I guess this entry could be titled How to Have a Fun Birthday in Osaka or How to Celebrate Your Birthday Like a Japanese 12-Year-Old. A couple weeks ago, it was my birthday (yeah, yeah, I’m behind on these blog entries, but I’ve been travelling!) so this what happens when I make Mike do whatever I want for an entire day. It involves a lot of seafood and Hello Kitty.
My birthday started at around 5am, when there was a pretty big earthquake just outside of Osaka. I woke up confused because everything was shaking and my iPhone earthquake alarm kept flashing EARTHQUAKE IS COMING! So that was fun. We went back to sleep but woke up for…
… a lobster lunch! Chunagon is basically the lobster version of Kani Doraku, and serves all-lobster meals.
Lobsters everywhere!
Lobster plates and lobster chopstick holders.
The menu. The lunch sets aren’t too expensive, but the dinners go up to ¥22000 ($220 CAD) per person!
Fried lobster tail on cute lobster paper.
Lobster croquettes.
Some kind of lobster nimono (stewed dish).
Chazuke to finish. There was some other stuff and dessert but for the sake of this entry not having 8000 photos, I left them out.
After lunch, it was off to Universal Studios Japan (USJ). Unlike Tokyo Disneyland, USJ is very close to downtown Osaka.
I am including this photo because the “Twilight Pass” is not mentioned on the USJ website, but it exists! If you go after 3pm (which we did), it’s only ¥4900 instead of ¥6600. I am a fan of these tickets because theme parks are stupidly expensive.
No tattoos allowed!
For some reason, everything was still Easter-themed, even though Easter was long over.
Looks just like all the other Universal Studios of the world.
But the Schwab’s Pharmacy is pink!
And there’s Hello Kitty.
The Hello Kitty corner of the park is incredibly pink.
The cutest garbage cans ever?
Yes, we rode on this cupcake ride.
Wah, so cute!
There’s this fake Hello Kitty “fashion” exhibit which is kind of weird but hey, Hello Kitty everywhere!
Mike models this bow dress.
I wish I could actually buy this.
And these.
There’s this part where you “meet” Hello Kitty and take bunch of photos, but we were too cheap to buy them. Sorry, Hello Kitty!
But I did buy a Hello Kitty nikuman (meat bun)!
Poor Kitty-chan.
On your birthday, you get to eat all the desserts you want.
Of course it’s heart-shaped!
When it gets dark, USJ puts on a parade of lights.
It was actually pretty cool.
For dinner, it was off to the takoyaki museum (part of USJ CityWalk) because I love takoyaki. The museum is just like the one in Tokyo, but I think it’s mostly local Osaka takoyaki shops. Which is good, because Osaka has the best takoyaki!
Order your takoyaki from a machine.
Kukuru is probably my favourite takoyaki place. Their takoyaki is slightly bigger than normal, but it’s so soft and creamy inside.
After dinner, I went to Matsukiyo (Matsumoto Kiyoshi is a very large Japanese drugstore chain) to buy myself a bunch of makeup. (Another entry about Japanese drugstore goodies is forthcoming.) Then, karaoke. Ten points if you know this song. 沖縄!
Another dessert for me! Karaoke waffle and a strawberry Rilakkuma I won in a UFO catcher.
So that was my birthday/how I would spend every day in Japan if I could. What’s better than lobster, Hello Kitty, takoyaki, makeup, desserts, and karaoke?
