Today is the day I hope will never come, the last day of this trip. Since I have a plane to catch in the afternoon, I refrain from further traveling around. Instead, I go to Osaka Station, so that I can easily get on a train to Kansai Airport later. Osaka Station is a really big station, the station itself is a worthy attraction in Osaka. There are many places to shop, eat, and look around at Osaka Station.
Osaka Station has many storeys and has many shopping areas in it
Right Outside of Osaka Station, you can see Osaka Grand Front and Umeda Sky Building, too bad I don't have time to visit Umeda Sky Building.
Grand Front Osaka
There's a Kinokuniya Bookstore in Grand Front Osaka. Too bad I can't read much Japanese.
Another shopping mall, Yodobashi Umeda
And it came the time when I must get on the train and get to Kansai International Airport to leave the country.
Going to get on the plane soon, Hope to return soon.
Japan is really a fantastic place to visit. I will especially miss eating takoyaki and matcha ice-cream every day. I can’t wait to get another opportunity to explore other parts of Japan.
The river I walk pass every day from the train station to the apartment I stayed.
The stations are really clean and people are very polite.
In the train, it is very clean and quiet. Everyone tries their best not to be a nuisance to others.
Vending Machines are plentiful and convenient.
The manholes at Japan are specially designed and interesting.
It's a sad thing to leave Japan. Japan is a really nice and beautiful place with plenty of delicious food. Everywhere is clean and well organized. The people are nice and polite too. There are always fun and interesting things to do and see here. Hope to come to Japan again soon!
Read about the travel on the previous days at Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5. Follow me for my future posts as well!
Entrance to the park. This is actually the previous day's photo. Today is a rainy day.
Finally, I will go to Universal Studios Japan! Universal Studios Japan, ユニバーサル・スタジオ・ジャパン(Yunibaasaru sutajio Japan) in Osaka is one of the four Universal Studios Theme Park in the World. This time, I reached the park just right after its opening time. I bought the Universal Express Pass 7 in addition to the Park’s entrance ticket. This pass will allow me to skip lining up for 7 popular rides in the park, as popular rides tend to have really long lines. Don't forget to take a photo at the famous revolving globe to show that you've been to the park!
Since it is a rainy day, I had to purchase a raincoat at one of the Universal Studios Store right after entering, or riding on an outdoor ride will ensure me to be soaking wet.
The covered area is really crowded since it's a rainy day
The first ride I got on is The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, which allows me to feel like one of the citizens in a Spider-Man movie. In this ride, Spider-Man has to save the citizens while beating up the bad guys.
Enter and experience being saved by Spider-Man
Next, it’s time to visit Jurassic World. There’s two rides here, The Flying Dinosaur and Jurassic Park-The Ride. My Express Pass regrettably only allows me to cut the queue for Jurassic Park-The Ride. The Flying Dinosaur is a really popular ride and the lines are long. I had to skip it because waiting in line for an hour is too long. I have to go on many other rides as well.
Many Dinosaur wannabes at the souvenir shop
After lunch at one of the many restaurants in the park, it is time to go to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The place is built to resemble the setting of the series, and there are many rides and attractions in this area. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is located inside of Hogwarts Castle, which gives you an experience as if you’re riding on a flying broom.
Hogsmeade or Hogwarts?
Hogwarts Express
Hogwarts Castle
At Amity Village, you can take the ride, JAWS, where one take a boat ride on shark infested waters.
The caught shark
The boat sets out into Shark infested waters
The place is serene, can I live here?
There’s also a few more attractions I went to like Terminator 2 and Kyary Factory.
Factory Tour in Kyary Factory
Terminator 2
The last ride I got on is a rather intense roller coaster at the Hollywood area, known as Hollywood Dream. One can choose the normal front facing ride or the reverse ride, backdrop. This roller coaster is quite chaotic and fast, perhaps giving a feeling of what is it like to chase after a Hollywood dream.
Hollywood area
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The theme park is actually a good place to take photos, but there are too many visitors and that will sometimes spoil your photos. But still, the scenery is great.
Such beauty
Lakescape
I left the park when it is getting dark. Outside the park, there are still interesting places and things to see. You can visit the Universal Citywalk Osaka, which has a takoyaki museum. There are many shops selling interesting stuff, like anime merchandise, soft toys, and many restaurants too.
I had the privilege to visit Japan for 6 days and 5 nights, visited some places in the Kansai region, 関西地方(kansaichihou), which is located at the Southern-central region of Japan’s main island. I visited three areas in the Kansai region, namely Osaka, 大阪 (oosaka), Kyoto京都(kyouto), and Nara, 奈良 (nara).
Japan is easily accessible since I am studying in South Korea. My flight from Busan's Gimhae International Airport to Kansai International Airport only takes 1 hour and 20 minutes. At Kansai Airport, I purchased a Prepaid LTE Sim Card with 1GB data valid for a period of 30 days and the ICOCA Prepaid Card which is really convenient when using the trains, subways, and buses.
Kansai Airport
Prepaid LTE Sim Card & ICOCA Prepaid Card
My lodging will be an apartment in a residential area very close to Namba, 難波 (nanba), which is one of Osaka’s major city centers.
The clean and pleasant basement of Namba Station
Subway Map
From the map, we can see that there are many places to visit around Namba. The most famous places would be Shinsaibashi, 心斎橋 (shinsaibashi) and Dōtonbori, 道頓堀 (dootombori). Shinsaibashi is a shopping arcade with many retail stores, boutiques, and department stores, while Dōtonbori is a heaven for food lovers.
Shinsaibashi
Impressive building with Zara and other shops
Uniqlo and H&M
At Shinsaibashi, I ate Ramen, 拉麵 or ラーメン (ramen) for my late lunch. As I walked around, I noticed many shops that sell Matcha Ice-cream, 抹茶アイスクリーム (matcha aisukuriimu), something that I ate a lot in Japan.
Ramen at Shinsaibashi
Macha Ice-cream
Shinsaibashi and Dōtonbori are connected. Once reaching an area with a massive crowd, I can see Ebisu Bridge, 戎橋 (ebisubashi), which let me get across the Dōtonbori canal. Here, there are many restaurants and shops, as well as the famous Glico Man sign and neon lights.
The famous Glico Man and Neon light at Dōtonbori
The view from Ebisu Bridge
For Dinner, I walked around at Dōtonbori and ate anything I find interesting and looks delicious. I ate Takoyaki, たこ焼き (takoyaki), a famous food in Japan and even more famous in Osaka.
Takoyaki shop recommended by tripadvisor
While walking around Dōtonbori, I luckily came by a restaurant called Akaoni, 赤鬼 or あかおに (akaoni), a Takoyaki restaurant honored by Michelin. This shop uses raw octopus, unlike most of other Takoyaki shops, which uses boiled octopus. The shop is a pleasant small shop, with just a few tables. The atmosphere and food are nice, the price is reasonable as well. After walking around abit more, I return to rest for another long day.
