Autumn in Japan (part 4) - Osaka

And here's the last part to the Japan travelogue, where we spent our last three days in Osaka!

This is not my first time in Osaka, so I pretty much visited the same few places like I did the previous time I was here. For a more detailed rundown of what I did in Osaka last year, you can read my osaka post here. I covered more specifically on the locations we visited and what it has to offer.

However, this year I decided to spend a little more since saving up after grad to pay Universal Studios Japan a visit!

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS JAPAN

@Universal City Station







USJ was amazing and definitely a theme park I would revisit because one day was simply not enough to cover the entire park!! It's probably five times the size of USS, with rides that are actually thrilling and worth your buck instead of the miserable few that USS has to offer...
Well, all these are my personal opinion but really, don't miss USJ if you got the cash to spare.






We went during Halloween month so most of the Japanese there dressed up for the occasion! There were all sorts of costumes, from Alice in Wonderland to Minions to Waldo to Sadako. They even had churros and other snacks frosted/catered for the Halloween season!

They also had this horror nights thing going on, so after 6pm (or 7pm?) some of their standard rides like the 3D Spiderman one was changed to a Sadako ride?? LOL. Plus with all the scare actors patrolling around the theme park, it was pretty scary?? There were zombies with chainsaws going around that scared everyone shitless.

Not sure about how Halloween was like in Sg this year cause I didn't celebrate, but it was pretty festive in Osaka's USJ!





See the Sadako in the background? No idea how she took the rides...

We didn't cover all of the rides, but the few that I liked best was definitely Space Fantasy and Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey.
Space Fantasy was this indoor roller coaster type ride that consists of loads of spinning and glittering stars, flashing lights and accelerating to another universe in space. The Harry Potter one was a 3D ride that was everyone's all-time fave and something you shouldn't miss. Really.

Hollywood Dream was good too (a roller coaster ride with super steep drops). Heard that Jurassic Park - The Flying Dinosaur was good too (it looks crazy omg HAHA) but Jo was not one for crazy rides and I didn't want to go alone so we gave that a miss.

Tickets were definitely pricey. We got the express ones because the queue was really crazy for some rides and even then we still had to wait pretty long. I think you'll need at least two to three days to cover the entire park.
Still, given the whole atmosphere and the rides USJ has to offer, it's pretty worth it! Especially for Potterheads, you wouldn't want to miss the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Everything was very well done!!

DOTONBURI & SHINSAIBASHI

@Namba Station

For the last few days, we spent our time and Dotonburi and Shinsabashi. Pretty much just shopping again if you ask me...






The Dotonburi canal

We also stayed at Hotel Taiyo, so it was really near Shinsekai where we got to visit SpaWorld at night for the sento/onsen experience!
If you're looking for a place to relax and just chill after a long day of exploring/shopping, SpaWorld has hot baths, sauna, massage parlors and even a playground pool area (well, for the children). They also have a gym and restaurant outside the bath areas so everything is easily accessible. Right at the start, they'll issue you this tag (which also works as a hairtie) that you'll use to scan any of your purchases while in SpaWorld. Before you leave, you'll return the tag at this machine counter which will then issue you your bill!

I spent about $25 dollars for entry, the onsen experience, dinner and milk!


This trip was a little different than all of my previous travels thus far. Usually I'd do more sightseeing, explore some treks, talk more to the locals and definitely spend lesser at shopping districts because most of the time I'll want to explore places less travelled by.



Note to self: Next trip to Japan, definitely gotta experience a festival!! It's only been a month since my return but I think I just might go back again next year.
Still, I'm more than satisfied with my purchases this time! Got a whole load of snacks for my family, some souvenirs, and three new pairs of kicks!!


And this is the end of my Japan travelogue! Actually, I'm still working on my Japan video which I will try my best to have it up by the end of this month! Pretty stoked to be working on my first travel video (Perth one was done with Zhiyi), and I hope it will not disappoint hahaha. Considering the videos I've been doing for work, I don't think I will la...

Till then, stick by this space! I'll also be blogging about the events/plans these past few weeks. Gonna churn out more posts this month to make up for the only miserable two I posted in October lol.

Check out my other posts on Japan:

▶ Autumn in Japan (part 1) - Northern & Central Tokyo
▶ Autumn in Japan (part 2) - Western Tokyo
▶ Autumn in Japan (part 3) - Nagoya
▶ Autumn in Japan (part 4) - Osaka
▶ Autumn in Japan - Video Travelogue
▶ #TRIPPinJAPAN (part 1) - Japan tips
▶ #TRIPPinJAPAN (part 2) - Osaka Day 1, 2 & 3
▶ #TRIPPinJAPAN (part 3) - Kyoto Day 5, 6 & 7
▶ #TRIPPinJAPAN (part 4) - Kyoto Day 8 & 9
▶ #TRIPPinJAPAN (part 5) - Tokyo Day 10 to 17