'Kana Noi' Sawadee Kha ^O^

See you guys again in my 15 ish and 16 ish blogs, haha, I'm so glad that I finally have energy to continue writing again!!!

I have previously reviewed about places in Thailand,

today, let me take you to Japan again in order to change our mood for travel a bit.

This trip, I backpack to 'Japan' during last Songkran Festival.

We travel from Thailand on 12th and back to Thailand on 20th April.

I plan to travel to 5 provinces.

And please allow me to continue....my journey to my fifth dreamed province,....

"Osaka"

My previous review, I've taken you guys to roam around and check in 29/30 at "Dotonburi" in the evening and night time

If you guys also want to stop by, check out the below link:

>>>>>>>>>> https://th.readme.me/p/9395 <<<<<<<<<

For this review, we are still in Osaka but not in downtown anymore.

I'll take you guys to enjoy a one day trip at our last check in destination!!

And then, we will go back to Thailand in the evening.

This wonderful place before we have our happy ending for this trip is.....

"Universal Studios Japan"

Raise your hands if you wanna join!!!

Are you ready?

Go!!

[P.S. Since I backpack and walk on my foot the entire trip,

a lot of times, the photos are taken on the running trains and buses (snapshot) in order to capture the atmosphere while on a journey,

it's only a few times that I get to take steady shots,

therefore, some photos could be oblique and blurring, please don't mind me, haha]

On the morning of 19th April 2017....

Our hostel in Osaka is "Hostel Namba-minami KANON".

After taking shower and getting ready to roam around for today,

we must also pack our bag and check out from this hostel in order to fly back this evening T_T

...Can I just stay here in Japan?......

Anyhow, let's continue our journey now!!!

Today, we start by taking a subway from Shinimamiya Station (near our hostel), which is Osaka Loop Line (outer loop).

And then we change at Nishikujo Station in order to take the JR Yumesaki Line to USJ (Universal Studios Japan) (180 JPY).

This train comes with cute cartoons like this, on a certain train, it comes with a Harry Potter theme too.

When we are at USJ Station and get out from the station, here is what we will see.

Now it is 9.xx a.m. which is consider not late.

Yet, many tourists start to come already.

After walking through lots of shops along both sides, now I see the entrance gate, wow!!!

"Universal Studio Japan [Check-In 30/30]"

Finally!! we are here, yay!!!

Well, this is also my most awaiting destination for this trip, I'm so trilled >///<

Since we come with our luggage, we must deposit them first.

We first contact at guest services room on our farthest left.

The staff greets us with smiles and the friendliest services possible.

She could speak 4 languages including Japanese, Chinese, English, and Korean.

They also offer other type of services like post offices and money exchanges.

And here is the Coin Locker room where the staff told us to come, it's quite empty, haha.

The lockers are divided into 4 size: small (357 × 453 × 398), medium (357 × 453 × 533), medium to big (360 × 425 × 300), and big (357 × 453 × 802).

The price is subject to locker sizes and of course we choose the biggest one.

After depositing our heavy luggage, we now walk out felling light from the coin locker room.

And the photos we must take as a tradition of Universal is with this Universal Globe.

What make it more challenging is we must wait the globe to rotate itself until the word "universal" is all vivid to us then a photo can be taken.

And I must say, we must give it at least 3 min wait as sometimes, although it's already turned towards us, someone is in the frame too.

Therefore, it takes quite an afford to get this shot well captured!

After so long introduction...what!!! we are now just at the ticket office >_<

Lucky that I already purchased the online ticket from Thailand.

And I already printed it out on an A4 paper so I just hand this paper ticket for the staff and quickly walk through the gate (if I remember correctly,the ticket price is about 2,500 THB).

Upon walking in, we will pass many shops both for souvenir and food.

Wherever I look, I just want to take photos, they are so cute, oh my!!!!

I'm so happy and the weather is so amazing too, what a great day today!!!

