(Japan, Day 6) Kyoto: Kimono-Ok, Kiyomizu-dera, Tainai-meguri, Takinoya, Chubokuchaya, Kōdaiji Temple, Ponotocho Alley

I have waited for this day for a really long time and, finally, the day has come where I get to put on the Japanese Kimono! (*INTERNAL SCREAM*) Since young, I’ve always fancy the Japanese kimono and now, I finally get to wear one!

There are quite a number of kimono rental shops in Kyoto and I rented ours from Kimono-Ok (きもの桜京) through Klook. I bought the Couple Package and added hairstyling for 1 pax (for yours truly). Best decision made because getting my hair done by the professionals really completes the entire look!

Couple Package costs S$71.90 in total and consists of 2 sets of Kimonos, inclusive of undergarment, waistband, handbag, toe socks and sandals.

Hairstyling costs S$18.89 and is only applicable to women, with different hairstyle options available.

We went to the outlet at Kiyomizu-Gojō Station, and our fitting time slot was at 9am. We reached slightly earlier, but the shop was already quite packed. By the time we were done with our fitting, it was already 10:30am, and the shop was getting even more crowded.

We took a bus down to Gojōzaka Kiyomizu-dera Entrance (五条坂) and started our journey up towards the temple. Along the way up, everywhere seemed to be a great spot for some photos to be taken, so we posed and shoot.

The closer we get to Kiyomizu-dera (清水寺), the more crowded it gets, and that was also how we knew we were reaching our destination. It was a very tiring walk (at least for me, it was) in those sandals and socks because it was so slippery to walk in them, especially when walking uphill. I was so glad when we reached our destination.

We came across the Tainai-meguri (胎内めぐり) at the Zuigudō Hall (随求堂) and decided to experience it. So, we paid ¥100 each (admission cost), took out our slippers and held onto the handrail with our left hand and proceeded in.

The Tainai Meguri is also known as the Tour of the Womb. It symbolises the walking in the womb of a female bodhisattva and coming out of it symbolises being reborn.

The walk starts with us proceeding down the stairs into complete darkness and we were to finish the walk through the darkness by following the beaded handrail. When I say complete darkness, it really is ABSOLUTE DARKNESS. You see literally nothing. Boyfriend had to keep his right hand on me the entire walk just to make me feel safer. Though I can see nothing, I still closed my eyes throughout because it made me feel better as well. This was definitely one of the most unique experiences we ever had and I'm glad we did it.

There were so many people in their kimonos (mostly girls), having their photos taken everywhere, and it was tough to find a good photo spot. We took a few shots and continued to explore the area instead. We came across a small traditional noodle place called Takinoya (滝の家) near the Otowa Waterfall that sells some simple and reasonably priced Japanese dishes. Since we were famished, we decided to settle our lunch there.

Shortly after we were done with lunch, we came across another small restaurant, Chubokuchaya (忠僕茶屋), and this time, we ordered a stick of Matcha Dango (茶団子) each. It was so good! It was springy and of the right softness, making every bite fantastic! Especially when it is paired with a cup of hot green tea. Ahh. So wonderful.

Kōdaiji Temple (高台寺) was approximately a 15-minutes walk away from Kiyomizu-dera. There are many shops along the way, including the Starbucks that is located in the 100-years old traditional Japanese house, which is also the Starbucks's first tatami style coffee house. The Starbucks was full packed but we managed to find ourselves a seat at the second level. So great to chill and rest our feet after so much walking!

After almost 1.5 hours of shopping, munching and resting, we finally reached Kōdaiji Temple, and by the time we were there, the place was pretty much empty. Unlike Kiyomizu-dera, it was very peaceful and quiet. The trees are beginning to be coloured in the shades of autumn and the scenery is a beau without the crowd of people all around. I am totally loving it.

