Osaka Day 4 - Shopping @Umeda Pokemon Center & Nintendo Osaka Center

Today is Pokemon day! Meimei has it all planned out and we are going to one of two pokemon centers at Umeda area. 

We started the day with breakfast at the restaurant as the lounge is closed in the morning. Definitely much better to eat at the restaurant. 

Right after breakfast we were off to Umeda. We want to get there early to avoid the crowds.

We reach at around 10am and there were already a sizeable crowd. The first thing we did was to join the payment queue so we can buy pokemon blind packs.

The kids went crazy and were grabbing all sorts of stuffed toys. We had to veto some of the bigger ones. Although each customer is supposed to only be buying 2 sets of the pokemon cards a day, they don't really enforce the rule. So we were able to get another set of 2 each.

I didn't know before but there is a Nintendo store right beside the Pokemon center. Perfect! So we spend some time there as well. There was a demo area where customers could try out games. 阳阳 had a blast playing Donkey Kong Bananza. 

Thankfully there wasn't much that caught Meimei or the kid's eyes so we left unscathed ✌.

There are lots of choices for lunch. The 2 levels above the Pokemon centers are full floors of restaurants. We had to find things that kids would eat and ended up at Tonkatsu Tadzumura on the 14th floor. It was the right choice - 萱萱 loved the curry rice, Meimei had an awesome presentation for her Tonkatsu and mine was delicious. 阳阳 wasn't feeling too well so he ate only a little.

We were ready to go for another round of shopping after our wonderful lunch. But 阳阳 was nauseous and had to rest on a bench. We all agree this was motion sickness from the Donkey Kong Bananza. So begrudgingly he continued to lay down and rest at the bench with me. 

The girls went on their own shopping spree. 阳阳 doesn't have the energy for long walks for shopping. I was impartial to it but would not reject having a seat and playing my game. So all in all, it turned out to be the best outcome for the afternoon. It was close to 5pm when we make our way back to the hotel.

Dinner was at a forgettable Doria restaurant at Abeno Harukas dining floors so we don't have any pictures to share.

After dinner though we spread out the loot we gathered for the day. There were actually more stuff that Meimei and 萱萱 bought in the afternoon but it's already a lot to display.

Osaka Day 3 - The VIP Experience @USJ - Part 2

[2.15pm] It was a short 3 minutes walk from Minions World to our special area for VIP guests. There were several groups of us so space was tight. But we still had a good view of the Parade.

I wasn't overly impressed by the Parade but seems the kids enjoyed seeing some of their favourite characters like Mario, Yoshi, Pikachu etc in the Parade.

[2.50pm] We arrive at Super Nintendo World. We spend quite some time here trying attractions like Mario Cart: Koopa's Challenge, Mine Cart Madness (萱萱 made us go twice!) and Yoshi's Adventure.

[5.00pm] It was already 5 when we left Super Nintendo World. We were supposed to make our way back to the restaurant for dinner but 萱萱 wanted to ride The Flying Dinosaur. This is one of 2 very scary rides where you loop around upside down on some parts of the ride. She managed to convince 阳阳 to try too and so we had a dilemma. We were worried 阳阳 gets spooked and starts feeling unwell after the ride. But at the same time I don't want to deny him a chance to be brave and try something beyond his normal limits. So I shared with him about our worry and he understood our concerns and was ready to back out of the ride. However I told him that to prevent the sickness he needs to shout on the ride and let out the fear instead of holding it in. Thankfully he took our advice to heart and did just that. You can see him already shouting while the ride is climbing up for a sharp decent. Glad he made it through the ride without a hitch.

[5.40pm] Dinner's back at the same place but this time they serve free flow main dishes you can order and they will prepare and serve it hot. I went for extra servings of the fish and beef. Totally enjoyed dinner after a long day.

[7.00pm] We are back at Minions Park to spend the last token on the games and let the kids go on the rides one last time. It took a whole lot longer to finish one ride as we no longer have our guide to let us through the VIP express way.

[7.40pm] We finally left USJ after some last minute shopping on the way out. It was definitely an extremely enjoyable day for all of us. The whole experience really justified the VIP pass and I'll definitely do it again.

