Osaka Orientation

We stayed at the Hearton Hotel Nishi Umeda during our stay in Osaka. The room is small as with everything else in Japan. Upon entering you almost get claustrophobic. However the room was super clean and everything worked well - it was sufficient for the three of us to stay and sleep in comfortably. From my research i found out that double bed room is much smaller than the twin bed room we took. We really enjoyed the fm radio stations and the high quality room speaker as it gives us a somewhat happy mood :) we also fell in love with some of the songs. Do bring your own coffee / tea mix as they dont provide them here - what they provide are green tea and a weird kinda soup (i guess?) in a sachet. A mug or a cup would also help as they don't provide coffee / tea cup.

The Hearton Hotel Nishi Umeda is strategically located near the Osaka Station - a gateway to all destinations in and out of Osaka. It is also conveniently located 3  mins walk from the Airport Limo Bus Station (Herbis Osaka) - walking directions from the bus station to the hotel are in the pics section (the last 8 pics-very helpful) in this page. I would strongly recommend using the airport limo to get to the hotel as it is very near as opposed to using the train as you would have to walk quite a distance as well as facing a high risk of getting lost as you try to find your bearings inside the complicated Osaka Station for the first time. However, if you prefer to use the train, the Sakurabashi exit is the nearest exit to the hotel. You would have to walk through a small shopping mall to get to the hotel - i was made to understand that the mall will be closed at midnite and you would have to find your way round to the hotel. I would say that this hotel is the most affordable hotel with close proximity to the Osaka Station and airport limo and we will definitely stay here again if we were to return to Osaka.

Take Platform 5 at the Kansai International Airport to get to Herbis Osaka. Ticket costs 1,500 yen per adult - 1 hour ride.

Ōsaka Station (大阪駅 Ōsaka-eki?) is a major railway station in the Umeda district of Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). It forms the city's main rail terminal in the north. Read about the station lay out here. It will really help you to understand the station which is crucial. We found ourselves really confused even after a few times being inside the building.The Osaka Station is so huge that we can barely cover the station even within our 3 days using the station. We also never got the chance to explore the department stores within the station as its so huge. We only get to explore Yodabashi Camera - an electronic dept store which also sells designer bags (gucci, coach and the likes as well as clothings) by chance. We stumbled upon Yodabashi Camera while looking for HEP Five which we never found that day. For us its better to walk outside the Osaka Station towards the HEP Five as you can actually see where youre going as opposed to walking inside the building and get confused along the way.

Osaka Station at night

 

Yodabashi Camera Toys Section

Yodabashi Camera Computer / Electronics Section

Hankyu Dept Store

HEP Five. There is a Ferris Wheel on top on the building. There is also an H&M nearby - not inside the building though. Tip: All malls and shops closes at 9 pm on weekdays :(

Water Clock at the Daimaru entrance (if im not mistaken). Talk about precision, amazing!

Anyway, what's most important, try to locate the tourist information center which will be able to help you with planning your journey. The tourist info centre is also where you can buy the Osaka Pass, Kaiyu Ticket and other kinds of passes for your travelling purposes. There are quite a number of passes / tickets to consider when you travel in Japan. Among the few that I have come to know is the JR Pass, Kansai Pass and Osaka Pass. There also other such as the Kaiyu Ticket which is more specific. Which one to get depends on ur travel plans. JR Pass is really worth it if you intend to travel across Japan. For this trip, the place that I wanted to visit is concentrated in Osaka itself. So i bought the Osaka Pass - there 2 kinds of Osaka Pass which is the 1-day pass (2000 yen) and the 2-day pass (2700 yen). This tickets will provide you with unlimited rides on local subway trains and free or discounted entrance fees to various attractions. I would say that these passes are worth it if you intend to visit more than 3 attractions within a day. But for me, I bought it for our convenience of not having to look for the ticket prices. In Japan, you buy your train tickets based on how it costs, and not its destination. So, you would have to know how much it exactly cost to get from point A to point B. I'm not sure if they have something like the T-Money in Korea or Oyster in UK - if they have, it would be good for those who do not intend to go to so many places in a day. So, for a beginner, always always ask at the counter how  much your ticket costs and how to buy it from the machines. 

