From Tokyo, we bought our tickets online (JPY4,000 each) from Kosoku Bus. We chose the night bus option so we could skip a night in the hotel and arrive in Osaka early morning – saves money and time.
From our Smile Asakusa Hotel, we walked to Asakusa metro station where the bus picked us up. Be sure to be there at least 30mins ahead: check if you’re on the right spot plus Japanese people are always on time!
It was about a 10-hr travel time straight from Asakusa Station (in Tokyo) to Tennōji Station (in Osaka).
OSAKA
Can't miss a McD!
We booked Hotel Links Dobutsuen-mae – cool vibe hotel, very convenient in terms of location (metro station is just 3-min walk), affordable price (not hostel) but a tad smaller room than the previous hotel we had. If you have done your research, you will read a lot of comments about how small hotel rooms in Japan are.
On our first day, we were a bit tired from our 10-hrs bus ride. But we never let that hinder us. We had a swift run to Osaka Castle.
Mastered the art of using tripod and timer for our signature pose!
We managed to see the very famous Glico running man. One can’t hardly get a decent photo because of the large crowd of tourists trying to get their own photos.
We ordered the typical Japanese tempuras to try and to compare the authentic ones versus what we usually have outside Japan.
Tired hangry face 🙃
We decided to walk our way back to the station while having our deserts.
Universal Studios Japan
We were very excited for our next stop! I, for one, because of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter ⚡
Perfect shot!
Here are our top picks:
- Despicable Me Minion Mayhem
- Jurassic Park – The Ride
- Space Fantasy – The Ride
- Hollywood Dream – The Ride
Jaws – The Ride was closed the day we visited.
We also tried The Amazing Spider-Man – The Ride but we didn’t enjoy it since the language is in Japanese we didn’t understand a single thing. But if you, guy, were familiar with The Transformers – The Ride in USS, it’s basically the same exact feature – the twist and turns and the effects were all an exact copy. It’s just that you will see a different display.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
O. M. G.
But the feeling was extremely unexplainable. It’s really breathtaking. Grabe.
It was the best day ever. I felt so kilig the moment we stepped in that I almost died 😂 OA, but, yes!! HAHAHAHA
It’s like you’re in the movie talaga. Iking was so supportive because he isn’t a Harry Potter fan but he made sure that I was enjoying it.
USJ is extremely meticulous with the details. It’s extraordinary.
Sobrang galing!
Above anything else, don’t miss the BUTTER BEER!!
It’s not an actual beer and it tasted like childhood! Hehe. It tasted like Peter’s butterball.
Saya!
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The next ride we did was the Flight of the Hippogriff which was very similar to Enchanted Airways of USS.
Another unique features of it are the spots where you can spell casts if you buy wands. We didn’t buy and try for ourselves as the wands are costly 😅
After a fun-filled day at USJ, we headed back to the hotel. We discovered a small fast food eatery near our hotel where you can make your own bento box. It’s cheap and it’s fun to mix and match the food based on your own preference. It’s one of the best food options we came across in Japan. It also offered pre-made Japanese food options.
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Try the fruit yogurt salad!
KYOTO
Most tourists take a day trip from Osaka to Kyoto as it’s very convenient and easy to travel.
We woke up early to make our way to Nara Park.
It was one of our best decisions and one of the highlights of our tour in Japan, and it’s free.
From our hotel in Osaka, we took Dobutsuen-Mae Station (Sakaisuji Line) and alighted in Kintetsu-Nara Station, still using our Suica cards. It’s about 5mins walk from the station going to Nara Park.
If you had read some posts about the deer in Japan that are respectful – they’re true! Deer bow their heads to you if you do. How amazing and entertaining!
We bought them deer biscuits for JPY200. Just be careful because they will try to reach and grab it from you! They’re not harmful but it’s better to be cautious. I was bitten twice in the butt! It’s not painful though and it’s a funny encounter.
From Nara Park, we took the train to Fushimi-Inari Station to reach Fushimi-Inari Shrine.
The best time to go is before 10am. You might read a lot of blog posts suggesting to go as early as possible like before 7am to avoid large crowds. You may do that if you decide that’s your first stop and if you can wake up early. But the crowd was not that bad in the late morning, just walk a little further up as not many can endure the hike.
From Fushimi-Inari, we headed to Gion District. We hoped to see geishas but unfortunately, we didn’t see one – it was about to rain then and maybe it was too early for them to go out.
Photos can’t justify how beautiful the place is.
On that same day, we went back to Osaka.
On our last day, we had spare time before our flight back to Singapore.
We chose to visit the Cup Noodles Museum. It’s an interactive museum where you can make your own cup noodles.
From our hotel, we took the train to Ikeda Station. It’s about 5mins to walk to reach the museum.
We didn’t eat the noodles and opted to keep it as our souvenirs.
On our way back to the train station, we found a small beef restaurant. It was the tastiest food we had in Japan! It came as a surprise as it was an impulse decision when we saw it and we were amazed how delicious the food was. It looked like the restaurants we see from funny anime shows we grew up with!
Real-life anime restaurant!
After lunch, we headed back to the airport to collect our luggage and made our way to Osaka International Airport.
All good things must come to an end.
It’s sad to leave Japan! There’s just too many to do and to see, but we have to return back to Singapore and be back to reality.
We promised ourselves that we’ll be back for more of Japan. We still have a long list of places to see but there’s not enough time. We also need more time to invest and save for Japan travel and to explore the other parts.
Ooooh. I pray to be back for Mount Fuji 🙏
See you on our next destination 👋😎
Duplicate post on paulajogalix.wordpress.com.
Jo Alix
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Looks like you guys had wonderful time in Japan 🇯🇵
We did! Thanks, @nathanmars, for dropping by! I hope you can visit the previous post too!
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Oh deer! Such a great time you had. Congrats on the feature, Jo!