Osaka Day 3 - The VIP Experience @USJ - Part 1

Minute for minute this is the most expensive item we've purchased for our holiday. $3.4K for a 8 hours VIP experience. It includes lunch and dinner but entrance tickets are not included and we have buy them separately. More importantly though is that we skip the queues and get ahead of even the priority pass holders. We also have a personal guide that lead us through the park to the various rides and attractions.

[9.30am] We arrive just in time for the start of our session. We were brought to the VIP lounge where our guide discuss our plans for the day. We had to pick a few of the rides we would like to take and the guide would plan out the timing and walking routes.

[10.30am] Our first stop was to Minions Park where we tried out the Despicable Me: Minions Mayhem ride. Well it's not really a ride but a stationary capsule of sorts that rocks and rolls around while the dome projection simulates the visual of a ride. 

[11.30am] We had only took our first ride and then our guide ask us to go for lunch. Rather odd since it's still early but I wasn't going to argue with him. So we went to a special building where they had setup a buffet setup for guest.

I wasn't terribly impressed with lunch. Maybe because it was still early and I wasn't very hungry. The kids seem to like it though and went about grabbing food from the counter. The saving grace is the open bar where they served Sake. I'm glad the kids enjoyed it and Meimei got to try the huge Turkey drum she has been wanting to try.

[12.30pm] After lunch we headed for the Waterworld show. It was definitely one of the highlights of the tour. Again we skipped all the queues and were led to the seats before anyone else were let in. Awesome!

[1.30pm] 萱萱 wanted to go down the water ride again and she managed to convince 阳阳 to join her. They went twice and because of VIP, they could choose their row on the rides. What stood out for me on the VIP pass was that we could choose our seats. It was more pronounced when I notice this Indian family that was in the front of a priority queue. They were gleeful when the ride came and was preparing to jump into the first row. However we came around ahead of them and took the first row instead. He was pissed and kept shouting that they are priority pass. Muahhahaha Piss off bud ... my ticket's more expensive than yours! That's what we paid for! Shiok!

Anyways the kids went twice and totally enjoyed the ride. 阳阳 even tried to poke me by calling out to me "Papa, I'm not wet!". That naughty boy!

[2pm] We are back at Minions Park where the kids try their hand at the games booth.

阳阳 got lucky and hit the jackpot price .... a huge Minion. Oh ho ... how are we going to bring that back?!

Anyways it was a quick stop because we have to get to a prime spot for the next event ... the Parade!

Osaka Day 3 - Seeing All The Way To The Hills

We woke up this morning with rain clouds in the distance. Based on the weather forecast it should clear up close to noon. It's a joy to admire the view from the room. Everything is so tiny from this height. And being so high up, we can see all the way to the hills. I could just stare at this all day.

 

Osaka Day 2 - Takeaway Dinner

We were all beat by the time we got back to the hotel. The kids were not keen to leave the hotel so Meimei and I went down to the mall basement to tabao dinner instead. The mall's basement is like Singapore Isetan's where they have stalls with different food.  

We packed what we can find and fancy and stopped by the lounge for a few drinks before returning to lay out the feast. The kids were pretty happy with dinner.

Osaka Day 2 - Wet Universal Studios

Even before entering the Universal Studios Park, we were already at the merchandise store. The kids made a bee-line for the Harry Potter wands and picked out one each. I suppose its fitting since our focus today is to explore Harry Potter world.

We tried one of the more exciting ride, Harry Potter & The Forbidden Journey. It's a popular ride and we have to leave our belongings in lockers before we can get on the ride. Guest are provided one ticket each time so people cannot keep going on the ride without joining the queue from the front again. I can't recall how many time we went in the morning but 阳阳 wasn't feeling too well after a few rides so Meimei brought him to the food hall to get lunch while I accompanied 萱萱 for more rides.

Lunch was at the Three Broomsticks restaurant which is decorated like the food hall in the Harry Potter movies. It's all western fare to keep the immersion in the feast experience like in Harry Potter. After lunch we were back again at the Forbidden Journey ride again. There was a light drizzle but we braved the wet day to get into the queues again.