Then, we kind of keep walking around to survey the atmosphere.

These shops or stations are so cute and make me can't resist but taking photos wherever I go.

For me, I just can't stop pressing the shutters, my fingers are getting numb now, haha TOT

After wandering for a while...I start to picture myself as Alice in Wonderland.

Well, now I feel a bit confused as where we are and wonder what can we enjoy.

One thing for sure is it's so wonderful. It's like we could transcend into another world with clear sign and map.

We now start to have our small plan.....of which zone to start with??

With my beauty that looks almost like Hermione....

Of course, our first destination is Hogsmeade Village, haha (oh well, what make you so confident! haha).

I'm sure that the Harry fans must recognize the Ford Anglia parked here.

Yes...it's the flying car of Weasley family ^o^

I cannot miss but taking photos while walking towards The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Zone which is quite a long walk.

Don't get me wrong, it's a very enjoyable walk. It is a pine tree forest (just like the atmosphere around the Ford Anglia).

The area is decorated with large stones (artificial ones) and at certain area, these stones are speakers playing music like the one in the movie.

It is quite nice listening to the music while walking towards this seemingly another world.

And yeah!!! While I still enjoy this walk, I'm already at the entrance of the Hogsmeade Village.

Just by the entrance, my tears is almost out. Oh my, I just love it so much.

Here is the first station we will be seeing on the right hand side after walking into the village.

Everyone would certainly know that this is the legendary famous Hogwarts Express.

It leaves from... King's Cross Station in London Platform 9¾,

and take all wizards and witches to the Hogwarts magical school.

Oh wow!! It is so grand and real, I'm so happy with everywhere I look, haha

This village is just way too cute >O<

Besides, all the shops are selling goods from the book.

But let me take you to them later, now I can't wait to get inside the Hogwarts Castle.

OMG!!!! I'm here.

Did you see the top of the castle over there??....

Yay!! We are now at the entrance of the Hogwarts Castle already.

It is such a grand and real The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

We won't go inside easily yet, not because of the long queue, but we just love taking photos so much.

After we're truly done with photos, we go in line for getting inside the castle.

And here is the entrance that I was quick enough to take the snapshot because we must walk quite fast.

When coming inside, there're 2 rows for us to queue up for the 4K3D ride.

Or if you want to wander around the castle, you can, but photography is prohibited.

This wandering zone is divided into 3 rooms.

The first room....is the classroom of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

The second room...is just like what we would see in Hogwarts Castle.

We will see the moving people just like in the movie from "Moving Portrait Corridor" and "Portrait of the Fat Lady".

And the last room....is Dumbledore's office, the headmaster of the Wizarding School Hogwarts.

This room also has a moving sorting hat.

For us, of course, we choose to line up for the ride, haha.

Here, we need to deposit all of our belongings like wallets, cellphones, cameras into the lockers.

We must walk in with no belongings whatsoever.

(photo credit: http://www.usj.co.jp/)

The 4K3D ride in this zone is called...

"Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey"

Once we are in, the staff distribute a 3D glasses for us to wear on the ride.

We will sit on the hanging legs down red chair with a lock just like a general roller coaster ride.

3 people in a row, me and my male friend sit on the side while my female friend sit in the middle.

After wearing the glasses....the review from now on will be just.....screaming!!!

The 3D photo here is when we are riding a broom chasing for a Golden Snitch flying above Hogwarts Castle led by Harry Potter and the gang.

OMG!!!

It's so roller coastering, we fly up and down and got shot,

oh my, are we going to survive???!!!

5 min later.......

At the end of the catching golden snitch game, we have a landslide victory.

In reality, if we won over by this much, it wouldn't be because of me, haha.

And at the exit of the castle, there's a souvenir shop selling scarves, wands, clothes, etc.

Now...after me and my friend bought some souvenir, we are now in the restroom, let's take a look at how we look now...haha.

