At the base of Umeda Sky Building, Osaka

Why the base? Well, because we were too ‘chicken’(?!) to ascend the glass-enclosed escalator up to the Floating Garden Observatory :P


We arrived when it’s already dark

Yes, it gets dark rather early, by 5.30pm, but we were planning to see the night view instead (that was before we chickened out). AND, we took a looong way to walk there not knowing there is a pedestrian tunnel under the railway tracks.. (bish ourselves!)

---> suggested route on foot
___ the route we took (on foot!)

Anyway, we got there..

The Umeda Sky Building is the 7^th tallest building in Osaka City, Japan. It consists of two 40-story towers that connect at their two uppermost stories, with bridges and an escalator crossing the wide atrium-like space in the center. It costs 700 Yen (about RM 20) to go up to the observation area. With no roof covering the observatory, the first of its kind in Japan, visitors can feel the fresh air while enjoying the view.

Photos from top view are taken from
www.skybldg.co.jp/garden/e/index.html, as shown in leaflet too


Open rooftop observatory

Now comes the scary part.. both the elevator and escalator are see-through.

This is how it looks like..

Claimed to be the world’s longest escalator


The glass-tube escalators for ascending and descending the floating garden observatory

Ahem.. that was when we decided maybe it's not worth paying 700 Yen and risk dropping 36 floors to our deaths? hehe..

Ok, by then, we were also distracted by this little commotion happening at the courtyard at the base of the building. We strolled around a bit..

Some sort of drumming performance

Found out that a beer festival was going on! What excellent timing on our part. Beer and food from various countries, all congregated in this area. There is no entrance fee, just had to pay for the beer and food.

Stalls representing each country selling food




yummy!!!

Aren't we lucky after all? :)

Ok, before leaving the scene, took this photo with camera on floor and me almost lying on the ground to capture it as well! hahaa… (I seemed to do that quite often in other countries but not in KL, lest I bumped into people I know)

日本 – The Land of Boots!

Besides Kitty-hunting, I have been busy keeping an eye on the feet walking the streets of bustling Tokyo. Districts like Shinjuku, Shibuya and Ikebukuro are populated by women walking in the ultimate footwear i.e. boots. So many different styles of boots had me green with envy! I have always wanted to own a pair of boots. The feverish sensation usually heightened when on holidays to cooler countries.

The thing is, I live in this hot & humid country! I’m not complaining. I love going bare legs, dangling sandals over my feet. I don’t think twice in giving tights, pantyhose, socks and all other leg-wear a pass.

But how can one resist the temptation of daily (or every minute of the day out) looking at all these women striding down the streets adorning their legs with long boots and leaving a subtle feminine finish..

women in boots..

looking stylish in boots..

in boots and yes, boots again..

looking cool wearing boots in trains..

I got so obsessed that everywhere I go I see boots!

OMG! I couldn’t stand it. The next thing I know, I have made this one most sinful purchase from my trip.. and walking down Tokyo streets in it the very next day! hahahaa..

isn't it lovely?
I heart!

Even though I probably will have no appropriate occasion of wearing this again now that I'm back home.

Oh ya, they do sell Crocs in Japan. But take a look! As comparison, this is such child's play..

Hello Kitty - Kawaii Part 2

Another post dedicated to Hello Kitty. She deserves it seeing that I’ll be flying off to Kitty land tonight (and the fact that our birthday is coming).

I’ve been a bit obsessed with this mouthless cat recently. No, I didn’t turn my car (fully) into the Kitty automobile.



But bf has been talking about changing my car exhaust pipe. Think we can find this in Japan?? It’s awesome!!



And since I’m getting a new Bluetooth headset, (ya, mine disappeared and never been found.. blame it on my fetish for big huge bags. Can’t bloody find anything in my bag!), what about this?



Oops, what is Kitty doing with a Bluetooth headset? She has no mouth! (haha…)

Q : Why doesn’t Hello Kitty has a mouth?
A : Because she speaks from the heart (aww… so sweet)

Well, instead of an iPod Touch, what about getting an iBook? Then I can kittify it with a new layer of skin!

Who says Hello Kitty doesn't know anything about cars and gadgets?

Actually, to be frank, I’m getting quite sick of all this Kitty overdose. Sorry Kitty, the phrase ‘In cuteness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part’, I think I can’t do it with you (btw, there's a Hello Kitty wedding ring! and wedding dress too! ugh! OMG!!).

So yes, decision made – I’ve decided NOT to give in to Sanrio Puroland when in Tokyo.

Goodbye Kitty..so sorry..

Ok, ok.. I don’t hate Kitty, just not such a fanatic. Maybe I shall just stick to buying friends Hello Kitty ice-cream through Facebook instead.

Here, have some ice-cream on the house!

And I'll see you all when I get back! Bai-bai!!

Memorable Train Experiences

Pompeii, Italy
Was in Naples trying to make sense of the train schedule to Pompeii. Asked someone if that was the right train to take and the answer was yes. We boarded and got off at the Pompeii station alright, and walked through the town to the tourist centre for a Pompeii map. Was enlightened that the entrance to the ruins is a long 1km walk! Found out in map that the Circumvesuviana station of Pompeii Scavi is only situated about 100 metres away from entrance. Needless to say, we took our return train there. (how are we to know scavi means ruins??)


Pompeii Scavi, also known as Villa dei Misteri station

Hong Kong, China
Making full use of the limited free time we have on a trip to HK, we took the MTR to shopping heaven, Causeway Bay. Their highly efficient train system is naturally equipped with ‘user-friendly’ ticketing machines. Alas, in our rush to maximize our shopping time, we failed to figure out how to key in more than one ticket/passenger. Ended up going through the process thrice (there were 3 of us), and a handful of coins each as change.


