[Japan] Osaka

Osaka was the base of the first part of our Japan trip. This was because there are direct flights from Manila to the Osaka Kansai airport. From there, the plan was to take day trips to Kyoto and Nara. I booked a hotel at the Dotonbori area because this place is known for having many good restaurants, which meant it would be easy for us to find places to eat. I also wanted us to be near the Dotonbori River because that area is a really good place to take photos.

Dotonbori River

The highlight of our stint in Osaka was spending a day at Universal Studios Japan.

Universal Studios Japan

It was summer, which meant that Universal Studios was crowded and the lines for the rides were very long. I bought our tickets a bit late and unfortunately, express passes were already sold out. We made an attempt to go to Super Nintendo World once we arrived, which was about an hour after the park opened, but when we got there, we were told that the next available slot to go in was at 9pm. Wow! We gave up our attempt to get into what is arguably the best section of the park and instead, we made our way to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey

We took some photos before falling in line for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, which is located inside the big castle. It's an incredible ride that is very well-made but I gotta say, it really made me and my mom dizzy. We rested a bit, had some Butterbeer, and took lots of photos before moving to our next stop.

"Snow-capped" stone houses at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

The attraction we were after the most was the Monster Hunter World: Iceborne XR Walk. My nephew is a huge fan of Monster Hunter and he really wanted to try this. Tickets for this attraction have to be purchased separately and when you buy tickets, you have to select the timeslot you want. Once we got there, we chose our avatar and a weapon (I got a long sword) before getting instructions: how to use our weapons to attack and to shield ourselves, which direction to walk, when to stop walking, and how to gather items as we go along our way. They then fitted us with virtual reality gear and we were off. The actual XR walk lasts about 10 minutes but it was a really amazing experience. The quality of the XR is topnotch and we had a couple of pretty intense battles against huge monsters. Against the first monster, I must have either been killed or I followed the walking instructions incorrectly and ended up in front of a wall because I was instructed not to move (I had a red grid fully surrounding me). However, against the second monster, my entire family was locked in fierce combat. By this time, I had figured out when the monster's attack patterns so I knew when to block and keep myself alive. In the end, we were able to beat the monster and win the game. Hooray! This attraction was only available in Universal Studios Japan until August 31 so we were really lucky to go there at the time we did because we were still able to enjoy it.

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne XR Walk

Another attraction that's closing soon is The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man 4K3D so  we decided to try it. The big challenge we had was that a typhoon was coming to Japan at the time and hitting Osaka so it started to rain in the afternoon. One of my nephews got o try one more ride, the Hollywood Dream Backdrop.

Hollywood Dream: Backdrop

Meanwhile the rest of my family had coffee and snacks and checked out the souvenir shops. We ended up eating at the same place where we had lunch: Beverly Hills Boulangerie which is quite near the entrance. I had the Mini Parfait with Double Pudding. I really enjoyed it! (Actually, the desserts here are quite good!)

Mini Parfait with Double Pudding at Beverly Hills Boulangerie

Before we left Universal, we were able to have our photos taken with the minions. (I think this one in the photo with me is Stuart.)

The typhoon hit Japan full-force the next day. While the Osaka Metro was still running, intercity train operations were suspended. We ended up just spending the day in our hotel rooms, although we did have lunch and dinner in the Dotonbori area, so at least we still got to enjoy some really good food.

Dotonbori on a rainy night

The typhoon threw our plans off, which meant we weren't able to visit a couple of places that we wanted to see. We did manage to pass by Osaka Castle before heading to the Shin-Osaka station which is where we would take the Shinkansen (or bullet train) to Tokyo. We didn't have time to go inside or visit the garden but we were able to take some photos. I've seen pictures of the castle before but I had never seen it up close until now and it was a lot larger and more impressive in real life! If I ever visit Osaka again, I would love to spend a bit more time here.

Osaka Castle

Next: Nara Park