Now, we are outside the castle again. Actually, my friend said we could go for a ride again (as me and my male friend love it so much).

But we are afraid that we might not have enough time for other zones. So we decided to leave it first and would return if time permits later.

Oh wow!! Here is Hagrid's hut >O<

Now I'm at another ride zone which is just opposite of the castle.

This zone is called "Flight of the Hippogriff" which has Hagrid's hut and car.

Actually we are now lining up for the ride, whilst we still have time, let's take more photos.

In order to capture every corner of this zone, we must take photos every time when the line stops.

And when we move again, we get to have new angles.

And finally, it's our turn, yay!!!

Overall, this ride is not so scary; it is fast but not that fast.

This ride gives us a feeling of riding the Hippogriff.

(The animal that has eagle head but horse body in the Prisoners of Azkaban Part).

And he said....

"This ride only took like 2 min", haha.

And then he can't resist this "Butter Beer".

It is a non-alcoholic drink. The taste is sweet, smell good, and almost like vanilla.

I quite like it, yummy! It is probably 600 JPY but I didn't remember the exact price because I did't get to pay, haha.

Next to the Butter Beer, you will hear a group of witches singing.

The thing is the giant frog also sings. It is called Frog Choir. It is quite enjoyable sipping beer while listening to their voices.

When the choir ends, you can go take photos with them but I didn't, haha.

Now, let's walk into the village and see what they have to offer?

Let's start at our first shop... Filch's Emporium of Confiscated Goods.

It is the shop for Hogwarts uniforms, stationery, neckties, etc.

Well, only the first shop, Harry fans could be almost broke already, haha.

And for Ollivanders, how can we not go in?

It is the shop for wands. Thanks to Ollivanders, we can simply exchange our money for the wands we wanted without having to fight with anyone like that in the movie, haha.

Next...it is Three Broomsticks which is a restaurant in this zone.

It is Madame Rosmerta which is always packed just like in the movie.

The restaurant is spacious with a lot of tables and customers.

I just go in for photo taking without eating anything so I can't give you guys a recommendation.

Well, probably we can come back again? (what a good excuse, haha).

And we must not miss this shop Honeydukes, it is the famous candy shop.

The candy has puke, earwax, soil, this sort of flavors, so creative right?

If you ask me if I have tried any? The answer is ....no....I don't dare too.

Oh well, from the review I read, I'm quite terrified! haha.

Not only we can find jelly Bertie Bott's Beans, we can also find Chocolate Frog, concentrated fudge cake, even stone cakes of Hagrid.

Let's take a break from the candy and turn to something beautiful with Gladrags Wizardwear shop.

It is the shop for beautiful clothes of wizards and witches as well as some fashionable jewelry for those who want to try to be wizards, do not miss out!

And here is the Owl Post & Owlery shop.

It sells stationery, mailing equipment, and souvenir.

Special offer! We can send a letter to anywhere in this world with the stamp from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter >O<

This sign is so cool. It comes with music and this person is movable too, well done....

I got so carried by that I almost fly home with a broom, haha.

And this is the overall atmosphere of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Actually, this zone also has highlight in the evening of which we will come back later.

For now, let's follow us to other zones first....

Our next stop is...JAWS

JAWS is a famous shark movie that won many awards.

So this zone was built as Amity Village, a community near Amity beach.

It's so western feel here, looking like we have suburb of the United States in a shrinking size.

The queue is quite long but not too too long.

While waiting in a queue, we have no idea of how this ride is going to be.

Because the line is very curve that we cannot see what's inside, haha.

Also, along the line, there's atmosphere similar to that in the movie for us to enjoy too.

Finally, when it's about our turn..

the queue stops at this small pier.

Soon, the boat drops off the old passengers and get the new ones on board.

The boatman is so cute, he says that.....are you guys ready to be eaten by the shark?! haha.

Well, actually I didn't understand any of this because it was spoken in Japanese but it's easy to guess with his tones and body language.

