Curiously Carmen

Travel – Hotel WBF Namba Nipponbashi, Osaka

February 29, 2020

Happy Leap Year! Last leap year in 2016, I wrote that I was wondering where CuriouslyCarmen would be next leap year… happy to see that I’m still kickin’ it on the blog and posting regularly! 🙂 Will CuriouslyCarmen be around for next leap year?!

Last month, the fiance and I went back to Japan for vacation! This time, we went to the Kansai region, which includes Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Nara, and Himeji. During the trip, we stayed in three different hotels – two in Osaka and 1 in Kyoto, which I reviewed here!

For the first two nights in Osaka, we stayed at another hotel, Sarasa Hotel, due to its close proximity to Shin-Osaka station so we could get to Kyoto quicker. Sadly, I forgot to take photos because it was 4am Vancouver time, slept only 25 minutes on the flight, and was in zombie mode. =(

But, I will say that Sarasa Hotel was great and we would have actually preferred to stay at this hotel instead because WBF Namba Nipponbashi was disappointing. Seeing that we did so many day trips, it would have also been more convenient to stay around Shin-Osaka station.

When/if we come back to Osaka, we would definitely stay at Sarasa Hotel instead of the one I am reviewing today, Hotel WBF Nipponbashi.

Unfortunately we stayed here 9 nights, for most of our trip, so we just had to suck it up. No one wants to read fake, positive reviews, so I hope you can see this as an honest review instead of being “picky”.

Location: Since it was our first time in Osaka, we weren’t sure of where to stay so we picked the Namba area. The hotel was a block away from Kuromon Market and about a 15 minute walk to Dontonbori where the signature Glico man statue is.

I will say that if you’re planning on just staying in Osaka, the location would be excellent. Close to local train stations, and so many delicious food options within 5 minutes.

However, if you’re planning on doing a lot of day trips like us, I would actually recommend staying around Shin-Osaka.

Amenities: There was a lounge in the lobby which offered some free juice and pastries if you signed up for a free WBF membership. However, we came during the middle of coronavirus, and did not feel comfortable eating uncovered food that had been lying out for many hours with lots of tourists passing in and out in the dirty lobby (see below).

Very misleading photo from Booking.com, lobby area was not this clean or spacious in real life (angles!) I wish I took a photo of the reality!

The main reason we did not like this hotel was because it felt very dirty, messy and cluttered. The lobby was stuffy and narrow to begin with. They didn’t have a proper area to store guest luggage, so it was all piled on top of each other and quite the eyesore every time we walked in.

I was also worried about the possibility of theft when they are out in the open like that – how would hotel staff know whose luggage whose? The lobby just felt like a stuffy dumping ground for all sorts of things (there were also rental costumes on a rack??) so it ruined the atmosphere when you first walk in.

Room: The room size was pretty standard, although there some complaints. The toilet seat was not cleaned properly when we first arrived The heating system was also very finicky and didn’t work properly.

In addition, the pajamas were hard and scratchy. Most Japanese hotels provide pajamas and the previous hotels, Sarasa Hotel and Grand Bach Hotel had really comfortable pajamas.

Housecleaning also didn’t do a thorough job as they forgot to refill our shampoo and other toiletries… but not very surprising considering how there were stains on the toilet seat when we first checked in!

View from hotel room, you can see Namba Station in the back

With so many hotels to pick from in this area, I would not recommend WBF Hotel Namba Nipponbashi. Again, not trying to sound picky, just trying to give a honest review.

The WBF chain has quite a few hotels in Osaka. I can not comment on their sister hotels (random thought, does anyone say brother hotels? LOL) but we weren’t impressed with this hotel. It felt dirty and stuffy.

Travel – Kyoto Hotel Grand Bach Review

February 26, 2020

Last month, the fiance and I went back to Japan for vacation! This time, we went to the Kansai region, which includes Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, and Himeji. We stayed mostly in Osaka, but went to Kyoto for 3 days. This post will talk about our hotel in Kyoto, Hotel Grand Bach!

Background: While looking for a hotel in Kyoto, we wanted somewhere central because we would only be here for 3 days. In the end, we chose downtown Kyoto because there was more to see in this area, and was also within walking distance to Gion.

I don’t remember the exact price but it was about $100 CAD a night, a very good deal considering how central we were and how classy the hotel was!

Location: The location was VERY convenient and central! We were a block from train stations, Nishiki Market, and Teramachi Street which were great for meals and shopping. We had many great meals on Teramachi Street!

Walking around Gion, a 10 minute walk from the hotel

Gion District, the historical area was about a 10 minute walk. Department stores were about 2 blocks away.

