapped lips!

The facial moisturizer is another thing though. It is really thick and slightly difficult to apply due to its 'heavy' texture. But I believe it is suitable for the harsh weather later on.

When buying the body moisturizer, I opt for a cream that is suitable for dry skin and has both skin repair & protect functions. Khayla has tendency to get really itchy if her skins get dry and most likely will suffer from cracked skin, so protection is a must!

Since I'll be using these items in-flight, I got all of them in travel size so I can check them on-board

We also decided to bring a bigger luggage on top of our a cabin size luggage - this way we can make do with only one checked-in luggage for the four of us with enough storage space for souvenirs when we fly back.

Furthermore, if our bag got misplaced, we'll still have spare clothes once we reach Japan. Good thing is we get a really light-weight 28" Hush Puppies bag at 50% off, which is the same price as our cabin size Samsonite bag!

Lastly, we are also bringing instant food so we can save up $$ on food - thank you Maggi, Brahim's, Mak Nyonya and whatnots for these products!

Instant food rations

Not to forget, our medicines just in case anyone of us falls sick (God forbids). The must-have is paracetamol, flu & cough meds, suppository (for fast relief of high temperature) and inhaler.

After all shopping was settled, we hunted for moneychanger outlets with the lowest exchange rate. My advice is not to exchange currencies at the airport since the rate is higher.

We found that moneychangers at Masjid India Street offer the best rates so far. The problem is they keep limited Japanese Yen (in terms of amount and the currency notes - only selling 10,000¥ notes and nothing lower than that) so we had to change at two moneychangers and even had to go back the next day to check if they still have Yen to trade for RM!

Exchanged this note for 100¥=3.55, where else other places selling this at 3.6+ and in KLIA, at 3.8+

Just in case the cash we bring is insufficient, I'm planning to call the bank to inform them that I'll be using their credit facilities abroad. This is just an extra precaution if you are worried that the credit card will not work outside of Malaysia (although my bank website states that it's not necessary to inform). Also, if you plan to withdraw cash from ATM machine abroad, you must activate your ATM card through online banking. Important, in case you lost your money!

I'll try to list down our expenditure for this trip (with clothes being the highest cost so far!) in my next posting. I'll probably faint right away! T_T

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Osaka, Here We Come! - Pre-Departure Research and References

My friend, Aini told me that Osaka is a very beautiful city, so I can't wait to find out for myself. Since Japan is a very expensive country to go, we have to plan our trip itinerary carefully to avoid going overboard where budget is concerned. Why? Because transportation cost is quite high, and unlike in Malaysia, Japan has a lot of private railways and their travel pass options can be mind-boggling too!

So depending on our itinerary, the travel pass should only cover the places we want to go or it will be under-utilized. We also have to decide the period of the travel and compare between the daily and the certain period travel passes (e.g. 2, 3, 4 and up to 7 days railway pass with different range of price, of course) to decide which one is more cost-effective. It could even be a combination of both! *dizzy!*

Like I previously mentioned, Japan was totally out of my radar, so I had no inklings of tourist attractions in Osaka. Heck, I didn't even know that Japan's Universal Studios are in Osaka, I thought it is in Tokyo! That to sum up how much ignorant I am about Japan.

Luckily, in this Internet age, information is abundant - all we need is to Google it up. Furthermore, Japan Tourism makes it easy for would-be tourists to do their research before their trip. I stumble upon osaka-info.jp which gives very useful info for would-be tourists like me:

Many useful info can be found here

Much of our itinerary covers places outside of Osaka since we'll be staying in Fukui for the first few days (where my sister is currently studying & living). However, once we are in Osaka, we are planning to go to these two places:

1. Osaka Castle

The photo shown in the website snapshot above is Osaka Castle during winter. A lot of websites and blogs say that this is a must-visit place, so visit we must.

Admission fee (to the museum): 600¥ / adult (below 15yo is free), total budget for 3pax: 1800¥

Stop: Osaka Station (JR Osaka Loop Line)

Note: Not sure whether we want to go into the museum... I was thinking of just taking photos from the outside of the castle or the castle ground (Osaka Castle Park). I don't want to risk my kids breaking anything in the museum!

2. Tenjinbashi-suji Shopping Street

Dubbed the longest shopping street in Japan (2.6km), there are various kinds of shops here and the street itself looks fascinating! So this goes into our bucket list as well.

Stop: Temma Station (JR Osaka Loop Line)

3. Kaiyukan Aquarium

One of the biggest aquarium in the world. Since I'm travelling with the two girls, our itinerary also includes activities for them. The girls enjoyed their Aquaria KLCC experience, so I think they will love to go to a giant aquarium to see an even bigger fish, the whale shark!

Stop: Osakako Station

There is a special travel pass (price: 2550¥/adult) for Kaiyukan (Osaka Kaiyu Ticket) which bundles the train ride to Kaiyukan area with the admission fee to the Aquarium (admission fee: 2300¥/adult, 600¥ for preschool age 4-6). Basically, it offers unlimited entries to the aquarium (within the day), discounts at the Bay area (Tempozan Giant Ferris Wheel discount 100¥/adult, normal fee: 800¥/adult) and unlimited rides on Osaka municipal transportation network (subway/new tramlines/city bus in Osaka City) on the same date.

Note: Most likely, we will buy this Osaka Kaiyu Ticket since JR railway does not run through this area (total budget: 7650¥).

