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Osaka Travel Review: 5 Days 4 Nights
This city is so charming, you'll want to stay forever 🧸💖
Osaka... a city filled with the aroma of takoyaki, the smiles of its people, and laughter from Universal Studios. Just hearing the name makes your heart flutter, doesn't it? And once you visit, you'll fall in love even more, so much that you won't want to leave. This review will take you through all the warmth and charm Osaka left in my heart. ☁️🍵
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🍡 Day 1 – Arriving in Osaka~ The charm begins the moment you touch down!
After landing at Kansai Airport, we bought an ICOCA card and hopped on the Haruka Express to the city in a relaxed manner. The scenery along the way was delightful—small Japanese buildings, wooden houses with black roofs, and patches of red leaves that made my heart race without realizing it. 🍁
We stayed in the Namba area tonight because it's close to food spots, attractions, and super convenient for getting around.
In the evening, after dropping off our bags, we headed straight to Dotonbori! The lights from the shop signs reflected softly on the canal, and as we walked, we heard cheerful voices, the sizzling sound of takoyaki being cooked, and the aroma wafting through the air. Unable to resist, we ordered some hot takoyaki and enjoyed it on the Ebisu-bashi Bridge while snapping a photo with the iconic Glico sign! 📸
After eating, we strolled to Shinsaibashi, a shopping street that feels like a collection of all things kawaii! Trendy clothing stores, cute cafes, and Don Quijote packed with toys—just the first day and my heart was already racing nonstop. 🩷
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🐙 Day 2 – A day of eating, shopping, and irresistibly cute cafes!
We started the morning with a meal of rice topped with fish roe and eel at Kuromon Ichiba Market. The freshness was incredible, and eating it felt like restoring my life energy in a video game. ✨
Next, we did some light shopping at Shinsaibashi-suji, which has many adorable stores, especially stationery shops and Japanese cosmetic stores with sweet and simple displays that make you go, "Oh, I can't stop buying!" 🛍️
In the afternoon, we visited a super cute cafe called Brooklyn Roasting Company near Namba Park. The cafe is Brooklyn-themed, with bar seating overlooking a rooftop garden. The coffee was aromatic, the cake delicious, and the Japanese patrons working there looked effortlessly cool. ☕
In the evening, we returned to Dotonbori for another round of food—authentic okonomiyaki cooked on a hot griddle. The fragrant sauce and dancing bonito flakes were pure bliss. Before I knew it, I was smiling all the way back to the hotel. 🌛
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🎡 Day 3 – USJ, a day of fun and excitement!
The highlight of Osaka is undoubtedly Universal Studios Japan! 🎢 We booked Express Passes in advance, so we didn't have to wait in long lines and got to enjoy everything.
We started with the Harry Potter zone, which was as grand as the movies! The Hogwarts castle was stunning, and walking through Hogsmeade felt like being a young wizard. The chilled butterbeer and the woody scent in the wand shop were pure happiness. 🪄
Then, we headed to the most anticipated zone... Super Nintendo World!! 🍄🍌✨ The vibrant colors were beyond description! The music and Mario's "Yahoo!" echoed everywhere, making it feel like stepping into a game. The Mario Kart ride was incredibly fun, with AR glasses letting us shoot shells in the race! 🎮
In the afternoon, we thrilled ourselves with The Flying Dinosaur, which was intense but so enjoyable that we couldn't stop screaming! 😂 We ended the day with the Minion and Spiderman zones, filled with smiles.
Before leaving, we bought souvenirs from the Harry Potter & Minion Shop—adorable plushies that I wanted to hug all the way back to Thailand. 🧸
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🐱 Day 4 – A relaxing day with a castle stroll and a cozy cat cafe
Today, I decided to take it easy. We started at Osaka Castle, a white and gold castle surrounded by a large park. The atmosphere was serene, walking under red leaves with cooing pigeons—it was so peaceful. 🍂✨
We took photos of the castle from afar and enjoyed a matcha soft serve in front of it, feeling like a princess in a Japanese movie. 🍦
Next, we visited Nakazakicho, an area filled with chic cafes and handmade craft shops. We chose a cat cafe called Neko no Jikan, where the cats were fluffy, bright-eyed, and came to sit on your lap on their own. They were so kind and affectionate, it felt like therapy after a tiring trip. 🐾💕
Before heading back to the hotel, we stopped by LOFT and Tokyu Hands in Umeda, which had a slightly different vibe from Shinsaibashi but was equally charming. I picked up cat-themed keychains, bags, and lots of cute knick-knacks. 🎁
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🌤️ Day 5 – A farewell day I didn't want to say goodbye to...
I woke up feeling a bit sad because today was the day to fly back. But the time wasn't over yet! We visited Tenjinbashisuji Shotengai, Japan's longest local market, where we found a delicious pork cutlet rice bowl shop and a cute ceramics store. I bought a small bowl to gift my mom. 🍚
Before heading to the airport, we stopped by a small riverside cafe, ordered a hot latte, and watched Japanese people pass by. I told myself, "I'll definitely come back to Osaka."
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💖 Final thoughts: Osaka is tangible warmth
Osaka isn't just a tourist city; it's a place that's charming both visually and emotionally. The kind people, cozy cafes, and delicious food make every meal a smile-inducing experience.
Osaka taught me to slow down, laugh more, and live life the way I love. If anyone asks, "Which city in Japan should I visit?" I'll answer, "Osaka, it's the cutest!" 🧸🍁✨
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またね、大阪!
