Osaka

It has been a long 3 weeks for us. The passing of my MIL resulted in a break from the daily grind of Dubai and transported us back to Banting for a week of prayers, and for me, a time for contemplation.

Been back to Dubai for the last 10 days, but the muse of this blog, the family are still in Kuala Lumpur, having started their summer holiday slightly earlier than we had planned originally.

The house moving is pretty much done, just need to hoist up a number of things onto the wall and do some more general cleaning. The garden too is coming along fine with a little bit more work to be done on the trees.

Did my first flight after the break, and it was to Osaka, Japan. We had crossed over the high mountains to the north of Pakistan, close to the border of China and the sights were really beautiful.

Osaka itself looks like a typical Japanese city. Went out for a walk after lunch. They have this arcade like shopping center, with a covered top, reminds me of an upmarket, cleaner Petaling Street. But it was really long, possibly around 3 km, so it was a good walk la for me.

One side of the arcade

The other side, due to the lenght, it crosses a number of roads, so there are many entry points. The small shops sell almost everything you can think off. Not too many electronics stuff though. The most interesting store is the second hand branded bags shops! The japanese love their LVs and Guccis, and what better way to upgrade to new fashion than selling off the old ones. Unfortunately, did not take a photo of the said shop as the owner signalled that she was not too pleased with photo taking.

Like many other Japanese cities, cycling is an important method of transportation here. The street was full of cyclist and there were many facilities like bicycle parking and special lanes for them. Wonder when we would have the same sort of facilities for KL, or even Dubai. Granted the weather is a lot warmer at times, but it will be really convenient and perhaps end the menace of the Mat Rempits!

A bicycle park in front of a supermarket

Another bicycle park in front of the shopping arcade. Many of the bicycles had special extensions for bags and baby carriage.

The hotel that we stay in is also pretty nice, centrally located with lots of convenience shops nearby. Osaka Castle is also a walking distance away, but since the weather was not too nice,it was drizzling throughout and very very humid, decided to save the castle visit for another trip.

Imperial Hotel Osaka

A larger than life Kabuki doll at the hotel lobby