An early start with good English breakfast at the Sheraton Miyako in Osaka before I continue my day!

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Late night shopping and eating in Osaka!

There is this noodle store called yi lan that can found near the Nagahori-gawa canal in the Osaka Shinsaibashi area that serves the most yummy pork soup based noodles. Everything about it is perfect and the additional egg was really good! Cooked with hot spring waters, the egg is cooked inside out rather than outside in. Yummy!

After dinner, I took a stroll along the Dōtonbori street and there were just so many good food to be found. Fresh seafood and the famous tako pachi (octopus balls) with a crazy long queue.

The rest of the evening was spent shopping. There are so many departmental stores as well as little boutiques in the area. This place is probably the harajuku of Osaka. I also went to the Tenjinbashi-suji Shopping Street which is the longest straight and covered shopping walkway in Japan! 2.6km long with lots of shops on either side. It was a real shopping excursion for me! Which is probably why you don’t see much photos taken after my dinner

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There are countless of Sake brewery factories and museums in Kobe in the district of Nada because the spring water in this area is officially one of the 100 spring waters approved by the Japanese government for sake brewing. The one I visited is called Sakura Masamune.

There are countless sake that have “masamune” as the second half of their brand name, but the very first one is said to have been Sakura Masamune from Nada in Hyogo prefecture. Sakura Masamune is a very old, famous and prestigious brewer, and eons ago their founder visited a friend that was the head priest at a hermitage called Gensei-an. There, he looked up on a bookshelf and saw a book of scripture by the Rinzai sect Zen master Rinzai Masamune. In a moment of inspiration, he realized that the characters for “masamune” could also be read “seishu,” which is a homonym for the legal term for sake. And so, the first of hundreds of meigara bearing the term “masamune” was born.

I learnt a lot about Sake brewing from this 400 year old establishment. Sake is not just science but an art as well. While most things have been modernized, many traditions have been kept and the process is still rather labor intensive. I got to play around with the traditional equipment of sake making and you can hardly imagine how huge those barrel were! There are a string of ropes and knots tied at the entrance of the brewery area to show that you have entered into the realm of the spirits as the Japanese believe that Sake is the drink of the Gods and sake brewing used to be done in the temples.

After the factory tour, you could sample the different sake, shop for gifts or try out their sake ice-cream. There were many cute balls hanging around and I found out that it was a tradition brought down from the past. A ball of green would be hung up at the main door to tell others that your home is brewing sake. When the ball of leaves dries up completely and turns brown then the sake is ready.

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A day of shopping and sightseeing at Kobe’s Habourland. There were so many tiny shops and cafes at the Mosaic area facing gorgeous seaside vista. And not too far off there were departmental stores and quaint restaurants. There was even an indoor canal garden!

My favorite part of the place has got to be the pier area called Takahama Quay. It really reminds me of San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Warf! There were flocks of sea gulls everywhere and I had a great time feeding and snapping photos of them.

Across the street was another mall called Seagull Harbor. How aptly named! It’s a really peaceful and scenic environment. I can see why this is one of the hot spots in Kobe for marriage proposals!

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Nankinmachi is also known as Kobe’s Chinatown. It’s amazing how there’s a little Chinatown in almost every country! The Chinatown here is bustling with excitement and you can find all sorts of Chinese food stuff here!

I managed to see these little cocoons of silk worms which were really interesting. Quite a number of interesting shops to do a little shopping here as well

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One of the main interest point in Osaka is the Osaka Castle. Entry into the castle is ¥600 and the closest train is Osaka-jō Koen station on the JR Osaka Loop Line.

It is undisputedly one of Japan’s most famous castles playing a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century. The castle is built high with a surrounding moat. It’s actually best to come Osaka Castle during the cherry blossom viewing because there are as many as 400 cherry blossom trees in this 1km grounds of the Osaka Castle!

Just before you reach the main building of the castle you will come across a time capsule. In January, 1968, two Japanese companies, Panasonic Corporation and The Mainichi Newspapers, agreed to undertake a joint time capsule project in celebration of the Japan World Exposition 1970: EXPO ‘70. After three years of planning, research and construction, two time capsules identical in every detail were buried adjacent to Osaka Castle. The lower capsule will remain buried for 5,000 years; the upper capsule will be opened for the first time in the year 2,000 and every 100 years thereafter.