We spent quite some time roaming around before finally making our way back to Kimono-Ok, which we took longer than expected to get back because we were lost. Fortunately, we managed to return our kimonos on time at 6:30pm, so no extra charges there! After the entire day, it felt so great to be out of the kimono because of the tightness. I CAN FINALLY BREATHE PROPERLY! Still, I love being in a kimono, ok!

For dinner, we headed over to Ponotocho Alley (先斗町), a place that comes alive at night. It was also the place where people go to for geisha spotting but by the time we were there, it was long past the "prime hours" of spotting those geishas. Oh well.

Anyway, I initially planned to have our dinner at Gyukatsu Kyoto Katsugyu (牛カツ京都勝牛), a restaurant that is famous for its beef cutlet, but, instead, we ended up at this small traditional barbeque shop, and oh my. It was the best barbeque I ever had!

Dinner was super shiok! So satisfying, so great, and we were so full from it that we took a walk down Shinkyogoku Shopping Street, and slowly strolled back to our guesthouse, which was just a 15-minutes walk away.

Wow. The next time we are back in Japan, we would probably spend more time in Kyoto if we have the chance to because 3 days 2 nights is definitely not enough for us!

(Japan, Day 5) Kyoto: Togetsukyo Bridge, Tenryuji Temple, Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, Men Baka Ichidai, Daily Qanat Izumiya

Our trip in Osaka ended in the late morning with us having brunch at Osaka Ohsho (大阪王将)  before taking the train to Kyoto. They have outlets in Singapore as well, but I had serious cravings for some gyoza and my ever favourite, Fuwatoro Tenshin Han. Since we couldn't find the local shop (stand-alone, non-franchise type) that I dined at with my family many years back, this shall settle.

Kyoto is only about an hour's train ride from Osaka. But, my navigation sense wasn't really working because we were playing Mobile Legend throughout the entire train journey, and by the time I realised it, we were on the wrong train (Limited-Express) and we missed our stop.

There were 3 different types of trains going in the same direction:-
- Local Train: Stop at all 10 stations.
- Semi-Express Train: Stops only some stations.
- Limited-Express Train: Stops only at 3 stations.

So we took the same train back to the previous station, Minami-Ibaraki Station, and waited to board the next Local Train, and after an extended 30-minutes journey, we finally reached our destination.

I booked a room at the Koiyama Guesthouse, Kyoto and check-in was only available after 3pm. So, prior to our trip, I've already marked out the most convenient location to store our luggage, which was at Karasuma Station. After storing our luggage, we took a train and headed over to Arashiyama for the famous bamboo forest.

The moment we reached Arashiyama Station, tranquillity filled the air and I was loving it. Exiting from Arashiyama Station, we headed towards the direction of the Bamboo Forest, and because of our little detour earlier on, we started our journey later than expected. So, we had to forgo a few locations around the area.

Towards the Togetsukyo Bridge (渡月橋), there were some small food stalls along the way selling ice-cream, snacks and finger-food. Tempted, boyfriend bought a matcha and sweet potato soft serve ice-cream from one of the stalls, and (oh my gosh) it was so good. Never knew such combination would turn out so yum!

I really love the serenity of Arashiyama. The air is fresh and everywhere looked and felt like a scene out of one of Studio Ghibli's animation films.

Crossing the Togetsu-kyo Bridge, we walked along the Katsura River to Tenryuji Temple (天龍寺). It costs ¥‎500 per person to enter the premises of Tenryuji Temple, but, as much as I would like to head in, we were running out of daylight, so we simply just explored around the area before leaving for the Bamboo Forest.

The street leading up to the Bamboo Forest (嵐山 竹林の小径) was bustling. Luckily, we managed to reach the Bamboo Forest before losing daylight. That was the main highlight of Arashiyama after all, right? And since it was the main highlight, the crowd in the Bamboo Forest was insane. It was totally impossible to take a photo without any human obstructions at the background! I don't know if we were taking photos with the bamboo forest or the human crowd.

Fortunately, boyfriend managed to find a quiet spot for us to take some quick photos WITH THE BAMBOO FOREST. I think if we want a nice photo with the Bamboo Forest as the backdrop, we probably have to reach really early in the morning at about 6am - 7am. Because of the crowd, we were in and out of there within 45-minutes.

We entered and exited the Bamboo Forest through the entrance nearest to the Nonomiya Shrine (野宮神社), which is along the main food and shopping street. Once we were out, we caved into getting a stick of grilled crab stick because it smelled and looked so good, but... it was NOT WORTH IT at all. It costs us ¥‎600 and it tastes similar to the crab stick I get from the supermarket. I thought it was gonna be the actual crab leg or something, but I was so wrong. Don't get me wrong, it is made from real crab flesh but it just wasn't what I expected it to be.

We continued to explore around the area, and we found a small shop owned by a couple who sells their own fresh tea leaves. We bought a few packets because their tea was so fragrant and support small local business yo!

So far, I probably enjoyed shopping in Arashiyama the most because the shops were unique on its own and most products are customised / handmade / produced by the locals around the area.

It was a sign for us to head back as the sun was setting. This time round, we took the Randen Line from Arashiyama (Randen) Station, which was so beautiful as the Kimono Forest lit up as it got darker. Since the Randen Line does not take us directly to our Karasuma Station, we had to change to the Hankyu-Kyoto Line.

Google map said that it was approximately a 5-minutes walk from Karasuma Station to our accommodation, but the walk felt way longer than 5 minutes. Maybe it was because of our luggage, but I remember it being such a tiring walk.

When we finally arrived at Koiyama Guesthouse, we self checked-in with the instructions given by the guesthouse prior to our arrival, dropped our luggage in our room and left for dinner at Men Baka Ichidai (麺馬鹿一代), which was a short bus trip away.

Men Baka Ichidai (麺馬鹿一代), also known as the fire ramen place, is a small shop located within a neighbourhood area, and they do not take reservations. We were pretty lucky to be able to get a seat without having to queue. After being seated, we ordered a bowl of Fire Ramen each and gave the chef our camera for filming purposes. To be honest, the fire was so close that I was actually scared that it would burn me. But obviously, it did not.

The Fire Ramen was so delicious that both of us finished everything including the broth. Before we head back to our guesthouse, we stopped by the supermarket, Daily Qanat Izumiya (デイリーカナートイズミヤ 堀川丸太町店), to do some shopping. The supermarket was huge and I'm pretty sure we spent almost an hour there. Okay, it was mostly me. I took a really long time to shop, while video calling my mom to see what she wanted to get as well. This is what happens when you get me into a supermarket - I disappear into the aisles.

Though it has only been barely a day, Kyoto has been really great. It was super chillaxed and the best part was that it was away from all the city buzz.

Tranquillity.

The Earliest Christmas Party of 2019

Taking a break from Japan posting because... IT'S CHRISTMAS SEASON!

There’s something about Christmas that always gives me the fuzzy warm feeling inside. Maybe it is the twinkling coloured lights, maybe it is the scent of the season. But the best part of the season? All the Christmas gatherings and parties. Not that we don’t have any gatherings or parties or meet-ups at other times during the year, but it is just different when it's Christmas, y’know?

Anyway, ever since I know my boyfriend 5+ years ago, his secondary school clique has always made it a point to organise a Christmas party at a chalet because the entire clique had quite a number of people. This year, it was the same.

The only difference was that in order to accommodate the majority, the party was set on the 1st week of December. The earliest Christmas party for the year. And because we took quite some time in finalising on the date of the party, we had very limited accommodation choices as most of them had been booked by others. So, we ended up booking the biggest room left available in D’Resort, the Beach Cove Room.

A few of us got off work earlier to help DL, the main organiser for the year, to prepare for the party. Since I had some leaves left to spare (and also for the joy of planning such parties), I took half-day off as well. All the preparations went smoothly, from the check-in to the catering, except for one thing. The weather. IT WAS RAINING THE ENTIRE DAY. Heavy drizzle to be exact. Even after getting what we needed from NTUC, it was still drizzling heavily and we couldn't do much at all. Once it became a light drizzle, we just went ahead and started the barbecue because... HUNGRY~!

Just when we were shifting the stuff down to our pit to set up for the barbecue, more help arrived and they got the fire started quickly and, finally, cooking of the food began. Luckily DL ordered some cooked food from the caterer as well because the food wasn't done cooking and more of us came and people were hungry!

Bit by bit, all of us finally reached and everyone took turns to watch over the fire and barbecue the food. Or should I say that mostly it was the guys who did most of the barbecuing? Hahaha. We girls did the cooking too okay, but I guess, ultimately, the guys stood over the pit way longer. So thankful for them.

For this year's party, not only do we have the food and gift exchange. There were also games to be played! And the game master was none other than the organiser, DL! Since I'm the assistant game master, I did not get to play but I must say... It was so much fun watching everyone participate in the games. I mean, that is the whole point of games, right? Plus, it is on a good note that all of DL's effort in preparing the games was worth it.

Because this photo has so much laughter in it.

When there's a game, there will always a winning team and a losing team, and the losing team will get a forfeit which, for us, it was something similar to the King's Cup. Though, the losing team managed to get away from doing the forfeit in the end. Hahaha. Lucky them!

Once we were done with the game and some cleaning up, it was time to play some sparkles!

And of course, we all took turns to attempt making some sparkles "art".

After all the sparkles "art" creation and clearing up the barbecue pit, we headed back to the room and had the annual Secret Santa Gift Exchange before some of us have to make a move to catch the last train, whereas some of us stayed for the night.

As we grow up, many of us also grow apart from our childhood friends. Yet, this bunch of friends did not grow apart from each other at all and still made the effort to keep in contact, hang out and celebrate the festive seasons. Some knew each other since they were 13, and some since 7 years old. One regret I had was that I grew apart from the secondary school mates who were so close to me back then.

Gratefully, after getting together with boyfriend, this bunch of friends has never made me feel like I was just merely a +1, but also a part of their group. I am truly very thankful that boyfriend grew up together with them and always had them in his life, and no words can express how much I appreciate this bunch of people.

To all the gatherings, celebrations and occasions down the years, and to the friendship that lasts.

(Japan, Day 4) Osaka: Universal Studios Japan

Finally, it is the day for Universal Studios Japan (USJ)! We started the day early at 8am and since we were staying in Dotonbori area, the journey to USJ took us only about 35 minutes in total. But, because of the morning peak / rush hour, commuting via the trains were (a little) madness.

Still, we reached Universal City-Station before 9am and we thought we were early. We were not. Deep down, I know queues would have already been formed, but I did not expect every queue to be that insanely long. Oh my gosh. What time do those people reach USJ?!

Looking at how madly crowded it was, we decided to purchase the express pass, which ended up slightly more expensive than I expected it would be. But, nonetheless, we still went ahead and purchased the Universal Express Pass 4 (Premium), which include a timed-entry to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride, the Hollywood Dream ride, Spiderman ride, and the Terminator 2 3D ride.

*Note: Prices for the Express Pass differs every day if purchased onsite. On some days, it may be cheaper, and others, more expensive. So, it is probably best to purchase it online beforehand.

At 9:30am, the gates into USJ opened (for the day I went), and many can be seen running once they pass the entrance turnstile. We simply just took our time and, first, absorb the ambiance around us as we stepped into the Hollywood Zone.

We strolled our way to Amity Village and took our first ride, Jaws, as the reflected waiting time was 5 minutes. I guess that was probably because half the crowd went to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Timed-Entry Ticket Booth to get their ticket first (according to the guide I read online). Well, we ain't complaining since we basically didn't even have to wait to get onto our ride.

The best part was that we even managed to take a few photos with a clear background since Amity Village was still quite empty.

USJ is easily at least 2 times bigger than Universal Studios Singapore, with 9 different zones - Hollywood, New York, San Francisco, Minion Park, Jurassic Park, Waterworld, Amity Village, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and Universal Wonderland. I think most of our time was spent on walking from one spot to another, and taking photos here and there because the most rides looked too thrilling for us. Plus, the waiting times were insanely long (minimally 60-minutes).

Though, I have no idea what had gotten into me when I decided to give the Hollywood Dream Backdrop, which had a 75-minutes waiting time, ride a try. What made it worse was that, at that point of time, I did not realise that we could use our Express Pass for that ride, and we joined the queue and waited 75 minutes for the ride. I only found out about it much later.

Anyway, I would just like to say… A backdrop roller coaster ride is a lot scarier than a normal roller coaster ride. Definitely not less scary just because you can't see what's ahead. Those who like thrilling rides would probably find their liking to this ride as well.

Before lunch, we managed to catch the Show Attraction, Sing on Tour, at the Hollywood Zone. Other than the fact that we did not understand what the characters were saying as they were speaking in Japanese (duh!), the show was really good! No photos and videos were allowed to be taken, but we were so glad that we managed to catch it.

After the show, we had our late lunch at the Happiness Café located in the San Francisco Zone, which was known for its minion theme burger and fried chicken plate that also happen to be the only 2 items on the menu. As usual, boyfriend ordered the burger and I had the fried chicken, which I regretted ordering. Should have gone for the burger instead. The fried chicken was meh and it was really oily.

Minion Burger Plate

Minion Fried Chicken Plate

When we were done with our meal, we walked back to New York Zone and took the Spiderman ride, which was similar to the Transformer ride at Universal Studios Singapore. The waiting time for the normal queue was approximately 90-minutes, but with our express pass, we waited less than 15-minutes to take the ride!

Initially, I wanted to catch the show attraction, WaterWorld, but had second thoughts about it as I guessed that the show would be pretty much the same. So, we gave it a miss and went to queue for some churros instead. We both got a chocolate churros each, which was alright. Nothing amazing.

As both of us were not that into thrilling rides, all the waiting times for the rides put us off quite a bit. Basically, almost every other ride was minimally a 65-minutes wait. So, we ended up roaming up and down the park until it was time to head for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is one of the main highlights of USJ. To me, I found that it was mad crowded when we were there, but we were told that that crowd was considered average. WOW.

We toured one round in the Wizarding World before heading over to the Hog’s Head, where boyfriend got one of their specialty draft beer, which was a little pricey even though we get to keep the mug. But, what to do? We were in a theme park. Also, since we ordered the drink to go, we weren’t allowed to get a seat (understandably why) but were still allowed to head in to take some photos, where there was a nice view of the Hogwarts Castle.

Our first ride at the Wizarding World was the Flight of the Hippogriff ride. The wait time was about 40-minutes, not as long as I expected it to be. The good thing was that the queue cuts across Hagrid’s Hut, so the view while queueing was pretty good.

Up next was the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride, where the waiting time for the normal queue was about 135-minutes long. Lucky for us, the wait time for the express line was only approximately 15-minutes. So again, with our express pass, we skipped the 135-minutes queue and before we know it, it was our turn for the ride. Though the sad part for me was that I did not manage to take in the Hogwarts Castle interior design! Yes, the queue for the ride snakes inside the Hogwarts Castle and they really replicate it accordingly. Though I only get a glimpse of it since we had to constantly move forward so as to not jam up the line, it was still amazing. On the plus side, the ride was really exhilarating! No wonder it received so many awards.

A stop at the souvenir shop in the Wizarding World was a must-do for us. But we did not buy any items because everything that caught our eyes was really expensive, and I’d rather spend the money elsewhere. At least we’ve got 1 souvenir from the Wizarding World – the mug from Hog’s Head.

Also, a photo with the iconic Hogwarts Castle was also a must-have. We took a lot of photos in front of the Hogwarts Castle during the golden hour (aka sunset), and we were so lucky to be offered help with getting our photos taken from a guy who was super understanding and even helped us to snap our photos at many different angles. He sure knows his stuff. I can't be thankful enough. Of course, we returned his favour by helping him and his family with their photos as well. It’s always so good to meet nice people.

After a long day, we finally made it to Minion Park and since it was getting late, there were much lesser crowd as compared to earlier in the day. We headed for the Despicable Me Minion Mayhem ride as it was only a 15-minutes waiting time, and boy, it was so fun! After the ride, we went to play a game of Space Killer (payable per game) because I wanted the iconic stuffed unicorn, but we didn’t manage to win, so… No unicorn for me. But we got a sticker for playing though.

Our last stop to conclude the day was the Universal Wonderland, which essentially had Sesame Street, Hello Kitty, and Snoopy. At a glance, I thought we were in Sesame Street land because everywhere we looked, we saw Elmo, Cookie Monster or Big Bird. Since the rides at Universal Wonderland were mostly catered to kids, we didn’t get to sit or play at any attractions because we did not have any accompanying kid with us. A chill time for us to take in all the night lights in USJ before calling it a day.

In all, we kind of regretted getting the Express Pass because it was not that worth it for us and we'd rather use the money to buy souvenirs instead. Probably it was because of the fact that both of us are not that much of a thrill-ride fan. So maybe, the express pass will be worth it for those who want to maximise their time in the theme park on the rides. But, for us, we were mostly just roaming here and there, taking photos at every corner, and shopping at the souvenir stores. The number of rides we took can be counted with just one hand.

Still, we enjoyed ourselves at Universal Studios Japan a lot. The best was probably The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We truly felt that as though we were in Harry Potter world. Magical.

(Japan, Day 3) Osaka: Kuromon Market, Kuromon Sanpei, Tea House, Osaka Castle, Nishinomaru Garden, Osaka Aquarium Kaiyūkan, Tempozan Giant Ferris Wheel

It's Osaka day! So, we will be exploring Osaka today, starting with Kuromon Market (黒門市場)! The market is located on the other side of Kintetsu-Nippombashi Station and is only about 10 minutes’ walk away from our apartment. Initially, I planned to start our day early in the morning by having breakfast at the market. But, because of all the walking / hiking at Nara the day before, we were so tired that we slept through our alarms and only woke up slightly before 10am. By the time we reached Kuromon Market, it was already almost 11am.

The market wasn’t crowded so we still managed to walk down the market freely and easily while in search of food. Out of the entire market, Kuromon Sanpei ( 黑門三平 ) was the most packed by tourists. Probably it was because of the variety of items they have available and the fact that most tour guides brought their tour groups there for a meal. It was a madhouse and yet the staff managed to replenish, clarify and assist their customers swiftly and promptly. Kudos to them man.

Once again, we split and conquer. Boyfriend queue to pay for our food, while I find us a seat inside the shop.

The best Unagi we've ever had, thus far.

I am not one who likes eating raw food for breakfast, and in this case brunch, but boyfriend is okay with it and the sashimi all goods so fresh. So we ended up did getting sashimi for brunch after all and I was glad that we did because IT WAS SO GOOD. Worth every penny of ours.

By the time we are done with our food, there were significantly more people at the market, needless to say, Kuromon Sanpei was even more crowded than before. We bought more food from shop to shop as we move along and we always make sure that we stood aside, without blocking the traffic or anyone, while we were eating our food. Most of the shops we went to were small and does not have a dine-in area and those shops that have a dine-in area are mostly filled with people, so other than at Kuromon Sanpei, we were eating on the go.

When we were coming to the end of our food journey in Kuromon Market, we found ourselves walking into one of the alleyways, away from all the buzz from the main street, where we discovered a quaint little traditional tea house at the end of the peaceful alley. We were greeted and attended to by a friendly obāsan dressed in kimono. Though it was a tea house, we ordered coffee instead as we have not had our morning coffee. Thinking back now, I regretted it. Should have ordered tea. What was I thinking?!

Though, the coffee was great too. But doesn't that mean that the tea will be better than great? Oh, man...

Aside from being a tea house, there were handmade pottery available for sale and a tearoom upstairs for people to look around, which the obāsan guided us up for a tour after we were done with our coffee. We have never been to an authentic Japanese tearoom, so this was really eye-opening for us.

Since it was Osaka-Day, we activated our 1-Day Osaka Amazing Pass and enjoyed it’s perks as much as we can. Up was up next was supposed to be Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, but when we reached there, the queue at the ticketing counter was insanely long and the entire place was insanely crowded. So after much consideration, we decided to head over to Osaka Castle (大阪城) first and come back again later in the evening.

Luckily for us, we get to ride all trains and buses unlimitedly for the entire day with the Osaka Amazing Pass. Hence, we did not need to take transportation costs into our considerations. Plus, with the pass, we get free admission to the Osaka Castle Museum and Nishinomaru Garden (大阪城 西の丸庭園). HOW AWESOME!

View of Osaka Castle from Nishinomaru Garden.

Not that I am an ambassador for the Osaka Amazing Pass or anything, but getting the pass was one of the best choices we ever made. With the pass, we get to skip the long queue at the entrance of Osaka Castle Museum and head right in / up. But of course, we chose to take the stairs up. Otherwise, there was another queue for taking the lift and that queue was horribly long and slow as well.

Historical and modernisation in a frame.

Paranomic view at Observation Deck (top floor).

We spent almost the entire afternoon at Osaka Castle and only left at about 4:30pm for the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan. Because our feet were all tired from all the walking and stairs climbing, we decided to pay for the tram service which took us out to the entrance of the park, where we walked about 10 minutes to get back to the train station.

By the time we got there, many people were leaving the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyūkan (海遊館), and we were the only last few visitors heading in. Also, we got our tickets for the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan at ¥100 off each ticket with our Osaka Amazing Pass. SCORE!

Visiting the aquarium before they close for the day has its perks and shortcomings. It was great for us because aside from us visiting, only 3 couples were there, and that means we were able to explore and take our time to view the marine animals. Plus, we have all the time in the world to take as many photos as we want without being photo-bombed or a hindrance to anyone.

However, the downside is that some of the marine animals (such as the seals) were already sleeping / resting, and all the feeding and interaction times have concluded for the day, except for the general touch pool at the end of the exhibition. Don’t get me wrong, only some were resting. The dolphins were still playing around, some penguins were still diving here and there while some were resting onshore.

We were literally the last few visitors at the aquarium. When we were done exploring it, even the gift shop was about the close for the day. And when we back outside of the aquarium, there was no one at all. Nada. That was the call for photos to be taken without any photobombers in the background, so out whipped my tripod stand.

To end off our day, we sat the Tempozan Giant Ferris Wheel (天保山大観覧車), which is located next to the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan. It usually costs ¥800 but since we had the Osaka Amazing Pass, our rides were free and since we were the last few to get onto the ride, we didn’t have to queue since there wasn’t one.

As the Ferris Wheel is about 112.5 meters tall, the view we got when we were at the very top was amazing. Though, the night breeze was blowing strong, which made the cabin sway quite a bit, and I was quite terrified by that. But, all the night lights of the streets, buildings and cars really made the view superb. The best part was that the night sky was clear of clouds and we get to see a bright moon shining down on us.

We did not utilise our Osaka Amazing Pass as much as I planned to, but it was still worthwhile getting it. We managed to enjoy our time to the fullest and without having to worry about all the transportation costs (it can actually really add up to quite a bit). Osaka Amazing Pass is truly amazing, for us at the very least.