See you again, Osaka~ Love you 💌
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Spend the entire day enjoying Harry Potter Land, Super Mario land etc. Food within the park taste good too. But be prepared for the long queue. We queued literally 105 min for Yoshi’s adventure.
It's a place worth visiting for kids. You can bring some simple bread and cookies. The staff will just take a quick look around. The restaurant prices inside are reasonable and not too outrageous. Luffy's restaurant is particularly delicious, and the staff cleans very quickly!
This was my second visit to Universal Studios Japan, and I still couldn't experience all the rides. You can download their app to check the real-time queue times for each ride. The Pteranodon roller coaster was truly thrilling, and the show was excellent. Remember to try their giant chicken leg! The restrooms were unique, especially the ones in the Harry Potter area, which featured elf voices – very fun! The staff would kneel down to the children's level, speaking to them as equals – so kind!
The experience of Universal Studios Japan is super good. First of all, the theme of the park is richer than that of the North Ring. The employees are also very enthusiastic. You can have an immersive experience in each park. I especially recommend the Nintendo Park and Snoopy Sesame Street Park. The Japanese local IP is really awesome~
The second time I came to Universal Studios Osaka, the experience was still not very good. The main reason was that there were too many people and the park closed too early. I only played six projects from the opening to the closing, which was very inefficient [covering my face], but fortunately I checked in at the projects and restaurants in the Mario Park. [Project] 1. Dongqigang Crazy Mine Car, a slightly exciting roller coaster, the latest facility has very good hardware, and it is very popular. Many people came early. They lined up at the gate at 7:10 and waited for 2 hours to play. . . 2. Yoshi Adventure, a sightseeing ride project, the scenes are very cute and the facilities are quite immersive. The landscape is very good and suitable for taking photos and videos. 3. Mario Kart Bowser Challenge Book, an immersive facility with glasses, is very interactive, like entering the game and becoming a character, not stimulating, suitable for all ages. 4. Jurassic World boat tour, Jurassic Park theme rapids, except for the final sprint, the dinosaur scenes in front are average. Changzhou Dinosaur Park has a Jurassic Crossing project that is similar to this one, but the scene is worse. I prefer the Jurassic World Adventure in the North Ring, which has a strong sense of immersion and good visual effects. [Puppet photo] There are Dong Qigang, Mario Luigi, and Toad. Toad occasionally appears for free photo interactions, which is very cute. 5. Great White Shark, a boat tour with the theme of the Great White Shark movie, there will be a little shock when the great white shark appears, which is not bad. 6. Detective Conan Starry Sky Gem, a small performance suitable for Conan fans, the combination of real people and video is quite good. The project basically has to be queued for one or two hours, which makes it a pity that the two projects of Flying Pterosaur and Hollywood Dream were not played. I felt that these two projects were very good when I came to play last time. I must brush them if I have time. Harry Potter Hippogriff Flying Minions Future Water World is similar to the North Ring. There is no need to queue up specifically. You can go to Beijing to play. [Food] 1. Kinopio Cafe, a restaurant in Super Nintendo World, is very popular. The environment inside the restaurant is very good. The food is very cute and tastes good. It is worth a try. 2. Turkey legs, from Jurassic World, taste good and have a general texture. Turkey legs are very chewy. 3. Smoked chicken legs, the smoked taste is average and the taste is much better than turkey legs. They are not too old or dry, but very tender and delicious. [Shopping] Time is tight and there is no time to go shopping. There is a store after the Mario Kart project. There are all Mario products that can be bought quickly. I like the pendants very much. They are much more delicate than the pendants in Don Quixote. In addition, there are many peripherals in the convenience stores on the street outside the park. [Accommodation] There are many hotels outside the park, but it seems that none of them are directly operated by Universal Studios, but they basically have the IP layout of the park. I chose the Universal Studios Harbor Hotel. The price is quite affordable and the room area is quite large with sea view. There are many Minions elements. It is quite necessary to live near the park. There are so many people waiting to get in early in the morning. If you line up early, you can at least play one or two more big projects, and you don’t have to rush to public transportation in the morning.
The park is very clean and the staff is very welcoming. There are a wealth of movie-themed rides and performances, especially the Harry Potter Park and Super Nintendo World. The overall experience is great. The only downside is that the queue time is long during the peak season, it is recommended to plan in advance.
Let me talk about the scenic area first. The Harry Potter is restored one to one. The photos I took were not photoshopped. Harry and Mario are the main characters, and there are all kinds of themes. Secondly, there are height restrictions for exciting projects. People with heights below 122 cm can't play them. Safety is the first priority. Recently, we encountered the Halloween theme. There are more people at night, and there are chainsaw zombies. They will dance and interact with tourists after a period of performance. It's very exciting. You can play for more than 2 days. Let's go!!!
There are a total of 10 different theme parks in Universal Studios: Super Nintendo World™, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™, New York, Hollywood, Minions Land, San Francisco, Jurassic Park, Goodwill Village, Water World, Universal Wonderland, etc., each with its own characteristics and attractions! To enter Super Nintendo World, you need to draw a special ticket. In fact, the probability of winning is quite low when there are many people, because I drew it, but I didn’t win! So I didn’t go to Nintendo. If you want to guarantee entry, you need to buy an admission guarantee ticket or a fast pass.