Sakura Mankai: Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe Trip Part 3

Urghh, my long due post for the third part of my Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe trip! I'm sorry for taking too long to post this, but it's finally here, phew!

Well, on the fifth day, we spend one whole day in Universal Studio Japan (USJ). I believe this was originally been thought as the highlight of the trip but that was before I knew how looking at flowers can be so much joy! Hehe. I was excited of course because it’s Universal Studio. But I was feeling a bit gloomy at the same time because it was our last day in Japan!

We went there by JR line because it's more convenient than to drive there. We arrived at the Universal city station quite early. We bought food at the Lawson mart and brought into the park because there is no halal restaurant and the food there would be expensive! We bought the entrance ticket for 6600 yen on the day since we visit the park on Thursday. You might want to purchase it in advance if you are to visit the park during weekend or school holiday.

Queuing up for the ticket 

We got Mr Spidey's ticket!

The park was opened to public in 2001, so let me be honest. It was a little ancient. It was almost the same as one in the Singapore but twice bigger. The attractions are arranged in nine areas of the park: New York, Hollywood, San Francisco, Jurassic Park, Snoopy Studios, Hello Kitty Fashion Avenue, Sesame Street Fun Zone, Water World and Amity Village.

Buy me this one please!

I was informed beforehand that muslim girl wearing head cover are not allowed to be on any rollercoaster ride due to safety reason. I brought along my hoodie; if I pulled over the hood covering my head, fully zipped it, there is no way my scarf will fly off, but they still refuse to let me. Whatever. I spend my free time (while waiting for my sister and Mr H to finish their ride) chasing the meet and greet characters wondering off the street.

Adorable me cookie monster!

Interrupting Shrek and Princess Fiona doing their window shopping for a picture  :DD

With Pink Panther and Elmo!

One thing that you guys should not be bothered is the estimated time wait sign because it normally took you half of the time they indicated on the sign. A 30-min wait could ended up being only a 15-min wait! So don't get fed up! Most of the the queues were constantly moving, so it didn't feel like a very long wait.

Now I'm gonna just list down some of the attraction that I got the chance to experience.

The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man: Awesome man! I went for it twice. The high resolution animation, which use the 4K3D technology, was very very nice. And you could really enjoy all the quick acceleration, abrupt stops and rapid fall - they were really great!

Back to the Future – The Ride: They should close this one down, haha.  The film projection was very old. And the ride have more shake than necessary that it makes me go fuzzy, like seriously. Trust me, avoid this one.

Jurassic Park – The Ride: It was pretty fun. All of the robotic dinosaurs were in good shape. I was so ready to get drench by the end of the ride, but I got less wet than expected! It was sheer luck maybe?

Watching the ride before we decided to try it!

Total kids zone, Wonderland! The only place where you suddenly get a little more conscious with surrounding. Who knows you might into a kid holding chocolate ice cream, hehe. Though there was nothing much to do here, there was plenty to see! The decoration was pretty with vibrant colors and cute! It's really hard to resist some picture time!

This cutie was busy rescuing her ducks :D

Jaws – The Ride: It was an act that you have to participate in! We were taken on a boat ride to tour this Amity Village. The female tour guide feed us with an explanation about the village (I supposed, since it was fully in Japanese). And then the jaws came out of the water, trying to attack our boat but the guide managed to kill it. Lol, if the jaws might not entertain you, the panic act display by the tour guide might! She was really into it, haha!

The tour guide in charge!

Backdraft: I am just glad that we didn't miss this one. It is a fire special effects show that is based on the film of the same name. The show is full with realistic dramatic effects - the drums explode in flames, burning ceiling crash to the floor - how it is like to be inside a place that is catching fire. The US Singapore have one with major hurricane effect.

We managed to watch this awesome performance by Drumline Beat twice! They were very entertaining and fun! They really know how to work the crowd! Here is one song they covered that day - Little Mix's Wings!

And of course, getting merchandise! Maybe we spent a little to much time here - being torn in between what to buy. At last, I bought myself a cool glow in the dark Spiderman key chain and a cookie monster mug.

Found a bag for our little sister back home!

We didn’t bother to watch those 4D’s movie and Monsters Live Rock and Roll Show because it have the same show with USS. And it was fully in Japanese too! Walked by a building full with SM Entertainment artist posters, later I found out that it was a 3D hologram theater but it was closed.

Spot Shining Shinee!

And it was really a regret that The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park will only be opened some time later this year. Urghh, we can already see the Hogwarts from far. This give me reason to come here again!

A windy evening

By 4pm, the weather was getting colder and it started to get windy. The cold was almost unbearable. It reminds me of my first day in Osaka, hehe. But we wait till night to catch the Magical Starlight Parade. It was magical enough to get me stay in that freezing cold, trying to capture everything on camera :DD I don't really understand why there were lots of Disney characters but oh well, it was lovely.

This girl was greeting me in Japanese, so cute!

Our flight back home was at 11 am the next day. We went to the airport hoping that we could have breakfast there but the queue up for MAS counter was too long! And then another long queue for security check. I don't know what exactly happen but when we were rushing all the way till the boarding time. Phew!

And as we were about to depart, I remember having a mix feeling. Half of me was ready to go back (I really missed my cats) and another half just feeling blue that we were leaving Japan. But we have a good memories  here in Osaka to bring back and cherish. I just hope that I'll have the chance to come here again one day~

And that was all about it. I hope you guys enjoy reading this entry! Till the next post! Sayonara!