LovesTimone
Christmas Day 2017
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2009
- Messages
- 5,786
2 Week Tokyo/Osaka Trip Report (w/ Disney & Universal)
- Thread starter Chisoxcollector
- Start date
Haley R
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2017
- Messages
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Yep no HHN for me either. Dh has mentioned wanting to go before and I said no way. I can’t even handle scary movies. If I watch a scary movie I will have trouble getting to sleep for at least a week because I always assume someone is in our house. I also hate clowns so much.
Chisoxcollector
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2013
- Messages
- 319
Haha, definitely don't go this year then. It's pretty likely that Jack (a scary clown that is HHN's main icon) will return for HHN's 30th anniversary. And the last 2 years heavily featured the Killer Klowns From Outer Space. Maybe you're right to avoid HHN lol.
Do you like horror movies (at least the ones that don't have clowns)?
You don't like horror movies either, so at least your avoidance of HHN makes sense! Pocky LOVES horror movies. I think she has 3 main reasons for disliking HHN.
1. She's already biased against anything at Universal Orlando.
2. It's usually hot and humid.
3. She doesn't like the type of crowd that usually attends HHN. Lots of rowdy, and often drunk, young people. Every year we see people puking in the middle of the street. Obviously I don't enjoy that aspect, but it isn't enough to cancel out all of the awesome stuff.
I absolutely love HHN. I only started going in 2018 (all those years I lived here and missed out). I went 11 times that year, and 8 times last year.
Last edited:
Chisoxcollector
Mouseketeer
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- Mar 4, 2013
- Messages
- 319
Day 12 (Part 3) - New hotel, walking around Dotonbori
I didn't have especially high hopes for the Holiday Inn Osaka Namba, but I knew it couldn't be anywhere near as bad as the Hotel Keihan Universal Tower. It also had a much better location for the rest of our trip. Smack dab in the middle of Dotonbori. Finally, our taxi arrived at our new hotel.
It had a 7-11 connected to the hotel. That was a definite plus! We checked in, and I was offered an upgrade to a "Deluxe Room", which was basically a suite.
The room was a bit dated looking, but was very spacious and appeared to be clean. It also had a good sized bathroom.
It wasn't fancy by any means, but we were SOOOOO much happier with this room than the previous one. The only bummer was that we didn't have a good view, for the first time of the entire trip. I think all you could see was the wall of another building like 5 feet away.
We quickly unpacked a bit and set out into the night. We had no plans, just walk around and find something for dinner. We did a lot of walking that night, all throughout Dotonbori and Soemon-Cho.
We had to start with one of the main landmarks of the area... the Glico sign!
We came across a takoyaki place (one of about a million), and of course, Pocky had to try it. Unfortunately I don't remember which place it was. The takoyaki was good, though!
We decided to try to find an Okonomiyaki place. I searched Google Maps, and found a very highly reviewed place called Ajinoya. They had two locations. We went to the "main" location first, but it had a huge line. The second location was right down the street, so we headed that way. It didn't have a big line, so we were about to head in. Then we saw a rat run out from underneath the restaurant.
I don't know if this is normal for the area or not, but it definitely turned us off from eating there. I do have to admit though, the rat was quite cute! We actually watched it run around for a bit, and climb the bicycle you can just make out in the picture.
Pocky suggested we get gyoza instead. So I did some quick research and found a well reviewed place called Gyozaoh that was only a few minutes away. So we said goodbye to our furry little friend and set off.
When we got close to the restaurant, a man came out and asked if we were hungry for some gyoza. I said yes, and he said to come on in! I told him we were heading there anyway and showed him the Google Maps on my phone, and he said "I love Google!" lol.
The place was packed! There were two empty seats at a small table, and he sat us there. We started by ordering drinks. Pocky ordered a soda, and I ordered an Osaka Lemon Sour, which is sour lemon soda, lemon juice, and Shochu. It was delicious and quite refreshing. I ended up having a few of these.
Next we ordered some fried calamari. This was a bit of a disappointment.
Then we ordered gyoza. You could order steamed, pan fried, or deep fried. We got an order of pan fried and an order of deep fried.
The deep fried ones were pretty good, but the pan fried gyoza were awesome. We ended up getting a second order.
The staff were super friendly, and I would definitely come back here again. After we finished, we just walked around for a couple of hours. Mostly we were just gawking at the over the top signs adorning many of the restaurants in the area. Here are a bunch of pictures I took that night.
We were delighted to find that we had TWO Don Quijotes within a few minutes of our hotel. Including the one that has the ferris wheel.
I was also happy to see we had an Ichiran like 2 minutes away. I made a mental note to wake up early enough the next morning to get ramen for breakfast!
I took one final picture...
And then we headed back to the hotel to call it a night. We did stop at the 7-11 to get some snacks and drinks for the room.
Our first impression of the Dotonbori area is that we loved it. It was very touristy, but hey, we're tourists!
I didn't have especially high hopes for the Holiday Inn Osaka Namba, but I knew it couldn't be anywhere near as bad as the Hotel Keihan Universal Tower. It also had a much better location for the rest of our trip. Smack dab in the middle of Dotonbori. Finally, our taxi arrived at our new hotel.
It had a 7-11 connected to the hotel. That was a definite plus! We checked in, and I was offered an upgrade to a "Deluxe Room", which was basically a suite.
The room was a bit dated looking, but was very spacious and appeared to be clean. It also had a good sized bathroom.
It wasn't fancy by any means, but we were SOOOOO much happier with this room than the previous one. The only bummer was that we didn't have a good view, for the first time of the entire trip. I think all you could see was the wall of another building like 5 feet away.
We quickly unpacked a bit and set out into the night. We had no plans, just walk around and find something for dinner. We did a lot of walking that night, all throughout Dotonbori and Soemon-Cho.
We had to start with one of the main landmarks of the area... the Glico sign!
We came across a takoyaki place (one of about a million), and of course, Pocky had to try it. Unfortunately I don't remember which place it was. The takoyaki was good, though!
We decided to try to find an Okonomiyaki place. I searched Google Maps, and found a very highly reviewed place called Ajinoya. They had two locations. We went to the "main" location first, but it had a huge line. The second location was right down the street, so we headed that way. It didn't have a big line, so we were about to head in. Then we saw a rat run out from underneath the restaurant.
I don't know if this is normal for the area or not, but it definitely turned us off from eating there. I do have to admit though, the rat was quite cute! We actually watched it run around for a bit, and climb the bicycle you can just make out in the picture.
Pocky suggested we get gyoza instead. So I did some quick research and found a well reviewed place called Gyozaoh that was only a few minutes away. So we said goodbye to our furry little friend and set off.
When we got close to the restaurant, a man came out and asked if we were hungry for some gyoza. I said yes, and he said to come on in! I told him we were heading there anyway and showed him the Google Maps on my phone, and he said "I love Google!" lol.
The place was packed! There were two empty seats at a small table, and he sat us there. We started by ordering drinks. Pocky ordered a soda, and I ordered an Osaka Lemon Sour, which is sour lemon soda, lemon juice, and Shochu. It was delicious and quite refreshing. I ended up having a few of these.
Next we ordered some fried calamari. This was a bit of a disappointment.
