Another plan that had successfully cross over from our group chat 💖
Last September 2024, we have successfully put into fruition something Zai, Trizia, and I have been planning for months: A trip to Japan! A year before our trip, we went to South Korea during end of winter, so why not go to Japan during end of Summer which is still horrid hot.
OSAKA-NARA-KYOTO-NAGOYA
That's our route, where we landed in Osaka, spent a day with the deers in Nara, spent the weekend in Kyoto, and had our last part in Nagoya for a total of 10 days- and to be honest, it still feels a bitin or in English, not enough.
WELCOME TO OSAKA
We left Manila at around 2pm, but since we are all anxious travellers (seeing lots of those immigration horror stories) we all arrived at the airport at around 8:00 a.m. on September 10. Being earlier is good since we were able to have lunch and charge our devices prior to flying. Since I booked my ticket earlier than my friends, I was separated from them in the plane, but the upside was I got the emergency exit seat with loads of leg space.
The first thing we did after navigating our hotel was search for something to eat, and what better way to introduce my friends to Japan's culture than leading them to Japan's treasure, Matsuya hahaha! After having our first meal in Japan Very monumental we decided to check out Dotonburi and look at the sights.
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| Spidey's butt is a sight. |
Given that we are quite exhausted from the flight, we did not spend much time outside and instead decide to drop by a conbini, buy our breakfast for the next morning, and call it a night.
So the next morning...
For me, to manage my budget every time I travel, I make sure to just buy breakfast from a convenience store, or better, a supermarket - preferably at night when a lot of the food is already discounted. While food in Japan is not as exorbitantly priced as in Hong Kong, little expenses has its way of compounding hahaha! So it's a must to be strategic with your meals.
Anyway, for our first day, we decided to make the most of our Osaka Amazing pass (that also works as an unlimited pass for subway trains) by going to key places in Osaka, namely: Osaka Museum, Osaka Castle, and Tsutenkaku Tower. This is the optimal route considering they are quite near to each other.
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.
Some odd 500 meters away is the fortress that houses the Osaka castle, and other smaller "modern" buildings like Miraiza. Inside Miraiza were a couple of restaurants and cafes, souvenir shops, a toy museum, and a bar upstairs where you can get an amazing view of the Osaka castle. Just a disclaimer, the bar upstairs's menu can be quite pricey, but with the view, I say it's definitely worth it.
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.
Since we are already inside Miraiza and we won't be able to go inside the castle anymore (they have a cut-off at 4:00 p.m. 😔), we decided to check out the Kaiyodo Figure Museum. With our Osaka Amazing Pass, we didn't pay the admission fee to this museum. From what I've researched, this museum is a private collection of an individual, which explains the randomness of some of the toys and figures in the museum.
Oh, of course, it would be a shame to waste the golden hour without an impromptu photo session around Osaka Castle's grounds, right?
It was my first time visiting Tsutenkaku Tower, and unlike the other towers in Japan, this place felt really retro. It wasn't as scary high as Umeda, but the 360-degree view is still stunning. They also have a souvenir store where I was able to buy a ref magnet, as Ken had insisted that I buy.
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS DAY!
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 were lucky to get an entry pass to the Super Nintendo World! After spending some time at the Wizarding World and munching on pizza at the pier located in the Jaws' area, we go straight to Super Nintendo World and lined up for the Bowser ride.
As per usual, the queues are crazy long! But unlike in other rides, at least this one is indoors, which means air conditioning~ I must say I enjoyed this ride the 2nd time around vs. when I rode it a year ago. I remember having such a hard time aligning my headgear with my glasses, so I spent 60% of the time fussing about my headgear instead of actually racing hahaha!
Since we visited the park on a lovely September day, of course, tumultuous rain is inevitable. At around 3pm, it started raining... HARD! The whole park had to stop the rides, so parkgoers were forced to find shelter and rest. Chairs and benches are not exactly abundant in the park, so we were left with no choice but to find a covered area without any chairs and just sit on the floor. Due to the heat and fatigue, I even ended up sleeping in a fetal position!
After an hour, the rain subsided, and the whole park was business as usual once again.
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 DAY + ONE LAST NIGHT IN OSAKA!
Another first for me was visiting Nara. What exactly can you see in Nara?
Deers!
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.
After feeding deer and checking out nearby temples, Zai led us to this famous mochi store, where these old Japanese men show how it's done. It was a spectacle, so of course, people flocked to the storefront to capture it with their phones. On the other hand, while the queue is still not too long, I decided to buy myself one and see if the hype is worth it.
The mochi is so soft and chewy, and inside it was filled with red bean paste. I'm not the biggest fan or red bean, or any beans, but I enjoyed this! I was about to buy a full pack of 4s to eat later, however, the queue is building, and we have a dinner reservation to catch 😔
By the way, it was Trizia's birthday today! To celebrate it, she treated us to the Final Fantasy Forza Cafe in Osaka! Yes, we arrived in time for the dinner reservation! We had burgers, pastas, takoyaki, and cute, fun, bubbly drinks. For every order, they give out these cute Final Fantasy trinkets/collectibles, and since it's Trizia's treat (and Zai and I weren't fans), she got to take home these souvenirs 💓
After having our early dinner, we decided to head back to our hotel to rest and freshen up. Good thing our place was a kilometer away from Dotonbori!
Yes, we had our dinner, but c'mon, when you're in Dotonbori, the only thing you should be doing is taking a photo with Glico man and eating!
Another epic first for me: Karaoke in Japan! It was way better than the Karaoke/Videoke bars here in the Philippines! Unlike how here in the Philippines, where you pay per hour per room, in Round One, you pay per person. Each person also has unlimited access to sodas, teas, coffee, juices, and slushies! Although they require each to order something from the menu, I still enjoy Karaoke more here vs. in The Philippines (I mean, no one really likes soggy fries, haha!)
And that's it for our Osaka run! Writing this blog post only made me miss Japan even more! I badly want to go back to Universal Studios and ride the Forbidden Forest ride in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, or eat a scorching hot, fresh-from-the-grill Takoyaki in Dotonbori! I'm crossing my fingers that I'll get to visit Japan again this year! Wish me luck!
Love Always,
Nicole 💓
