Osaka Observations

1. For families with young children, stroller really helps. Not like in Seoul, young people here actually uses the elevator and people won't stare when you use them. I would say, Osaka is very stroller friendly (and i believe this is the case for other major cities in Japan as well). Almost all places are equipped with elevators - almost. However, certain parts of the subway doesn't have elevator and you would have to exercise your muscles and manually carry the stroller up the stairs.

convenient to carry your bags / shopping bags

2. Bring snacks that your kids like to avoid them going hungry as food here is quite difficult for Muslims. Bring your won ration - lots of them. However for sushi lovers - ur in heavennnn~. I myself LOVE sushi, however, remember to bring ur own soy sauce as the ones in Japan are non-halal as alcohol is normally used to produce them - including miso soup, shoyu, mirin and the likes.. I bought mine from Jusco the ones in small packets at the Sushi section which is very very convenient convenient.

3. For the captain who is not quite adventurous in the food department I brought along packs of rice and cook them with my trustee old portable cooker bought from Akihabara a couple of years ago. Top the rice with fried omelettes and were good to go :) (remember to bring some kicap kipas udang ya :P). Last time it was very difficult to find this portable cooker in the country but lately there is one local brand which i know of that produces them. However, it can only be bought online or directly at their suppliers. Its called the Musafir Travel Cooker. I dont know how it performs though. I'm using Sanyo brand and it's sturdy, compact and easy to clean. For lil Q, I bought those instant porridge which I packed to go for our trips as Q is really a picky eater and normally wouldn't want to try anything new especially if it looked gross. 

cooking station :P - make sure you clean the space after you cook.

sardine fried rice and chicken porridge

Having lunch at Nara Park

4. Cleanliness is like an obsession here. Yet, finding a trash can is a huge feat. I'm really puzzled how they maintain the cleanliness without any trash can in sight? The best bet is to find a washroom,  chances are there will be a dustbin inside.

5. In Osaka (i think this is the case in the whole of Japan), if u ever cast a stone in any direction, chances are it will hit at least one vending machine. haha. They are in abundance! I doubt that you will ever go thirsty in Japan. However, it's really difficult to find chocolate drinks in the vending machine as well as in the mini marts. And unlike in Seoul where the Banana Milk is very popular, you can hardly find them here. I only managed to find them in of the vending machines in the Osaka Castle compound. The vending machines would normally sell coffee, fruit juices and mineral water. 

6. It is not as easy to find coffee shops in Osaka. I don't know how's the coffee culture in Japan, last I read it's quite the in thing there. But during our stay I hardly come across any, I don't even see any Starbucks even though I know there is one in the vicinity of our hotel but i just couldn't locate them.

7. It's not easy to find souvenir shops in Osaka as compared to Kyoto. However, there are good ones in the Osaka Castle compound. They also specialise in samurai / ninja stuffs here. If you happen to go there, do shop for your souviniers as you might not easily find other shops. The one we found on the way to Kaiyukan only have Japan souvinier but did not have
anything spcecific related to Osaka itself. You can find lots of souvinier shops in Nara though. There was one shop that we found on our way to the Nara JR station which sells variety of good quality souvinier named Kamei, Narashi Sanjyodori (tel: 0742(22)7628). The obachan is friendly and speaks acceptable english. If you're on way to the station, the shop is on your left. The captain bought his replica of Samurai sword here for 5k yen ++ :P. Remember to ask for the declaration letter informing that the sword is not made of dangerous materials, they do provide them with your purchase (only if you ask). This is to be prepared just in case customs got interested with your sword. The captain had not had any problem with it :P

Green Shop  - can be found otw to Kaiyukan. A souvinier shop selling Japan souviniers but nothing specific on Osaka.

8. Through my experience, I found that people who works in restaurants and railway stations spoke acceptable english. We can actually get around by asking people we met along the way. The railway officers especially helped a lot. However, as I said before, preparation, ie. some research on it's transportation system and general overview of the city and your hotel area is necessary to help get your bearings.

where to go??