Life in progress ...

Life in progress ...

Sunday 31 May 2015

Travel Blog 2015 : Japan v3.0 [2] · Universal Studio Japan ·

Day 2, 20150109
Still in Osaka. We got up early and caught the train to Universal Studio Japan.

We got there around 9am and queued up to get our entrance ticket to the park. Looking at the crowd we decided to purchase also the express ticket which costs us about JPY 11,000 in total. (JPY 6,800 for entrance and JPY 5,000+ for express pass). And then we regretted getting the express pass because everyone was in the new Harry Potter park, so the rides outside were quite empty. Maximum waiting time was just like....20mins? .... compared to last time i came, had to queue for at least 2 hours for any ride. Therefore the last time I came I only managed to take 3 rides. LOL


Alright alright, I have no the theme park maps with me, perhaps you can go online and search for the rides. If it's possible, go for all the rides. They are different from the ones in Universal Studio Singapore, in so many levels. More worth the price you pay to enter the park.


in the dinosaur land.


And at around 2pm it's our allocated slot to go into the Harry Potter Park. (with the express ticket, go at the allocated time slot in order to skip the crazy loooooooooooooong queue)

Well i'm not a HP fans so all these are looking just okay to me. But little boy was so happy and crazy about these buildings lol hahahahah

however this castle is nicely built with details


After taking our ride in HP Park, strolled in one or two 'shops', and it's time for LUNCH!!


Well, in theme parks you don't expect to get anything cheap or even anything nice.



He was grateful for having his McD chilli sauce, brought all the way from KLIA2.

Butterbeer!
HAHAHA. i don't know what this beer does in HP. But Natasha recommended it and so we tried. and god. Awful. LOL


One of the souvenir shops in HP Park. It's just like a library in HP? 

Hi my magic name is Zoein.

Back to outside the main park. Jalan jalan, main main and makan makan,



i find this super cute and i kept on laughing at this thing. HAHAHA



In Universal studios, (in USA or USJ or USS), everyone needs to get this turkey leg. It is so huge that it fills up your stomach as a proper meal would.


Don't mess with a halway-eating-girl



Getting dark, almost 6pm. 

Headed back to our hostel area and have dinner. guess what we had? 
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
CORRECT. 

that deep fried thingy again!! :D 

Tried another shop and it wasn't as good as the one we went the previous night i thinkkkk.


-- End of Day 2, 20150109 --

Travel Blog 2015 : Japan v3.0 [1]

Heyy folks. not sure if anyone still comes back here often. I am not sure what kept me up for the past 5 months, i don't recall being very busy but uhm, probably because of alots of postings and presentations. So nowww i ended my semester 5 in medical school, results coming out 2 days later, hopefully can move on to clinical phase in August now! (fingers crossed)

Therefore, I am here again, sinceeee I am having a very long break until august.
Was hesitating whether to blog about japan first or vietnam first. Guess I'll just do Japan first because i love to. hahahahah. And there's nothing much extra lar, i have been to most of the places dy xD

and earlier this year, in January.. I'm back to Japan. The trip was set during my study break which we only had maybe 3weeks to prepare the itinerary and stuffs to bring? It was my first trip with Richard, just the both of us, for half of the trip before we meet my sister and Zerky there. Zerky decided to join us in Tokyo like 10 days prior to our departure.

So let's start!

i was doing the packing till the VERY last minute. because I reached home from Vietnam at 10pm Tuesday, and we were to be at the airport by 11pm Wednesday. i had 25hours. Thank God i did not actually miss out anything important to my survival, just some preparation items for Disney.


This time, I'm bringing this guy back to his hometown! (Last year I brought his smaller buddy back, if you know/remember, I hung it on my bag and lost the bag. It was really hilarious.)

It's my first time taking such a long flight with AirAsia. Well perhaps i should specify- AirAsia X flight. At first I was really worried and not expecting anything nice from that ride. But wow, thats when something comes up to surprise you. The leg room was definitely more spacious than the regular AA aircrafts. And i think the back of the seat was able to be made inclined at a greater degree! hahahahhaah. Guess I was too tired so I slept quite long during the flight. hehehe kesian baby i think he didnt sleep. Cause sometimes i rest my head on his shoulder then he gg liao cannot move hahahhaha =P

As usual, arrival card. He did something really silly to the card and I....... hahahhaha cute ttm.