Then we ordered gyoza. You could order steamed, pan fried, or deep fried. We got an order of pan fried and an order of deep fried.
The deep fried ones were pretty good, but the pan fried gyoza were awesome. We ended up getting a second order.
The staff were super friendly, and I would definitely come back here again. After we finished, we just walked around for a couple of hours. Mostly we were just gawking at the over the top signs adorning many of the restaurants in the area. Here are a bunch of pictures I took that night.
We were delighted to find that we had TWO Don Quijotes within a few minutes of our hotel. Including the one that has the ferris wheel.
I was also happy to see we had an Ichiran like 2 minutes away. I made a mental note to wake up early enough the next morning to get ramen for breakfast!
I took one final picture...
And then we headed back to the hotel to call it a night. We did stop at the 7-11 to get some snacks and drinks for the room.
Our first impression of the Dotonbori area is that we loved it. It was very touristy, but hey, we're tourists!
Last edited:
Haley R
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2017
- Messages
- 20,723
We liked Dotonbori and Osaka more than Kyoto even though everything I read said Kyoto was so much betterDay 12 (Part 3) - New hotel, walking around Dotonbori
I didn't have especially high hopes for the Holiday Inn Osaka Namba, but I knew it couldn't be anywhere near as bad as the Hotel Keihan Universal Tower. It also had a much better location for the rest of our trip. Smack dab in the middle of Dotonbori. Finally, our taxi arrived at our new hotel.
It had a 7-11 connected to the hotel. That was a definite plus! We checked in, and I was offered an upgrade to a "Deluxe Room", which was basically a suite.
The room was a bit dated looking, but was very spacious and appeared to be clean. It also had a good sized bathroom.
It wasn't fancy by any means, but we were SOOOOO much happier with this room than the previous one. The only bummer was that we didn't have a good view, for the first time of the entire trip. I think all you could see was the wall of another building like 5 feet away.
We quickly unpacked a bit and set out into the night. We had no plans, just walk around and find something for dinner. We did a lot of walking that night, all throughout Dotonbori and Soemon-Cho.
We had to start with one of the main landmarks of the area... the Glico sign!
We came across a takoyaki place (one of about a million), and of course, Kim had to try it. Unfortunately I don't remember which place it was. The takoyaki was good, though!
We decided to try to find an Okonomiyaki place. I searched Google Maps, and found a very highly reviewed place called Ajinoya. They had two locations. We went to the "main" location first, but it had a huge line. The second location was right down the street, so we headed that way. It didn't have a big line, so we were about to head in. Then we saw a rat run out from underneath the restaurant.
I don't know if this is normal for the area or not, but it definitely turned us off from eating there. I do have to admit though, the rat was quite cute! We actually watched it run around for a bit, and climb the bicycle you can just make out in the picture.
Pocky suggested we get gyoza instead. So I did some quick research and found a well reviewed place called Gyozaoh that was only a few minutes away. So we said goodbye to our furry little friend and set off.
When we got close to the restaurant, a man came out and asked if we were hungry for some gyoza. I said yes, and he said to come on in! I told him we were heading there anyway and showed him the Google Maps on my phone, and he said "I love Google!" lol.
The place was packed! There were two empty seats at a small table, and he sat us there. We started by ordering drinks. Pocky ordered a soda, and I ordered an Osaka Lemon Sour, which is sour lemon soda, lemon juice, and Shochu. It was delicious and quite refreshing. I ended up having a few of these.
Next we ordered some fried calamari. This was a bit of a disappointment.
Then we ordered gyoza. You could order steamed, pan fried, or deep fried. We got an order of pan fried and an order of deep fried.
The deep fried ones were pretty good, but the pan fried gyoza were awesome. We ended up getting a second order.
The staff were super friendly, and I would definitely come back here again. After we finished, we just walked around for a couple of hours. Mostly we were just gawking at the over the top signs adorning many of the restaurants in the area. Here are a bunch of pictures I took that night.
We were delighted to find that we had TWO Don Quijotes within a few minutes of our hotel. Including the one that has the ferris wheel.
I was also happy to see we had an Ichiran like 2 minutes away. I made a mental note to wake up early enough the next morning to get ramen for breakfast!
I took one final picture...
And then we headed back to the hotel to call it a night. We did stop at the 7-11 to get some snacks and drinks for the room.
Our first impression of the Dotonbori area is that we loved it. It was very touristy, but hey, we're tourists!
LovesTimone
Christmas Day 2017
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2009
- Messages
- 5,786
Not really on the horror movies... I like vampire movies and mild mild movies... nothing straight up scary... I like to be able to sleep at night...!
I hate that clown "Jack" when they put up the billboards with him...just creeps me out...
I always think.... why would anyone pay to let someone scare the heck out of them... not me I am a total wussy when it comes to this kinda stuff... LOL
Again I agree with Pocky about some of the crowds that attends HHN.... I had a bad experience in the early days the late 90's when it first was really getting popular.. back then they let people dress up... I went with a group of friends, one of my friends and I decided not to into the house again... So we were waiting outside, just sitting, chatting and minding our own business and this group of frat guys ( 12 or 13 of them), that were dress up as a Zombie Horde, and they were completely wasted... were bothering and harassing everyone, they started bothering us... so we went into restroom to get away from them... they actually followed us in there, my friend and I got into a stall together, and they started grabbing at us, under and over the stall, and trying to push the stall door in, they were growling, talking all kinds of explicit trash ... We were kicking, and hitting at them... I stomped on one of their hands, I am pretty sure I broke his finger or fingers... We were screaming for help... I thought I heard someone say "What the "heck" is going on here"... then I heard a thump, another sound like a thud... then again and again, then the Zombie Horde was yelling.... I stood up on the toilet and these 3 women were wailing on them with their bags... they were yelling and trying to get out the ladies room... so we came out, and they started fussing over us... We had marks all over us, scratches, then had even thrown a drink on us... The security officers were waiting for them when they left the ladies room... They were standing around arming punching, high 5'ing and laughing... They thought is was funny what they did to us, and it was a big joke, and that they did nothing wrong, and we should have played along, like basically it was our fault... One of the guys actually said, we had to teach you "witches" a lesson, and who the boss is... they thought is was funny until they took us into a like a back corridor... and the cops were there... then things weren't so funny to them...
These 3 ladies really hero's that came to our recuse... where there with their church youth group as chaperones... the sight of them in their church t-shirt and culottes, clobbering those guys brings a smile to my face...
Basically Universal said sorry this happened, here's some free tickets, food vouchers, gave us some T-shirts, to change into as we had whatever drink that they threw over the stall door on us... ... they said they would press charges... they did handcuff all of them, and they did Mirandize and place them under arrest... we did get to see that...they moved us to a back office or room got our statements and then lead us back into the park.... that was that... we got a incident number and that was it...
Two things I hate... Clowns and Jerks..
Chisoxcollector
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2013
- Messages
- 319
Day 13 (Part 1) - Dotonbori for Breakfast and Lunch
I'm happy to say the beds at the Holiday Inn were perfectly fine. When I made the reservation, I was very concerned that they only had twin bed rooms available. This was the only room we had in Japan that didn't have a King bed. I was worried I would be too tall for a twin bed. I had a "queen" bed at a hotel a few years ago where my feet hung off the end of the bed. I barely slept the whole week. But these twin beds were just long enough that nothing was hanging off. I slept reasonably well.
