Chasing Sakura Day 8 - Kobe Mosque / Shinsaibashi-suji, Osaka

Assalamualaikum. Konnichiwa.

Note: This entry was supposed to be published the day I left Malaysia for Bangkok. Tapi sebab aku pintar, instead of hitting the publish tab I hit the save tab. Bingai berganda.

Selamat berpuasa!

Punyalah kan sampai masuk Ramadhan. Cerita Jepang ni pun sudah dragged for almost 2 months. Ndak apalah, slow² update. Janji dapat share experiences aku di sana. 

Ini cerita last day kami di negara matahari terbit. Kiranya second last entry aku untuk trip Chasing Sakura ni. Last entry aku akan bentang budget. Next month ada few friends bakal menjejak pi sana, diorang sudah 'menyanyi' tanya pasal budget. Haritu buzzing sebab aku lambat update cerita, ni kali part budget pula. Aigoo!

Sambungan cerita dari sini. 

Lepas sesi mengoyakkan poket di Harborland, we proceeded to our next destination. Ok juga route ni, sebab kami start dari central Kobe. So from Kobe Station kami naik train & alighted at Sannomiya Station. Dari station ni sudah dekat untuk pi Osaka.

I decided to just walk to the mosque. Kami sampai pun sudah dekat jam 4pm. Rugi kalau mau naik Kobe City Loop Bus lagi. Sebab tu jak tempat yang kami akan singgah before balik Osaka. Memang ndak kan sempat untuk pi HAT. Apalagi mau realisasikan angan² untuk masuk Earthquake Museum tu. Jadinya, cuci mata & hati jaklah baca entry si DJ (here). Dalam train, aku simpan kemas Kobe Welcome Coupon yang aku sudah print before sampai Jepang haritu. Coupon tu boleh entitle kita untuk dapat discount at certain tourist attractions in Kobe. Sebab kami cuma pi masjid, jadinya memang ndak kan berguna pun coupon tu. 

Lepas jak scan/tunjuk ticket, turn right. Pastu akan jumpa map di bawah ni, depan pintu Central Gate.

Direction to Kobe Mosque from Sannomiya Station; if u wish to walk. Memang ndak jauh. Merely 5 minutes walking. 

First thing mesti buat soon after keluar dari station, jalan straight ke depan & cross the road. Kami haritu memang blur gila. Walhal map sikit punya besar terpampang depan mata. We took a rather complicated route. Nasib baik rajin bertanya, walau bahasa ayam itik. Magically we understood what each other tried to conveyed.

#2 - Upon seeing the Tokyu Hands, take the right junction.
#3 - Another temple in the heart of Kobe but we didn't enter.
#4 - Elevated parking! Selalu teruja nampak benda alah ni. Cross the road, walk straight & turn left on the second junction.

Alhamdulillah. We made it to the mosque without much hassle. Ndak bazir duit naik bas as it is really just a walking distance from Sannomiya Station.

Mosque's main entrance.

Also known as the Muslim Mosque. Apart from being the first mosque built in Japan, what made this trip even more memorable is the fact that this mosque was among the few buildings that survived the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995. Though I didn't get to visit the earthquake memorial museum, setting foot upon this mosque made me grateful still. 

It is built based on traditional Indian style. 

And sempat juga solat jama' di sini. I entered the mosque via the door at the Islamic Culture Centre building attached on the left side of the mosque. 

I didn't see this sign when I wandered around the entrance. Luckily ada seorang lelaki Arab baru sampai & pointed me to the women section. Mata macam bulan yet sign besar gini aku ndak nampak. 

The ablution area. Siap ada heater for each taps. Except the toilet. I still remember vividly my experience taking ablution in Busan during winter early this year. Without heater it was. Imagine segala anggota badan numbed. Part paling best kena mendaki tangga as the women section is on the second floor. Dugaan!

