Osaka Unlimited Pass 大阪周遊券 I Iove you! – Day 5

 

I got my Osaka Unlimited Pass (大阪周遊券) the other day for 2000yen so for it to help me save money!!When I got to the tower, there was already load of people lining up outside. It took me ~2 hours to get to the top of the building. Before you can get to the top, there’s a lot of displays and souvenir shops and things you need to go through. I still regret that I went there as it’s nothing special except for the view which amazed you for first few seconds there. The second free entry is Tennoji Zoo(天王寺動物園). I already watched the video clips on Youtube about the zoo so I didn’t expect much. I turned out it was much better than I though. There were snakes, lions, tigers, zebras, foxes, hippos, rihos (they were hiding under the water when I was there), chitah, and koalas (same as those I saw before, they barely moved!).

Don’t miss out Santa Maria Cruise

“Santa Maria” cruise in Osaka Bay (Photo credit: Stéfan)

After the zoo, I rushed to the bay area as I realized I would need to take the 5pm Santa Maria Cruise (サンタマリア) otherwise I may not have enough time for the aquarium that night. Luckily, I was there 5 mins before the gate closed. The trip is fantastic and the view is worth millions! This is a must try for anyone coming to Osaka. It was cloudy when I was on the cruise so it felt cool. You can see Kaiyukan(海遊館), Universal Studios（ユニバーサル スタジオ）, and a lot of other buildings and structures from a different angel which you won’t be able to see when you’re on the ground. The trip takes 45 mins.

Kaiyukan(海遊館) is miniscale

Osaka Aquarium KAIYUKAN in Osaka, Japan

It was Kaiyukan(海遊館) after the cruise. As most of other aquariums in the world, this one also has a large tunnel tank so you’ll have to walk underneath it to get inside. They have lots of different sea animals in there but almost everything I have seen such as sharks, turtles, shrimps, crabs, so no surprise. Japanese crabs really captured my attention since I was the first time I saw them so many of them and they are really huge. The whole aquarium is actually quite small in floor space but you wouldn’t notice as you will walk surrounding the same big tank in the middle for most of the time. 2000 yen is overpriced so I wouldn’t recommend it, especially if you’ve seen those in Melbourne and Sydney.

Ride it during day time

The last free ride is Tenbosan Kanransya, a ferris wheel (天保山観覧車) with beautiful neon lights on it to tell you weather and temperature by color variation. I saw the clips on Youtube that the view in the whole area is stunning at night. But again, I was disappointed. The ferris wheel only displayed green color, the bay area was pretty dark without the colorful, flashing neon lights I saw in videos.

Useful links:

Osaka Unlimited Pass (大阪周遊パス)

http://www.osaka-info.jp/osp/en/

Tsutenkaku(通天閣)

http://www.tsutenkaku.co.jp/

Tennoji Zoo(天王寺動物園)

http://www.tsutenkaku.co.jp/

Kaiyukan(海遊館)

http://www.kaiyukan.com/language/eng/index.htm

Santa Maria Cruise (サンタマリア)

http://suijo-bus.jp/cruise/santmaria.aspx

Tenpozan Giant Ferris Wheel (天保山大観覧車)

http://www.senyo.co.jp/tempozan/index.html

Bay area information:

http://www.kaiyukan.com/thv/cruise/

Universal Studios Osaka 大阪 Day 2

Almost everyone visiting Osaka(大阪) would spend some time there and I’m not an exception. It’s Universal Studios（ユニバーサル　スタジオ）! Getting off the Universal City Station(ユニバーサルシティ), it takes you about 10 mins uwalk ntil you get to the gate. There were already some people lining up at the ticketing booths but I got my ticket online so I didn’t have to wait 🙂

When you get in there, it totally gives you the feeling of the Disneyland in Tokyo. The souvenir shops, the arch-shaped ceiling, the music, and the overall atmosphere, everything just so resembles those in Disneyland. The difference is that you won’t see the iconic castle that features the park in the front entrance. After checking out the map I got from the staff, I realized that the rides were arranged in roughly a big circle so you can follow the path and get back to the starting point after finishing all the rides. I couldn’t wait to look for where the Spiderman ride was since’ｄ I heard that it’s the best and most popular ride in the park so there must be heaps of people waiting for the game. But I found out there was another ride very close to where I was standing so I just followed the way and played the ride along. So, I started off with Space Fantasy and it was great. Next, I played Terminator 2. It’s a 3-D movie with a plot resembles what you find in the Terminator 2 movie. The 3-D effect is really great. One thing I’m not happy was: there were some points at which you’ll be splashed with lots of water and you won’t be told in advance.

I arrived at the Spiderman ride lastly. But before I went in there, I checked out the Spiderman memorabilias in a shop next to it. I wanted to buy the watch but got a ring instead. The Spiderman ride is just a car and you sit in there with some other people. The car shakes according to the plot on the screen and this is it! If you visit the Park next time, make sure you’re not putting it on top of your priority list.

There’s one which truly surprised me that I wanna talk about, which is the Backdraft. I didn’t have much expectation of it because it’s not a ride so it won’t be too. It turned out everyone there was surprised, especially the last scene (3 scenes in total) where you will see scorching flames blowing at you, water randomly ejected everywhere, huge oil tanks falling down from high places, and the deafening noise. The whole picture scared a lot of people, me included. It was just so real! Of course, everything was real happening in front of your eyes! It proves one thing: real effects beat 3D and 4D effects!

The last rider I played was Hollywood Dream- the biggest roller coaster in the park. It is also the most-welcomed ride in the park. You’ll need to wait for 1 hour or over. It was okay but not particularly surprising. Especially if you’ve been to some of the greatest in Japan such as the one in Fujikyu（富士急）. In comparison, this one is just a child’s play in terms of scale and level of excitement it brings you.

It was almost 8pm and everyone started getting a spot on the sides of the streets waiting for the Night Parade. It was truly an amazing Parade which features some Disney characters such as Snow White. It kicked off with Hello Kittyand finished with Snow White. The music was fantastic and the show last for 30 mins. You can see satisfaction and smiles on everyone’s face as the parade finished. It was one of the greatest parades I’ve ever seen.

You wanna see it? Check this out: http://youtu.be/SyQXMrB–v8

Here’s some of the items I got from the Park.