We did indeed wake up early enough to go to Ichiran for breakfast. I wish I had an Ichiran within a 1 minute walk of my house.
Before we entered, I took some photos from the Tazaemon-bashi Bridge.
Then we went in for some delicious ramen. It wasn't very busy at this time of day. We had our pick of booths!
It wasn't long before we had ramen sitting in front of us. Just as before, I ordered extra pork and an egg. Pocky got both of those, and extra scallions.
I really, really love this ramen!
After our breakfast, we did what we always do... walked around a bunch!
We came across a Starbucks. It had a sign in front of it advertising a Frappucino flavor that I've never seen in the states. I couldn't resist.
While we were in there, Pocky loosened her pursestrings and bought something she'd been eyeing the whole trip. She collects the bears that Starbucks puts out every Christmas. I can get them for free (long story), so she has quite a collection going. When we went to the Starbucks at Shibuya Crossing, she saw the two Japanese bears and she was instantly in love. Then she saw the price. They were almost $50 each! In the US they are like $25. We were still going to get them, but it turns out the US Starbucks app doesn't work in Japan. And I have to use the app to get them for "free". She said she would never pay almost $100 for two small bears.
Fast forward a few days, and she decided she had to have these bears. So she coughed up the dough. Even I have to admit, they are quite cute.
This was an excellent stop. Pocky got her bears, and I got one delicious frappe.
This Starbucks had a lower level that was a bookstore completed themed to a character called Apeach. So we walked around in there while I drank the frappe.
Soon it was time for (an early) lunch. We were determined to get okonomiyaki today, since we hadn't gotten it last night. After some more Google research, I found another highly regarded place called Chibo.
They were supposed to open at 11, and we got there at around 10:55. So we just hung out until 11. We saw lots of employees inside, but they didn't open at 11. We decided to be patient. At around 11:10, we saw the group of employees inside all turn and look at us, then laugh. Now I can't be certain they were laughing at us, but it seemed likely enough that we decided to eat somewhere else.
After some more research, I found yet another Okonomiyaki place for us to try. If this one didn't turn out, we were going to consider that strike three and just get more takoyaki or gyoza or something. The third place was called Dotombori Ichiaki. When we arrived, there were no rats to be seen, and they were opened as advertised. I forgot to take a picture of the exterior, but here is what the tables look like.
We ordered two different varieties to share. I don't remember what exactly they were, but they were both very good.
After lunch we walked a bunch more, and stopped again at the famous Glico sign.
At this point we went back to the hotel and relaxed for a bit. We were doing a walking food tour later, and wanted to make sure we didn't run out of steam during the tour.
I'm happy to say the beds at the Holiday Inn were perfectly fine. When I made the reservation, I was very concerned that they only had twin bed rooms available. This was the only room we had in Japan that didn't have a King bed. I was worried I would be too tall for a twin bed. I had a "queen" bed at a hotel a few years ago where my feet hung off the end of the bed. I barely slept the whole week. But these twin beds were just long enough that nothing was hanging off. I slept reasonably well.
We did indeed wake up early enough to go to Ichiran for breakfast. I wish I had an Ichiran within a 1 minute walk of my house.
Before we entered, I took some photos from the Tazaemon-bashi Bridge.
Then we went in for some delicious ramen. It wasn't very busy at this time of day. We had our pick of booths!
It wasn't long before we had ramen sitting in front of us. Just as before, I ordered extra pork and an egg. Pocky got both of those, and extra scallions.
I really, really love this ramen!
After our breakfast, we did what we always do... walked around a bunch!
We came across a Starbucks. It had a sign in front of it advertising a Frappucino flavor that I've never seen in the states. I couldn't resist.
While we were in there, Pocky loosened her pursestrings and bought something she'd been eyeing the whole trip. She collects the bears that Starbucks puts out every Christmas. I can get them for free (long story), so she has quite a collection going. When we went to the Starbucks at Shibuya Crossing, she saw the two Japanese bears and she was instantly in love. Then she saw the price. They were almost $50 each! In the US they are like $25. We were still going to get them, but it turns out the US Starbucks app doesn't work in Japan. And I have to use the app to get them for "free". She said she would never pay almost $100 for two small bears.
Fast forward a few days, and she decided she had to have these bears. So she coughed up the dough. Even I have to admit, they are quite cute.
This was an excellent stop. Pocky got her bears, and I got one delicious frappe.
This Starbucks had a lower level that was a bookstore completed themed to a character called Apeach. So we walked around in there while I drank the frappe.
Soon it was time for (an early) lunch. We were determined to get okonomiyaki today, since we hadn't gotten it last night. After some more Google research, I found another highly regarded place called Chibo.
They were supposed to open at 11, and we got there at around 10:55. So we just hung out until 11. We saw lots of employees inside, but they didn't open at 11. We decided to be patient. At around 11:10, we saw the group of employees inside all turn and look at us, then laugh. Now I can't be certain they were laughing at us, but it seemed likely enough that we decided to eat somewhere else.
After some more research, I found yet another Okonomiyaki place for us to try. If this one didn't turn out, we were going to consider that strike three and just get more takoyaki or gyoza or something. The third place was called Dotombori Ichiaki. When we arrived, there were no rats to be seen, and they were opened as advertised. I forgot to take a picture of the exterior, but here is what the tables look like.
We ordered two different varieties to share. I don't remember what exactly they were, but they were both very good.
After lunch we walked a bunch more, and stopped again at the famous Glico sign.
At this point we went back to the hotel and relaxed for a bit. We were doing a walking food tour later, and wanted to make sure we didn't run out of steam during the tour.
Last edited:
Haley R
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2017
- Messages
- 20,723
Ramen for breakfastDay 13 (Part 1) - Dotonbori for Breakfast and Lunch
I'm happy to say the beds at the Holiday Inn were perfectly fine. When I made the reservation, I was very concerned that they only had twin bed rooms available. This was the only room we had in Japan that didn't have a King bed. I was worried I would be too tall for a twin bed. I had a "queen" bed at a hotel a few years ago where my feet hung off the end of the bed. I barely slept the whole week. But these twin beds were just long enough that nothing was hanging off. I slept reasonably well.
We did indeed wake up early enough to go to Ichiran for breakfast. I wish I had an Ichiran within a 1 minute walk of my house.
Before we entered, I took some photos from the Tazaemon-bashi Bridge.
Then we went in for some delicious ramen. It wasn't very busy at this time of day. We had our pick of booths!
It wasn't long before we had ramen sitting in front of us. Just as before, I ordered extra pork and an egg. Pocky got both of those, and extra scallions.
I really, really love this ramen!
After our breakfast, we did what we always do... walked around a bunch!
We came across a Starbucks. It had a sign in front of it advertising a Frappucino flavor that I've never seen in the states. I couldn't resist.