Just as I was about to go down, dengar orang bang Azan. Rupanya baru masuk waktu Asar. Akibat ndak tengok jam, boleh jak solat Zohor dulu & later jadi jemaah untuk Asar. Kan sudah rugi.

Yang lain lepak depan kedai ni while tunggu aku habis solat. Siap dapat grape from the lady boss lagi. A Japanese Muslim. 

Aku masuk untuk tanya kalau ada kedai makan nearby. On the way to the mosque memang nampak few shops tapi macam semua pun tutup. The lady boss' answer akhirnya menjawab rasa pelik aku. Turned out most of the kedai makan open for breakfast until 10am & will resumed their business at 5pm until 7pm for dinner. 

Frust ndak dapat makan di Kobe, kami pun berjalan balik pi Sannomiya Station. Balik Osaka lah kita, ada agenda last malam ni. The most talked 'street' in Osaka. From the mosque, we followed a different path. Instead of crossing the road, we took the left turn. 

And crossed the road here. Masuk Higashimon Street. Yang ni jalan patut kami ikut as suggested by googlemap. Tapi upon sampai tu aku blur ndak tau mana mau ikut. Mau lagi pas nampak map depan station. Bingung-s!

Based on my observation, street ni hanya akan meriah & 'hidup' di petang hari. Masa kami lalu ni, kedai baru start buka, pekerja sibuk pasang bunting. Tengok bunting tu semua, memang mostly kedai night clubs. Most cari cheap hotel area ni memang banyak.

Betapa lebar jalan depan station ni, no wonder masa mula sampai tu aku automatically masuk fasa bingung. Nasib ndak payah cari tourism center sebab sampai pun sudah lewat, else lagi bersesat kali. 

Ahjussi pakai coat lain dari yang lain. Our teka-teki pun bermula. Kerja apa pakcik ni. 

One thing perlu salute, Japanese memang ndak suka bazir masa. Dalam train, memang budaya membaca ni selalu aku nampak. Unlike Koreans who prefer layan handphones, diorang ni kill time by reading. Novel ka komik, janji budaya membaca tu is literally something kita patut contohi. Sambil cakap depan cermin, pointing to myself. Sigh.

Umeda Station adalah sangat besar. And luas. Sakit kaki mau berjalan semata tukar train jak. From JR Train to subway train.

At first, ingatkan boleh balun habiskan Yen di area ni. Little did we know that area Shinsaibashi-suji ni adalah more to kedai ber-airconditioned. Ingatkan stok macam area Jalan TAR tu. Akibat ndak buat research pasal tempat ni, padanlah muka.

Hanyalah aktiviti jalan² cuci mata malam tu. Aku habiskan Yen untuk beli Kit Kat limited edition at the airport the next day.

Pun mau sibuk selca berbackgroundkan Shinsaibashi-suji sign. 

Yeah jumpa the famous Glico Man. Dalam map Osaka pun ada mention street ni so kemungkinan untuk sesat adalah zero. Gitu.

Dinner at a restaurant suggested by DJ. She went here twice during her visit, so aku pun harus gedik mau try juga. 'Landmark' famous restaurant ni is its big aquarium outside. It is situated next to a shop named Hikari.

Muka kelaparan. The last meal I had was during breakfast awal pagi tu. Sob.

My humble dinner. Cough. Last kopek of raw sushi before balik Malaysia the next day.

Akhirnya habis cerita Jepang. Lepas ni boleh continue sama cerita Brunei yang sudah berbulan tertangguh juga. 

Now perlu bersiap. In an hour kena ada di KL Sentral. Yeah, buat entry ni di Kolumpur. My first sahur adalah di rumah Angah here in Cheras. Nanti berbuka tempat lain, merasa lah kan jadi perantau walau cuma untuk seminggu. 

Hopefully keadaan di tempat dituju ni sudah beransur ok. Pray for my safe journey guys. Makaseh!

eryantierdabdulkarim