This ride is where the boatman will keep talking to you at all time.

Actually, the boat goes along the rail as I look down.

So don't be scared if you see the boatman would turn back to talk to you and his hand is not with the steering wheel. It's just acting, very fun.

The boat takes us to enjoy the view until we see the climax where a huge shark suddenly appears.

It comes so fast that the boatman also immediately shot at that JAWS.

Then, humidity from water and fire are in place as well as other effects.

A person sitting on the sides would get wet a bit.

And that person is.... me T^T

7 min later.... we almost got eaten by the giant shark, haha.

Now we are already out of the ride but still inside the Amity Village.

There's restaurants and many soveniur shops along the road.

The place is so beautiful that we could take lots of nice photos for our profile pictures.

After the Amity Village, we will see the lake viewpoint like this.

Here is part of San Francisco zone which looks quite like San Francisco where the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay were imitated here.

There's several benches in this little garden and close to restroom too.

Today in USJ, we have seen people holding a sugary stick around which we don't know what it is,

until we reach Jurassic Park – The Ride zone.

My friend points to a shop and tells me that...."that's the shop selling that stick".

Then, she bought one each for us three.

Wow, it's so yummy >///<

It is a sugary bread stick and smells strangely very fragrant.

Next...we are now inside the Jurassic Park – The Ride zone.

Here, my fried said..." if we are here, we must try this turkey, it's so yum"

And here it is, are you sure it's a chicken thigh? It's bigger than my face!!!!!

In addition to snack, this zone has 3 big restaurants.

Fossil Fuels sells snack like popcorn and such.

Lost World Restaurant offers South American food and decorated in a jungle theme which goes so well with the movie.

And the last restaurant is Discovery Restaurant which has the atmosphere similar to Jurassic Park.

We three decided to take rest and enjoy our turkey at Fossil Fuels.

There are two rides in Jurassic Park – The Ride zone.

I didn't see the first ride so I have no photos here.

It is the boat ride which sails into a forest full of dinosaurs, giving us the feeling like we are in the Jurassic Park movie.

And the second ride is this thrilling ride, The Flying Dinosaur.

It's a real roller coaster ride. The peak is where it will rotate in a spiral of 360 degrees.

More importantly, no matter where you are in the USJ, you could see and hear the scream.

Sometimes, when you look up, it goes right by our head!

It is so grand and goes all around the park.....I'm quite scared, haha (I don't think I can handle it, so let's just skip it).

After the food, let's take some walk.....

After walking out from Jurassic Park zone, I go into the San Francisco again but different side.

There's not many people and much quieter than the inside zones.

I think I've walked quite far, what is this!!!! The rail of the Dinosaur ride is here too!!!

See, I told you, it is ready to come into your sight regardless of where you are, haha.

Then, I see this crossroads and I got a bit puzzled as it's such a big crowd!

When I turn to the right then I got the answer.....Here is Minion Park zone which just recently opens.

Due to this super huge crowd, my friend who is a minion fan also gives up going inside as there are way too many people!!!

She said..."let's come back next time!"

Oh!! Look at what she said, well, here is Japan, we must fly not simply take any bus, haha.

When decided not to go inside the minion zone, we keep walking on the left towards New York zone.

This zone is so 'make it happen'. It's like we are no longer in Asia.

Everything is so New York like buildings, shops, and even the sculpture is all European style bronze.

This trip is truly a photo trip, haha. I think we have like million photos already and one after the other is running out of mobile phone's battery.

The memory cards in the cameras also have been full twice already that I have to delete some and both of my friends are laughing at me for that.

Well, it's just so beautiful. Everything looks so amazing and I just want to take as many photos as possible.

And then we are at the new ride, The Amazing Adventures of Spider Man zone.

It is a 4K3D ride, just like the one in Harry Potter zone.

The difference is Harry Potter ride comes with actual person in the real scene from the movie.

