Universal Studios Japan and Universal City Walk (27 February 2015)

The moment I heard that Universal Studios Japan would be opening Harry Potter Wizarding World, I made it a part of my wish list of places to visit. Alhamdullilah my wish came true on my 6th year wedding anniversary :) 

We pre-bought our tickets via Japanese Travel Bureau (JTB) in KLCC, so we managed to skip the line at the ticketing booth. If you're a Harry Potter fan like me, please note that you need to pre-book slots to go in the HP section. There's a machine at the end junction between Hollywood and Wonderland for you to get your HP tickets. Don't worry there's no extra charge involved.

USJ Map (Source Google)

UNIVERSAL WONDERLAND

 

 Behold the home of Elmo, Snoopy, Hello Kitty and Woody Woodpecker

We checked in the Woody Woodpecker Eternal Wish Studio, kinda cool because the kids can take part in the interactive paint games. They had some sort of a free giveaway for children when we were there, and each of my babies received a Cookie Monster light bracelet, stickers and activities book.  Awesome!!!

Snoopy Studios : Where you can find Charlie Brown and Gang. Love the studio (the fact that it is warm inside the building truly help :p). Anyway because we were rushing to go in HP (our time slots were at 12.30pm) We didn't cover Elmo and Hello Kitty "house". After that it was too late to come back to make the rounds.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

After passing "King's Cross" at the entrance, we were greeted by a huge stone sign with Hogsmeade on it. It is literally my fantasy coming to life. Seeing Zonko's, Honeydukes, Olivanders sprawled right in front of my eyes is just surreal (my type of fangirling). The others was oblivious to my excitement with the exception of Ryan, who shared my happiness no thanks to the intensive briefing I gave him on HP before leaving for Japan. My only problem with Hogsmeade was you have to line up to get in every store and it was super duper packed. Despite all that I still managed to get myself a wand (yes I bought a freaking wand) and some HP trinkets.

Can I have an owl please???

From Hogsmeade to Hogwarts :)

 Enjoying warm Butterbeer (it is non-alcoholic) in the cold winter. Feeling? Heaven...

Amity Village : Jaws

* Jurassic Park was under construction when we were there *sad*

San Francisco

OMG wearing that cape out was a big fat mistake, I thought it will be ok because the day started of sunny. However, it was super duper cold by 4pm due to the wind. I was freezing so much that I had to buy a long sleeve sweater from Hard Rock. So much for my "Blair Waldorf" moment :p

New York, New York

 The 3 minutes ride that took about 60 minutes to queue -__-
Thank god Ryan enjoyed it

 Universal City Walk

You can find the famous Takoyaki museum here. There's several specialty shops one being "Jump Osaka", a good place for Anime fans. Ryan was ecstatic that we managed to find some Naruto merchandise here. There's also Dragon Ball comics and other unrecognizable anime.It was interesting (and expensive) experience haha

Tak dapat picture with the real Glico man, dapat picture with his mini me pun boleh lah :) 

We truly enjoyed our experience here, mostly due to Harry Potter. To tell you the truth the layout is pretty similar to USS. Other than Harry Potter, the other attraction is pretty much dated, as compared to Singapore where the character is more "up to date" (i.e. Transformers, Madagascar etc). That is not really a cause of complaint to me actually. I do hope we'll get another opportunity to visit USJ again

USJ Website : Press Here
Ticketing Information (JTB) :  Press Here

Osaka (26 February 2015- 2 March 2015)

We stayed in Osaka for 5 days and 4 nights. 5 days is actually a lot of time to explore Osaka, however, since we venture out for day visits to Kyoto and Nara, there's some time constraint and we didn't manage to visit all of  Osaka's attraction. I don't feel that bad though because we still managed to cover a lot of grounds despite the rainy weather and having to lug the kids around.Anyway, having not seen it all, is a good excuse to come back :)

( Photo source from Google)

The Streets of Tanimachiyonhomme, Osaka Prefecture

I love the streets where our hotel is situated. I find it to be very calm, peaceful and zen. Being in another country, every little thing is an adventure even normal everyday stuff like the fire station. My children were ecstatic when we discovered a "Japanese fire station", revolving/level parking buildings for bicycles and cars and cute and quirky little cafes with beautiful display windows.

Namba Street: Dotonburi Street the home of the elusive Glico Man 

Oh well at least to Cath and myself, though we found the street, for the life of us we did not managed to find the sign, probably on a run somewhere for chocolates :p The streets were  busy with activities, surrounded by colorful and flashing neon lights. There's plenty of game arcade and slot shops. You can find some halal food around too. We had some yummy kebabs and Ryan was ecstatic over those "telur tikam" shops.