Tourist Information Centre (1st Floor). Quite near to Lucua

Osaka Pass + Coupons

The subway we used a lot in this station is the Umeda Station (midosuji line) which will bring you to a number of famous tourist attractions. From Umeda, its just a couple of stations away from Shinsaibashi Suji - major shopping district. Always make sure which exit you are supposed to exit from as there are many exits at each station. We got lost trying to find our way towards Dotombori and end up walking off tangent towards another direction inside the underground mall. And yes, the underground mall.... Osaka is famous for its underground malls - so get a map or else..... We did not dare go to that place at the risk of getting lost.. 

Taking the subway during peak-hours

 So, I hope this entry can be of help to those wanting to get some rough idea about how to get around Osaka.. Good Luck!

Langkawi Island

Our last trip to Langkawi was kinda unplanned. It was not in our travel radar for this year but we kinda made last minute plans with my in laws. Since we didn’t have anything planned in May, we agreed to go. I did some comparison between MAS and AirAsia and to my surprise, ticket prices for MAS to Langkawi is very competitive. So, MAS it was. But before that, I tried to book our seats through their call centre as it cannot be done online. It was REALLY difficult getting thru, to my dismay I had to make numerous calls (okay it was 3 calls) to get it done. Different person answering the phone were giving different answers / solutions. What I don’t get is that when u travel with an infant with MAS, you’re kinda forced to take the bassinet, even if u don’t want to. To me, passangers should be given a choice as not all babies like to be in a bassinet, like our Q for instance. She would rather sit on my lap than sleeping in the bassinet. We got it solved at the airport when we checked in our luggage. 

Our inbound flight was a new aircraft, im not sure which model. But it had tv screens even in the economy section! The new cabin lightings were quite exclusive with different moods. Take-off and landing was not that smooth, I wonder if it’s a pilot in training.

I booked the Langkawi Seaview Hotel, where we stayed last year. The newly renovated room was pretty nice.. It was clean and spacious and the bed was comfortable. Breakfast has also improved a lot. The last time I stayed here breakfast was terrible. Nasi Lemak was quite delish and Q loved the porridge.

newly renovated room

Since I’ve been to most of Langkawi’s attractions, I was not that much excited to go sightseeing. The weather in Langkawi in early May was HOT. Blistering hot.. We went to the Bird’s Paradise and Wild Life Park anyway for the kids to have fun with the animals. Upon entry the staff will request to take pictures of you. If u don’t intend to buy the overpriced framed pictures at the exit point, do not waste ur time and skip the process. The Bird’s paradise is recommended for kids. Don’t forget to buy animal feed upon entering the park. Other attractions can be referred to this website http://www.langkawi-info.com/attractions/10-things-to-see.htm. The list differs from the one in trip advisor though. 

 

Our trip this time is a bit adventurous I would say. We went to the Telaga Tujuh Waterfalls and did island hopping to Pulau Beras Basah and Pulau Dayang Bunting. To get to the Telaga Tujuh Waterfall is quite very challenging. It involves climbing steep flight of stairs to get to the site. But it felt really good since it was a really long time since I last did any climbing. The waterfall are itself to me is quite small, so go on a weekday to avoid the crowd. 

However, the highlight of the trip was the island hopping. Man, it was the adventure of my life, in a bad way. I’ve taken so many boat rides before, but this was the WORST, EVER. It was unlucky for us to do the island hopping activity at this time cos it was not the right season at the Andaman Sea. The current was really strong probably because of the wind. I know for a fact that it’s the rainy season in Thailand, but it is a hot season for us.  The journey to Pulau Beras Basah was not so bad as it was sheltered by several small islands. Pulau Beras Basah beach has nice powdery white sand, it’s a shame we were not able to swim at the beach as the waves were high and strong. After one hour , we departed to the next island – Pulau Dayang Bunting.

Eagle Feeding on the way to Beras Basah Island

the resort was closed down

u can see the white waves from afar - its really choppy out there. that's the open sea (Andaman Sea). 

The boat ride to Pulau Dayang Bunting was really rough as we had pass through the open sea  - needless to say it was a VERY bumpy ride. At one point, our speed boat almost tipped over (FOR REAL), the waves were 3 meter high – I was shivering in my pants. Thank god that we managed to get back to the Jetty safely. I will not be able to forgive myself if anything happened to our Q.

I think it would be quite a while for us until we’ll be hopping on our next boat ride. I think I’ve lost it. I’ve always think of myself as a beach not so babe, but in this trip, part of the beach babe in me has died. I used to feel at one with the sea… Drama, haha. But seriously, I think I’m terrified thinking about the safety of our daughter. Even if we did go on a boat ride, it would have a been a thoroughly researched one.

