Yet another beautiful morning in Osaka as a long, hectic day awaits. We failed to squeeze in any pre-breakfast breakfasts this time round, exhausted from our drinking escapades the previous night with the sashimi still swimming in our bellies.
Sj and my rain soaked jeans looking romantic.. or suicidal depending on how you interpret our unintentional work of art.
This Osaka hotel room tour is proudly brought to you by the autistic association of Singapore.
Our breakfast today has a peculiar name, Human Beings Everybody Noodles. Is the ramen made out of human beings? Are we all just noodles?? Would they still be together if they had decided to keep the child???
So many questions and so few answers, but one thing is for sure, this place was packed with customers. Populated by locals and tourists alike, we were lucky to get our seats within 30 minutes.
The specialty here is their soothing clam and shoyu broth. It is NOT the overpowering 10 days never wash kuku bird seafood taste that us 重口味 Singaporeans & Malaysians were searching for, but a decent bowl of ramen nevertheless.
The lack of sinfulness was remedied by a thick slab of braised pork belly, which was pleasurable until Jh threw the fats away.
Also ordered a side of gyoza as a statement to surrounding diners that nobody can out-overorder us.
We then embarked on our virgin trip to Universal Studios Japan, one of the most popular amusement parks in the world.
A mandatory photo with the iconic logo, along with a very eye catching pinoy auntie striking the same boomer pose as Th.
Since it was a Monday, we were cautiously optimistic to be able to visit every attraction.. until we saw the entire Japan population inside USJ.
As we only arrived at 1pm, we had to make an emergency battle plan to prioritise the attractions we were interested in.
It was enjoyable just walking around and admiring the well designed installations and their attention to detail.
But the xmas tree made me upset because it reminded me of the 12 cups of bubble tea Th owes me.
50 points to the house that guesses which area we made a beeline for. Hopefully Chloe doesn't see this image in case it triggers her grieving on instagram.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter resembled more like the SG-JB causeway crowd on a weekend.
Stepping into Hogsmeade with the Harry Potter theme playing in the background was indeed a magical experience. However, it was so congested that i couldn’t even snipe chio bus take a video of the entrance without being body blocked.
To participate in the ‘magic’, you will first have to beg your parents to buy you a $100 sgd interactive wand. Great way to teach children that the real magical ingredient is money.
I enjoyed watching little kids' dreams of becoming wizards and witches get destroyed, coming to the realisation that they are merely a bunch of filthy muggles.
Some fake students were also hired to demonstrate the wands, complete with cringey acting straight out of Mediacorp.
One of the much anticipated activities here is trying the fabled butterbeer.
Harry forgot to mention that there's a chance of dying of thirst before getting your beverage due to the insane queue.
As for the drink itself, it was a sugared up version of ice cream soda with a strong hint of butterscotch. Pretty sure half the students at Hogwarts have type 2 diabetes if they drank this frequently.
We also got a Hogwarts tattoo-ed meat pie as a little snack to restore our energy for the epic wait line ahead.
The highlight is undoubtedly Hogwarts Castle standing majestically over the entire area. Seeing Hogwarts with the familiar theme playing in your ears was an emotional feeling, second only to Ck attending Dobby’s funeral on Facebook.
Contained within is the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride, where the queue was insanely long but the waiting times were slightly alleviated by the movie prop replicas.
Such as the Mirror of Erised which reflects your inner heart's true desire.
Looking forward to the new Harry Potter series where a black man will be teaching this class.
The ride itself was amazing besides the fact that the entire cast were speaking Japanese which affected the immersion. Mina-san! Vorudemorto-san wa baka des!
2 hours later and the sun was already setting, yet we had only managed to visit 1 attraction.
Even purchasing a turkey leg required a 30 mins wait.. and with the number of tendons inside it i was surprised to not find a single tempura.
Pressured by a cranky pregnant lady awaiting us at a Shake Shack outside, we took a brisk stroll around to view the other attractions before leaving.
Not before shouting NMJHL at the people who must have queued 10 hours for this rollercoaster.
The lack of information and confusing registration process meant that we missed out on the brand new Super Nintendo World, but rest assured that we will be back and well prepared with express passes to fully conquer USJ next time.
Even the street between USJ and the subway station looked impressive, but no time to explore as we had to rush for a date with an old friend.
For dinner, we went to not just any steakhouse.. but ko-ZAI steakhouse. Zai siol.
Having teppanyaki has become a staple on our Japan trips.
The food quality, theatrics and intimacy of private room dining makes the steep price worth it.
We begin with an insignificant bowl of soup-u.
Followed by an insignificant plate of sara-da.
Then we were re-introduced to our tomodachi from Kobe, in all its marbled glory.
This is the only occasion where saying "你变肥了" is a compliment.
Curious why a chunk of 150g meat can cost $100+? Because it comes with a Bachelor’s Degree of Deliciousness.
Perfectly seared, each morsel was amazing and buttery, but i feel like Singapore beef tastes better.
Of course that was a joke, only someone who tio gong tao will say something ridiculous like that.
To ensure that our lovely steak dinner did not end in a helicopter crash like another Kobe, we finally had the option of beef fat fried rice instead of bean sprouts.
It’s as good as we imagined. The beef tallow evenly coats each grain of rice, giving it a next level fragrance. But the egg give until like we still fighting World War 2 need to ration.
From one old friend to seeing another.
Sakimoto oh oh. A random Japanese gangster approached us and threw up this weird sign! Anyone knows what it means???
Thankfully the beef course meal was not too filling and since it was our last night here, it was a good excuse to squeeze in a bonus supper of kushikatsu.
Osaka’s version of Old Chang Kee is superior in every way. Fresh ingredients such as prawns and scallops are battered and fried to order.
Not forgetting the communal sauce that should not be double dipped unless you are Kah Lim.
Finally satisfied after our 2 part dinner, we returned to our hotel, reveling in the serenity of late night Osaka to balance out the heavy crowds we encountered today. What a lovely 3 days it has been, filled with good food, great sights and bitch ass deers but IT'S TIME for a new adventure.
- End of Day 3 -
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