While we were in there, Pocky loosened her pursestrings and bought something she'd been eyeing the whole trip. She collects the bears that Starbucks puts out every Christmas. I can get them for free (long story), so she has quite a collection going. When we went to the Starbucks at Shibuya Crossing, she saw the two Japanese bears and she was instantly in love. Then she saw the price. They were almost $50 each! In the US they are like $25. We were still going to get them, but it turns out the US Starbucks app doesn't work in Japan. And I have to use the app to get them for "free". She said she would never pay almost $100 for two small bears.
Fast forward a few days, and she decided she had to have these bears. So she coughed up the dough. Even I have to admit, they are quite cute.
This was an excellent stop. Pocky got her bears, and I got one delicious frappe.
This Starbucks had a lower level that was a bookstore completed themed to a character called Apeach. So we walked around in there while I drank the frappe.
Soon it was time for (an early) lunch. We were determined to get okonomoyaki today, since we hadn't gotten it last night. After some more Google research, I found another highly regarded place called Chibo.
They were supposed to open at 11, and we got there at around 10:55. So we just hung out until 11. We saw lots of employees inside, but they didn't open at 11. We decided to be patient. At around 11:10, we saw the group of employees inside all turn and look at us, then laugh. Now I can't be certain they were laughing at us, but it seemed likely enough that we decided to eat somewhere else.
After some more research, I found yet another Okonomoyaki place for us to try. If this one didn't turn out, we were going to consider that strike three and just get more takoyaki or gyoza or something. The third place was called Dotombori Ichiaki. When we arrived, there were no rats to be seen, and they were opened as advertised. I forgot to take a picture of the exterior, but here is what the tables look like.
We ordered two different varieties to share. I don't remember what exactly they were, but they were both very good.
After lunch we walked a bunch more, and stopped again at the famous Glico sign.
At this point we went back to the hotel and relaxed for a bit. We were doing a walking food tour later, and wanted to make sure we didn't run out of steam during the tour.
Chisoxcollector
Mouseketeer
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- Mar 4, 2013
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- 319
Haha I hadn't thought of that!
Last edited:
wishing4PA
Wants to be in Pennsylvania or WDW or PA or WDW or
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- Nov 20, 2008
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Aww, those are probably people who just have something against the furry fellows!
Just kidding, as I haven't been yet and I have no idea how the rat population of Osaka compares with that of Kyoto.
Chisoxcollector, I think you blew Pocky's cover in one of these posts?
But regardless, your photos are amazing.
And I agree the bears are just adorable! I'm like that if I leave a coupon at home I don't want to buy the item I went out for, even if I need it, because I "could have" saved $x on it, even if I'd end up spending the same $x in gas to go back and get it later. So then I usually end up not getting it at all, proving I didn't really need it lol.
But the bears are so cute, and getting them then was certainly cheaper than booking another flight to go back for them.
Haley R
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2017
- Messages
- 20,723
We just liked how lively Osaka was. We also dealt with tons of tour groups when we were in KyotoAww, those are probably people who just have something against the furry fellows!
Just kidding, as I haven't been yet and I have no idea how the rat population of Osaka compares with that of Kyoto.
Chisoxcollector, I think you blew Pocky's cover in one of these posts?
But regardless, your photos are amazing.
And I agree the bears are just adorable! I'm like that if I leave a coupon at home I don't want to buy the item I went out for, even if I need it, because I "could have" saved $x on it, even if I'd end up spending the same $x in gas to go back and get it later. So then I usually end up not getting it at all, proving I didn't really need it lol.
But the bears are so cute, and getting them then was certainly cheaper than booking another flight to go back for them.
Chisoxcollector
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2013
- Messages
- 319
Day 13 (Part 2) - Osaka Food Tour & An Unexpected Surprise
After spending some time relaxing at the hotel, it was time for our food tour. We booked the "Eat your way through Osaka" food tour on Airbnb. It was advertised as a 3 hour walking tour. We met our host Chie in front of an H&M store in Dotonbori. She started the tour by walking us to a few Dotonbori landmarks, including our favorite... the Glico sign! But this time, she suggested a certain pose.
Next she took us down an alley so narrow I almost thought I would have to shimmy sideways to get through. We never would have gone down an alley like this on our own.
Chie pointed out tiny little torii gates that lined the alley. She explained that these were put here to deter drunk people from urinating in the alleys.
She took us to something that I assumed was a shrine, but was actually Hozenji Temple. I didn't realize a temple could be so small.
There was also a shrine directly across from the temple.
Next we made our first food stop. It was an okonomiyaki place called Okaru.
We had two different varieties of okonomiyaki. And once again, I can't remember what they were. The okonomiyaki we had earlier that day was a bit better, but this was still good.
As you can see, one of them had Kuidaore Taro on it, and the other had the woman the restaurant is named after, Okaru. The man making our okonomiyaki was Okaru's grandson.
Our next stop was Maguro Ittetsu, a very tiny sushi restaurant.
I mean, look how narrow this place is.
Each person was given a set of 6 pieces of nigiri.
This was seriously delicious. From left to right: big fatty tuna (otoro), medium fatty tuna (chutoro), regular tuna (akami), tuna throat (hon maguro nodo), Jellyfish w/ cucumber, marinated tuna. I had never had jellyfish before, so I'm glad I got to try it.
Next we went to Naruto Taiyaki Hompo, a taiyaki place. To get there, we went down some more dark alleys. As we were walking, I saw somebody out of the corner of my eye. This person looked very familiar from another DISer's trip report. I quickly noted my location in Google Maps, so we could investigate further when our tour was finished.
I don't care for red bean, so I'm usually not into taiyaki. But Pocky loves it, so I was happy it was on the tour. I was happy to see that this place offered taiyaki filled with sweet potato. I actually enjoyed it!
After the taiyaki, we continued walking. We came across one of the raccoon statues that are all over the place in Osaka.
Chie explained that it was a tanuki. Realization dawned on me when she said that. Super Mario Bros 3 is one of my all-time favorite video games. In that game, you can get a raccoon suit for Mario to wear. But it was called a Tanooki suit, and I never understood why. I mentioned this to our tour guide, and she got excited when I made the connection. Apparently she loved that game too, lol.
Eventually we made our way to Takoyaki Wanaka. Chi asked us if we wanted regular takoyaki, or if we wanted to try it festival style. The three women with us (I believe they were from Taiwan) were too full at this point to care, lol. Pocky and I said we'd go with festival style. So we got our takoyaki and went upstairs to a seating area with self serve water.
Festival style meant it was served between two rice crackers, almost like a takoyaki sandwich. It wasn't much to look at, and it was very messy to eat, but it was very good. The rice crackers added some much needed crunch to the typically mushy takoyaki.
Next we went to 551 Horai, which is apparently a very popular chain in Osaka.
Our tour guide explained that they have both quick service items and a full service restaurant. She also said the restaurant wasn't good, and to stick to the buns from the quick service area. So that is what she ordered for us, pork buns. These were your typical pork buns, but they were quite tasty.
Our last stop would be for some popsicles. We went to a place called Hokkyoku.
They had a variety of flavors. Pocky went with red bean, and I ordered yuzu.
Pocky loved hers. I should have ordered a different flavor, like strawberry or milk. The yuzu was kind of bitter.
And with that, the tour was over. We did take a picture with our wonderful tour guide, Chie.
