When we visited the Osaka museum, there weren't a lot of people, which is cool since we were able to really take our time to check out key artifacts that shaped Osaka into what it is now. There's also an archaeological portion in the museum with a bunch of mini activities, like piecing together a broken vase that took us quite a while to finish, vs. the guy next to us who did it alone, and a mini sand excavation site for kids.

Since our last meal was at 6 a.m., we decided to have our lunch inside Miraiza - at 3 p.m.! During that time, since it's still technically summertime in Japan, it was so hot that almost all of the restaurants were fully occupied, mainly because of the air conditioner, except for the Landmark Square restaurant. 

Landmark Square is quite chic, and on the more expensive side of a type of restaurant, which explains why only a few people are dining here. I ordered their set meal, which includes pumpkin soup, tomato & mushroom risotto, and a glass of cold Coca Cola. Was it good? It's nice. Will I recommend it? Not really.

Oh, of course, it would be a shame to waste the golden hour without an impromptu photo session around Osaka Castle's grounds, right?

I love Universal Studios Japan- and in general, I love amusement parks! So it's no surprise that I make sure we spend a day queueing here. 

I don't know why, but whenever I go to USJ, I go through the park counterclockwise, which means The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is the first area I explore. 

We actually went back to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter to ride the Forbidden Forest ride and grab some Butterbeer. Eventually, we decided to check out the other side of the park and noticed that there weren't a lot of lines going to the 4D ride, so we tried it out! At the time, the theme was Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, and the ride has an objective: to deliver a magical sword. Unfortunately, I haven't watched this anime yet, so I have no idea what's happening hahaha! But regardless, it was a thrilling ride- a rollercoaster one, that is! Honestly, I did not know it was a rollercoaster ride. This was my first time riding it, as I always opted to skip it due to the long lines! I guess the long lines are there for a reason.

Nara is an hour train ride away from Osaka, so it's a place we cannot miss out on during our trip. We visited the park with all the bowing deer, but they won't bow at you unless you give them a biscuit. At the front of the park, some small stores were selling thin biscuits that looked like digestives for around ¥200-300 for a pack. 

Do take note of the following anecdotes you need to know before embarking here:

🦌 The park smells like manure, because lo and behold, the deer poop everywhere! So make sure you don't wear white shoes, because there's 80% chance you'll step on one.

🦌 Some deer were a little bit more aggressive. How aggressive? They'll bite your butt! 

🦌  September to November is the deer's mating season, so the males are extra aggressive during this period. Avoid deer with big horns, because high likely that those are stags.

🦌  When you feed the deer, better to get one biscuit at a time. If the deer see you holding a stack of biscuits, there's a high chance that you'll get swarmed, and in panic, will throw away the biscuits just to make them go away- I saw this happen with a beautiful lady at the park.