And hello Osaka~!

we arrived at Kansai Airport around 8.30am, after claiming our luggage and immigration etc, i immediately put on my heat-tech and long sleeves. (as you know, i might be freeze to death anytime even in imu) While he only puts on his regular jacket and the coat. I asked him a few times whether he's sure about this? hahahhaha and apparently he is ok without the heat-tech. lol

Collected our pocket wifi from the post office at the airport. We rented it from Global Advanced Communication . Booking and payment are to be made online. We rented the ECO wifi (the cheapest one) for 12 days at ¥6450 (~RM190 at that time, the converted currency below are according to the rate in January 2015 which was about ¥1000 to RM29)

After that we went to the information counter at 1st floor to purchase the Osaka Amazing Free Pass. However we were then told by the officer that we can purchase the Free Pass which includes transport from the airport into the city at the railway station at ¥2900 per person. The pass comes together with some coupons where you can used them for discount at several tourist attractions and restaurant. The pass also allows you to have discount or free entrance to some attractions.

simply downloaded this railway map from google. I find it useful for traveling around Osaka.
After dropping our luggage at Toyo Hostel Osaka (where we were staying), started our day in Osaka.

***TOYO HOTEL OSAKA
Take the red line, get down at Dobutsuenmae 動物園前 station. Find Exit 4 and look for a pink building, 4 or 5 floors height i forgot. Walk into the alley and you'll find Toyo Hotel on your right.


Dropped our bags at the hotel and started our day in Osaka. First stop was eating place -- Osaka Osho Gyoza (大阪王将) at namba. HAHAHHAHA. we ordered some gyoza and some fried shrimp salad kind of thing.

Next we moved on to the Osaka Castle - Osakajo. We got of the train at Morinomiya Station and walked around the Osaka Castle Park (koen) to reach the castle itself. We were both amazed by the crazy huge castle. It's beautiful. hahahaha

how do i look with beanie? i think Beanie is not my thing. gosh. My forehead is like gila wide lolll

I didnt know how to wear a beanie, honestly. Here's my personal Fashion advisor helping me out.

After like a 10minutes walk in the park and crossed the river, here we are to see the back of the castle.


Hiked to the front and paid ¥600 for the entrance to the Osakajo Museum. (By right we can get in free with the Amazing Pass lol stupid enough to not to check with the ticket office first.)

There are several floors in the museum (or the castle). like 7 floors? if im not mistaken. You will go up to 5th floor by the lift, walked the stairs up to reach the so-called 'observation deck'. And then descend floor by floor to read on the history and look at the artifacts.

From the deck.


Came down from the museum and smells something hot and nice. Everyone else was holding a baked sweet potato and...
WE WANT IT TOOOOOOO *shiver shivering*


too many pigeons were flying and walking around distracting us. Meningitis +++ gosh.

it was already quite late when we finally got out from the Osaka Castle to the Business Park Railway Station. I think it was around 4pm? So we just went back to the hostel to check in, settled down a lil bit. Someone then took a nap until 5+pm. 

We just packed our stuffs and then walked to Spa World, which was just across the road from our hostel. With the coupon that comes with the Amazing pass, we only paid ¥900 per person while the usual price is ¥2700. Uhm, females are at the European World again. Sad guys like forever have to stuck in Asian world. In the spa, yes, you go naked. 100% naked.

After spending about 1.5 hr in there steaming myself with hot and cold water, I just don't feel like going out at all. hahahhaha! However, it didn't feel as cold after we came out from the spa. Probably our body still releasing lots of heat. hahaha.

Walked down the stairs to Shinsekai and came to the Tsutenkaku Tower. Since the admission is free with the pass, we went up as well. Nothing much up there as the tower itself is not like a...skyscraper. hahah! There are many Ebisu statue of different appearance but my eyes were caught by this ..one...

it's showing a peace sign on It's right upper hand. hahahahhaha

Dinner time~ Here's for the famous dip-dip in Osaka (or my sister and i called it 串串)
Deep fried stuff to be dipped into a sauce.

We both are addicted to the onion. and i love the Lenkon (lotus) as well. hahahaha

 Came to Shinsaibashi 心斎橋 again at night to see these LED Screens.



Dinner part 2 at Tsuruhashi Fugetsu 鶴橋風月 >> a chain famous for it's Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き or 大阪烧).
We ordered 1 okonomiyaki and 1 fried noodles. stuff till death but we were all happy. hahahahhah!




Some other experiences i had in Osaka can be found here >> HERE <<


-- End of Day 1, 20150108 --