I highly recommend this tour. It did take about 3 hours, and we probably walked about 1.5 miles. Pocky and I were reasonably full, and the other three ladies were completely stuffed.
At this point, we headed back towards the alley where I saw that familiar face. The place I was looking for was so small and nondescript that we had a hard time finding it. But then I saw him again. You couldn't miss him. The hat. The American flag shirt. The tight jeans. The boots. And of course, the long blonde hair.
It was Yuki!
@Sarahboo has written a great trip report about her 2019 trip. And if you've read it, you know exactly who Yuki is. I couldn't believe that we just happened to come across his tiny 4 seat bar. But we did!
I asked him if he was the famous Yuki. He said yes, he was Yuki. We sat down at his empty bar and ordered a couple of highballs. The whisky (they drop the e) pour on this one was pretty typical.
We started commenting on all of the American Rock 'N' Roll stuff adorning his bar. Yuki LOVES Rock 'N' Roll, and America. He asked us what our favorite bands were. Pocky said the Beatles, and I said Creedence Clearwater Revival. He put on a CCR CD, and we all sang along to some CCR. Then he put on some Beatles music and we sang along to that for a while. We were the only people in the bar the entire time we were there.
Pocky isn't much of a drinker, so she stopped at one highball. I kept going. Each highball had more whiskey than the one before it. We couldn't help laughing at the last one he poured me. He filled the glass halfway with whiskey. Then he added a splash of soda. Then he grabbed the whiskey bottle again and filled the rest of the glass with more whiskey. I wish I had thought to take a picture of this one. It was basically a full highball glass of whiskey on the rocks.
Yuki was matching me glass for glass. I couldn't tell what he was drinking. It came from a gigantic bottle on the top shelf of bar. We were both pretty well buzzed by the end of our stay.
Every so often, Yuki would ask us to take a picture. In different areas of the bar, behind the bar, etc. Here are a few of those pictures.
Eventually we had to call it a night. We had to wake up early the next morning, and if I drank much more I don't think that would have been possible.
We told Yuki we had to go. He told us he would miss us. We settled the bill, and I'm pretty sure he undercharged us considering how much I drank lol. We followed each other on Instagram. He walked us out and asked somebody walking by if they could take a picture of the 3 of us.
Yuki ended up posting this picture on Instagram lol.
We were sad to leave. I really wish we had found Yuki the night before, so we could have seen him one more time. It was one of our favorite experiences of the whole trip. Including the food tour, this was definitely one of the best nights of the entire trip.
And with that, we went back to the hotel and crashed. I slept quite well for once. Thanks Yuki!
After spending some time relaxing at the hotel, it was time for our food tour. We booked the "Eat your way through Osaka" food tour on Airbnb. It was advertised as a 3 hour walking tour. We met our host Chie in front of an H&M store in Dotonbori. She started the tour by walking us to a few Dotonbori landmarks, including our favorite... the Glico sign! But this time, she suggested a certain pose.
Next she took us down an alley so narrow I almost thought I would have to shimmy sideways to get through. We never would have gone down an alley like this on our own.
Chie pointed out tiny little torii gates that lined the alley. She explained that these were put here to deter drunk people from urinating in the alleys.
She took us to something that I assumed was a shrine, but was actually Hozenji Temple. I didn't realize a temple could be so small.
There was also a shrine directly across from the temple.
Next we made our first food stop. It was an okonomiyaki place called Okaru.
We had two different varieties of okonomiyaki. And once again, I can't remember what they were. The okonomiyaki we had earlier that day was a bit better, but this was still good.
As you can see, one of them had Kuidaore Taro on it, and the other had the woman the restaurant is named after, Okaru. The man making our okonomiyaki was Okaru's grandson.
Our next stop was Maguro Ittetsu, a very tiny sushi restaurant.
I mean, look how narrow this place is.
Each person was given a set of 6 pieces of nigiri.
This was seriously delicious. From left to right: big fatty tuna (otoro), medium fatty tuna (chutoro), regular tuna (akami), tuna throat (hon maguro nodo), Jellyfish w/ cucumber, marinated tuna. I had never had jellyfish before, so I'm glad I got to try it.
Next we went to Naruto Taiyaki Hompo, a taiyaki place. To get there, we went down some more dark alleys. As we were walking, I saw somebody out of the corner of my eye. This person looked very familiar from another DISer's trip report. I quickly noted my location in Google Maps, so we could investigate further when our tour was finished.
I don't care for red bean, so I'm usually not into taiyaki. But Pocky loves it, so I was happy it was on the tour. I was happy to see that this place offered taiyaki filled with sweet potato. I actually enjoyed it!
After the taiyaki, we continued walking. We came across one of the raccoon statues that are all over the place in Osaka.
Chie explained that it was a tanuki. Realization dawned on me when she said that. Super Mario Bros 3 is one of my all-time favorite video games. In that game, you can get a raccoon suit for Mario to wear. But it was called a Tanooki suit, and I never understood why. I mentioned this to our tour guide, and she got excited when I made the connection. Apparently she loved that game too, lol.
Eventually we made our way to Takoyaki Wanaka. Chi asked us if we wanted regular takoyaki, or if we wanted to try it festival style. The three women with us (I believe they were from Taiwan) were too full at this point to care, lol. Pocky and I said we'd go with festival style. So we got our takoyaki and went upstairs to a seating area with self serve water.
Festival style meant it was served between two rice crackers, almost like a takoyaki sandwich. It wasn't much to look at, and it was very messy to eat, but it was very good. The rice crackers added some much needed crunch to the typically mushy takoyaki.
Next we went to 551 Horai, which is apparently a very popular chain in Osaka.
Our tour guide explained that they have both quick service items and a full service restaurant. She also said the restaurant wasn't good, and to stick to the buns from the quick service area. So that is what she ordered for us, pork buns. These were your typical pork buns, but they were quite tasty.
Our last stop would be for some popsicles. We went to a place called Hokkyoku.
They had a variety of flavors. Pocky went with red bean, and I ordered yuzu.
Pocky loved hers. I should have ordered a different flavor, like strawberry or milk. The yuzu was kind of bitter.
And with that, the tour was over. We did take a picture with our wonderful tour guide, Chie.
I highly recommend this tour. It did take about 3 hours, and we probably walked about 1.5 miles. Pocky and I were reasonably full, and the other three ladies were completely stuffed.
At this point, we headed back towards the alley where I saw that familiar face. The place I was looking for was so small and nondescript that we had a hard time finding it. But then I saw him again. You couldn't miss him. The hat. The American flag shirt. The tight jeans. The boots. And of course, the long blonde hair.
It was Yuki!
@Sarahboo has written a great trip report about her 2019 trip. And if you've read it, you know exactly who Yuki is. I couldn't believe that we just happened to come across his tiny 4 seat bar. But we did!
I asked him if he was the famous Yuki. He said yes, he was Yuki. We sat down at his empty bar and ordered a couple of highballs. The whisky (they drop the e) pour on this one was pretty typical.
We started commenting on all of the American Rock 'N' Roll stuff adorning his bar. Yuki LOVES Rock 'N' Roll, and America. He asked us what our favorite bands were. Pocky said the Beatles, and I said Creedence Clearwater Revival. He put on a CCR CD, and we all sang along to some CCR. Then he put on some Beatles music and we sang along to that for a while. We were the only people in the bar the entire time we were there.
