Travelling Bunnies - The Search for Coffee, More Shopping & Osaka Wildlife (Day 7)

Hello Bunneh Lovers! Tonight is our last night in Osaka & we need to pack so this post will be short on words and big on pictures (^_^)

In our ongoing search for good coffee this is the best we have found.

 We slept in (bliss) and then hit the streets for more shopping. After breakfast we explored a craft shop on the second floor of the Daimaru South building in Shinsaibashi Suji, so Cloud could look for yarn. They had lots of yarn but Cloud didn't know how much to get (they sell it in 10g lots off big skeins) so didn't buy any.

Japanese school girls have much more interesting uniforms than we ever had.

Shin Saibashi Suji shopping arcade

We also went back to the Bodyline outlet where Cloud bought her strawberry Lolita shoes. We got busted trying on a jacket by one of the staff members. She said "No try. No try." That meant "No buy. No buy." for us. Japanese styles are so differently cut than Western clothes there was no way were buying clothes without making sure they would fit first. The store did give us inspiration for the types of fabric we could be stocking for the Goth / Lolita / Cosplay crowd though!

Next was back to Otsukaya to pick up the fabric that we couldn't carry yesterday. Last night we worked out how much of our luggage allowance was left so that we could fill to capacity. We bought more lace trim - pink with embroidered cherries, skulls and spiders. We raced back to the hotel, dropped off our loot and went straight back out again.

Cloud got herself a new hairdo and also some shoes for her Usaggie doll. Then back on the subway and off to Umeda for a quick trip to Kinokuniya Books, Yodobashi Camera and Vie de France for a maple scone.

On the way home we checked out the Osaka wildlife.

Isn't it pretty?

Now it's off to pack, weigh our luggage again, see how much we can cram into carry-on and get ready to fly home tomorrow night. If we can get free Wi-Fi in the airport tomorrow night we will post again.

~ Cloud & Ky

Travelling Bunnies - Big Heads, Lecien, & Shoes (Day 2)

Japan is one of those places where there is so much happening you don't quite know where to look. Today we had an appointment to view fabrics at Lecien (one of our suppliers) late in the afternoon so we decided to walk around Osaka before then.

Leaving the hotel we got our first good look at the statues outside the front door. They are smaller than they looked on the website and they are also hollow fibreglass. Have to admit to being a little disappointed that they weren't carved out of stone. The rooms here are small (they always are in Japan) but the amenities are fantastic - free WiFi, free bottles of water each day, free bicycle hire, right next to the main shopping arcade in Osaka and lovely front desk staff. Add in the comfy bed, doona & pillows and you get two very happy bunnies!

Shops here don't seem to open much before 10.30 / 11.00 am (very civilised) so we got to take pictures of near empty streets - a rarity in Japanese cities. First up we needed to hunt down a breakfast of champions. We found it at McDonald's (don't judge us) in the form of McGriddle. Maple syrup flavoured pancakes with sausage, cheese & egg for Cloud, with bacon & egg for Ky. Deeeeeeliciously odd combinations.

Here's some more pictures from this morning's walk. Notice the octopus / tentacle sculptures on some the buildings? It's because Osaka is famous for takoyaki - deep fried octopus balls. Cloud can't eat them / smell them without feeling a bit ill (she loathes fish & seafood) but loves the signs all the same.

Lady dressed for the theatre in kimono

Random street art

It's tentacular

One of the most famous signs in Osaka

It came from the deep

Cutest fire truck ever

Glico Man sign, another famous Osaka landmark

A quick detour to Tokyu Hands lead us to finding this hilarious fabric. Read the words and you will see what made us giggle then buy it! There is so much crafty goodness in there it was a miracle we managed to leave.

LOL

Next up - Lecien! We checked out the new ranges that were just released at the recent Salt Lake Quilt Show & place orders. There are now kawaii Panda's coming to us sometime in mid-July / August.

At Lecien we were also given a sample of their brand spanking new metallic embroidery threads to take for a test drive. We will give them a go and then write up a separate blog post about them soon. The black / silver threads look like they are made for stitching space invaders so can't wait to get some linen to try them out on!

To round out a perfect day, Cloud then found women's shoes in her size! This NEVER happens in Japan because her feet are huge (27cm).

These babies have strawberry bells on them. They were also reduced from $115 (Australian) to $16. Can't wait for these to be worn to the day job ^_^

Tomorrow we will be hiring bicycles and heading off in search of more fabric ^_^

~ Cloud & Ky