Universal Studio, Japan Trip (Day 10)

5th January 2015, Monday

Train to Universal City

Today, we were going to Universal Studio and it is a perfect day because it was sunny. We got up early and prepared ourselves. We had breakfast at the hotel canteen too and then we went off to travel to the theme park. We had to take the JR line and transfer at Nishikujo station and took the train to go to Universal Studio. Another alternative way to go there was by a 10 minutes ferry from Osaka Aquarium. We alighted at Universal City station and i was very excited to go to the theme park again. And they had built a new world - The Wizardry World of Harry Potter. We passed a lot of the shops and hotels outside the theme park but there was one side having some construction works going on. There were many people going to the park too. We ran to the tickets counters and queued to get our entrance tickets, the staff heard us wrongly and gave us 4 tickets instead of 2 tickets..hohoho....The tickets were with Hermione and Ron's pictures, and once we got the tickets, we went in quickly.

Woody Woodpecker

Pink Panther

There were a lot of people on the main street and some characters had also came out to greet the people. We tried to find the tickets machines to get our timing to visit the wizardry world (Need to get timing to go in due to overwhelming response from the crowds). There were also a lot of people trying to get the times too, we chopped 4.00 pm to 5.00 pm to enter. After we got our entry tickets, i dragged my friend to go for the Spiderman ride (it was like Transformers ride in Universal Studio Singapore). There was a very big christmas tree placed beside the Spiderman attraction. We went in to queue for the ride, the queuing line was super super long. We waited for almost an hour before we got our turn on the ride, it was so fun. I felt there was more space for the cars to turn around and back. After we came out, my friend was trying to get her breath.....She said it was not so scary than the Mummy ride in Universal Studio Singapore. I waited for her to get better before we started walking around the park again. We went to the street again and saw people starting to sit on the ground, preparing to catch the street parade. So we found a spot and sat down too, my friend went to buy hot dog and some snacks. We ate while we waited for the parade to start too.

The parade started at 1 plus, and it was enjoyable. The characters were all singing and dancing to entertain the crowds. After the parade was finished, the characters stayed on for the crowds to have photo with them. We went off to see the other worlds, wanted to watch Sesame Street 4D show but there was not enough time as it was already 2 plus and if we watched this, we will miss the Waterworld performance. My friend bought a small packet of popcorn too, which we finished eating it while queuing to go toilet in one of the world..hohoho....Then we went passed Jaws World and passed Jurassic Park before we reached the WaterWorld. We caught the last show for the Waterworld performance and we sat on the side seats. And of course the performance was in Japanese language, we just watched on the actions. It was still very entertaining despite i had watched it like 3 times (included in USS). After the show, I brought my friend to see the water roller coaster in the Juassic Park and we bought 1 turkey leg to eat. The staff was saying 1 whole bunch of Japanese words and was speaking very fast too. Suddenly she switched to English and asked us where we are from. Both of us were stunned and we both paused for a while, the staff had to ask us another time before we replied back to the lady. She asked us whether we like Japan and she was very happy when we told her we both like Japan. She thanked us and we said bye-bye to her. Then we walked to the wizardry world of Harry Potter while eating the turkey leg.

ButterBeer (Good to Try)

Entrance to Dumbledore's Office

Hogwarts Castle (Night View)

We went to the wizardry world and we still had to wait before we were allowed to go in. There was a long path to walk where Ron's car was displayed in the grasses. And when we reached the main gate, we were greeted by the cottage houses that was shown in the shows. At the side of the right side, there stood the Hogwarts Express Train. And my camera run of space in my memory card...grrrr....so i had to use my handphone to take photos for the rest of the day. There were much more people in this world than others, all the shops were packed with people. We can't even go in to see all the shops cos they were too crowded. But the shops were selling wands used by the characters in the movies, Hogwarts school uniforms, Owls Post, sweet and chocolates that were also shown in the movies. All the houses were covered with fake snow on the roofs. And there was something interesting that was selling on the streets - ButterBeer. It was a popular drink in the wizard world of Harry Potter. And of course, the queue for it was also long. We also went and queued to get one cup to drink it. It comes with hot or cold, we ordered the cold beer to try it. It was nice, it wasn't really beer and there was a layer of cream on top and it tasted like soda. I like it....hehehe...Then we tried to see inside the shops while drinking the beer. There were some 'students' performing trying to teach their pet frogs to sing on the stage. Then we went for the Hogwarts castle walk, it was a walk inside Hogwarts castle. There was another line for the roller coaster ride called Flight of the Hippogriff. Both queue lines were long, even for the walking trail, it took us almost half an hour to 45 mins to complete the whole trail.