I totally love the food decoration on the display of the restaurants.
It looked so real and tempting. Too bad it was not halal :p

Floating Garden Observatory, Umeda Sky Building

Source: Google Pic

360 view of Osaka from the top of the Sky Building.
There's an entrance fee of 500yen. Such a beautiful view especially at night. Romantic too :p

The Streets of Umeda

Plenty of electronics stuff for sale here.

My favorite mall in Umeda is HEP5 and Hankyu Department store.The women clothes are gorgeous and super trendy (The prices is equivalent to the likes of Zara). Sadly they don't have much toys stores around but there is a few Disney stores available to get trinkets.

You know what is weird though? Ultraman merchandise is actually quite difficult to find, you would have thought it would be EVERYWHERE in Japan :p Thank god Ryan received one from Cath as a gift and we found another sold in the Kansai airport (Level 3). The Frozen stuff in Japan is TDF, I thank god my girls are not hardcore fans. Anyway, I love how the malls are easily accessible via subway, super convenient :)

Osaka Castle, Osaka Prefecture

I love how amidst all the development the Japanese government still made a lot of effort on preserving their historical buildings. The surrounding garden was very well kept, you can actually find groups of school kids hanging around there while waiting for school to start.

Shopping Note: I find the souvenirs in Osaka Castle shop to be the cheapest from other places I've been in Kansai. Do consider getting a few magnets here as the prices in other tourist attraction may be a tad more expensive. 

Rinku Town

Rinku Town is a commercial development in Izumisano, Osaka, Japan, adjacent to Kansai International Airport. It houses Rinku Premium Outlet, a very nice place to shop for branded items like GAP, Bershka etc. The prices is reasonable, cheaper than Malaysia but I would not say there's a huge difference. However, the children section is very interesting. We got some toys and clothes for the kids which they loved very much.

Next Post : Osaka Part 2 (Universal Studios Japan and Universal City, Osaka)

Hotel Mystays Otamae Osaka, Japan (26 February 2015 - 2 March 2015)

When traveling abroad there's several things I would consider before choosing a place to stay: 

1. Location and accessibility;
2. Facilities (Kitchen/kitchenette is super important to my family esp when we're traveling to a non Muslim country); and
3. Value for money  

In this regard, I find Hotel Mystays fits all the criteria. 

Location wise,  the hotel is about 5-10 min walk from the Tanimachiyonhomme Station. 15 minutes walk away from Osaka Castle, and surrounded by cafes, convenience store (Family Mart and 7E) and Aeon Market. 

It is a no frills hotel, so there's no room service and housekeeping. Towels and toiletries are available upon request at the reception and there's a 24 hours laundry room and vending machines. WiFi access is limited to the lobby but you can rent a pocket WiFi at a small fee.

The best thing about this hotel, which is pretty unheard of in Japan is that it is apartment style. I've managed to book a 3 bedroom suite at around RM750 per night. If you're traveling in a huge group I would totally recommend this hotel for you. There's 3 double beds (smallish side) plus 4 extra mattress for the tatami room. It was comfortable enough for 6 adults and 3 children. There's both heater/air conditioner available and they provided us with 2 TVs (Japanese channel) and a DVD (with USB ports)

The kitchen/dining area. There's stove (plus all the utensils), a rice cooker, microwave, kettle and electric kettle available. Made it super easy for our family to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner. We brought some food supplies from home to cook. Thanks to the kitchen and with the market nearby we supplemented our food stocks with some fresh eggs, fruits and vegetables. Our tummy was happy :)

 

There's a playground right across the street suitable for little kids. Too bad we were here during winter/rainy season so we only walked through it once. Maybe next time inshaallah. My family and I was super happy with our stay and will definitely come back if we ever get the chance to travel to Osaka again.

I rate our experience here at 8/10.

Check out my review at Booking.com : Press Here

For Hotel website: Press Here

Location : 

• Exit at the Tanimachiyonhomme Station, Take Exit 4 for the nearest exit to hotel
• If you have a lot of luggage, take Exit 1A instead for the use of elevator, once you're out, walk towards the traffic light and cross the road towards Family Mart (Exit 4 is right in front of Family Mart)
• With Family Mart on your right side, walk straight down the road, turn right at the second crossroad/junction (turn right when you see a smaller Family Mart on your left side and a cafe across the road) The hotel is right ahead.