Fun time at Tokyo Disneyland

During a trip to Japan last month, I was able to visit Tokyo Disneyland with my friends for some fun time.

As we walked towards the entrance, we saw the train with Mickey windows swiftly passing by.

We started our day by going to the Great American Waffle Company cafe and had Mickey waffles for breakfast.

Mickey waffles are freshly cooked  at the cafe

Cafe staff prepares the waffles. Available flavours are
maple, chocolate and strawberry and custard.

Mickey waffle with strawberry and custard sauce

Mickey waffle with maple sauce

After breakfast, we headed to the Pirates of the Carribean where we took a 15-minute boat ride and peeked into Jack Sparrow’s world. This ride was inspired by the popular Pirates of the Carribean movie which featured Johnny Depp, who played the role of Jack Sparrow.

The ride depicts various scenes from the movie and included moving characters, treasures, skeletons and pirates.

The highlight of the boat ride was when we spotted Jack Sparrow twice.

We also went to Alice’s Tea Party attraction. It is a fun ride that I took with the girls as we went for fast swirls while riding a colourful  tea cup. We had the option to make our cup go faster and change direction as we turned the wheel in the middle of our cup. It is quite a kiddie but fun ride that kids and adults surely enjoy.

After our tea cup ride, we walked around and took the boat ride at It’s A Small World where we got to see various dolls wearing traditional costumes from different countries in Asia, Europe, Central America, Africa and the Islands of South Pacific. This is similar to the one in Disney Hong Kong.

The facade of It's A Small World attraction

Visitors take a boat ride and see dancing and colourful dolls
in different costumes

We were a bit disappointed though when we saw the section featuring the Philippines since there was only one doll wearing a traditional costume included. Hopefully, they improve this in the future since it looks odd versus the other lively displays of dolls representing other countries.

The single doll wearing traditional 
costume which represents the 
Philippines

Our kiddie fun adventure continued as we headed to Mickey's PhilHarmagic to watch the musical film in 3D featuring famous Disney characters such as Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse and many more. The popular Disney songs in the short film certainly brings back happy Disney film memories.

Since I am not fond of riding roller coasters, my travel buddies went to the Splash Mountain ride while I opted to just take a relaxing and scenic cruise on the Mark Twain Riverboat where I got to see various displays that showed scenes on the Rivers of America and took photos using a DSLR camera.

I was able to see deers, and Indian villages during the cruise.

After the cruise, I met up with my travel buddies and we went around the shops. It was pretty cool seeing how the glass sculptures and glass items are made by Disney artisans.

To help one feel cool while walking around the park, a must try is the Disney ice cream snack by Meiji.

The cute Mickey ice cream is one of the popular
choices of visitors

There are quick snacks such as pizza and popcorn being sold in the park too.

Pizza, Disney souvenirs such as cups and Minnie inspired
popcorn container

We were lucky that we also got to see the parade with famous Disney characters.

Alice in Wonderland characters at the parade

Mickey and friends in the parade

We also bumped into Jessie, one of Toy Story movie characters.

Two of my travel buddies posed with Jessie for a photo op

Tokyo Disneyland is simply one of the happiest places to go to when you are in Japan since it  certainly makes everyone feel like a kid.  

Checkout my next blog post on the other theme parks that we were able to visit in Japan. Cheers!

Osaka Castle and the Japanese kids

During our Osaka visit, we took a train ride and walked in the park to reach Osaka Castle.

Osaka Castle from afar

Osaka Castle which is locally known as Ōsakajō, is associated to ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who intended the castle to become the center of the new and unified Japan. The castle has miraculously survived the various air raids during the war.

In 1997 the castle was renovated and today it is entirely modern as it features an elevator and houses a museum focusing on the castle's history and the Toyotomi lineage.

