Haven't I told you about our Kansai spree yet?

Probably, you are overwhlemed by my foodie stories and other photos of our Hokkaido escapade. Now, I'm gonna lure you of the must-see places that we visited during our 4-day galore in Kansai.

Briefly, Kansai is just like Tokyo on the west side of Japan. Prices are still high, although comparatively lower than in Tokyo. Surprisingly, I didn't shop much. In fact, I didn't buy anything except for some diapers and baby milk for my toddler, and of course, oatmeal. ;)

While we greeted the New Year with a bang, our first night of the year was spent in Honmachi, a place somewhere between the Kita (North) and Minami (South) area of Osaka. If I were to describe our trip around Kansai, I would say it was such a walking saga. Read on to find out why.

To our luck, almost all shops were closed on the first two days of the year -- except Starbucks, I guess. On our first night, we strolled around the place somehow exploring the cityscape at night while in dire search for a nice place to dine. Probably, we didn't mind walking at all until we reached the next station, hoping there were some shops open. Sure enough, Pepper Lunch was the only shop open at that time (aside from Starbucks, of course).

The next morning, we headed to Kyoto. Again, in trying to explore the place, we volunteered to walk till we get to the next station (the oppposite side of the last night's stroll) where we departed for Kyoto -- and back.

On the third day, we went to Nara, and got back to Namba early afternoon. Perhaps, our strolling never got tired of us (or the other way around?) that we decided to walk again from Namba to Honmachi. That's 2 stations away, mind you. Of course, we're a bit exhausted already but looking for shops where we could buy baby products was our goal this time. Halfway through our walking saga, our luck had us enjoy our tonkatsu dinner --but not diapers and baby milk. So, that night, we gave Luke fresh milk instead, while observing him for any signs of allergy (none so far, thank heavens!).

Come fourth day -- our last day, strolling was only between sightseeing places, thanks to our friend who knows the way. ;)

In short, our Kansai tour was not only highlighted by sightseeing (see Kyoto adventure, Parts 1, 2 and 3) but also some sort of unplanned/forced wandering in search of food shops (first night) and baby essentials (2nd and 3rd night).

And oh, in most of the places we went to, toilets are not baby-friendly, and toilet paper not supplied. Just for the record. ;)