We had a simple plan on Day 6 – Osaka Kids Plaza all day, followed by a ferris wheel ride.
We started the morning slow and easy.
Before heading out.
Allie would say, “I want Jiejie wear socks!”
And Jiejie would help her with her socks.
Quick video call with Waipo while waiting for the place to open at 9:30am.
We learned that this is the place for school excursions, and it’s busiest from 10 to 2.
So we had about 30 minutes of pretty quiet play time before the craziness set in.
We started with the science section, where the kids get to experiment and learn with ramps and balls, speed, body parts, etc.
And a giant bubble!
More bubbles!
It was pretty fun but Allie started washing her hands in the soap water instead so we had to drag her away.. π
They had a whole section on percussion and drum instruments.
By then the place was just crazy with lots of kids and screaming kids.
We tried to let the girls play at the playground area but it was too much for us to handle.
This was how huge the place is, but with just a fraction of the kids.
Different classes/schools had different colored caps, which is quite smart.
But there were just too many of them.
We ended up at the play area behind the library, for kids below 6. π
It was such a brilliant find.
I was getting a headache by then.
We took a break and stepped out for lunch since we could re-enter the place with our tickets.
Lunch was awesome, at this place called Lamp Tei, just opposite the kids plaza.
No photos of the food, because Allie fell asleep while we were waiting to be seated, so I had lunch with her lying on my lap (and accidentally dropped some egg on her face π).
We tried to keep some food aside for her but she slept all the way until we were done with lunch.
We walked around looking for lunch options for Allie.
Settled on a noodles place which Allie pointed at.
“I want eat noodles!” She said.
So I sat down with her in the restaurant while the hubs took Clarissa out for a walk.
They had ice-cream again. π
It was quite funny, how Clarissa smiled sheepishly and gestured to me not to tell Allie she had ice-cream without her.
Well, you snooze, you lose? π
We went back to the play area again after lunch.
Allie was having fun in her little house though she took a poop break in between.
I like that the toilet there has a shower area for us to wash the babies’ bums? Lol.
By then the place was quite peaceful and Clarissa was able to go to the big playground for a while but she preferred the play area.
Happily building roads and tracks.
A Chinese boy joined her and I heard her speaking to him in a Chinese accent. π
We left the kids plaza around 4pm and walked to a shopping mall called Hep Five where we could take the ferris wheel ride.
But it was closed for maintenance until 7pm so we ended up walking around the mall.
My best buy from Japan is from one of capsule machines in a Shinchan store in the mall.
The hubs gave Clarissa the coins, Clarissa slotted them in and turned the button.
A pink capsule came out and I jumped up happily (might have shouted a very loud “YAY!” too π) because I saw it was Shinchan.
I don’t think Clarissa or Allie (or even the hubs) understood my excitement but I am truly thrilled by our lucky draw lol.
We promised the girls they could pick one capsule machine each that evening.. and Clarissa picked a 500Β₯ one. π
She also got what she wanted.
An Ariel doll lol.
Okonomiyaki at one of the top rated restaurants I googled before the trip.
So good!
But they allowed smoking in the restaurant so we got out as quickly as we could.
Our loot from capsule machines that evening, including my Shinchan. π
We were discussing if we should take a cab or a train back, and Clarissa suggested the cab.
“I’m tired, Daddy,” she said to the hubs in a very gentle tone.
Allie saw what her sister did, turned to me and said, “I’m tired, also! Mummy.”
πππ
We ended up carrying the girls to the train station lol.
When we alighted at our stop, Allie turned back and looked at the train pulling away from the station.
“Train, go? Where?” She asked me.
“The training is going to the next stop,” I explained.
“Byebye train!” She waved at the train. “See you ‘morrow!”
And that’s what she did after every train ride in Osaka.
Back in Singapore, the girls take the car to school and then the school bus back home. Life is pretty sheltered.
In Japan, they have to walk a lot, squeeze in trains, change trains.. and Clarissa has caught on to the routine and would start each ride asking us, “Do we have to change trains today?”
She found it amazing to see school kids taking trains to excursions with their teachers.
This is by no means a full experience of life in Japan, but I guess they caught a good glimpse of it.