Osaka trip

Clockwise from bottom left: me, F, S, and J

Ever since Harry Potter world opened in the American Universal Studios and then Universal Studios Japan (USJ), I have wanted to make the journey to the magical theme park. So, a few months ago, my friend S and I started talking about a trip. I knew it would be expensive, but I don't know how long I will be in Japan, so I knew it would be worth it to go. Eventually, we started making the trip a reality and convinced S's husband, J, plus our other friend F to come along to Osaka. The boys didn't plan to go to USJ, but they were excited about visiting Osaka itself.

We decided to drive to Osaka, because the costs of freeway tolls and gas essentially added up to the same cost of plane tickets for each of us. Every Japanese person whom I told we were going to drive seemed shocked to hear it, but I think it was a good choice. We left Nakatsu around 10 a.m. the Wednesday after Christmas and, several podcasts and pit stops later, wound up in Osaka, at an Airbnb apartment near Tengachaya station. This station is a bit south of all the action in downtown Osaka. The Airbnb was perfect, with plenty of space for the four of us and our stuff.

Tako, or octopus, a famous ingredient for takoyaki, Osaka's famous octopus balls

After unloading all our stuff at the Airbnb, we took the subway to Namba station, in a neighborhood called Dotonbori. We searched for a while to find an okonomiyaki restaurant that could seat four people, and it was a bit tricky, but we ended up at a basement one that was playing Maroon 5, which I insisted, half-jokingly, made it a good choice. The others were skeptical. We tasted the local okonomiyaki, or savory cabbage pancake, in different flavors and then headed back into the cold to find dessert. I ate a crepe, but what I really wanted was a melon bread ice cream sandwich. Melon bread is known as such not because of its flavor, which is actually more like sugary plain bread, but because of its bumpy, melon-like appearance. Alas!

We walked around a bit and spotted a Taco Bell - an elusive fast food rarity in Japan - but ended up heading back to the Airbnb by 10 p.m. because S and I had to wake up at the crack of dawn the next day to head to USJ.

Waking up at 5:30 a.m. on Thursday was definitely worth it, though, because we got to USJ around 7:15 and there was already the beginning of a long line at the entrance gates. We thought we would have to out-run other guests to get to the Harry Potter world timed-entry ticket when we first entered the park, but it turned out we didn't! We actually bypassed the timed-entry ticket area and went straight to the entrance of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, where a staff member told us that, because it was so early and there weren't many people, we didn't need a timed-entry ticket. But if we wanted to come back later when it was packed, we would need one.

We marveled at the scenes of Hogsmeade and passed through its village square to reach Hogwarts castle. We managed to be some of the first people in line for the Harry Potter Forbidden Journey ride; we barely had to wait ten minutes, and we were zooming through the line barriers within the castle, which stretched on for what seemed like miles. We passed by Dumbledore's office, the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, and the Sorting Hat before piling onto the ride. The ride was 4D, complete with 3D glasses and a moving track. Our feet dangled below the car and I was afraid my shoes would fall off! The ride took us through scenes from the Harry Potter movies, including Quidditch, the spiders in the Forbidden Forest, the dragon chase and the Dementors. It was a bit scary, but exciting! After the ride, S and I went to look at our photo, which had been taken without us realizing. And we looked so ridiculous! I had a blank look on my face with my head pushed back onto the seat so my double chin was prominently featured, and S had an equally silly face. We decided not to buy the commemorative photo...

We poked around the gift shop, then ventured more around Hogsmeade to try some Butterbeer (and put on the famed foam moustache for a photo op!) before waiting in a long line for the Flight of the Hippogriff ride. We waited for about an hour, but I had prepared ~*discussion questions*~ for the car ride and hadn't used them, so S and I broke them out for our wait. The ride was only about 30 seconds, but it was fun! S acted scared, but she definitely enjoyed it, she said.

The rest of the day we spent wandering around the other parts of the park, including Mel's Diner for an American burger lunch, Minions world, and the Spider-man ride. We eventually went back to Harry Potter world in the evening and had to get timed-entry passes because it was getting crowded. S and I rode the Forbidden Journey ride a second time, and we had to wait about two hours this time! But I had plenty of discussion questions to get us through, haha.

Our day at USJ ended up being about 13 hours in the park! I think we definitely made the most of it, and I'm so glad we got the chance to go. We even spent less money than we had anticipated, because we didn't need to buy an express pass. I was totally fine with waiting in the long lines if it meant saving money!

Smelling spices

The next day, the four of us all took a day trip to Kobe, to go to an herb garden there. We had wanted to go on a nature adventure near Osaka, but that place (Minoh park) was closed due to damage. So, after a late start in the morning, we had breakfast and headed out on the train to Kobe. It was surprisingly cheap to get about an hour away! Only about $9, whereas in Kyushu we usually pay about $25 for similar distances.

The herb garden was lovely, and we got to smell lots of vials of fun smelly smells. My favorite was jasmine, so I absolutely had to get a bar of jasmine soap. I was addicted to that smell! Another favorite of mine was white lotus. There was one smell that J said was like a greenhouse fart, which I think was accurate.

After a delicious lunch with herbal tea at the park in Kobe, we went back to Osaka and killed some time at Osaka station mall while waiting for our Star Wars movie time. I thought the movie was pretty stupid, but I did like the crystal foxes, whose actual canon name sounds a little too much like a Pokemon name. So I'm going to call them crystal foxes instead!

On Saturday, the group of us went our separate ways in the morning to do various things of our own choosing: S went to America-mura (American village) to check out a dance store; I went to a cat cafe; F went to a tomb site and some shrines; and J went to some nerd stores. Then we all agreed to meet up at Osaka castle. It was quite an adventure because my phone died while trying to find the others, but we managed to gather successfully! It turned out the castle was closed, so we just got some pictures outside and then went looking for a cafe to rest at. It's much harder to find spots in a cafe for four people than for a solo traveler, so we ended up at Gusto, a kind of Denny's-like family restaurant. Then F and I went to look for a bookstore while J&S checked out a secondhand store.

After our long day, we wanted to relax at SpaWorld, which was a highly anticipated part of our trip. So we found dinner near the 10-story SpaWorld building. At this point I have to admit I was in a bit of a bad mood, probably dehydrated, and just ready to relax quietly, introvert-style, in a warm bath. So I was glad to arrive at SpaWorld and pay half the price we had expected to pay for access to Asia-themed onsen (for the women) and European-style (for the men). It was very relaxing to sit in the different baths with S and just decompress from the trip. We spent a good two and a half hours there, eventually ending up in the SpaWorld-provided nightgowns that we were allowed to wear around the building, and lounging in luxurious recliners before meeting up with the boys at around 11:30 p.m.

We rested well that night, and headed back to Kyushu in the morning around 10 a.m. the next day. I had expected lots of traffic on the way back because of something a Japanese teacher had told me at work, but we didn't hit any once we passed the Osaka on-ramp.

Overall, it was a super enjoyable trip, and I think the four of us who went were a good match, travel-personality-wise. I'm so glad we got to do USJ and SpaWorld, and the rest was icing on the cake! I highly recommend Osaka!