Pocky isn't much of a drinker, so she stopped at one highball. I kept going. Each highball had more whiskey than the one before it. We couldn't help laughing at the last one he poured me. He filled the glass halfway with whiskey. Then he added a splash of soda. Then he grabbed the whiskey bottle again and filled the rest of the glass with more whiskey. I wish I had thought to take a picture of this one. It was basically a full highball glass of whiskey on the rocks.
Yuki was matching me glass for glass. I couldn't tell what he was drinking. It came from a gigantic bottle on the top shelf of bar. We were both pretty well buzzed by the end of our stay.
Every so often, Yuki would ask us to take a picture. In different areas of the bar, behind the bar, etc. Here are a few of those pictures.
Eventually we had to call it a night. We had to wake up early the next morning, and if I drank much more I don't think that would have been possible.
We told Yuki we had to go. He told us he would miss us. We settled the bill, and I'm pretty sure he undercharged us considering how much I drank lol. We followed each other on Instagram. He walked us out and asked somebody walking by if they could take a picture of the 3 of us.
Yuki ended up posting this picture on Instagram lol.
We were sad to leave. I really wish we had found Yuki the night before, so we could have seen him one more time. It was one of our favorite experiences of the whole trip. Including the food tour, this was definitely one of the best nights of the entire trip.
And with that, we went back to the hotel and crashed. I slept quite well for once. Thanks Yuki!
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Chisoxcollector
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2013
- Messages
- 319
Day 14 (Part 1) - Goodbye Osaka, Hello Odaiba!
Our time in Osaka had come to an end. We got up somewhat early as we had reserved seats on the 9am shinkansen back to Tokyo. We took a taxi to Shin-Osaka Station, picked up some provisions for the journey, and grabbed seats on the platform. Eventually (we arrived way too early again) our train arrived.
We were the first ones to board our train.
I made a much better choice of bento this time. It was just beef and rice, but it was very tasty.
Once again, we had seats on the Mt. Fuji side of the train. The view was much better today.
We arrived at Tokyo Station and got a cab to the Hilton Tokyo Odaiba, where we would be spending our last night in Japan.
As with the Hilton Tokyo Bay and Park Hyatt Tokyo, a hotel employee helped us get our bags from the taxi. Unlike those other hotels, this one had a very snobby attitude. He informed us that we could not check-in until 3pm. I said I understood that was the check-in time, but could I check to see if a room was available. He said that would be impossible, check-in time is at 3pm. I said I understand, but there might be a room available early. He clearly thought I was very stupid, and explained once again that check in time was 3pm, and there are no early check-ins. I just ignored him and went to the front desk and got in the Hilton Honors Diamond line.
The front desk staff were very friendly. I didn't even have to ask about checking in early, as they told me they had an upgraded room ready for us to check-in. So much for the snob, eh?
I enquired about the bags we had transferred from the Park Hyatt Tokyo. They said they would have them brought up to the room shortly. So we made our way to the final hotel room of our stay in Japan. After the horrible room at the Hotel Keihan, and the large but kind of meh room at the Holiday Inn in Dotonbori, I was hoping our final room would be a good one. I would not be disappointed.
When I first walked in, my eyes were drawn immediately to the view.
We had an amazing view of the Rainbow Bridge, as well as the Olympic Symbol Monument. Decent view of Tokyo Tower too! I think this was the best view of the whole trip.
No joke, I probably spent 30 minutes just taking in the view, and of course, taking pictures of the view. I literally have like 1000 photos of this view, lol.
The bathroom wasn't huge, but was pretty nice.
They gave us some fruit and macarons for being Diamond members. The macarons were amazing. Among the best I've ever had.
We had plans for the evening, so we set out to walk around a bit while we had a chance. The grounds of the hotel were very nice.
We came across what appeared to our uneducated eyes to be cherry blossom trees. It wasn't cherry blossom season yet, so I don't know if these were fake, or something else entirely. But they were pretty!
We came across the Fuji Television building. Their mascot looks like a blue Snoopy.
We made our way to Diver City Tokyo. Before going in, we marveled at the giant Gundam statue out front.
We went to the Gundam Cafe. Pocky bought something here, though I can't remember what.
Then we went to Diver City Tokyo. It's basically a giant mall. We entered through the food court, which suited me fine. I was starving! After some quick googling, I found recommendations for Kaneko Hannosuke.
They specialize in Tendon, which is basically tempura on rice. I ordered us their biggest bowl to split. It was amazing! The conger eel (the big piece laying in the back of the bowl, under the shrimp) was so so good.
We walked around the mall a bit. It was almost time for us to leave, so we made our way back to the food court entrance. Once we got outside, we saw that a J-Pop girl group was performing. The group was called Notall. It was kind of creepy, though. These little girls bopping around in front of an audience that was almost exclusively middle aged men.
We watched for a few minutes, and then made our way to our main destination: TeamLab Borderless! Before we got there, we walked through the Mega Web Toyota City Showcase. I took some pictures here, but none were really worth posting. Unless you really like Toyota, I didn't really see the appeal of this place. The only amusing thing about our time here was finding out that their line of racing cars in Japan are called "Gazoo".
I'm going to save the TeamLab stuff for it's own post. Spoiler alert: It didn't suck!
So at this point, we pick up after leaving TeamLab Borderless. We stopped at Wendy's (called Wendy's First Kitchen in Japan) and got a "Jewel Tapioca Strawberry" drink. I forgot to a take a picture. It was pretty, but very bland. It basically tasted like milk.
We exited Palette Town (where TeamLab Borderless and Mega Web Toyota City Showcase are located).
We made our way back to the Giant Gundam Statue to watch it transform. It was a pretty cool experience, with lots of lights and music.
We went back in to the Diver City food court to walk around and get some food. We got two different kinds of takoyaki. It wasn't the best. We should have gotten tendon again.
We started to make our way back to our hotel. We took a few pictures along the way.
Finally, we went back up our room. Of course, I had to take some pictures of the view from our room at night.
And with that, we called it a night. It was a very sad night, as we knew we'd be flying back to the States the next day. I'm not crying, you're crying!
Our time in Osaka had come to an end. We got up somewhat early as we had reserved seats on the 9am shinkansen back to Tokyo. We took a taxi to Shin-Osaka Station, picked up some provisions for the journey, and grabbed seats on the platform. Eventually (we arrived way too early again) our train arrived.
We were the first ones to board our train.
I made a much better choice of bento this time. It was just beef and rice, but it was very tasty.
Once again, we had seats on the Mt. Fuji side of the train. The view was much better today.
We arrived at Tokyo Station and got a cab to the Hilton Tokyo Odaiba, where we would be spending our last night in Japan.
As with the Hilton Tokyo Bay and Park Hyatt Tokyo, a hotel employee helped us get our bags from the taxi. Unlike those other hotels, this one had a very snobby attitude. He informed us that we could not check-in until 3pm. I said I understood that was the check-in time, but could I check to see if a room was available. He said that would be impossible, check-in time is at 3pm. I said I understand, but there might be a room available early. He clearly thought I was very stupid, and explained once again that check in time was 3pm, and there are no early check-ins. I just ignored him and went to the front desk and got in the Hilton Honors Diamond line.