But Spider Man ride comes with a cartoon with some effects of water and heat.

While going to different scenes, we get to scream a bit, dizzy a bit because it's swinging us around sometime.

Anyhow, overall is very fun and I definitely take this ride again if I come back.

Then we keep on wandering in New York zone but stop for restroom first.

Here, there're many famous people's hands for us to choose to play with.

Finally, my friend finds the one that is perfect for her hands. For me, I think it's too many and I choose to just watch it, haha.

When keep walking, we will see the Universal Cool Japan zone which is an animation zone.

The first shop we see sell souvenir from Conan which is my favorite cartoon.

So allow me to pay a visit for 5 min. Finally, I didn't get anything though, haha.

Attack on Titan is here too!!

It's so huge. We can stand in his hand to take photos.

People in Conan coat is the staff taking care of the tourists to queue for photos.

Here it is! This is the new ride, the game fan must love it.

This zone is Monster Hunter the Real.

It is a large 3D screen in a 360-degree virtual room, allowing us to adventure as one of the characters in the game.

(Actually, this zone is more suitable for kids with lots of imaginations, not aunties like us, haha).

Once we are in a studio, we will see that the place is decorated with the items from the game.

It's like a fishing museum, haha.

(May be I'm really too old for this, haha).

In the farthest inside, the 3D character is out to welcome us, I'm quite excited about its technique.

Because we can see the 3D charaters with our eyes without having to wear 3D glasses.

After that, we walk to the State which is the boat head.

Then the 3D images in a screen of 360 degrees start to show.

It flies into a sky in search for Amatsumagatsuchi and Barufaruku Dragon.

There's a fight too but we are safe, haha.

Oh well.....If I have kids in the future, I'll definitely take them here!!!

Now that we have enough cute time, let's continue to Holly Wood zone.

This ride is called Hollywood Dream.

It is a roller coaster with 2 rails to choose (the forward and backward roller coaster).

And of course....that we are already in USJ!!!! We choose....the normal forward one, haha.

For those who wear shoes with a potential to fall while flying in the air,

a good looking Japanese staff would prepare this rubber band for us.

But he didn't simply hand it to us!!! Instead, he bends down to tie it to our shoes.

I have to admit that I was imagined myself as a Cinderella having a handsome prince putting on a pair of glass shoes for me, hehe.

With this superb service, I would be so willing to take these rides as many times as requested, haha.

We walk around until the evening time....

I think we have been to all zones but since we are a Harry Potter fan.

So....it's not yet enough for us, haha!

Let's go, let's go back again to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

I just can't have enough of it!!

Wow!!! Hogsmeade Village is lighted up now.

The atmosphere is more magical and realistic than the morning one with the music playing all along the way.

This really makes us feel like we have transcended into the world of magic.

There!!! What are they doing??

I don't let myself doubting too long but taking my friends to find it out.

Here, the staff in witches uniform are playing with kids.

If you have bought a wand and want to have a moment of lighting up a fire, you can.

They can lift up a wand and act accordingly to what a beautiful witch is guiding,

once they point their wands to a chimney, the fire would come up within seconds.

It's indeed another cute corner.

It's an actual fire. I think they take such a good care of every details that making us feel like....It's so worth the visit!

Once we are at the front of Hogwarts Castle, we all stunt for 3 seconds!!

How come they are so many people!!!

Well, that we return because we wanted to take the 4K3D ride again.

But with this huge crowd, I start to wonder something else might be going on.

Soon, I heard the staff making an announcement in English,

something like "If you want to see the show, please wait here, but for the ride, please queue in different line".

"The show", this word is so powerful. Actually, we knew nothing about it, but since we are already here, why not ,right?

So then, we decided to wait for the show.

There're really a lot of people waiting to see the show.

Now, it's 6 p.m. and the weather is starting to get cold.

The later it gets, the more people show up.

Until, the sun is completely gone and the light on the castle start to slowly lighten up.