Room: Since the hotel was on the main road, I was worried about the noise. However, the room had great soundproofing and we could not hear a single thing from the road!

The room was average sized for Japanese standards, which is considered small for Western standards. Japanese hotels usually have two twin beds with wheels, so you can choose if you want to sleep separately or together.

The room was comfortable enough for the two of us although we had to keep our luggage upright for space. It wasn’t a big deal for us, but just a heads up if you haven’t stayed at a Japanese hotel before.

There was a rainfall shower and body jets. I would have preferred a tub, but there was a bathhouse in the hotel where I was able to soak and soothe my sore muscles, which I’ll talk more about below.

A nice bonus was that they offered free movies in English. The other two hotels we stayed at in Osaka only had Japanese cable, so it was nice to have a movie playing in the background while relaxing.

Change room in the female bathhouse with facial products, q-tips, and hair dryer.

Amenities: I really enjoyed the bathhouse in the hotel. The bathhouse was always very relaxing, spotless and clean. In addition, the products (shampoo, conditioner, foam face wash, face oil, night cream) they offered were really good quality.

Picture of gender segregated bathhouse from hotel’s website

Some people may feel uncomfortable going into a bathhouse because you have to be nude, but this is a norm in Japan so no one cares that you’re naked. Just be sure to follow the rules (no phones, rinse before, don’t put face towel in the water, don’t cause a ruckus) and no one will judge you.

There was also coin operated laundry, which we took advantage of. When you’re travelling for 2 weeks with limited clothes, it’s a must!

Atmosphere: The atmosphere was very calm and classy. It felt more like a 4 star hotel than a 3 star hotel. Since this hotel has a Bach/classical music theme, there was always classical piano playing in the lobby and hotel!

Cute Bach/piano theme at the bottom of the sign!

The staff were polite and helpful. This is embarrassing but after checking out on the last day, I realized I had forgotten something in the hotel! We quickly went back to the hotel, where the front desk called housecleaning to grab it for us. They came down within 15 minutes with the item.

Cons: I really can’t think of anything bad about this hotel. The only con I can think of was the awkward entrance. Although the hotel was located on the main street, you have to enter through the side street which confused us during check in. Once you get in, the first floor is awkward with a dark hallway and elevator. You have to take the elevator to the second floor lobby.

I am very glad we stayed in downtown Kyoto and would recommend Hotel Grand Bach. The location, atmosphere, and amenities were great and honestly I think we underpaid for what we got! Shh, hehehe.

This review is not sponsored.

Osaka Eats: Top Five

February 23, 2020

Last month, the fiance and I went back to Japan for vacation! This time, we went to the Kansai region, which includes Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, and Himeji. With the exception of Kyoto for 3 days, we stayed in Osaka for the two weeks of the trip. This post will contain the top five places we ate at in Osaka! I also did a similar post for Tokyo eats, if you’re interested in reading that as well.

The area we stayed in was Namba so most of the restaurants will be around here. Namba is one of the central hubs in Osaka known for their food and shopping.

Osaka is nicknamed ‘Japan’s kitchen’ because they have the most amazing food. Takoyaki, okinomoyaki, and kushikatsu were all invented in Osaka!

1) Kushikatsu Hyotan: Our absolutely favourite restaurant of the trip. We went here three times because we couldn’t get enough! They serve kushikatsu, which is deep fried meat or veggies served on a skewer.

The kushikatsu breading is not like tempura breading. Tempura breading is flakier and has a softer crunch, whereas kushikatsu batter contains breadcrumbs and has a harder crunch. Kushikatsu batter is also thinner. I’m not sure if that makes sense because I’m no food expert, but that’s how I’d describe it.

I like both tempura and kushikatsu, but there is currently only one restaurant in Vancouver that serves kushikatsu so we had to eat more of this while in Osaka!

This is random, but they also had an amazing seafood yakisoba that we ordered each time to go with the kushikatsu! Equally as good as the kushikatsu!

The only bad thing here was service wasn’t that friendly, but clearly we didn’t mind because the food was so good.

2) Takoyaki doraku wanaka: There were a lot of takoyaki places in Osaka, especially in Dontonbori. Every few steps, you would come across a takoyaki stand. Rather than going to the first place we saw, we walked around Dotonbori to compare prices and see what caught our eye.

This was one of the cheaper places for takoyaki we found! A lot of places charged 500 yen for 6 pieces, but they charged the same amount for 8 pieces!

The takoyaki was big and so delicious! The batter was so flavourful. A bonus about this place was that they have a two floor seating area inside, so you could enjoy it in peace!

In Japan, it is considered rude to eat and walk at the same time and there are many signs telling you not to, so people usually stand and eat before carrying on.