4. Universal Studios Japan

This is the ultimate of our Japan trip! I think I'll be more excited than my kids going here LOL! My must-visit area shall be The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! Hopefully there's not so many people during our visit, since they shall enforce timed visit if there is a huge crowd.

Admission fee: We managed to get birthday rate (since the girls' birthday is this month) and total ticket prices (in RM) for 3 adults & 2 kids are just RM800+ (if there's no discount, the normal price is about RM900+).

Stop: JR Osaka Station

5. Other locations

Since we have limited time once we reach Osaka (only two days!), I might squeeze in a trip to Osaka fish market (Osaka Central Wholesale Market). I just want to soak up the experience of being in one of the busiest fresh produce market and of course, watch the tuna fish auction (but I read we have to be very very early as in 4am if we want to catch them in action!

Another place to put in my KIV bucket-list is Dotonbori area, the spectacular Umeda Sky Building and there's a shop called Asoko for all the creative lifestyle products (yes, I love these unique merchandises and Japan is not short of unique ideas!)

Next entry, I'll list down top food items I want to try in Japan :)

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Osaka, here we come! - We Bought the Tickets So There's No Turning Back!

Finally, we are going on our first overseas family vacation!

To be honest, Japan was never in the list of countries I want to go to for very obvious reasons - exorbitant costs. True, flight tickets to Europe may be steeper, but the transportation, accommodation and food costs are quite reasonable. In Japan however, even their public transport may cost you both your arms and legs (well, it's probably justified since they have one of the most efficient public transport in the world!)

STILL. The economy is not so good now, and currency exchange is at its lowest. Before it plunges any lower and before my sister graduates and leaves Japan, I might as well make a trip to the Land of the Rising Sun. At least just once.

It happened when I was having a FaceTime conversation with my sister, and while we were chit-chatting, she asked, by the way, she'll be on semester break and why don't we come over and spend the vacation with her?

It took me a week to think of it and finally, whatthehell, I'll just buy the tickets la!

I started looking for the tickets quite late - which is two months before our trip. We will be travelling with AirAsia (praytoGodthatitwillbeasmoothjourney!). I cried a little when I paid for the tickets and then decided to just 'close my eyes' when paying for other incidental costs which we will incur when we are there.

I cried when I paid for the tickets! That's equivalent to our one-month household expenses!

After wiping off my bank account on the tickets, it finally dawned on me that we are finally going overseas! Woohoo!

Osaka castle at night

Then came the tedious part - the preparations. Suffice to say, we will be going there during winter, so that means we have to look for winter clothes. Do you know how much winter clothing costs??? Gulp.

Bertabahlah hati...

My sister helped us out by looking for preloved winter items (read: winter boots, gloves and hats) in Japan which saves us half of what we would have to spend if we bought locally:

Total cos for four pairs of gloves, two pairs of winter hats and a pair of man's boot: 4765¥ (approx. RM170)

We don't mind preloved items, really. After all, we won't be using those clothes every day after our trip so the cheaper, the better to us!

Other things like jackets, we'll most likely get it from here even though they are going to be a bit pricey compared to getting them from Japan.

So where do we plan to buy our winter clothes?

Firstly, if you are travelling during winter, you need at least three layers of clothes and most people wear four layers. The first layer is the first clothing you need to put on. It should be able to trap your body heat and rightly so called as the thermal layer. Other name it goes by is long-john.

The second layer is your normal every day shirt. The third layer is a sweater / pullover. The warmest kind is made of cashmere but it may cost hundreds and even thousands for the good quality ones. But, any normal thick fabric sweater / pullover may do. The fourth and final layer is outer jacket. It should be waterproof, with good insulation and fits you nicely (you don't want cold air to penetrate inside if you wear loose jackets, so I was told).

We are planning to get our winter clothes from here:

1. Uniqlo

I talked to a lot of friends requesting for tips and suggestions and many of them point me to Uniqlo for the first and second layer of clothing (the outer-layer being the third & last layer of clothing).

Uniqlo boasts of having advanced technology clothing called 'heattech', which is made of lightweight high-tech fabric without the scratchy feeling of putting on a long-john, yet serves its purpose to trap your body heat and sweat to keep you warm. It works by using kinetic energy pads to convert body moisture into heat and retain them. Pretty cool huh?

See how thin the fabric is?

There's a lot of positive reviews and claims that it works just like any other long-johns, which convinces me enough to buy them (plus, at RM59.90, it's cheaper than a long-john).

2. Universal Traveller

Unfortunately there's not much option for the outer-layer or winter boots for the kids at Uniqlo, so we will have to look for the outer-layer at Universal Traveller or Winter Time once we are in KL later. Plus, it's having year end sale now, so we probably can get the clothes at discounts.

3. Facebook (Preloved Groups)

I also tried scouting around for preloved winter jackets for my kids but I worry that the jackets may not be the right fit for them (too small / too big) because the salesperson at Universal Traveller.

Anyway, shopping for clothes alone can be a daunting task. Then there are other things to research as well - which train line to buy? How to buy? Should we bring the stroller, knowing full well that some of the train station is not stroller-friendly, but our kids are not used to walking either?

Then there's a whole set of budgeting considerations that we need to also think of - how much cash is sufficient to bring? How much to budget for one day? How much is admission fee to local attractions? Where is the cheapest place to change currencies? Blablabla.

I'll probably cover these in a separate post. Still in the midst of doing our research :) Wish me luck!