Week 13: Osaka

Me and Ocean went to Osaka with our friends studying abroad at Meikai University, Kana, Kelsey, and Ryan. This was my first time in Osaka, so I had an amazing time. We went to Universal Studio Japan, and in my opinion, it was a lot better than Disney since the rides were a lot more thrilling. We went on many rides, like Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Jurassic Park - The Ride, and Yoshi's Adventure, but my favorite was definitely The Flying Dinosaur. I have been seeing the Toad mascot from Mario Land on social media a lot last year, so it was so cool to see the dancing toad in person.

There were so many cool streets in Osaka, with my favorite being Shinsekai (middle picture). Shinsekai was lit up with lots of lights and busy restaurants, along with the Tsutenkaku observation deck. We visited Jumbo Tsuri-bune Tsurikichi restaurant, where we got to catch our own fish for them to grill or fry. Then, we got to see the iconic running man billboard in the heart of Osaka. It was so busy there, but definitely really cool to see all the large animatronic food structures along the street.

We also visited Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan and saw the two whale sharks. Admission fees were 2,700 yen, roughly $18. I thought that the aquarium was huge, so I thought that it was a really good experience for the price. They had lots of animals, like penguins, seals, dolphins, octopus, squids, and many different fish.