3) Naruto Taiyaki Hompo: The fiance discovered this place during the second half of our trip. We wish we discovered this sooner! A bonus was that this was only a block from our hotel, on the way back to the train station!

The taiyaki here was AMAZING. They make it fresh in front of you, so it is served piping hot. The outside was crispy, while the inside was filled very generously with your choice of filling – I usually went with the custard, the fiance went with red bean. The best dessert to end our night.

We also found out that this was a chain, so you can find stands throughout Osaka!

4) Torikizoku: We also love yakitori, aka grilled meat skewers! Our favourite in Osaka was Torikizoku. Torikuzoku is a chain based in Osaka that is known for their chicken skewers and cheap prices.

We did not know that an order includes 2 skewers! All the skewers are 300 yen (about $3.50 CAD) and it comes with 2 skewers! Such a good deal and the quality of the food was not sacrificed either.

If you’re not a fan of chicken, they also have other meat and veggies available. The chicken was full of umami flavour. Mouthwatering and delicious!

5) Mister Donut: Mister Donut is a popular fast food chain in Japan for donuts. I remember seeing Mister Donut in my textbook when I was learning Japanese in university, haha! So yes, I’ve heard of Mister Donut but we didn’t try it until now, and OMG have we been missing out!

Mister Donut is famous for their pon-de-ring donut (top right), which was soooo good. They were delightfully chewy yet airy. Think of a light, airy donut mixed with mochi.

My favourite was the strawberry pon de ring, pictured on the top right! It was like their original glaze pon de ring, but with a strawberry topping that tasted like Pocky strawberry. Their other donuts were amazing too! You can find Mister Donut everywhere. We mostly ate it at the food court in local shopping malls.

We found that Osaka didn’t have much to see in terms of sightseeing but made it up in terms of food. If you are a food lover, you have to go to Osaka!

Travel: Tuscany Hotel & Suites Las Vegas

February 19, 2020

During our trip to Las Vegas last year, we wanted a hotel that was relaxing, quieter and low key compared to the hotels on the strip. We came across Tuscany Hotel & Suites, which matched our preference perfectly. This probably comes across as weird for people who come here to party. We do like the excitement and glam of Vegas, but also wanted a quiet place to escape to.

It was a 5 minute walk from the strip (to the Bellagio and Flamingo hotels so very central), but offered a slower and calm vibe to escape the craziness of Vegas.

Location: Tuscany Hotel was quite spread out, which is quite unusual given the proximity to the strip and cost of land.

Instead of a single tower building, they had 15 (yes, fifteen!) three storey buildings, plus the main lobby, casino and restaurant building. This map shows all the buildings. The red buildings are the guest rooms, while the green building is the lobby/restaurant/casino building.

We requested a room in the furthest building because I am a light sleeper, and didn’t want to be possibly waken up by loud people in the middle of the night. This worked out well, but the only con obviously was that it was a further walk, probably about an extra 4 minutes.

Room: The hotel room itself was pretty standard with no major complaints. There was a kitchenette, a sitting area, and two queen beds. The only king sized beds available during our stay was a smoking room, so we picked the two queen beds.

The beds were comfy, and the multiple pillows were fluffy. We came from Sunday-Thursday, and didn’t experience any major noise that disrupted our sleep. If you’re a light sleeper like I am, I would recommend getting a room further away from the lobby/casino building which has a lot of visitors, and also away from Flamingo Road which was a busy road.

Washroom: The washroom was split into two sections, which I actually prefer this way. The toilet was in a small room covered with a door, while the shower, sink, and bathtub were separate. This way, you could shower while someone else is using the toilet, etc.

The shower pressure was great. However, the water temperature was very finicky. One tiny adjustment and you go from warm to extremely hot water.

Amenities: I really enjoyed the outdoor pool and lounge area! It was relaxing, and we came here a few times to recharge. There were enough pool chairs for everyone (keep in mind this was low season, mid October weekdays). Tap water in Las Vegas is not tasty, so I took advantage of the filtered water station inside the pool area.

In addition to the outdoor pool, Tuscany also had an indoor pool, sauna and gym.

Dining: Apart from the casino and pool in the main lobby building, they also had 3 restaurants and 1 coffee shop. We only went to one of the restaurants, Marilyn’s Cafe.

The pricing at Marilyn’s was very affordable, and portion sizes were very filling. The chicken burger and fries pictured above was about $10 USD! You definitely can’t get that kind of pricing on the strip.

Cons: They were just small issues, not big enough for me not to stay here again, but I try to be transparent and informative in my reviews.

