Osaka, Japan Day 7, Universal Studio Japan (Halloween), Osaka Takoyaki Museum | JACQSOWHAT: Food. Travel. Lifestyle.
But first, get our stomach filled at this well known udon shop near our hotel vicinity.
The menu is pretty extensive, ranging a wide range of udon. Sorry couldn't remember the exact prices but I know it is ain't cheap, probably $15-$25 range of Singapore dollars a bowl, as Tsurutontan is a slightly luxurious udon restaurant in Japan.
A super big bowl of curry beef udon and tofu miso soup. We were given a apron each by the staff in kimono, to prevent the sauce from splattering.
Overall it was good though nothing out of the world, indeed satisfying for a piping hot bowl of udon in this cold weather. And also, english menu is available, just request it from the staff!
The next thing on the list is Universal Studio Japan! Simply take the train to Universal City Station at the JR Yumesaki Line. Then it's a 5 minutes walk to USJ. Pretty simple, just follow the crowd.
At Universal City Station, you will see the USJ themed train which also means you're on the right track!
The day we visit USJ was on 31st Oct, the actual day of Halloween so it was mad crowded but it is definitely something different from the usual day. I will let the photos do the saying.
Out of the mad crowd, finally get to take a photo with Shrek.
The queue was crazily long so we didn't get these adorable baos. Now i regret though.
Look at that mad queue and crowd, you get what I mean now?
Face painting for Halloween night.
Out of the many attractions you see in the photos, we didn't take any of them. Because the average waiting time to queue is about 2 hours :( We didn't wanna waste too much time and express tickets are all sold out for the night. Money can't buy happiness for this case lol.
When the sun sets, it's halloween night and all that 'zombies' are released.
This is the average waiting time during that day, I think it's because it was a halloween night. Sigh didn't know my trip falls nicely on the day itself. I'm sure normal days would be slightly better.
That enthusiasm and effort in dressing up for the Japanese girls. We can hardly see such spontaneity in dressing up for Halloween here in Singapore though. Thumbs up for the Japs.
Elmo cup noodles, so cute! But do you know one bowl is about S$10?! Lol.
After all that crowd and fun at USJ, it's time to fill our hungry tummies once again. The Osaka Takoyaki Museum is a short walk away from Universal City station of JR Yumesaki Line. It is located inside the mall of Universal Citywalk Osaka.
There were 5 of the most famous takoyaki shops in Osaka here at the museum, it is assembled here dedicated to the local specialty. Besides takoyaki, the museum also includes history of the ingredients and utensils used to make these Osaka's delicacies.
There is no admission fee or anything in this museum, just pay to eat the Takoyakis.
As usual in Japan, ordering of food is through a vending machine. Most of them are in Japanese words so we just go by pictures on the buttons to go through our order lol.
Look at that big generous piece of octopus in the takoyaki balls!
We went through a few and it was recommended to go to the store Aiduya, they first invented Takoyaki by the godfather of Takoyaki, Tomekichi Endo. Unlike your usual Takoyaki with sauce and all, these historical balls are eaten plain without any sauce. It was crispy on the surface and fluffy within together with the big pice of octopus for a extra chewy texture.
I think this is only half of what we ordered, lol. After that, we head back to the city area where dotonbori is to meet up with our friend who studies here in Osaka.
Walked into a random dessert shop and realised it was St. Marc cafe which we also have them here in Singapore. The price wise is almost similar.
After we stopped by Burger King because we were attracted by their black burger which is also called the Kuro Ninja burger. It was a new burger during that season at 830yen for ala carte.
Charcoal buns packed with a huge piece of hash brown, thick sliced of turkey bacon and greens. It was a huge stack of burger that we both had to share one haha.
While on the way to the subway station underground, we chance upon this shop that the lady was grilling the mochi. As usual, we can't resist and ordered 1 stick of it.
A few types of sauce to pick from and I think we asked the lady to recommend. So in the end, we got some thick brown sugar sweet kind of sauce to pair along with the mochi.
And so this marks the end of day 7 in Japan which is also day 2 in Osaka. Stay tune for my next post as I'll be writing our day trip in Kyoto before heading back to Tokyo again.
Click here to read back my Japan travelogues from day one as well as Mt Fuji tour trip.
Anybody here is interested in getting a FREE BURGER KING GIFT CARD?