Back when there was still no Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I got to visit Universal Studios Japan.
I was assigned to a project in the Land of the Rising Sun back in early 2001 along with a few other Filipino colleagues. As luck would have it, Universal Studios Japan opened in Osaka on March 31 of that year. Since it wasn't that far from where we were, a few of us decided to check it out.
We visited the amusement park in late May but as it was still quite new, the queues to get into the attractions were quite long. As such, we weren't really able to try a lot of rides. We got on JAWS, Jurassic Park, and Terminator 2:3-D. We also got to watch the Universal Monsters Live Rock and Roll show. We also got to see some of the street shows that were going on.
Of the few attractions we got to try, my favorite was the Terminator 2:3-D, probably because it was the first time that I got to experience a 3-D ride where the images on screen really did look like they were coming out at you. I enjoyed it to so much that I bought a Terminator 2 mug as a souvenir, and more than a decade later, that mug is still with me. Another thing that stood out to me was that at each ride, there was a sign that indicated the approximate waiting time in line. I guess this is now commonplace in many amusement parks but that was the first time I experienced it, and the waiting times indicated were pretty accurate.
Digital photography wasn't as advanced then. I had a 3.3 megapixel camera that cost a fortune and I also had a128-Mb memory stick (yes, Mb, not Gb; amazing how technology over the last fourteen years has evolved). As such, I wasn't able to take a lot of photos. Nevertheless, I look at these crummy pics I took and they still somehow transport me to that really fun day that I spent with really good friends.
I was assigned to a project in the Land of the Rising Sun back in early 2001 along with a few other Filipino colleagues. As luck would have it, Universal Studios Japan opened in Osaka on March 31 of that year. Since it wasn't that far from where we were, a few of us decided to check it out.
We visited the amusement park in late May but as it was still quite new, the queues to get into the attractions were quite long. As such, we weren't really able to try a lot of rides. We got on JAWS, Jurassic Park, and Terminator 2:3-D. We also got to watch the Universal Monsters Live Rock and Roll show. We also got to see some of the street shows that were going on.
Of the few attractions we got to try, my favorite was the Terminator 2:3-D, probably because it was the first time that I got to experience a 3-D ride where the images on screen really did look like they were coming out at you. I enjoyed it to so much that I bought a Terminator 2 mug as a souvenir, and more than a decade later, that mug is still with me. Another thing that stood out to me was that at each ride, there was a sign that indicated the approximate waiting time in line. I guess this is now commonplace in many amusement parks but that was the first time I experienced it, and the waiting times indicated were pretty accurate.
Digital photography wasn't as advanced then. I had a 3.3 megapixel camera that cost a fortune and I also had a128-Mb memory stick (yes, Mb, not Gb; amazing how technology over the last fourteen years has evolved). As such, I wasn't able to take a lot of photos. Nevertheless, I look at these crummy pics I took and they still somehow transport me to that really fun day that I spent with really good friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment