Day 10: En route to Ōsaka • 大阪
We started our day in Kyōto, waking up around 8:00 am. Tristan had a fantastic sleep on the futon, but Soph’s sore back made her sleep a little less restful. We were quite rushed in the morning as the checkout time was 10:00 am, an hour earlier than we were used to.
We packed up, tidied the place, and had a quick breakfast before we left. Tristan opted for leftover curry for breakfast while Soph had a cream puff. Our host instructed us to leave the kitchen tap running ever so slightly to prevent the pipes from freezing, which was a very foreign concept to us.
We then embarked on a 15-minute walk to Sanjō Station (三条駅). Ōsaka (大阪) is super close to Kyōto, so our trip ahead was pretty short and straightforward. Our route was simple: one train for ¥450 that would take us straight to a station in Ōsaka. The journey was about 45 minutes, and despite a slight hiccup thinking we were in the wrong carriage, it was a painless trip.
Once we arrived at the station, our GPS decided to sabotage us and wrongfully insisted there was one more stop. Thankfully the conductor quickly set us straight, and we hopped off the train and onto a subway. The transfer was easy, and for a total of ¥600 each (around $6.30 AUD), it was a pretty cheap trip.
We checked in to our hotel, the Vessel Inn Namba, only 400 metres from Shinsaibashi Shopping Arcade (心斎橋筋) and close to the train station. We dropped off our bags and headed straight back out to explore Dōtonbori (道頓堀).
At the entrance of the shopping area was the Cheese Coin, a popular street food stall that we’d seen on TikTok. It was basically a pancake in the shape of a ¥10 coin (that actually costs ¥500) with a big wad of mozzarella in the middle that stretches super long when you bite into it. We didn’t purposefully seek it out, but there it was, so we decided to give it a try.
Tristan found it a bit bland and overhyped, but Soph, the queen of bland, loved it. Cake and cheese – what more could a girl want?
We spent the rest of the day exploring nerdy stores, mainly checking out manga, trading cards and retro video games. We found some old Game Boys, including a limited edition Pokémon one, but decided to hold off on any purchases until we had a chance to check out a few other stores across the city. An electronics shop had a ThinkPad on display with its webcam open, so we took a sneaky pic of course.
While we were waiting to cross an intersection, a young Japanese woman gave us a small Pokémon figurine. She didn’t explain why, but we think she might have gotten it from a capsule toy machine and didn’t want it. It was a very random encounter!
After spending a few hours exploring, we headed back to our hotel room for some downtime. Travelling can be exhausting, and sometimes you just need a few hours of doing nothing to recharge.
As the afternoon rolled around, we headed back out to explore the local scene. The hotel had a promise of free drinks in the afternoon, but we soon discovered that it was just a self-serve soft drink machine. Free drinks means something different back in Aus…
While we were down there, we also discovered that the breakfast bar had some promising options like bagels and toast. Noted!
Soon after, we headed back out to explore Dōtonbori a little more. It was dusk and the last remnants of the sunset fell beautifully over the city.
Our next stop was supposed to be an Australian pub we’d found online, but alas, it was closed. We were a bit bummed out, especially since the website had promised it would be open. But, as we’ve learned (against our will), travel is all about adapting, so we decided to try out a random place that promised cold beer. It turned out to be more of an oyster bar, and while the lime sour and beer were decent, the grilled corn was overpriced. We left in search for a decent dinner.
Luckily for us, we hit the jackpot! We found OKO (thanks to TikTok!), a vegan/vegetarian Okonomiyaki place and it was absolutely delicious. We arrived a bit early and debated about whether we should wait a few minutes before going in. Soph won that round, and we headed up to find only one person ahead of us in line. The owner, Shiho, runs the entire joint by herself and was super sweet and accommodating. She does everything she can to accommodate dietary requirements and allergies – we can’t recommend this place enough if you are plant-based.
The restaurant was tiny but such a vibe – Total Drama Island was playing on the TV, and the walls were covered in stickers and drawings. The restaurant can get loud, so there are megaphones at the tables further away that you can use to call her over and order.
We ordered gyoza and okonomiyaki. Soph loaded her okonomiyaki with potatoes, carrots, asparagus, spinach, and green onions. She also opted for full cheese, which meant her okonomiyaki was smothered in American cheese (as every meal would be if she had her way). Tristan went for the teriyaki chicken okonomiyaki with half cheese. The drinks were a steal at ¥180 each (about $2 AUD), and we filled up on Asahi beer, whiskey highball (whiskey and soda), and a mysterious clear liquid that tasted like a vodka mix. The cool thing about the drinks’ system was that you could fill it up yourself at the tap – you just had to yell ‘I’m getting another one!’ at the owner, and she would say ‘はい!’ (yes) and it would be added to our bill. A flawless system if you ask us. We demolished/devoured/delighted in our meals and praised the gods of TikTok that recommended this place to us.
We left OKO feeling pretty tipsy and full of praise for the owner. It was so cheap for such a filling meal, and we were so grateful to another incredible plant-based restaurant in another city. We had wanted to try okonomiyaki for ages, and we were chuffed to find a place that served both vego and meat options that we could both enjoy.
On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by FamilyMart for more drinks and picked up another lemon-scented bubble bar from Lush for our baths. We also got a facial moisturizer for Tristan because, well, he deserves it. We strolled through Dōtonbori, took some pictures, and even stopped by Starbucks to check out some potential gifts for our family and friends.
Tomorrow we’re off to Universal Studios!
Day 11: Universal Studios, Japan
Our day started early, around 6:30 AM, with a refreshing hot shower and a quick prep for our much-anticipated visit to Universal Studios.
We grabbed some snacks from Lawson and hopped on a train. Despite a small GPS mishap, we eventually made it to Universal Studios. We waited eagerly at the entrance for about 45 minutes before they let us in. We even helped a group of tourists snap a photo in front of the Universal Studios gates. If you’re planning on visiting Universal Studios and want to get on a ride before big lines form, it’s worth getting to the entrance at least 40 minutes before opening. If you’re travelling with JTB, you get to enter 30 minutes earlier than everyone else and enjoy the rides before the crowd pours in. That would be ideal if you want to ride anything before the lines get too long.
Before we get into our adventures in the park, here’s some advice if you’re planning on visiting Universal Studios Japan:
A note to bigger people: Universal Studios Japan has a lot of rides that are inaccessible for larger people. We didn’t know this before we went, and it put a bit of a dampener on the day knowing we couldn’t go on every ride we wanted to. Do your research beforehand if you’re a size 16 or over, and try out the seat testers at the entrance of the ride before you line up.
For reference, Soph is a size 18-20 and the rides that were too small for here were:
- Hollywood Dream rollercoaster
- the Flying Dinosaur
- Yoshi’s Adventure
- Flight of the Hippogriff (probably – this is just our guess from seeing the size of the ride carriage).
Rides (that we tried) with plenty of room:
- JAWS ride
- Jurassic Park – The Ride
- The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman
- Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge
- Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (it was a tight fit though).
We didn’t try any of the rides in the Sesame Street or Minion areas, so do some googling if you intend to visit those areas.
Another note: Universal Studios Japan runs on a bit of a weird ticketing system. You can get access to the express lines for certain rides to save time on the day, but you have to select the rides you want in advance. The most popular rides were the Flying Dinosaur and both rides in the Super Nintendo World, so we recommend getting express passes for those rides if you’re considering an express pass. Don’t bother getting the pass for all rides as the lines for the other rides were pretty short anyway, especially if you’re going during an off-peak time of year. Super Nintendo World also has timed entry, so you’ll need to plan ahead for what time of day you want to visit this area.
Now back to the day!
After finally getting through the gates, we found The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride. It had a really cool set to look at while we were waiting in line, which thankfully wasn’t too long. The ride itself had bench seating and comfortably fit both of us, which was a much-needed relief after an embarrassing experience at the Hollywood Dream ride. The ride was a VR experience that made you feel like you were leaping across NYC with Spider-Man, and a bit of adrenaline was just what we needed to boost our spirits.
We then ventured into Super Nintendo World, which had super impressive surroundings and props. We tried the Koopa’s Challenge ride, basically a game of Mario Kart but VR on a rollercoaster. Thankfully we had express passes for this ride, otherwise we would have had to wait for over an hour as it’s super popular. It was fun, but not as good as the Spider-Man ride (controversial opinion, we know). It was a really cool area of the park, but it was absolutely packed, so we didn’t hang around too long.
Next was Harry Potter World, which was surreal to see in person. We were both huge Harry Potter fans growing up, so seeing the trains, Hogsmeade, and the castle brought back so much nostalgia. We also went into Honeydukes and picked up some sweets from the movies.
We decided to go on the Forbidden Journey ride, which was another VR ride that took us on a ride through the castle with the characters from the movies. It was such a fun experience – Soph doesn’t love heights, so this was a great way to experience the thrill of a rollercoaster without the fear of falling. The highlight for us was the extremely jarring Japanese voices for all the characters. At the finale of the ride, all of the characters are standing in a line, thanking us for saving the day. Hearing Harry Potter look us dead in the eye and say “Arigato gozaimasu” (ありがとうございます, thank you in Japanese) was a moment we’ll never forget.
We were keen to go to Ollivander’s wand shop next. We had to wait in line to get in, which we thought was because lots of people wanted to buy a wand. But to our surprise, it was actually a show! We were ushered into a dimly lit room surrounded by shelves filled with wand boxes. The actor, who was playing the role of Ollivander, was speaking in English but also paused to give the Japanese translation after each sentence. He was clearly an extremely talented American actor, and he seemed completely fluent in Japanese! He called up someone from the group to use a few wands to find one that chose her, just like in the movie. Each spell made things move around the room and made the lights flash – it was a really cool experience to have before entering the actual shop.
After the show, we entered the shop and planned to buy our own wands. We took a quiz on the train ride there that matched our personalities to specific wands. However, after some consideration, we decided not to buy wands at all. They were quite expensive, and we realised it would probably just end up collecting dust on a shelf at home. Soph did try on this cool owl headband though.
We finished off our Harry Potter World experience with a couple of butterbeers. They were sweet and refreshing, like a mix of creaming soda and ginger beer with a yummy layer of foam on top. We also watched a live performance by a few Japanese actors, all in different Hogwarts houses pretending to practice using their wands. The show was a bit young for us, but we still enjoyed it.
Next, we decided to go on the JAWS ride. We rode around on a boat that was being hunted by a shark. There was fire, lots of splashing, and the boat driver even shot at the (fake) shark with a (very fake) shotgun. It was a funny experience going on such an American ride in Japan of all places.
We also went on the Jurassic Park ride, which is basically a boat that follows a track through a dinosaur enclosure. A T. Rex escapes, and you have to outrun it on the boat through the flooded visitor’s centre. Eventually you escape (after a really close call with the dinosaur) and you go down a steep 26-metre drop and get soaked at the end. The ride was really immersive, and the drop was pretty scary – Tristan screamed in a way Soph had never heard, and she didn’t stop laughing for a good 20 minutes. 10/10.
We were also considering going on the scariest ride in the park, the Flying Dinosaur. It’s pretty high, and you actually lay down and basically fly around the Jurassic Park area. Soph was really hesitant because of her fear of heights, but the test seat actually saved the day because the seats were too small anyway. The attendant helping us with the test seat was really nice about it – he said ‘these seats are Japanese size’ in a joking way. It was really comforting to hear a staff member acknowledge the problem in a light-hearted way. This is probably a common experience of Western people who visit Japan, and it made Soph feel less alone.
The park was full of interesting food vendors – halfway through the day Tristan got some pork ribs. We had an early dinner and decided to get some pizza from the Spider-Man area. We ordered four slices, expecting them to be Australian-sized slices. We didn’t realise that these slices had to come as a meal, so we ended up with four individually boxed quarters of an enormous pizza and four drinks. The language barrier didn’t help, so we just accepted it and ate our pizza.
After our pizza shop debacle, we decided to wander around a bit more, checking out the last of the shops. But honestly, most of the stuff was pretty gimmicky. The print quality of the shirts was sub-par, and it all felt a bit like a tourist trap. So, we left the park with a magnet, memories, pictures, and bellies full of food we didn’t really want. Despite the ups and downs, we were both glad we powered through and stayed for the whole day.
After a long day, we hopped on the train and headed home. During our transfer from the train to the subway, we faced a choice: take the escalator or climb three flights of big steps. We decided to take the stairs. It was tough, but we made it to the top and felt really proud of ourselves. This sign at the station made us laugh:
We spent the rest of the day relaxing in our hotel room and prepared for a day of shopping the next day.
Day 12: Shopping in Ōsaka
We had a bit of a late start, waking up around 9:30 am. It was our shopping day, so we got ready and headed out to Dōtonbori. Soph had to have another cheese coin, of course.
We explored Dōtonbori and many of its…ahem…interesting stores. It was a gorgeous clear day, so we also got some great pics along the canal.
We couldn’t go past the enormous Don Quijote store – it was six stories full of everything you could ever need, and a bunch of stuff that nobody in human history could ever need, like this tote bag:
Soph found some lipstick, and Tristan managed to snag a hat that actually fit his head. We also picked up some new earrings. Checking out was a bit of a challenge with the long lines and the tax-free confusion, but we managed to save about 10% thanks to our passports. If you go to Japan and accumulate lots of coins you don’t need, take them to Don Quijote as they’ll exchange them for notes!
After we were done exploring Dōtonbori, we then made our way to Amerika-mura (アメリカ村). The area is a magnet for the cool kids of Japan, with over 2,000 stores selling local and overseas fashion (mainly American).
While we were there, we stumbled upon this adorable sticker shop called B-side Label. They had so many unique designs, and Tristan even found a shirt that he absolutely loved. The lady at the checkout was incredibly sweet and seemed genuinely impressed with our attempts at speaking Japanese. She even gifted us a free sticker as a token of appreciation from the people of Japan. She even gave Tristan a “Nihongo Jouzu” (日本語上手), which means “Japanese very good”. It’s always rewarding to hear that as we spent many hours trying to learn the basics of the language in the lead up to our trip, Tristan especially.
We continued our shopping spree, exploring vintage clothing stores and finding a cute, colourful jumper from Paragraph. It was basically Soph’s personality in a jumper, so she had to have it. She was stoked that it fit her too!
After all that shopping we were famished, so we hit up McDonald’s. Tristan tried the barbecue soy sauce burger with bacon, and Soph stuck to her fries and melon Fanta. We realised too late that we should have just ordered a meal, but hey, you live and you learn!
We walked around the city a bit more, taking in the sights and sounds of Ōsaka. Pics or it didn’t happen:
We decided to call it a day on the shopping front, having spent a bit more than we’d planned. Back at the hotel, we chilled out, did some laundry, and Tristan even treated himself to a BathBeer ™.
For dinner, we decided to splurge on some Kobe beef at a place we found on TripAdvisor. Kobe beef is a premium kind of wagyu that comes from Kobe, a city close to Ōsaka. Because it’s so closeby, most people eat it in Ōsaka as it is very fresh here. It was a grill-your-own-meat kind of place, which was a fun experience. We ordered our meats from an iPad on the wall and enjoyed some mega lemon sours. Soph even tried a piece of Tristan’s wagyu steak and admitted it was pretty good!
After indulging, we then spent some time enjoying the city at night. The light-up signs Ōsaka is known for really came to life.
We ended the night at The Australian Pub, which was thankfully open on our last night in Ōsaka. We found this place on the internet a few months before our trip because we thought it would be cool to visit an Australian pub in Japan, and the fact that it had a “delicious fucking mess” on the menu had us sold.
We were not disappointed. The owner, Ōsaka Joe, is a super nice guy and spoke excellent English. He lived in Australia for a few years and wanted to either open a Japanese pub in Australia or an Australian pub in Ōsaka. We were glad he chose the latter!
It was refreshing to have a full-on conversation in English with someone other than each other. We had lots of drinks, shared some Vegemite cheese toast, and even scored some free buttery nipple shots with some fellow Aussies. Joe really had everything from Aus – he even had some Panadol and Berocca if you wanted an Aussie hangover cure!
What a fun way to cap off our time in this incredible city. We stumbled back to our hotel around 12:30 am and crashed.