Our next activity was shopping. Since Langkawi is a duty free island, it is a shopping heaven. Locals normally shop for table and kitchen wares, chocolates, cigarettes, perfumes and other duty free stuffs here. I was eyeing the limited edition Rayban Wayfarer – there was a 20% discount, but did not actually get it. A notable acquisition from the shopping trip was a pink Tefal wok which i got for RM75. As usual, can't resist Tefal, especially when its in pink. :P

I also would like to share a couple of places that we had dinner which is worth to try. Jai Island Cafe is one of the well known restaurants situated in Pekan (City) Kuah. It specialises on fusion cuisine with an affordable price. Do come early (before 8.00pm) as people will start coming after 8. However, do take note that it can be quite stuffy as there's no air-conditioning and limited fans. It would be best if u could sit by the river. Another worthy place to check out is the De Baron Bistro Cafe. It is very spacious with a lot of seating which is located by the sea and a cool place to hangout. There's a lot of food choices here ranging from asian to western. Best time would be during sunset as you can enjoy the view from the cafe.

De Baron Bistro Cafe

All in all it was an okay trip for us. Q enjoyed very much being with her cousins and that’s what mattered. On our way back home, we did talk on our next trip. Bandung or HCM maybe? We’ll see :P. 

On another note, we’ve secured our alternative destination to replace the now cancelled China Trip. I've read somewhere that the H7N9 flu is under control, but im not taking the risk. I’ve managed to get a refund on the hotel, but the flight fare is a lost case. Where to? Will reveal it after we come back :P. All I can say I’m psyched and keeping my fingers crossed hoping that everything will go smoothly. :) 

Birthday / Weekend Getaway @ LMKL

Last weekend we decided to celebrate the Captain's birthday with a weekend getaway. After much considerations made, we picked Le Meridien KL as our destination. We got quite a reasonable rate on Agoda.com. Perhaps because of the school holidays, last weekend's hotel rates were quite high. We had actually zeroed out a few places but the LM's pool won us (me) over.

When we arrived at 4 pm, our room was not ready. I was quite disappointed but the wait was bearable because of the huge and comfy lobby with lots of seating space. Not long then our room was ready. The room was quite small for the price, but the view compensated that. We were located on the 22nd floor which gave us a clear view of the surrounding. We were able to see as far as the Berjaya Times Sq. Located opposite of the building is a new hotel called Aloft. It looked like a pretty cool hotel and i made a mental note to try out that hotel in the future. 

It rained heavily in the afternoon and we thought we did not have the chance to try out the pool. Luckily, the rain subsided at 6 pm and we quickly head down to the pool. The pool was reasonably big and it's landscape was designed such as you still can get your own privacy even though they were quite a number of ppl at one time. There is also a slide for bigger kids and a wading pool which Q loved very much as she is quite afraid of the deep waters. However just one problem is that the pool water was really really REALLY cold.. Even when it was sunny the next morning, it was still cold. So we can't really spend much time in the pool.. Perhaps because it is shaded by the building. However, it would be just perfect if u wanted to just lounge around the pool area and soak up the atmosphere.

pool time! yeay!

 

We had dinner at the Latest Recipe, one of the hotel's restaurant. It had a birthday promotion where there is a discount of 50% on the total bill if u dine with a birthday boy/ girl. FYI, this promo ended on 31st March 2013.  I was really excited to actually have dinner here as i have heard all the good things about it. Im especially excited about their japanese section. However, i was quite dissapointed to say that it was actually not as i expected. There were only minimal selection of Japanese cuisine - limited to a few types of sushi and and shashimi. I also do not have much to say about other sections. I think ive had better food at Concorde, Marriott Putrajaya and Pan Pac KLIA. 

After dinner, we decided to take a train ride to KLCC just to kill time. I had not taken the LRT for quite some time now. and i cant help but notice that the train was making really loud - rusty steel kinda noises which is actually quite scary. Q was also quite freaked out that she closed her eyes and covered her ears during the ride. The paranoid me cant help but thinking that a catastrophe could sooner or later happen if no proper maintenance is being done on our LRT systems. hmmm..

 

We arrived at KLCC at 10pm sharp and all the shops were closed :(  So, we went to hang out at the waterfront for a bit. Surprisingly, the place was still crowded with ppl just hanging out enjoying the night view. You can see all walks of life here and it is a good spot to do ppl watching :). Not long after that we head back to our hotel and get a good nights sleep as we were exhausted.