Masugata square which means "square surrounded by
stone walls" was built to guard against enemies

Uphill entrance towards the Osaka Castle

Front view of the Osaka Castle

Troops of Yukimura Sanada , Toyotomi's bravest
general  shown in a battle scene depicted via
a diorama in the museum of Osaka Castle

The 360 degree view from the top of the castle is really nice since you get to see Osaka's modern buildings and greenery from the viewing deck.

The Osaka Museum of History building (left),  NHK Broadcasting
building(center) and the Osaka Police Headquarters is the wide
building(right).

The disc-like structure is the Osaka-jo hall and behind it is the
New Hotel Otani Osaka

Apart from enjoying the view from the castle, we also got a chance to meet some Japanese kids around the castle grounds who went there for a field trip.

My friend's daughter is a natural at  establishing good
rapport with kids

Two Japanese kids showed us their talent in dancing

No wonder Japanese people love history and art. They are certainly exposed to learning about history and art at a young age during their school field trips.

A Japanese kid with his drawing of the Osaka
Castle

The park surrounding the Osaka Castle is clean and walking is quite relaxing as you get to see lots of trees. 

It is also common to see senior citizens riding their bikes to get some exercise and fresh air in the area.

Our visit to the Osaka Castle was certainly good. 

The view from the top of the castle gave us a better view of Osaka city and the interaction with the kids certainly showed us that the love for history and art for the Japanese  people is certainly instilled at a young age but executed in a fun way since the kids are taught to express it through art. 

Experiencing Osaka's Food Culture

Japan is one of the top countries that top chefs and foodies often mention when it comes to talking about best food destinations.

During a recent visit to Osaka with friends, I was able to experience Osaka's food culture. Most of the locals in Osaka spend on good food and it is apparent that only good restaurants survive in this city. 

If there is one word to describe Osaka's food culture it is "kuidaore" (which means "eat until you drop" in English).

The  Glico running man  company signage in Dotonbori in Osaka is
 said to be a popular photo spot for visitors. It  has been revised
  several times in order to celebrate events such as the World
 Cup and to boost the team spirit for the Hanshin Tigers, Osaka's
baseball team 

Visitors may have a nice boat ride  around Osaka

Travellers and foodies will find Osaka as a food haven as it is a place where high quality and affordable food is found.

Here are some of our yummy food discoveries during our visit to Osaka.

We went to an Okonomiyaki restaurant located just a few steps across the Glico running man signage and beside the river walk in Dotonbori.

The facade of the Okonomiyaki restaurant

We tried the Okonomiyaki, a savoury pancake-like dish that is composed of ingredients such as squid, prawn, octopus or meat that is mixed with shredded cabbage and flour based batter and topped with okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise, dried bonito and aonori(green laver).

The restaurant's cook prepares freshly made okonomiyaki
and  udon noodles

Okonomiyaki dish which is good for sharing and affordable
 since it is priced at around Yen1,050 per order

We also had some soba noodles and some popular street food dishes.

Osaka soba with pork, squid, beef, shrimps and egg
served on a hot plate on our table

Takoyaki balls  which is grilled octopus slices mixed with flour
and egg based batter and topped with pickled ginger, onions.
and special takoyaki sauce

Kushikatsu dish  which is deep fried pieces of food on
skewers. We tried the one with cheese, green bell
pepper, sausage, shrimp and beef.

After our lunch we headed to a well-known place for cheese tarts called Pablo.

The staff at Pablo places a logo on top of each freshly
baked cheese tart.

The original cheese tart at Pablo

We opted to get a whole Pablo premium cheese tart for take home for our group.

Premium Pablo Cheese Tart

The premium Pablo cheese tart was like a creme brulee type tart since it had a sweet caramelized sugar on top. It goes well with freshly brewed coffee or a nice cup of hot tea.

Osaka is a fun place to visit. It is definitely a good place for foodies as it offers a wide variety of local food which is freshly prepared using high quality ingredients. After each meal, you will certainly say "Oishi"(which means delicious in English). Cheers!