The front desk staff were very friendly. I didn't even have to ask about checking in early, as they told me they had an upgraded room ready for us to check-in. So much for the snob, eh?
I enquired about the bags we had transferred from the Park Hyatt Tokyo. They said they would have them brought up to the room shortly. So we made our way to the final hotel room of our stay in Japan. After the horrible room at the Hotel Keihan, and the large but kind of meh room at the Holiday Inn in Dotonbori, I was hoping our final room would be a good one. I would not be disappointed.
When I first walked in, my eyes were drawn immediately to the view.
We had an amazing view of the Rainbow Bridge, as well as the Olympic Symbol Monument. Decent view of Tokyo Tower too! I think this was the best view of the whole trip.
No joke, I probably spent 30 minutes just taking in the view, and of course, taking pictures of the view. I literally have like 1000 photos of this view, lol.
The bathroom wasn't huge, but was pretty nice.
They gave us some fruit and macarons for being Diamond members. The macarons were amazing. Among the best I've ever had.
We had plans for the evening, so we set out to walk around a bit while we had a chance. The grounds of the hotel were very nice.
We came across what appeared to our uneducated eyes to be cherry blossom trees. It wasn't cherry blossom season yet, so I don't know if these were fake, or something else entirely. But they were pretty!
We came across the Fuji Television building. Their mascot looks like a blue Snoopy.
We made our way to Diver City Tokyo. Before going in, we marveled at the giant Gundam statue out front.
We went to the Gundam Cafe. Pocky bought something here, though I can't remember what.
Then we went to Diver City Tokyo. It's basically a giant mall. We entered through the food court, which suited me fine. I was starving! After some quick googling, I found recommendations for Kaneko Hannosuke.
They specialize in Tendon, which is basically tempura on rice. I ordered us their biggest bowl to split. It was amazing! The conger eel (the big piece laying in the back of the bowl, under the shrimp) was so so good.
We walked around the mall a bit. It was almost time for us to leave, so we made our way back to the food court entrance. Once we got outside, we saw that a J-Pop girl group was performing. The group was called Notall. It was kind of creepy, though. These little girls bopping around in front of an audience that was almost exclusively middle aged men.
We watched for a few minutes, and then made our way to our main destination: TeamLab Borderless! Before we got there, we walked through the Mega Web Toyota City Showcase. I took some pictures here, but none were really worth posting. Unless you really like Toyota, I didn't really see the appeal of this place. The only amusing thing about our time here was finding out that their line of racing cars in Japan are called "Gazoo".
I'm going to save the TeamLab stuff for it's own post. Spoiler alert: It didn't suck!
So at this point, we pick up after leaving TeamLab Borderless. We stopped at Wendy's (called Wendy's First Kitchen in Japan) and got a "Jewel Tapioca Strawberry" drink. I forgot to a take a picture. It was pretty, but very bland. It basically tasted like milk.
We exited Palette Town (where TeamLab Borderless and Mega Web Toyota City Showcase are located).
We made our way back to the Giant Gundam Statue to watch it transform. It was a pretty cool experience, with lots of lights and music.
We went back in to the Diver City food court to walk around and get some food. We got two different kinds of takoyaki. It wasn't the best. We should have gotten tendon again.
We started to make our way back to our hotel. We took a few pictures along the way.
Finally, we went back up our room. Of course, I had to take some pictures of the view from our room at night.
And with that, we called it a night. It was a very sad night, as we knew we'd be flying back to the States the next day. I'm not crying, you're crying!
Last edited:
Chisoxcollector
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2013
- Messages
- 319
Day 14 (Part 2) - TeamLab Borderless
This will mostly just be a post full of pictures from TeamLab Borderless. We arrived at Palette Town at around 4pm.
I had heard that crowds tended to die down during the last few hours, and that 3-4 hours was a good amount of time to spend there. So we planned our arrival around that. We had already purchased tickets, so we entered straight away. They show you a brief video explaining how things work. One interesting thing about this place is that there is no map. If you ask somebody where a specific room is, you get a very vague response. You're supposed to just go with the flow. I did get slightly frustrated at one point because we couldn't find the room I was most looking forward to.
There are a few rooms that have a queue to enter. Those rooms are Athletic Forest, Floating Nest, and Forest of Resonating Lamps. Depending on how busy it is, the queues can get very long. When we arrived, the queues for those rooms ranged from 30-60 minutes.
There are other named rooms as well, but they didn't have any queue set up, so you could enter as you please. We started by walking around Borderless World for a bit, which is what the corridors that connect the rooms are called. We were on the look out for the room I was most excited about visiting.
The first room we queued up for was The Athletic Forest. It had the shortest waits of the queued rooms. This was a very strange room, with a floor that is comprised of different slopes and hills that could be dangerous if you aren't paying attention. This room had creatures crawling on the floor that would go splat if you stepped on them.
At the back of this room is a section filled with giant lit balloons. This was a fun area.
There was a kids area in this room as well, with tables to color, a climbing wall, and educational exhibits.
After the Athletic Forest, we entered a room called Memory of Topography. This was another very cool room.
In most of the areas, the lighting and colors are constantly changing. In some cases, the entire theme of the room can change.
We finally found the room I had been looking for. Every time I read about TeamLab Borderless, this room dominated the pictures. It is the Forest of Resonating Lamps. There was a very long line, and we joined it. They only let you into the room for about a minute at a time, so the line moved fairly quickly. Eventually, we entered. This room was absolutely amazing. The time went by so fast!
After we exited the Forest of Resonating Lamps, we saw something we just had to take a picture of.
Next we queued up for Floating Nest. We had no idea what this room was about. As you got closer to the entrance, they made announcements that only flat shoes would be allowed. Any shoes that were not flat would have to be removed. They also said something about being on a net. They were letting people enter in groups of about 30 every few minutes. We were the first people in our group to enter.
Within seconds of entering, Pocky wanted to leave. You literally walk out onto a net. There is nothing under the net. Here is an image from the Teamlab website.
Eventually Pocky came to terms with the situation, and we layed down on the net to watch the show. We did lay as close to the much sturdier edge as possible. It ended up being an amazing experience. That said, the second the show ended we jumped up and got out of there, lol.
Eventually we found a room called "Universe of Water Particles on a Rock Where People Gather". That's a mouthful! This room was stunning.
Next was Crystal World.
At this point it was getting pretty late, and the crowds were starting to die down. So we decided to do the Forest of Resonating Lamps again, if it had a shorter line. The problem was, we couldn't find it! We walked around quite a bit, and eventually found it again. There was literally nobody in line!
And with that, we left. We LOVED TeamLab Borderless. It was one of the coolest things I've ever done. I can't wait to do it again.
This will mostly just be a post full of pictures from TeamLab Borderless. We arrived at Palette Town at around 4pm.
I had heard that crowds tended to die down during the last few hours, and that 3-4 hours was a good amount of time to spend there. So we planned our arrival around that. We had already purchased tickets, so we entered straight away. They show you a brief video explaining how things work. One interesting thing about this place is that there is no map. If you ask somebody where a specific room is, you get a very vague response. You're supposed to just go with the flow. I did get slightly frustrated at one point because we couldn't find the room I was most looking forward to.
