1/6 Universal Studios Japan

Today was the big day. The whole reason why we came to Osaka... for USJ! Universal Studios Japan is one of only two in Asia. The other being in Beijing, China. My classmates were very excited. We arrived in the city-walk area 45 minutes before the park even opened. It turned out to be down-pouring. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because even though there were a lot of people, we still had free room to walk. When we arrived there, I was surprised to see things like "Bubba Gump's," "Shake Shack," a "Red Lobster," and a "Hard Rock Cafe." So, because we got there so early we actually waited in the rain for 45 minutes. But, it wasn't the worst.

When we got inside, all of the main street area was covered. So we came up with our game plan while I excitedly checked out all of the completely accurate California "No parking" signs, crosswalks, and other miniscule things. I told them that we absolutely had to go to the Harry Potter area first. Ritsu-dei tried a butterbeer and said it was good. We then went into the line for the Harry Potter flying ride, loved it, and then did the wand experience. Kim bought a ton of things here, it was kind of funny for us and the staff. The wand experience was interesting, because the man who did it spoke in English and then repeated it in Japanese. I think we went on the Minions ride after this. We also did the Shrek in 4D experience.

Eventually it was time for the main event. We had to wait for our allotted time slot to enter the Super Mario area because it is stupendously popular. Because we only had a limited amount of time, we immediately went to the Mario Kart ride. It was interesting, but not my favorite. How it works is that you wear these augmented-reality glasses which show other karts on them. It's like they are also with you on the ride. I thought that the interior decorating they did on the way onto the ride was incredible, and I recorded a lot of that.

Kim and Ritsu had some turkey legs in the Jurassic Park area. It was down-pouring, so we were just eating them while standing under the roof of some building. After this we walked around to see the rest of the park. We walked through an area that is supposed to resemble San Francisco, and especially Fisherman's Wharf. I absolutely loved this area. Ritsu-dei and I decided to get lunch at a place called Mel's, which was some 50's diner styled joint. I got a hamburger and recall liking it. I think Kim went to do something, so Ritsu and I went to see the "Universal Monsters Live Rock and Roll Show." I thought it was going to be interesting, and then I thought it was going to be cringy and childish, and then I ended up really enjoying it. I looked it up on Wikipedia, and apparently they played the following songs:

• Rockin' the Paradise/Rock N Roll All Nite

• I Wanna Rock/One Wild Night 

• I Will Survive

• YMCA

• Hot Stuff

• It's Raining Men

• Smooth

• Rock N Roll All Nite

At the end of that I tried to get all three of us to go watch Waterworld, but unfortunately they closed the attraction due to the cold, January weather, and kicked everyone out of that area. There were probably some other things we did and saw, but this is the gist of it. Oh yeah, we did go on Jaws, and the captain of our ship was VERY expressive. She even pulled out a shotgun.

We took some pictures with the glorious Universal Planet with all the lights on, and then headed to Osaka Station to wait for our bus. At the top of the station, there was a large open viewing area, and an icon from Sacramento: Tower Records Cafe! I tried to go inside, but unfortunately couldn't as they only took reservations. So, we headed down to what I think was the 12th floor. It was this middle open area where you could kinda see some things, but we wanted to sit down and warm up under some nice kotatsu's. These are tables with a quilt around the sides and a heater underneath. We bought some very delicious yet very expensive hot chocolate and relaxed for a while. Eventually we got on our bus at around 10:30-11:00 PM. We arrived back at our dorm at 6:30 AM the next day.