Universal Studios (day 3)

On the third day in Osaka we headed first to Tully's for a hot breakfast sandwich - YUMMY! and then we were off to Universal Studios via the train...which if I do say myself we have mastered the train system in Japan! We discovered that there was a City Walk outside the park like there is in the states with a Bubba Gumps...I had never eaten there and Adrienne said it was good so we decided dinner that night would be there :) Next we see ANOTHER Golden Spoon...yes we stopped for one - a mini since it wasn't that much later than breakfast (we ate a lot for Japan standards on this day!) The lines to get tickets were rather ridiculous, but we finally made it inside.



Adrienne wanted to do the Hollywood Dreams roller coaster and I said I'd do it if she held my hand - the whole thing was terrifying, I was convinced that I was going to fall out the whole time, the lock in system was NOT very snug....they did give me little purple bands to put on my feet to keep my shoes on though - they were so funny I had to keep them!

That tall thing in the back - that's the drop...AHHHHH!


After that we walked over to find out what time Wicked was playing - we'll just say you haven't seen Wicked until you've seen the summary version in Japanese....WOW! We had until 2:30 so we went on ET and got lunch in the meantime - it was funny to know a movie but have no idea what's going on because everything is in Japanese!

Hello Kitty hat - made me laugh!
Wicked...gotta love the munchkin costumes!


They did a pretty good recreation of the set!


MMMMHHHHH - Melon Float! I matched Wicked perfectly!

The Wicked experience was quite hilarious - thankfully it was a mix of Japanese and English (and Adrienne and I have the soundtrack practically memorized) But it was HILARIOUS to see Japanese (and a few non-Asian) people putting this thing on...Japanese people shouldn't wear blond wigs...not really flattering. Anyway, it said no filming, but I sneaked a clip of the song Popular in Japanese....it's short and not much to look at but it's in Japanese!



Spiderman was kind of intense 3-D ride


The glasses are always super cool!


Ok, for those of you that pay attention to the blog I have who knows how many pictures of Adrienne walking in front of me - I'm proud to say this is my first of her behind me (the little brown bit at the bottom is my hair) Apparently I should walk in front more often and pretend I don't know her...funny girl!

These were the cards from the scary roller coaster After going on Back to the Future and checking out the shops our feet were tired and we were hungry...and there's no re-entry into the park (weird!) so we finally headed to Bubba Gumps - I had amazing Mahi Mahi and shrimp - I think it looks like a beach scene :) After that we headed home! Good day - exhausted!!!

Videos: The one on the right is a Hello Kitty show...I took several videos but I think this is the best one....it was apparently a show about them getting married??? The guy is American (we think) and we felt SO bad for him...apparently he couldn't get a job anywhere else????? The video on the right is my Popular video from Wicked

Osaka Tour (Day 1/2)

Ahhh SPRING BREAK!!! I'm a little excited (especially since I'm still on it!) Adrienne and I headed to Osaka early Saturday morning - we were supposed to go on a tour Sunday, 1 day of Universal Studios and if we were feeling brave, Kyoto! We had a great time and I'll post everything by day so it doesn't get to long of confusing! I have officially decided that if you are ever going to visit Japan - 1. Okinawa (seriously, beautiful!) 2. Tokyo 3. Kyoto 4. Osaka(just not as pretty as the other places!)

Okinawa from the air...so little, but so pretty!
Our flight was good and the first thing we saw in the airport was Golden Spoon!!! So excited and so yummy :)

We got the train out to our hotel Swissotel and got checked in - our view


our room - rough life, yet again! Our beds were VERY low to the ground though and pushed together - Adrienne liked to put her head in the middle and say hi - it makes me laugh that we spend SO much time together and what do we do at night? Lay in bed and talk!

After we checked in we did some browsing - VERY expensive stores with nothing of interest so we headed back to the hotel to settle in (take a bath!) and get ready for our tour on Sunday.
We took the train over to Hotel Granvia to meet up with our tour - thankfully it wasn't to complicated! Our first stop was the Umeda Sky Building which has the Floating Garden Observatory. You go up 170 meters via escalators and elevators and you can see the WHOLE city! It was kind of a gray day, but it was still and amazing view!

Those are the escalators you go up

My Japanmate...I kinda like her :)

Us at the top!
This was quite the date place...at the gift shop you can get these little heart locks and engraved with the couples names on it and then you go and put you lock on...overlooking the city of course!

Inside they have these little private booths...they made me laugh, Adrienne and I enjoyed the view. I bet they're a hot commodity at night though!

The Umeda building from the ground

In the garden



After that we walked back to the hotel for lunch - YUM! I'm proud to say that Adrienne ate fish - and LIKED IT! I know, shocking, but it was really good! We sat with a couple from Texas who were visiting Japan. They were doing some touring before heading north to visit their son who is teaching English through the JET program. It made us very thankful to be in Okinawa with an American population after hearing about his experience!

Next stop was Osaka castle - back in 600 it was the capital...you can tell the city is much older than Tokyo or Kyoto (pictures to come). It's much darker and not as clean seeming. The feeling is much different than Tokyo as well - not as many black suits, less organized, and the trains were harder....anyway, back to the castle. We walked around the outside for a bit, taking pictures and then we had to wait in a VERY long line to get a western style toilet - not brave enough for the squattie-potty! Afterwards we didn't have much time to get to the top of the castle and the line for the elevator was VERY long...so we climbed all 8 flights of stairs in record time! My legs were a little shaky on the way down!

Guard station


My Japanmate on the top floor of the castle
The view - it's cherry blossom season on the mainland so it was SUPER crowded!
In front of the castle
Osaka Castle
The cherry blossoms in Osaka were white - fluffier than the Okinawa ones, but the pink is so much prettier...these were still nice though!
After the castle we boarded a boat to take a scenic river tour. It was really crowded - we had 4 to a row and since the seats were Japanese sized it was really squished (even for the Japanese men across from us!) Adrienne of course took a nap...I should stop going on boats with her, I know!
The whole river was lined with Cherry Blossom trees - so pretty!
So at one point our tour guide tells us that the water is high and in order to go under the low bridges the ceiling will need to be lowered - odd, but ok...anyway, this is Adrienne before the ceiling was lowered!
This is her after....kind of claustrophobic feeling!


Adrienne was really into the map trying to navigate our way through the city - I meanwhile am frantically hitting her...There, look there! It was a Tully's!! AHHHH, yummy hot bagel sandwich and a mocha - perfect snack! We had to buy a Tully's mug (yes we know it's in America, but we found it in Japan and our mugs say so too!)

After that the tour was over and we asked for directions to the "mall" and the Ferris wheel. We trekked over and did some shopping (cute dress from Gap...yes Gap...but trust me still Japanese!) and then we headed to the 8th floor and rode the Ferris wheel, it was pretty high up there, I got nervous for a second...but started laughing when I remembered a gondola trip Adrienne and I had taken with Cheryl and Sarah (they screamed in terror the whole way) - perfect timing right at dusk!

To be continued...