There are a few rooms that have a queue to enter. Those rooms are Athletic Forest, Floating Nest, and Forest of Resonating Lamps. Depending on how busy it is, the queues can get very long. When we arrived, the queues for those rooms ranged from 30-60 minutes.
There are other named rooms as well, but they didn't have any queue set up, so you could enter as you please. We started by walking around Borderless World for a bit, which is what the corridors that connect the rooms are called. We were on the look out for the room I was most excited about visiting.
The first room we queued up for was The Athletic Forest. It had the shortest waits of the queued rooms. This was a very strange room, with a floor that is comprised of different slopes and hills that could be dangerous if you aren't paying attention. This room had creatures crawling on the floor that would go splat if you stepped on them.
At the back of this room is a section filled with giant lit balloons. This was a fun area.
There was a kids area in this room as well, with tables to color, a climbing wall, and educational exhibits.
After the Athletic Forest, we entered a room called Memory of Topography. This was another very cool room.
In most of the areas, the lighting and colors are constantly changing. In some cases, the entire theme of the room can change.
We finally found the room I had been looking for. Every time I read about TeamLab Borderless, this room dominated the pictures. It is the Forest of Resonating Lamps. There was a very long line, and we joined it. They only let you into the room for about a minute at a time, so the line moved fairly quickly. Eventually, we entered. This room was absolutely amazing. The time went by so fast!
After we exited the Forest of Resonating Lamps, we saw something we just had to take a picture of.
Next we queued up for Floating Nest. We had no idea what this room was about. As you got closer to the entrance, they made announcements that only flat shoes would be allowed. Any shoes that were not flat would have to be removed. They also said something about being on a net. They were letting people enter in groups of about 30 every few minutes. We were the first people in our group to enter.
Within seconds of entering, Pocky wanted to leave. You literally walk out onto a net. There is nothing under the net. Here is an image from the Teamlab website.
Eventually Pocky came to terms with the situation, and we layed down on the net to watch the show. We did lay as close to the much sturdier edge as possible. It ended up being an amazing experience. That said, the second the show ended we jumped up and got out of there, lol.
Eventually we found a room called "Universe of Water Particles on a Rock Where People Gather". That's a mouthful! This room was stunning.
Next was Crystal World.
At this point it was getting pretty late, and the crowds were starting to die down. So we decided to do the Forest of Resonating Lamps again, if it had a shorter line. The problem was, we couldn't find it! We walked around quite a bit, and eventually found it again. There was literally nobody in line!
And with that, we left. We LOVED TeamLab Borderless. It was one of the coolest things I've ever done. I can't wait to do it again.
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Haley R
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2017
- Messages
- 20,723
We somehow missed the floating lantern room. I have no idea how. I saw pictures of it before we got there and we still missed it.Day 14 (Part 2) - TeamLab Borderless
This will mostly just be a post full of pictures from TeamLab Borderless. We arrived at Palette around 4pm.
I had heard that crowds tended to die down during the last few hours, and that 3-4 hours was a good amount of time to spend there. So we planned our arrival around that. We had already purchased tickets, so we entered straight away. They show you a brief video explaining how things work. One interesting thing about this place is that there is no map. If you ask somebody where a specific room is, you get a very vague response. You're supposed to just go with the flow. I did get slightly frustrated at one point because we couldn't find the room I was most looking forward to.
There are a few rooms that have a queue to enter. Those rooms are Athletic Forest, Floating Nest, and Forest of Resonating Lamps. Depending on how busy it is, the queues can get very long. When we arrived, the queues for those rooms ranged from 30-60 minutes.
There are other named rooms as well, but they didn't have any queue set up, so you could enter as you please. We started by walking around Borderless World for a bit, which is what the corridors that connect the rooms are called. We were on the look out for the room I was most excited about visiting.
The first room we queued up for was The Athletic Forest. It had the shortest waits of the queued rooms. This was a very strange room, with a floor that is comprised of different slopes and hills that could be dangerous if you aren't paying attention. This room had creatures crawling on the floor that would go splat if you stepped on them.
At the back of this room is a section filled with giant lit balloons. This was a fun area.
There was a kids area in this room as well, with tables to color, a climbing wall, and educational exhibits.
After the Athletic Forest, we entered a room called Memory of Topography. This was another very cool room.
In most of the areas, the lighting and colors are constantly changing. In some cases, the entire theme of the room can change.
We finally found the room I had been looking for. Every time I read about TeamLab Borderless, this room dominated the pictures. It is the Forest of Resonating Lamps. There was a very long line, and we joined it. They only let you into the room for about a minute at a time, so the line moved fairly quickly. Eventually, we entered. This room was absolutely amazing. The time went by so fast!
After we exited the Forest of Resonating Lamps, we saw something we just had to take a picture of.
Next we queued up for The Nest. We had no idea what this room was about. As you got closer to the entrance, they made announcements that only flat shoes would be allowed. Any shoes that were not flat would have to be removed. They also said something about being on a net. They were letting people enter in groups of about 30 every few minutes. We were the first people in our group to enter.
Within seconds of entering, Pocky wanted to leave. You literally walk out onto a net. There is nothing under the net. Here is an image from the Teamlab website.
Eventually Pocky came to terms with the situation, and we layed down on the net to watch the show. We did lay as close to the much sturdier edge as possible. It ended up being an amazing experience. That said, the second the show ended we jumped up and got out of there, lol.
Eventually we found a room called "Universe of Water Particles on a Rock Where People Gather". That's a mouthful! This room was stunning.
Next was Crystal World.
At this point it was getting pretty late, and the crowds were starting to die down. So we decided to do the Forest of Resonating Lamps again, if it had a shorter line. The problem was, we couldn't find it! We walked around quite a bit, and eventually found it again. There was literally nobody in line!
And with that, we left. We LOVED TeamLab Borderless. It was one of the coolest things I've ever done. I can't wait to do it again.
heybets30
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2010
- Messages
- 453
I CANNOT wait for TeamLab Borderless! That's partly why we chose a trip to Japan!! That is my "must-do". Thinking ahead, I've waivered being one of the 1st in line, or going mid-afternoon. It sounds like you can move room-to-room after going through them? I.e., you don't go through & then end up in a gift shop/exit with no re-entry?
I don't see many people carrying bags - is there a place to put bags safely? I'll be carrying around my DSLR, but for this I may just go iphone pics since easier to take "quick" photos if they are moving you out in a minute-or-so from the lantern room, for example.
I don't see many people carrying bags - is there a place to put bags safely? I'll be carrying around my DSLR, but for this I may just go iphone pics since easier to take "quick" photos if they are moving you out in a minute-or-so from the lantern room, for example.
Haley R
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2017
- Messages
- 20,723
You can go from room to room freely. There isn’t one direction and actually it’s super easy to get lost. Like I said a couple of posts back, we even missed a room or two because we couldn’t figure out how to get there lol.
Dh and I carried a backpack inside but he carried it on his front so it wouldn’t hit anyone. We think there were lockers but can’t remember.
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