Japan 2018 Day 7 & 8: Osaka

DAY 7: 28 NOV 2018

Hogwarts Castle at Universal Studios Japan

We are going to Universal Studios today!

It's just the three of us as my brother prefers shopping instead.

Which is awesome.

The park opens at 9.30am and I have read that you will need to be there before 

the opening time as the crowd is overwhelming.

As it was nearing the end of our trip, fatigue started to kick in.

So, I decided against going way earlier before 9.30am.

We took the train to Universal Studios and arrived at around 9.15am.

We popped by Lawson's to get some breakfast before entering the park.

I bought our tickets from Klook at S$94 and all I had to do was to scan the QR code

from my phone at the entrance.

A blessing in disguise as I left the hard copy e-tickets at our hotel :/

We didn't have to queue to enter the park too.

The crowd was surprisingly manageable!

The longest wait time we had for a ride was 45 minutes!

A tip is to check the crowd prediction calendar online or go during mid-week.

No timed entry needed for Harry Potter World and we could enter at any time.

What I love about Universal Studios and Disneyland is that they make me feel as though

I have teleported to another world filled with happiness.

 This theme park is just right for me, the scaredy-cat.

Most of the adult rides are not roller coaster rides!

I really cannot stand the free fall...

Minions Parade

The minions attraction was amazingly decorated.

The 4D ride is not available in Singapore and it was awesome!

The parade was fantastic too as they allowed the audiences to come forward for

a quick meet and greet session before the floats move off.

Harry Potter World

Butterbeer

Ollivander's wand shop

Hogsmeade at dusk

Harry Potter World was amazing as always.

Although they didn't have the rollercoaster ride which I took in Orlando,

I still had an enjoyable time there (:

 We didn't stay for the night parade as we tried all the rides we wanted to take before 6pm.

The short wait time really helped!

We headed back to Shinsaibashi and met up with my brother.

Katsu set

 We had a quick dinner at a katsu place in the shopping arcade.

The ulterior motive for returning back to the shopping arcade is to buy my Japanese snacks!

I couldn't find them at Don Quijote and I remembered seeing them at a shop in the shopping arcade.

My must buys are the rice crackers topped with cheese and almonds

and the plum sake kitkats.

Love it to the core.

Since it was also our last night in Osaka,

I couldn't leave without seeing Dontobori at night.

So, my brother and I visited once more to get our last night snack: 

Gindaco takoyaki

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DAY 8: 29 NOV 2018

Our last day in Osaka.

Packing was quite a feat last night as we bought so many snacks!

Check out was only at 11am so we decided to have breakfast at Eggs N Things.

There was an outlet 5 minutes walk away from our hotel and

we got a table instantly.

I ordered strawberry pancakes to share with my mother as the portion was huge.

There were 5 pancakes served if I remembered clearly.

At every table, guava, coconut and maple syrup were available.

My favourite is still maple syrup but guava was unique and refreshing!

After checking out, we headed to Namba Walks which is a huge shopping mall.

I didn't expect myself to buy anything, but I chanced upon this store

selling many shiba inu merchandises.

Without hesitation, I bought a shiba inu tote bag for 1,000 yen!

Cheeseburger

 Lunch was at a place called Critters Burger, located near our hotel.

We were lucky to get a table as the shop is rather small.

We walked around Orange Street before heading back for our luggages.

Certain major brands can be found at Orange Street so it's worth exploring if you are interested.

To get to Kansai Airport, I booked the Nankai limited express train on Klook.

The reason for booking Nankai line instead of Haruka line is that Nankai line

departs from Namba station which is more convenient for us.

If you are going for Nankai line, please bear in mind that you need to do 2 redemptions:

Exchange for a physical voucher at OCAT Namba, followed by

a physical ticket at Nankai-Namba station.

It is best that you do not do both redemptions before departing for the airport as

the stations are not located near each other.

Alternatively, you could always purchase the tickets at the departing station itself!

Nankai train to Kansai airport

Another plus point about the Nankai train tickets is that reserved seatings have been included.

So there is no need to stand in line early just to get a seat.

The ride was smooth and we were at the airport in no time.

Like always, snacks shopping cannot be missed at the airport.

Tax free too!

Royce chocolates are our favourites!

Last but not least, a matcha frappuccino to end off on a sweet note!

Missing Japan dearly (:

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Retrace our steps here for our Day 6 adventures,

or check out my 2016 Tokyo trip here!

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