aquarium and USJ

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Never running out of new things to do is what I always cherished living in a big city. I am sure there are still some temples here and there left unseen and definitely still a lot of nature sites in the bustling city of Osaka left undiscovered by my itchy feet. In my 3 years of living in this city, I intentionally left 2 places for a later visit, namely the Osaka City aquarium and Universal Studios Japan, mainly because I'm waiting for the kiddies to grow up a bit more so they can better appreciate it.

We went to the Osaka aquarium, also called "kaiyukan" translated as sea play. This place is a massive seven story structure, that of course contained a lot of sea creatures of various forms and origin. The theme is the Pacific Ring of Fire - Ring of Life. It showed the abundance and beauty of aquatic life forms in the ring of fire or also known as the earthquake/volcano belt. Human danger zones but where aquatic life flourishes. The fish found in the amazon are the most interesting ones for me, they are huge and looked very fierce. These creatures also got, my daughter's full attention.

The highlight of the aquarium was its huge tank which houses not one, but two gentle giants, whale sharks, that are considered to be the largest fish in the world. It was amazing to see these two giants, although I believe they nor any of these creatures do belong in an aquarium.

I do frequent zoo and aquariums coz its there, but it would be great if they don't exist. Well in way I am to be blamed for my continuous patronage of these places for them to exist, but if I stop they would still exist. What the heck, my argument sounds lame as my convictions, hehehe. But my point is, I wish there would be no need for aquariums and zoos, and most people would have the opportunity to observe wildlife in their natural habitat.

Weeks after going to the Osaka kaiyukan, I heard from my colleagues at work that annual pass for Universal Studios Japan (USJ) are on sale. So from a little over 250 USD it can now be purchased for 125 USD. Could not missed such a great deal, and my feet is itching to go somewhere a little, should I say Americanized. We arranged to hang out with my two co-teachers Sam and Noemi with their families and my wife's friend Kae at USJ on a whole day affair last Sunday.

And we all had such a great day, I was surprised when I checked the time, thinking it was just around 4 pm and realized it was already past 6. Day goes by so fast when you are having a wonderful time in an exciting place with great company. My kids were scared with the characters most of the time, except for Hello Kitty and Snoopy. I really enjoyed this place from the music to the sites and the shows are fun too. I never realized Hello Kitty is such a materialistic character. There was a show called something like Hello Kitty Things that I Like, and wow, she does love pricey things, this cat.

I am afraid this annual pass is a bad thing, I felt like I will be so tempted to visit this place a lot. I have to go back for sure for that Hollywood Dream roller coaster. I am sure to go back with Rinka, minus the kids next time.

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Photos

HK
very fashionable kitty chans

Comments

[Heather]

I enjoyed your Osaka post and photos. Universal Studios Japan looks like it transported your straight to the one here in Los Angeles! The aquarium looked pretty neat! My blog is looking for travel reviews, photos, etc, to share. If you have the time, check it out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com, or email me at [e-mail]. Continued fun on your travels! Heather :)