Elmo

Blue Monkey

Pork Ribs (Hard Rock Cafe)

It was already past 5 plus by the time we came out from the trail. We went and bought another butterbeer drink but this time we got the hot beer. It wasn't so nice, it was having a weird bitter taste in it. Then we just walked around the shops and there was a nice reflection of the Hogwarts Castle in the river, just beside one of the shops. After walking around and finished drinking the beer, we left the wizard world and went back to the Hollywood street. We went to Mel's Drive-in restaurant to have dinner as my friend likes it. I just had a cup of soup as there were only beef burgers. After the meal, we walked back on the streets. The big christmas tree was lighted up with beautiful lights and we went to find a spot for us to sit down for the starlight parade. The parade started at around 7 plus, all the cars were lighted up with beautiful lights. It was enjoyable and this parade was only available during christmas period. I am glad i got to watch it this time back in USJ. After the parade, we went to the main stall to get our last shopping before we left the place. And of course, we went to take photos with the big Universal Globe outside the theme park. As we were feeling abit hungry, we went to Hard Rock Cafe to have something to eat. Tried their cocktails, the taste were very strong. Had their famous pork ribs too, it was not bad. After the meal, we took the JR line back to the hotel to rest.

Hotel Stayed:
Humor Resort New Oriental Hotel

A Day in Universal Studio

Had a great day in the Universal Studio (SG) again, but this time it was a full day from 10am to 10pm.
Hohohoo... Saw a few characters walking around and performing there too. And best of all, there is fireworks showing @ the Lagoon in the nite.

 Rides Taken:
1. Enchanted Airways
2. Revenge of the Mummy
3. Shrek 4D Adventure

Shows Watched:
1. Waterfront Performance
2. Monster Rock

Complete Photo Album: Click here

A Night in Universal Studios

Hahahaha. Got to go Universal Studio, thanks to SingTel. hehehe. It was fun there but alot of ple. Long queue everywhere. Only managed to watch the Waterfront performance and we just chiong for the Revenge of the Mummy ride. Super cool!!! No time for other rides, so sad. Took a lot of photos there too.

Japan Trip [2009]

Japan trip in Sept 2009 with package tour,went toTokyo,Nagoya,Kyoto and Osaka. Got the chance to visit disneyland and universal studios. Didnt get to taste the BBQ Sotong selling up in Mount Fuji. 600 yen for 1 whole big sotong!! Have to try it the next time. The rice in japan smells nice and it taste good. Made you want to have another round.





Day 1 & 2
Arrived in Japan Tokyo, went straight to Disneyland to begin our day. Halloween atmosphere is in the air. Everyone is preparing for the arrival of Halloween in Sept to Oct. The parade are 3 times a day and the queue was super long for almost every rides there. Watched the parade 3 times, it was cool.Spent the whole day there, but sad to say didnt managed to see the fireworks cos it started to rain again. (Why everytime it rains when i visit Disneyland?hohoho). After we gathered and went for a nice chinese dinner down the streets near Disneyland. Then we went back to Sunshine City where we had stayed there overnight. (Didn't managed to go DisneyLand Sea, maybe next time i will go there) (Hotel stayed: Prince Hotel)