Single journey but multiple tickets??

Madrid, Spain
Inside a crowded Metro standing all the way to destination. Not a problem as it was only a few stops away. Got off the train and rummaged bag for ticket. Realized wallet is gone, with all my cash and credit cards. Thus, contributed to the statistic of their infamous pickpocket rate.

A metro or subway station in Madrid

Prague, Czech Republic
Tram rides sound easy enough. Being able to enjoy the scenic journey, we were quite sure that we would be able to know the stop. Alas, we were probably too mesmerized with the spectacular views (and the dog in the tram) and realized too late that we have missed the town area as the view turns suburb-looking. Ended up at the end of rail with a hilltop where town folks were playing kites.

The owner turned over with a killer look as fierce as her dog!


hmm.. no more scenic view? er, where to now?

Rome, Italy
At Roma Termini waiting for train to Fiumicino International Airport. Over the loudspeaker, an announcement was being made repeatedly. Needless to say, in Italian, with no translation. Chaos started with people around me rushing away from platform. Turned out that the trains decided to go on strike that day. Imagine me missing my flight, stranded at the station as I had no idea what was happening, if not for the friend who pulled me along to board a shuttle bus instead.

Prague to Kutna Hora, Czech Republic
Occupied a whole compartment to ourselves, with no one in sight, we both were happily cam-whoring with shots of us lying down on the seats posing ourselves silly. It is true that photos are the best kept memories.

Kutna Hora to Prague, Czech Republic
Had a dinner date that we were rushing back to Prague for. Instead of a direct train, we took one that we would have to interchange (by mistake, ok? yes, we took the wrong train, satisfied?), thus waited for such a long time till it was quite late. Gracious host didn’t mind and waited to serve us a yummy home-cooked meal.


We did end up offering to wash the dishes..

Caserta, Italy
Climbed into a train, took a seat near entrance and were observing incoming passengers. Two girls got in shortly. In Chinese, one was speaking to the other, “Let’s go in further, there’s some cute guys at the back!!”. Travel companion beside me couldn’t help but started giggling. The 2 girls looked at us and moved on quickly! We are always guilty of assuming we have a secret language of our own when in foreign land. The world is actually more universal than we thought.

There are many more taking the wrong train incidents throughout the years but really, good or bad, it was all worth it in the end just to be able to hop on to one while travelling. And may there be a lot more memorable train experiences to come.

Holiday Indoor Adventure

When was the last time you have a fulfilling and exhausting exercise in bed? This is something that we do only in hotels while on holiday as we won't want our aggressiveness to break our own beds at home!



Quality of video indicates that I need a new camera, but then again, being anonymous works, before friends in video condemn me for exposing their bedroom secrets.

Nowadays, however, the only pillow fights that we're having are all through Facebook.

A moment of reflection

No, this is not one of those school essays entitled 'My Father, My Hero'. But I’m in one of those melancholy mood of mine right now. So decided to put this up. Especially after a friend sent me an email on a disturbing children's book.



The story goes on from here and turned pretty scary. Anyway, my point is, my parents don't yell at home (although mum nags.. but daddy keeps his cool). So no traumatic childhood for me thankfully!

I came across an old photo of daddy carrying me in his strong arms the other day. Daddy was so young then, his hair was still thick and shining black. It was taken in a park. We used to have weekly family outing. Picnics at parks, dining at fast food restaurants and so on, even when we were marginally poor. Our lives were filled with love and happiness. We were contended playing happy family.

I don’t know what happened from then to now.

In between, daddy no longer tried to tickle me silly because I yelled at him and pulled long faces when he did. Daddy stopped showing up at my school concerts and sports games because I stopped inviting him. Daddy stopped staying up at night to wait up for me because I’ve been inconsiderate with my partying hours and his alertness declined with age.

In between, I grew up too fast.

I can’t rewind my life or turn back time. I cannot even bring myself to tell him that I LOVE HIM because we came from a traditional family that doesn’t display open affection. But I want him to know that I’ve grown up ok (ok, though not the best amongst his daughters) and how much I appreciate his unconditional love.

Daddy has been and still is the most loving and also the most patient man I know, for I rarely (close to never) seen him lost his temper or raise his voice. Clearly an unfair advantage over other men in my life over the years.

Well, don’t blame me for the comparison. It’s all documented in Freud’s theories.

Living out of a Suitcase

There’s no place like where all your stuff is. As it is, I think my wardrobe at home is too small. It’s not possible to fit everything into a suitcase! Especially if you’re heading to a country in cold weather. A different scenario all together if it’s a beach holiday for sun-worshipping, of which I’ll usually throw in a few bikinis (yes, a FEW for variety) and my skimpiest clothes..

It’s about time I start packing for my coming hol.. (or at least start thinking about it). And I usually don’t enjoy that task. How do you decide in advance what to wear for the next 10 days?? I usually can’t even decide what to wear to work in the morning before leaving for work.

Imagine staring into your suitcase and not having much choice apart from the few clothing you managed to cram in and having bout of regrets for not bringing along for instance that pink top that would go well with your mood for the day. Or in desperate times, I have attempted to exchange clothes with my travel buddy after we both stared into our respective suitcases for a good 5 minutes and yet couldn’t decide on which of the few haven’t been ‘recycled’ items in it to pull out.

As much as I love travelling, living out of a suitcase often caused me unnecessary anxiety. Ok, ok, don’t shoot me for ranting. Yes, YES, the travel experiences always prevail over this minor issue!

10 more days to go….