Thursday 16th May 2024
Our second day in Osaka, was no slower than the first. We headed out a little later than expected at about 10am. We were off to Universal Studios today. This involved a 3km walk Osaka-Umeda Station and 2 trains to get there. Unfortunately for us Osaka Train Station is huge and we took a very long time to navigate the tunnels and find the correct platform. The directions are to enter via the South Gate, now if you can find the South Gate it would be a whole lot easier. It probably took us 30-40 mins to find the gate, walking through tunnel after tunnel, up and down lifts. In the end we found an exit, went outside and used GPS to find the entrance to the South Gate instead. We then caught 2 trains and arrived at Universal Studios at about 11.30am. A long time considering the train ride was only 20mins. Oh well, we can only get better.

We bought some lunch at the 7-eleven before heading to the Universal Studios entrance. Unfortunately for us, at the gate were signs saying you couldn’t take any food or drinks in with you, so we ate outside and stored everything else in a locker nearby. Its pretty annoying that you can’t take any food in as the only food available inside is fried food and sugary junk food. Also some of the prices are exorbitant (6900Y or $69 for a whole pizza), you would have to be mad to pay that much.

We thought we would only spend a few hours here but surprised ourselves and spent the whole day there, 8 hours walking around again. The whole place is an amazing spectacle with bright colours and interesting characters and buildings. Most of the buildings housed souvenirs and movie character toys, clothes, hats, keyring, etc. A big money spinner. We were amazed how many people bought hats, clothes and toys.

We went to many shows – A Sing Show, Waterworld Show (Like Mad Max but on water), A rock and Roll Show, a 3D-4D Show. They were all really good and great entertainment. We managed to walk through all the areas including Harry Potter World, the Minions, Jurassic Park, Hollywood, Sesame Street, Snoopy and much more! At about 6pm the rain clouds came over and there was a mass exit of people. We decided to stay and try our luck on a couple of rides as the wait times during the day were about 70-120mins. Too long for us. We managed 2 rides with wait times of 15-25mins, which we think were even less. We went on the Jaws Ride which was a boat ride with a shark attack along the way. Then we went on the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, this was a roller coaster ride indoors with interactive illusions along the way. It was amazing.

We finally left at about 7.30pm and were able to take a couple of snaps of the places under lights as we made our way to the exit.

The train station was very crowded as you can imagine as the theme parks had been so crowded. Although we did manage to squeeze on the first train. We also managed to find the correct two trains to get us to Namba.

We went to the Shinsaibashi-Suji Shopping Street, which is another amazing arcade that runs forever. It has a huge number of shops, neon signs and there were soooo many people. We enjoyed some market street food for dinner – we had Takoyaki which was really nice. We keep experimenting with traditional Japanese food very opportunity we get. We walked around the shopping street until we were too tired to continue. We the took another 2 trains home and managed to find our way quite well this time.

On the walk home we enjoyed a fresh crepe, fruit and cream for dessert. It was another fantastic day.

“Shinsaibashi-Suji Shopping Street, which runs east to Mido-Suji Avenue, is the best-known shopping area in Osaka, and an enduring symbol of the city. With a history of 380 years, it was already an established shopping area in the Edo Period. Shops of all kinds and for all ages line the street, a roofed arcade 600 meters long. There are traditional kimono tailors, western clothing and footwear retailers, restaurants and fast food outlets, jewelers, and boutiques featuring the latest fashions. It?’s great to take a casual stroll through the Shinsaibashi area. Many people enjoy window-shopping and savoring the food along the way. Visitors to this street number about 60,000 on weekdays and about 120,000 on weekends and holidays.”

“Takoyaki is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a special molded pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus (tako), tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger (beni shoga), and green onion (negi). The balls are brushed with takoyaki sauce (similar to Worcestershire sauce) and mayonnaise, and then sprinkled with green laver (aonori) and shavings of dried bonito (katsuobushi).”

Train travel
Umeda to Shinsaibashi – 240Y each
Osaka Namba to Nishikujo – 220Y
Nishikujo to Universal City – 170Y
Universal City to Osaka – 190