Next we went over to the Jurassic Park section. The kids have never watched Jurassic Park so it's like another theme area for them. As usual 萱萱 was gungho to try all the rollercoaster rides. There is a terrifying one zipping around the whole area called the Flying Dinosaur which I'll never get on. 

Instead I got suckered into taking the Dinosaur Boat Ride. 萱萱 was beaming and blinking at me to join her on the ride and I couldn't say no hahaha. What better way to try and build bonds than doing scary stuff together right? I had borrowed 阳阳's wizard raincoat and thought that would keep me dry. I should have bought a raincoat like 萱萱. It turns out that there were many "holes" in the raincoat and I ended up all soaking wet waist down. Wet through my underwear and shoes. 

Having tasted the thrill of the ride, 萱萱 wasn't done and wanted to go again. This time I declined and let her take it alone instead. I found a spot where I couldn't take a picture of the big drop to the water. Having seen many rides come down, I've finally figured out that people at the back rows get wetter vs the ones in front. We were in row 5 of 6 earlier and that's why I got so wet. In the video 萱萱 was in the middle of the 1st row. Can't really tell as she is so tiny in the seats.

On the way out we met up with Meizheng who was also here with her friend. What a small world isn't it.

We had originally planned to eat at the restaurants on our way out but I was totally wet. Plus given the wet weather and the kids were starting to whine due to tiredness, we decided it was best we took a taxi back to the hotel instead.

All in all a pretty fun 1st day at USJ aside from the weather. Hopefully the rain clears up tomorrow when we come back for the VIP experience.

Osaka Day 2 - Wet Day

How were we to know it will rain when we book the tickets. There was supposed to be a heat wave ... not a typhoon! Anyways we woke up to gloomy skies and rain. The weather forecast says it will rain the whole day. Oh shucks. 

Again because of my Titanium status at Marriott we have free breakfast at the lounge. It has limited food but still good enough to fill our tummies. 

This is the most awesome lounge I've been in. It's well stocked and though limited, still a good selection of food. You can order omelettes made-to-order, have western selection of sausages and ham. There is a good selection of fruits like dragonfruit, melon, blueberries, pineapple, watermelon etc.

Best is that it's free! Hahaha I really cheap-ed it out this holiday. Well ... one can say we are saving to do more shopping!

Osaka Day 1 - Awesome Hotel

First day is all about getting there. There was a red-eye flight to land in Osaka at 7am but with kiddos that's too much of a challenge. So we took a morning flight and landed in Kansai International at 4pm local time. I had arranged a transport but we breezed through customs and had to wait for close to an hour for the ride to arrive at 6pm. Then it was an hour's drive to the Osaka Marriott Miyako hotel.

The hotel gave us a small upgrade to a high floor on the 52nd floor with connecting room. It's the best we can hope for since I was exchanging points for free nights. 2 rooms for 7 nights all fully redeemed with points ... practically saved $5K+ on the accommodations alone. Super shiok!

By the time we got into the room though it was already about 7.20pm. Then we spend the next half hour exploring the 2 rooms and the space. It's a terrific way how they have the connecting doors at the entrance so there is still privacy between the room and light in one room would not get into another. Obviously this layout takes up more space which is why most hotels don't do this. But definitely something I would recommend.

Once we were done with the initial excitement we went down to hunt for dinner. The plan was to have the buffet at the hotel restaurant. Unfortunately we were late and they were taking last orders at 8.30pm. So we went down to the mall basement and had simple rice dons instead. The kids were very happy with the food. So it's true even simple places in Japan already serves good food.

No sightseeing on the first day and we had the kids go to bed early. The travelling is tiring for sure. Will consider the red-eye flight when they get older.

临时抱佛脚 - 阳阳版

We just boarded the plane to Osaka when I receive a ClassDojo notification from 阳阳's teacher that he has a Koobits assignment due for tomorrow. Good thing there is now Wifi on-board the SIA flights so I whipped out my lappy and login to his Kilobits account and have him do it. Better to do it now on the plane than waste time while we are on holiday.

Obviously we were rolling out eyes that he didn't do this earlier. True last minute catch-up like 萱萱!