Finally...the area is covered with darkness and warm light.

Besides, the weather is colder too.

When all of these combine, it just makes the atmosphere more fun.

And then all the lights are lighten up. There's a small light show making the whole area look so magical.

It's like wizards and witches are casting their spells around.....

And then, around 7 p.m.....

The Lighting & Sound show starts.

Actors are out to perform their roles on a stage in front of us.

And the castle is lighten up with beautiful lights that the audiences cannot stop wowing....

I'm not sure how long the show lasts because we enjoy it so much, it's so beautiful and grand.

We cannot take our eyes off the show even for a second until the show ends.

Applause and admiration is so loud all over the area. I'm so happy.

I was thinking that....if it weren't for the ride, we would have totally missed the show.

(I do not want to spoil the scene in this show, if you have a chance, I highly recommend you guys to see this show, it really is very beautiful).

After the show ends, people start to go home.

And this is Hogsmeade Village at night.

Isn't it so beautiful?!!

I really don't want to go home now, can I stay here longer? haha.

It looks so great even the pathway.....

The atmosphere looks much more real than the day time.

After we get out of magical zone, my friend asks "shall we walk into this zone, the zone we haven't gone yet?"

And it is Universal Wonderland zone which is just right next to Harry Potter zone.

This is because we walked clockwise and just before we finished the round, we turned back to Harry Potter zone. So we missed this zone out, haha.

But it's too late because all the rides and shops are already closed.

I feel a bit sorry because I would have lots of photos if I came earlier.

This zone is so cute TOT

And the ride behind us is The Flying Snoopy ride.

Next is the Hello Kitty's Ribbon Collection shop.

I think Kitty fans would go crazy as it's so super cute >///<

Here is Big Bird's Big Top Circus.

It's so cute and we want to take a ride too but the staff said this is already the last round.....

Oh no!!! what a pity!

Actually, there're many more cute rides in this zone which is so good for kids and adults can also enjoy too.

It's just so cute, repeat, it's really cute!!!

And here is the night of USJ.

All shops are lighten up. I feel like I'm not in an amusement park but a city... It's really good.

Ok! Now let's come back to the guest services room to collect our luggage.

It's time to go home... TOT

While waiting for the staff, I enjoy the decoration inside the guest services room.

It's so interesting that .... again, I must take some photos.

Before going back.....here is our greeting to the globe again. Like usual, many people, haha.

Once we are outside and prepare to walk towards the subway, we find the entire area is lighten up already.

It's so lively, colorful, and fun no matter where we look.

And here is my most impresstive trip of 2017.

"Kana backpacking, checking in 30 destinations in 5 dreamed provinces and Roaming for 7 Days in Japan"

This trip, I divided my review into 6 blogs of which the USJ is the last one.

And for Japan, I definitely have to come back....I've fallen in love so deep with this place >///<

Especially Mt.Fuji San and USJ that I'd definitely come back again, haha.

But now....please allow me to go to the airport first, otherwise, I'd miss the flight and get to stay here longer like what I wished for, haha.

On the way back, we take the JR Yumesaki Line

and change at NISHIKUJO station

in order to take JR Kansai Airport Rapid Service to the airport.

Well, we are now at the airport and look a bit sad T^T

After checking in, we are waiting to board the flight back to Thailand... See you again!

Before that....

I'd like to express my sincere thank to Amsi, my female friend, who takes care of the flight ticket, plans the trip, books the hotel, buys the USJ ticket, exchanges money, finds restaurants, guides us on how to take trains, and also takes care of our luggage.

I love you to the moon and back ^o^

I also want to thank Tam, he's so cute and always enjoys with us no matter how tired this trip gets him.

And thank you very much everyone, sincerely, for reading my blogs,

and help me to share it, you guys are so cute!!!

Please stay tuned for my next journey.

Here is my page, please drop a like and follow me too:

>> https://www.facebook.com/KanaBlog/ >///<

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