The purpose of the project is to send forward in time a visual, aural and documentary record of life in the year 1970 AD. The scale of the project and the size of the capsules is unprecedented: each capsule contains 2,098 objects and recorded items representing the achievements of our civilization and the everyday experience of the Japanese people. The heritage left by our ancient and more recent ancestors is recorded through art, Iiterature and music. Even the ideals and aspirations of people today are expressed in written and recorded messages.

In the construction of the capsules and preparation of their contents nothing was left to chance. Every item was treated with the most advanced preservation techniques known to man at this time; some preservation techniques were devised specially for this project. The Japanese public, together with scientists and scholars from all over the world, took part in the selection process.

The castle has be featured in many period dramas but today it stands as a museum and a reminder to the impressive times when Japan had Shoguns and Samurai a plenty. You can give a museum a miss if you are short on time but do take time to enjoy the park, the birds and day dream about the edo period. The castle reminds me of the last anime I watch which was Samurai Champloo. I love cross genre animations but too bad there aren’t that many around.

My favorite photo of the Osaka Castle is the one below. Past or present, it is a sight to behold.

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This reminds me that I’ve yet to post up my universal experience in Singapore!

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I’ll be starting my post on my trip to Japan earlier this year.

I was really excited flying into Osaka Kansai Airport as I’ve always flew to Japan via Tokyo Narita Airport. It was a smooth trip and my saba fish Japanese rice set breakfast was pretty good too!

The sky was clear, giving the chance to capture a multitude of fabulous aerial shots.  The most fascinating thing for me was that Kasai International Airport is located on a man made island in the middle of the Osaka Bay! Definitely a  feat of engineering!

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First, a hearty brunch at the prata store at Jalan Kayu. I had the largest dum biryani that was crazily filling!  The honeydew drink was a little too bright in color for my liking but I guess it’s because I had expected real honeydew juice when I ordered it.

The Pixar Exhibition happened sometime in June and I met up with Sushi and Daryl to go check it out.

It was also a good excuse for me to check out the Singapore Science Center since it’s been years since I last visited that place.

Here’s a the video of my little excursion to the Pixar and Singapore Science Center exhibitions. (to be viewed at www.renzze.com)

And this 2nd video below was of the Balloon Science Show we attended. I was as throughly amused as the kids that were entertained and I believe it was a wonderful and interesting way to make learning a fun experience for everyone. The Singapore Science Center is doing a great job and the 2 hosts of the Balloon Science Show had fantastic chemistry with each other as well as the audience.

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As some of you may know I don’t use any sort of cream, foundation or makeup on my face other than eyeliner and false lashes. Makeup isn’t a priority but skin care is. And one of the most important aspect of skin care is sun protection. Living in a sunny island like Singapore makes it even more vital.

My daily sunscreen is called Doll by Porcelain. It is an oil free tinted sunscreen which goes on easy and leaves no residue or any of that greasy feeling normally associated with sunscreen. A tiny little bit goes a long way!

90% of skin aging problems like pigmentation and wrinkles come from the lack of sun protection. Doll’s oil free, paraben free, sunscreen does not clog pores and corrects existing pigmentation. It’s suitable for any skin type.

I’m currently in Bali and have been using this every single day to shield my face from the strong sun while I relax all day in the pool. As I have had many requests for my skin care and make up routine, I will be doing a little show and tell soon. But meanwhile, you could easily win yourself a bottle of Doll to try out for yourself. One bottle can last 12 to 18 months.

Here’s how to get your hands on a Doll sunscreen worth SGD160.

First, visit the Porcelain The Face Spa Facebook Page. Then, simply share your experience with sun overexposure and how Doll Sunscreen can benefit you! For every 10 entries, 1 Doll sunscreen will be given away. That’s a really high chance! So ask all your family and friends to join too since the more people that participate, the more tubes of Doll would be given out free!

I’ve already added my entry and you should do so before the deadline for the lucky draw on Friday, 30th July 2010!

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