DAY 2 - Universal Studios

At long last, we would visit Hogwarts.

We started the morning a little later than we had originally intended, but we did make it in time to line up with the other visitors to the park. The weather for the day had turned out beautifully - blue skies and a bit a of cloud cover but not a drop of rain in sight.

We decided to start our day by wandering around the park to the Jurassic Park section. A long time fan of the movies, I was really excited to see the displays. And it was not disappointing. The dining area was straight out of the movie, the greenery and rides were magical. I did stop into the store and couldn’t resist adding a certain short armed dinosaur to my puppet collection.

We then continued on wandering through the other areas of the park:
Despicable Me Minons

Spiderman

Hollywood

Hello Kitty.

Each area is beautifully designed to reflect the characters and themes in there. But it wasn’t long until we decided it was time to head into The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It was beautiful. There was so much to see and so much thought had gone into detailing each and every store. Abi was lucky enough to be picked in Olivanders and have a wand selected for her. I *may* have bought a few things to add to my collection of Ravenclaw items. I think the photos speak the most for the beauty of the place.

It was a long and exhausting day and it was wonderful to get back to our hotel, remove my shoes and fall into bed. There is more to see and do tomorrow!

DAY 1 - Kaiyukan

Our first offical day in Osaka dawned and the skies were filled with clouds and precipitation. Yep, it was set to be a rainy day. Thankfully we had the day planned with a trip to the Osaka Aquarium - Kaiyukan. We hopped a couple of trains to get there, and then stood in line huddled under our 108 Yen umbrellas from the Lawsons down the street from our hotel.

I’ve been to the Aquarium before, but this was Abi’s first trip and we’re both pleased to say that we loved it. I know that it has actually been four and a half years since I was last there so I really shouldn’t have been surprised that it had changed so much, but I’ll admit that I was. It’s got to be the best aquarium that I have ever been to, with a tank large enough to house not one but two whale sharks. Though I will indeed admit that my favourite part was seeing the river otters who were being fed when we arrived at their display.

But to get it across, I will share the pictures rather than try to describe it all. 

Afterwards, starved, we headed over to the Tempozan Marketplace to eat and wander the stores. We settled in for okinamiyaki (Japanese pancakes) for lunch followed by Halloween themed Baskin and Robbins icecream. How could you resist something so cute?

Next on the agenda was to head on into Osaka station and check out a number of the large department stores. In particular Yodobashi Camera and Loft where we both added to our stationery supplies. After a little more wandering around the area we decided it was time to head home. Originally on the Japlan was a trip to the Alice Cafe for dinner but the rain was blowing and pouring down so hard we didn’t fancy the three block walk to the venue. Instead we hopped onto a train back to our Osaka hotel to call it quits for the evening.

Arrival in Osaka

We have arrived in Japan.

It all began at 4am on Saturday 21st when I was woken by a phone text message tone. Jetstar had delayed my flight into Cairns (our stop-over before heading to Osaka). This would mean that we would not make out connecting flight.

Cue, panic mode.

I managed to book us on the earliest Qantas flight to Cairns which would get us there in time to make our connection. Yes, I would be out of pocket, but that’s why you have travel insurance. I will deal with that when I got home.

So, a very early phonemail to my travel buddy and we got to Brisbane airport in time to get on our flight.

Arriving in Cairns, we jumped off, checked into our next flight before grabbing breakfast at the Coffee Club. At 1pm we were on our next leg of the journey. 6 and a half hours later we have arrived in Osaka Kansai International Airport. 

  

Sunset in the sky

Next step. Train to hotel. Only problem is that in my itinerary, I had planned travel from the wrong Osaka airport. Domestic instead of International. Lots of umming and ahhing, but we jumped on a train heading in the right direction. A few more hiccups with connecting trains and getting a little lost in subway stations followed. Then came the 7 flights of stairs that we had to lug our suitcases up to get to street level. Hello sweat.

We finally made it to our hotel, checked in and then ducked back up to the Lawson’s market for a selection of 100 yen food for dinner.

There were some issues with connecting our devices to the wifi in our room the last couple nights,  so I didn’t get to post until this morning. So, while I am connect to wifi, it is so much slower than what I am used to at home and it's cutting in and out.

Third time's a charm

It's been quite a while since I last took a holiday and this one has been on the cards for a while. In just under two days I will once again be in the lovely Japan. This time I am travelling with my best friend Abi. It'll be her first trip to Japan and I am incredibly excited to show her around and explore new places together. 

The itinerary is very detailed and very thorough - I just can't help myself. And it is jam packed with excitement. We will be flying into Osaka where we intend to spend a couple days, one which will include Universal Studios before heading to Tokyo for the remainder of our two week trip. There we will be spending four days at the two Disney parks and visiting Harajuku, Akiba, Nakano, Asakusa and a number of other hot spots around Tokyo. 

At this stage, my suitcase is mostly packed and just waiting the last few items to be tossed in on Saturday morning before I head to the airport. So stay tuned to this blog, as once again I will be blogging my way through Japan. 

Only two big sleeps to go!