Day 3
Woke up early and had our breakfast in the hotel. We headed down to Asakusa Kannon Temple and had our free time to view the temple and do some shopping along the street inside the temple. Then we headed to Ramen Museum, where we had real japan ramen. Long queue inside the stall inside the museum and we had pork ramen. It was a big bowl and the soup was abit too salty and oily.LoL
After this, we headed down to Gotemba Premium Outlet Mall to do some shopping. Here gathered all the branded goods outlets. But it seems like no much diff compared to Singapore (i dont find the stuffs cheap..) After the shopping, we went up to Mount Fuji, where i got a beautiful view of the mountain and sunset. It was also super cooling up there. And there, i saw big BBQ sotong.LoL. After a nice view up on the mountain, we went down to our hotel which is located at Lake Saiko. I got a big room, which is for 3 pax for the night. (Hotel stayed: Hotel near Lake Saiko)

Day 4
Woke up early and went down to Lake Saiko for a nice morning walk. The Lake was big and the water is super clear.You can get the nice view on the opposite mountain. After everyone is ready, we headed down to Iyashi No Sato Nenba (Thatched Roof Village). It is a small village, like those old japan houses where samurai lived. From there, you can also get a very nice of Mount Fuji (Too bad, it is not snowing, so there is no snow on top). You can also dress up as samurai warrior (for guys) and try on the kimono (for ladies). Bought a nice ice-cream at the village, it was nice and cooling.
After this, we headed down to Owakudani Boiling Valley.Then we headed down for a nice lunch.
After a nice lunch, we headed to take a boat ride on a pirate ship (only went from 1 station to the next station). After that, we headed down to Nagoya, where we had some spare to walk along the street of Nagoya (Oasis 21) before we ended the day. (Hotel stayed: International Hotel Nagoya)

Day 5
Woke up and had international breakfast provided by the hotel. Then we headed down to Kyoto, where we went to Heian Shrine first. It was raining again, which is so disappointing. Walked along the 'pasar malam' opened outside of the shrine. After that, we went to Nishijin district where we had a super nice lunch. (like the lunch here, we had pork/chicken cutlet bento)
After the lunch, we walked down to watch Nishijin Kimono Show. It was like a fashion show with the models wearing different types of Kimono. After the show, we headed down to Kiyomizu Temple. It was a big temple and the one of the oldest temple in Kyoto. There are also alot of shops along the way up to the temple. (You even might get a chance to see Geisha there if you are lucky enough). After the visit, we headed down to Kintetsu Kyoto Station where we bought our ticket to take the bullet train and headed down to Osaka. Once we reached Osaka, we went to Shin Sai Bashi0Suji Market. It was like our bugis street, where there are alot of shops and restaurants. It was a shopping paradise there, the stuffs was cheap. There are discounts everywhere. But we only had 1 hour to shop, didnt manged to walk all the shops. (Bad thing with package tours). We went back to hotel, where we stayed for a night.
(Hotel stayed: Hyatt Hotel)

Day 6
We started off the day by going to Osaka Castle first. Bought tickets to go up the top of the castle. After that, we headed to Universal Studio, to spend the rest of the day there. The theme there is also Halloween. Tried the turkey leg for 780 yen, it was big. LoL. Also loves the parade there, which is only once a day. After that, we went down to have BBQ for dinner. Then we headed back to the hotel for rest.
(Hotel stayed: ANA Gate Tower Hotel Osaka)


Day 7
had my breakfast at a 62 level high hotel. You can see the expressway to the new airport. Anyway, it was time to say goodbye to Japan. Waited in the airport for the flight back to Singapore. (So sad....)

Places Visited:
Tokeyo DisneyLand
Sunshine City
Asakusa Kannon Temple
Ramen Museum
Oasis 21
Mount Fuji (5th Station)
Owakudani Boiling Valley
Iyashi No Sato Nenba – Thatched Roof Village
Gotemba Premium Outlet Mall
Lake Saiko
Nishijin district (Nishijin Kimono Show)
Bullet Train ride to Osaka
Kiyomizu Temple
Heian Shrine
Shin Sai Bashi0Suji Market
Osaka Castle
Unverisal Studio (Osaka)