Housekeeping: Housekeeping did not do a good job in cleaning the room. We found an old brownie in the garbage can on the first day, right when we checked in.
Washroom fan & light: The washroom fan and light were insanely loud, like jet engine roaring loud. It got quite annoying so we ended up turning on the small light in the toilet room (separated from the shower/sink/bathtub) instead.
Squeaking/loose floorboards: In certain spots of the room, the floorboards were squeaky and felt uneven.

Pricing: Most hotels around the Vegas area also include a resort fee. This was the case with Tuscany as well. Including the resort fee and taxes, I forgot the exact price but we did not pay more than $100 CAD a night. A very great deal considering how close it was to the strip and how great the room and amenities were! (Pricing as of Oct 2019)

Summary: There were a few minor hiccups but overall, I was satisfied with the hotel. I liked how it was peaceful, not overcrowded, yet within 5 minute walk to the strip. Don’t get me wrong, we love the excitement of Vegas, which is why we came here in the first place, but it was also nice to take a break from that and recharge.

If you’re looking for a more peaceful, calm hotel but still very close to the excitement of the strip, I’d recommend Tuscany Suites and Hotel.

This review is not sponsored.

Kurumba Restaurant

February 14, 2020

While on the topic of authentic Sri Lakan food one evening, Lager suggested that we try out Kurumba in Port Moody. Sri Lakan food is not widely found in Metro Vancouver and Kurumba is the most authentic place in Lager’s opinion. So, a bunch of us trekked out to Port Moody and tried Sri Lankan food for the first time!

Kurumba is located in a small strip mall in Port Moody. Port Moody is a pretty sleepy town (city?) with not much going on. I find it easily missed on the way to Coquitlam. Anyways, we made a reservation but we ended up being one of the few tables that night so it wasn’t really necessary, we just played it safe since there was a group of 10.

Although Kurumba is the most authentic Sri Lankan restaurant around, they also had other Asian cuisines such as Thai and Chinese. Apparently the owner is Chinese, but lived in Sri Lanka for awhile.

One thing Lager warned us about was that Sri Lankan food tends to be quite spicy. And indeed, it was! If you’re not a fan of spice, you would find your menu very limited.

Roti canai: We started off with a plain roti, which came with a side of curry dip. The roti was delicious, meanwhile the curry dip was very spicy. Since most of our dishes were spicy, I opted out of the dip and ate the roti plain.

Sri Lankan chicken curry: The braised chicken was incredibly tender, juicy, and full of flavour. It was a very hearty and warming dish. The dish was served bone in, which made it more difficult to eat but wasn’t a huge issue.

Dhal yellow curry: This was a lentil curry, which had the texture of porridge or stew. The flavour was quite plain but enjoyable, and good to cool our mouths down from the other dishes. Apparently this lentil curry is served to toddlers or young kids, because it is one of the few Sri Lankan dishes to not be spicy. It brought back childhood memories for Lager.

Sri Lankan beef curry: The beef curry packed a ton of heat! It was delicious although our faces and mouths were heating up. The beef was braised and served in cubes.

Sri Lankan chili fish: The chili fish came wok fried, similar to Chinese style. The fish was quite spicy and I found it to have more of a tangy spice compared to the other dishes.

Sri Lankan chili prawns: The prawn came in a similar spice as the chili fish. We found it manageable to eat 1 prawn at a time to contain the burning spice.

Kotthu roti: Perhaps my favourite discovery of the night! It is similar to a chow mein or stir fry. But instead of noodles, they use shreds of chopped roti bread! It was incredibly full of flavour and had lots of ‘wok hei’. I loved the texture of the roti too. We ordered both a chicken and beef kotthu roti.

Yellow basmathi rice: A savoury Sri Lankan coconut rice cooked in herbs. I found it delicious and went well with the curry. Although it said coconut, I couldn’t taste any coconut flavours to it.

Ginger beef: This wasn’t a Sri Lankan dish, but Zucchini loves his ginger beef and it is hard to find in other restaurants. As mentioned above, Kurumba also had Chinese and Thai dishes so this was one of the Chinese ones.

Sri Lankan hot buttered calamari: The calamari were a fresh and crunchy delight! The calamari batter itself was not spicy, but it was topped off with some chili sauce that gave it some heat. Even though it was called ‘buttered’ calamari, I didn’t taste any butter.

Sri Lankan fried rice: Last but not least, fried rice! The fried rice was tasty and not super oily. Compared to Chinese style fried rice, I would say this had more of a savoury taste to it.

It was a fun night discovering new foods that I normally wouldn’t know to order myself! Thanks Lager for introducing us to the food of your country.

If you’re looking for a new or different cuisine to try, I’d suggest going to Kurumba for Sri Lankan food!