10 pm - still crowded

The next day we hang out at the pool again before saying goodbye to the place. All in all it was just an OK experience for us. But id have to say their customer service is top notch and the staffs are very helpful. I'm not sure if ill be coming back, but it was a good getaway for us nonetheless.

Happy Birthday Papa!

KK Trip Part 2: Kota Kinabalu

Last night we were the only few ppl left in the resort. We only saw one other group having breakfast this morning. after breakfast we start packing and head out to our next destination - KK. The journey down from Kundasang was much faster, it took around 1h 45mins to reach KK. We stopped at the 1Borneo shopping mall for lunch. We purposely went there today as we heard its jam packed during weekend. Parking was abundant and there were not so many ppl around. Managed to do 1 round of shopping before heading out to our hotel in KK city.

After some desktop research, we chose the Klagan Hotel for our accommodation. Check in was fast and smooth. We booked The Atrium Room - it has no view but it was compensated with the large room and huge bed. The room design is modern and it looked like it was recenlty renovated. However, we were disappointed with the housekeeping service. They only made our bed and empty the dustbins but nothing else. The carpet was not vacuumed, mugs were not washed, shower area was wet and slippery among other things. We really liked the room and the location and would love to come back sometime.there is a 24 hrs convenient shop just next to the hotel entrance, and shopping area is within walking distance (warisan square, the filipino market). After getting some rest, we went out again to explore the market and have seafood for dinner. 

1 Borneo

 it was a right decision to go there at night - we did not really feel the distance as it was cool and windy. KK as one of the city with  the highest irradiation in Malaysia can be really hot and humid during the day. we did not expect that the filipino market was still open at 9.00++ pm. however only half of the shops were still open by then, which is not an issue to me as did not plan to buy except for the pearls.. im more interested to buy seafood produce as its very fresh and much cheaper than in the peninsular. the seafood produce market opens until late .then we had dinner at the port view seafood as we do it was the nearest seafood place. the price is on the high side, however the food was good. we went there on a
weekday so it was not that crowded.

jam packed area.

seafood produce

pearls galore

seafood

Port View Seafood Village

The next day, our destination was to Pulau Manukan. Pulau Manukan is situated in the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park National Park. There are a few other island in the area with Pulau Sapi being the best in terms of the beach and less crowded - according to my desktop research. However, we chose to go to Pulau Manukan as it was the most developed and has complete infrastructure as i was travelling with toddler. To get there, you have to go to Jesselton Point to catch a 15-20 minutes boat ride to the islands. Again, we were there on a weekday, so it was not crowded at all. Take note that it can get really crowded on weekends.
 

There are a number of operators, just pick one of them. However, be prepared for one hell of a ride. Most of the skippers here drives the boat like crazy. I was quite concerned as i was travelling with my 2 yo daughter. It was a really bumpy ride and it really felt like the boat can capsize just anytime. I did gave the skipper a concerned look but he chose just to ignore me and continued to drive like mad. hmm.. Well, i used to be adventurous, but i think i have mellowed since im now travelling with my daughter. :P

When u book ur tickets, u have to let them know in advance the time u intend to return to the jetty. However, in actual fact, the timing is not really being observed by the operators. it can be quite confusing as u wouldnt know ull be going back by which boat. u just have to be at the jetty and ask each boat operators if thats ur ride. 

All in all, Pulau Manukan was a disappointment to me. Visibility of the water is very poor. u can barely see anything. and the beach is very shallow, which is not really good to swim in (for me) - i like deeper waters. Maybe it was not the right season, i don't really know. It really can't compare to the Terengganu islands. Oh, how i miss the crystal clear waters and powdery sand beaches....... :( i havent been to any island for 3 years now. Before that it used to be a yearly ritual for me. We just spent a couple of hours on the beach and head back to the main island. U can also opt to island hop if u have the time and u want to do so. By this time (1 pm) the weather was really hot and humid - on the island as well as the mainland. We really just wanted to be indoors. Had lunch at the Nasi Padang Ibu (air conditioned :)) which was located in the Jesselton Point are - price was on the high side but the ambiance is nice as its located by the jetty and u can get a view of the jetty and enjoy the refreshing sea breeze if u choose to dine at the outdoor area. The rest of the day was spent in the city and our flight back to KL was early in the morning the next day.

Manukan Island Jetty

Nasi Padang Ibu, Jesselton Point