TRAVEL DIARY : OSAKA & UNIVERSAL STUDIO

2017 was definitely the year where anyone and everyone I knew had someone going to japan or knew someone who were planning to make a trip there. I as well, hopped onto the cheap flights that were offered throughout the year. We flew with Jetstar and Air Niugini (which I had never heard of before this point in time) which were brought off student flights for approximately $599 inclusive of tax etc.
For this Japan trip I was able to finally make a year 8 conversation into a reality. It has always been a dream and wish (well...personally for me) to take a trip overseas with 2 of my best friends.

A few days before we departed for Japan, I started to come down with symptoms that were similar to that of the flu. Hence why I had the face mask on. I didn't want to get anyone sick as I was sitting close to people for 8+ hours.

For this trip we decided to go all out and travel to other places other than Tokyo and Osaka. This therefore meant that we also had to purchase a JR pass which cost us approximately $360 AUSTRALIAN dollars. (TIP: it helps to look around as it seems like the price varies depending on what company you go for. This pass is only available for tourist to buy outside of japan. Meaning that you will need to purchase this pass a week or so at least before your trip and the tickets will be sent to you via slow mail.)

https://www.japan-rail-pass.com/

This is the website we used to buy our JR passes.

We arrived at Nartia Airport around 8PM at night. Now if you didn't know it takes a little while from this airport to central Tokyo (by the Nartia Airport Limousine Bus it took approximately 1 hour 30 minutes) so we made the decision to book an airbnb close to the airport that also included free pickup and drop off (cause I mean after a 12 hour flight and transit all you really want to do is relax and chill). The place we choose was amazing. Due to the airbnb we chose being in the country side, we were also able to experience the quieter side of Tokyo, Japan.

https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/15280599

This was the house that we stayed at for the first night. It's located in Yachimata-shi, Chiba-ken.

(TIP: when using airbnb and you're travelling with someone else or a group, you can use your friends code (if you have never used airbnb before) to get a discount. In my case my 2 friends had not used airbnb before and were able to get about $30 off the total of the accommodation cost (over $100). In addition to this the person's code you used will be able to get credit for future use, making this a win-win situation)

www.airbnb.com.au/c/schan991

This is my airbnb link if you'd like to get $30 off your accommodation cost.

DAY 1 SHINKANSEN to OSAKA

Running at speeds that reach up to 320km/h the Shinkansen was one of the most reliable and quick ways to travel from Tokyo to Osaka. We used the JR pass and got to japan in approximately 3-4 hours (sorry I can't remember the exactly time). One thing to remember is that the shinkansen does not offer any wifi on board, but you can eat and drink on the shinkansen.

One the first night in Osaka, we headed out to Dotonbori in the Namba district. Ate a lot of street food and shopped at Daiso to get all our necessities. I was seriously amazed at just how busy and bright this area was. There were advertisements and lights everywhere you looked. We also decided to stop at a random ramen store which was a mistake. I think if you're in this area to just stick with the street food. The ramen was definitely average, nothing special.

DAY 2 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

Let me start off by saying, if you're thinking of going to Universal Studios Japan, make sure you buy you're ticket online before hand. Also if you're thinking whether or not to get the express pass, I HIGHLY recommend it. If there's one tip I can give you its to do everything before hand! The lines to buy tickets are crazy. To the point where there were 2 sections of lines. 1 to buy an ordinary ticket and 1 to get into the place. Tickets were about 7600Yen with tax (which is about $91AUD) and the express pass was about 7400Yen (I'm not 100% sure on this as I can't remember what type of express pass we got. All I remember was it had all Harry potter express and about 4 other rides?)