OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH - the day where I was enchanted by the most beautiful aquarium I've seen in my life :-)
Before our magical sea experience began, we had lunch @ Sukiya! Some restaurant near the aquarium, which reminded us a lot of Yoshinoya - but the food was so so so good!
Cheese galore with delicious beef slices + curry rice!!
Shared these two dishes with Chris, and I do not regret my decisions hehe. One of the more memorable meals in Japan too! Thank you good food~
I love how the surrounding areas are painted with related fish imagery, which sets the mood for the Osaka Aquarium ^_^
We're finally arrived!! The building itself looked gorgeous and got us all excited ^_^
The lady at the counter asked how many people there were in our group, so I said 5! Little did I know that she asked such a question with the purpose of handing us tickets with different animals on it!! Aptly, I got the penguin one - because Chek is a pengu hehe ^_^ But, all the other animals were so cute too!!
I think this is a really good group photo of us :-) I love how there's a stand for you to put your phone/camera on, allowing you to take a photo without asking anyone for help!
And so, Chris's obsession with taking pictures of herself getting eaten by animals... begins!
Being gobbled up by a whale shark, HAHA!
Being kids, we rushed back to the store to buy these books made for collecting the sea animal chops along the way ^_^ One of the best buys there!! That's why we lagged behind from the rest and took this picture together heh!
Sea Otter!!!!! :-)
They float super duper well :O
The size of that fish as compared to the little girl. The only thought going through my mind was, "thank goodness there's a thick glass between the fish and the girl. Or else.."
P E N G U I N ! ! !
FAK, so many adorable looking penguins. LOOK AT THE ONE ON THE RIGHT - HOW IS IT SO CUTE??? They are also tremendously fast underwater, it's really amazing!
Living the fish life, living the stone life. #lyfe
The famous whale shark of the Osaka Aquarium!
A lone starfish and some squids that swim backwards hehe!
The lights used in the large aquarium tanks were very magical :-) There were a few moments where I just stood there quietly enjoying the view of the fishes swimming around while the light seemed to brush off their scales and skin.
A pretty incredible sight.
Hehe, this stingray looks like it's going, "wheeee!"
Magical, huh?
All these crabs standing at attention haha!
Derpy derp derp!
Chris took a liking to this hammer shark, and hence named him "Hammy". From that moment on I became her personal photographer, helping her take memorable photos with Hammy HAHA!
Our super cool stamp book!!
Really beautiful jellyfish :') They have the ability to reflect light - hence it looks like they are giving off different colours as they glide in water.
Probably was more excited about these jellyfishes after watching some Princess Jellyfish movie on the flight from Singapore to Tokyo, haha! Now I think they're really beautiful :-)
Learnt that the longer the tentacles, the more dangerous the jellyfish!
Look at that butt. C U T E
Narwhale and I :>
What seals do: float in water with their big bellies & judge you from the waters.
JUDGE JUDGE JUDGE (but you are still adorable)
Hehe, felt like this was Chek and me ^_^ Just having our own weird conversation together as we stare each other down while acting angry and gangster-ish.
There was a mini-pool where we got to touch some of the stingrays and smaller sharks!! WARNING: Once you've touched a stingray's BACK, you can never go BACK.
It is really the smoothest surface I have ever laid my hands on - I did not want to leave! It's smooth and slightly soft weew! Thank you cute stingrays and I hope we did not give you multiple heart attacks.
My first time seeing a sloth in person! It really did not move though - guess it was living up to its expectations haha!
Chris the sloth - too pro too pro! Can't believe this is how sloths sleep, it would take up way too much energy for me to even get into that position haha!
Otters fighting nuuuuuuuu ;_;
End of our journey in Osaka Aquarium. :<
We went to the mall right next to the aquarium to look around before heading to Namba for dinner :-)
This is a cool ninja shop!!
Salt Milk ice cream is now my new favourite flavour. :>
We arrived in the famous Dotonbori area for some food! Our plan for the night was to eat the famous Japanese dishes we had not been able to find on previous days.
First up: GYOZA!
Really cute restaurant decorations/signboards!
TAKOYAKI! Again, we tried a salt flavoured one (?) - it was pretty good!
Steaming takoyakis we shoved into our mouths because we wanted to continue on and find more food!
After this we tried some warm wine - it's really really really good, especially with the cold weather :-) Wish I was more willing to spend money and buy one for myself but oh well!
Some beef!! Our cheaper substitute for wagyu beef heh. It was still really good though!! The sauce tasted amazing ^_^
More food from Dotonbori hehe!
Found a place that resembles scape/underground area near Esplanade in Singapore! It feels quite homely and warm knowing that all around the world, dance is prevalent. Happy to know that actually people from different aren't actually that different after all :-) KEEP ROCKING YOU DANCERS!
Found the most delicious pao I have ever eaten!!!! ONLY IN OSAKA.