Japan trip - Day 5 & Day 6

Hello again,

Day Five
So after those crazy start days we finally got a free day to just rest and take it easy so we stayed indoors and spent time with our family and their adorable monster cat. But we did take a trip to the local grocery store where i got whatever i felt like eating and having at home, usually high calory interesting looking things as I'm not that much into sweets.

Pizza taste chips, wasabi taste chips,

I also got the first chance to eat sushi yay and for breakfast XD

Sliced bread is thick here... and most of it tastes pretty sweet as opposed to ours which is more salty. Mii looks awesome in this shot.

We got these for whenever we won't have time to go out or make something to eat. :D

Mom gave us these to keep in our room for whenever we are thirsty, vegetables & fruits juice.

My favorite breakfast: pizza toast! THANKS MOM!

ok now these Schauessen... these i'm obcessed with. I go to the portuguese supermarkets and buy all sausages i can find to try them in hopes of finding some that will taste like these but i have not found them yet!

Our futon. Just chilling indoors like I said (what an un-interesting post and day it might seem to you haha)

 After sitting at home doing nothing, chatting with you guys at last and posting (sorry for neglecting you those first days!) mom called us so we could help her make gyoza for dinner. I thought it would be made like we did it in china, making the pastry and then rolling it up and cutting it etc but japanese think of everything and the pasta is actually sold in circles at supermarkets. All you need to do is make the filling which we did and then fill them.

What they look like before going into the pan. I didn't just stare mind you, i'm actually good at this.

The table is set and the gyoza is almost done, in just minutes all of these will be gone!

And I am always pampered so they usually add something extra... sashimi... tuna, my favorite!

And for dessert, ice cream bomboms and vanilla icecream. Being so so spoiled. I love food.

After all this food we just watched tv and went to bed. What a wonderful calm day this was!

Day Six
The next day we got up early and had the regular tasty breakfast at home and got ready to go out. I had asked my husband to take me to Osaka Jokoen (or Osaka castle). We skipped breakfast at home that day and just went directly to the bus stop to catch the bus that heads off to Oji train station (whenever we want to go somewhere that's what we have to do).
I got, not coffee, but the only cocoa drink they had in the vending machine because I told Aviva I'd try some. It's probably not the same one but... it tastes like cocoa taste water when you drink it but it does leave a strong cocoa taste in your mouth afterwards and that's pretty nice. Still I think I'll stick to coffee haha

Vending machine hot cocoa.

We switched trains at Tennoji station and there was this marvelous waffle like smell coming from up the stairs and I just had to buy one of these. Oh gosh what delicious stuff, its probably super caloric but its great, especially if you didn't have breakfast haha. I don't know how people here are so skinny, everything i see and eat feels so fatty!

Oh gosh i look stupid here but it does show just how much i loved these. :D

Anyway we finally got out at our destination.

This is what a JR sign looks like haha  how interesting...

And this is an average train station. Very interesting as well *cough*

You can clearly see the castle from the train and that's part of the reason why i thought it was so silly that i always love going to Osaka but never even had stopped there to visit the castle. It's gorgeous!

To reach the castle you have to cross the gardens and paths. This location is also famous for the Sakura trees, I hear a lot of people head there in the spring for the traditional familly picnics. I really am sorry to not be able to visit japan during spring time due to our jobs.

I still managed to see these, so lucky! Apparently they are from a different species but who cares! :D

Look at me all excited! Yay!

 We keeps walking towards the castle and accross the big bridge that connects to it and I saw this. Next year is going to be the year of the Dragon. I love the flowers... they're actually more like cabbages or lettuces.

The year of the dragon is upon us.

One of the gates to the castle. This one was rebuilt.

There it is! Isn't it pretty? It used to be black and gold and people say that the lord who had it built had very corny taste in things, I guess he liked flashy stuff and most japanese don't?

Those supporting rock structures were pretty impressive I must say.

The castle's entrance. It is now a museum that focuses on the history of the building but also the wars that took place around it. Pretty massive stuff.

 After viewing the exhibit and buying some souvenirs we left the castle. It was freezing!

This cat was just sitting there alone in the freezing cold. There are signs around urging people to not abandon their pets... so... this is quite sad.

