Last year this time, I was gallivanting around in Japan with sister. Sigh. Can I teleport us there now?

For the latter half of our last full day in Osaka, sister and I headed off to Universal Studios for a fun fix.

The winds in Osaka were crazy! When sister and I got out of the train station, sister’s hood got blown off her head and my scarf [which I wrapped twice round my neck] flew off too! We then darted comically from pillar to pillar in slapstick Stephen Chow style to hide from the wind, and from behind us, some teenagers followed suit. Laughs. What a sight it must have been.

Welcome to funland!

We got ourselves a substantial discount for the entrance fee as we entered Universal Studios after 3pm. The discount, however, wasn’t worth what we had to miss. I didn’t realise Universal Studios was like Disneyland, what with all the rides and everything, and it was a real pity sister and I had so little time in it. =(

Our exhausted tak glam faces.

Everybody told me that Universal Studios is a must-go place in Osaka.

Doing the touristy thing 1.

Doing the touristy thing 2.

Though it was in the new year, Christmas jingles were still playing in the whole of Universal City. Ooh, happy trippy!

It seemed that the characters kept veering deliberately towards sister and I. We caught sight of Shrek, then he lumbered fearsomely towards us.

Yosh!

“Hur hur hur,” went the jolly green monster.

Then we were watching the ‘toy soldiers’ marching around when they headed right for us [like, right into our faces], despite us trying to sidestep them. It felt as though sister and I were playing some kinda footsie game with them; we were going right, they went to their left, then we backed away, they headed straight for us. Sister and I were getting all panicky when the soldiers decided to let us off. Haha!

Before they started towards us. They look kinda scary, don’t they?

Sister and I spent almost 3 hours in line for this ride. Arghhhh. And I was eyeing the carousel ride just beside this one. 

We were so bored that we decided to take photos of whatever we could see at different junctures of the queue.

Like this.

And this.

The press that Clark Kent works for.

Quirky signboards everywhere.

Sulking because we were stuck in Twilight Zone.

Getting happier because we were closer to the front of the queue.

Turned out that the Spiderman ride wasn’t even that scary nor interesting. *pulls face* Oh well.

Another ride we managed to take – a more exciting one at that!

Sister and I stupidly sat in the front row of the ride, thinking that the water that rise up will hit the peeps behind us due to.. you know, the law of physics and stuff. Well, urm, needless to say, we weren’t spared from the splash when the boat hit the water from a fall of 11 metres [?]. No, not even ducking helped.

When the rides closed, what else could we do but shop? Sister and I went all shopaholicy in the stores. Afterall, if we didn’t spend then, when else could we spend??

In one of the stores.

Universal City at night.

Look at our shopping loads!

Heavy heavy heavy heavy.

One for the album!

Goodbye Universal City! We will meet again!

On the platform to transfer to a train that would bring us back to Shin-Osaka, I got a call from Bro, who asked me where I was. Mum thought that we were supposed to be back 1 day earlier. What? And miss out on 1 more day of shopping? It was 10 pm and the right train did not seem to be coming by, or maybe we did not know it was the right train, what with all the “local”, “rapid”, “semi-rapid” classes of trains. Our pacing up and down the platform was apparently noticed by the security cameras. After the 3rd train had gone off without us on it, a station officer came up to survey the platform, but actually to keep an eye on us. When the next train came along, he waved us onto the train as if to get rid of us.
- sister

One of the colorful trains I snapped when on the platform.

Next up! Japan’s onsens, the celebration of Studio Ghibli and the comical almost-missing-of-our-flight-back!

More Nihon reads:

The Amazing Race [Nihon Version]
Meet The Katenas
Let’s Become Lost Children Together
Disneysea Part I
Disneysea Part II
Tokyo Misadventures
Appletown
City of Lights
Snow is a Happy Pill
You Light Up My Life
Spring in Winter
Visiting Traditional Kyoto
Roommates from Insertchoicewordhere
Holiday ‘Romance’ in Osaka
Osaka Castle