I don't know why but i like this photo. ^^

It was already lunch time by then and we got hungry. As we were crossing over to the station we saw a Mos burger restaurant. It sounds odd but i love eating burgers in Japan. The ingredients are just so fresh and they actually make the burger to order so we sit and wait until its made as opposed to getting one that was sitting there like at Mac. They are delicious, i urge you to try them.

I love these in Japan, they are works of art!

 I had a talk with *cough* someone and they said that they do not feel the Christmas spirit in Japan and I think he's mad. Not only people spend it with the people they love (usually bf, gf, parents or friends but they are loved ones!) but they also only buy small gifts to their partner and don't overspend like we do. It more about the xmas lights, the xmas songs and decorations. Plus its cold and sometimes it does snow and that is always a plus.

This is Mos Burger, a fast food japanese chain with really tasty fast options. It was super christmas-y outdoors and indoors as well. 

and this is what we had for lunch. They're fresh from the grill and those potatoes were so fresh (and super hot, kinda burnt my tongue) that i felt like eating more.

So after lunch we finally got in the subway (or was it jr?) towards my favorite area in Osaka, Shinsaibashi of course.

yes yes i know, but its so much fun! XD

We got to the desired place and my husband went looking for a store without telling me what was going on and i admit i was started to feel frustrated due to it being tiresome. "Where the heck do you want to go?" I thought.
So after a while he just gave up and told me he was looking for Vivienne Westwood. I smiled and said: "I know where it is, just come this way".
We had to walk a bit and I took a couple of photos along the way.

A big Kabuki theater in shinsaibashi. Gorgeous building!

Eventually we found it.

Vivienne Westwood Osaka store front. Not the best photo of it ever, i apologize. 

As I was taking that shot i saw a gorgeously dressed girl passing by, all in Vw of course and with mismatching patterns and rhs. I thought she looked amazing. I love how they can just go all the way in Japan.
Anyway we went in and I started drooling and then my husband just told me his intentions: "You know we didn't have the chance to have a proper wedding and exchange rings but we finally can and I wanted you to have the perfect ring for you and as I see it you would rather have something like this than the regular traditional looking ring and that is why we are here. Pick any ring you like."

AWWWW! -> reaction.
He was sooo sweet, i'm really lucky, not because of the ring itself but because he was so considerate! Someone else would just buy a gold made yellow ring with sparkly stones that i would hate without consulting me or something haha XD
So thinking he would have to wear this for the rest of his life too, i picked the most simple design in the store. I think its very fitting.

We finally have wedding rings to keep for life... and what cool rings these are! I'm really happy we found something suitable.

So after that we left and it was already getting late so we just went for a cup of coffee. We're both pretty much addicted to coffee i suppose.

Kohekan coffee shop. A cup of coffee like this costs between 2,50 euros and 5 euros. Expensive and its not expresso, its watery :P

Oh happy Jo. Plus I always sit in the smoking areas so i can smoke. I smoke around 3 cigs a day over here.

After that we just started heading home. We got to tennoji station (guess we go there a lot) to exchange lines and since we were there we just had to get a bite. We wanted to eat something cheap but ended up eating something a bit more expensive. But it was tasty and I got to see the gigantic japanese style dish festival as usual. Seriously, washing dishes here must be the worse thing one has as a job!

These are the starter dishes for one. Salads, soup and some... pasta balls? haha 

Miso soup, white rice, some pickles and ebi furai

 When we paid the bill the nice lady at the counter gave us these two... oranges? I thought they were for eating but when we got back home they told me they were to use in the bath. I thought that was really strange but was looking forward to use them some other time.

Yuzu - you can actually eat it but i never tried them.

 Already home we told mom and day what we had done and showed them the rings. They were the ones who had the idea actually and they were approved as being proper haha.
Dad knows my weakness is food and in that weakness there's one rare thing, something sweet (not usually a big fan of sweets), matcha icecream! I am NUTS for it! Everytime i see green icecream in my country I ask what flavor it is and usually its pistachio and it makes me really sad so when i visit Japan there's always a huge amount of matcha icecream waiting for me haha.

I had icecream that night, this one was about 90cents. Pretty good price :D

I slept with a smile on my face that day.
Hope you enjoyed the post even if its just filled with food food and more food!