Japan Osaka free and easy Itinenary : 15 TIPS TO enjoy rides and food and save money at Japan Universal Studio Osaka

Just visited Universal Japan this summer.
Here are some tips to enjoy yourself and some money saving tips

Tips

1. Check the weather report. Make sure it will not be raining. Google the weather. Rides and queues are not all sheltered. Bring an umbrella if possible
2. Buy the tickets online to avoid queues and save money. Try Klook or KKday. WE did not buy the express queue tickets. We managed to get into Harry Potter, Spider man, Minions 4D, Backdraft, Sailormoon, gozilla, Attack of the Titans, the other Minions rides and one of the kids rides. We did not take any roller coaster ride as I have phobia of heights and dropping, but I did have fun even I did not take the Roller coaster rides
3. Reach around 845 to 9am, the queues are not that long in the morning. We went on a weekday and reach around 845am, there is already a lot of people waiting outside.

4. Avoid going on weekends as the queues will be much longer
5. Eat your breakfast as there is little time to waste, food are expensive and no outside food can be bought in. Bring plain water as it can be quite hot and tiring. There are water coolers around.
6. Go to the rides with the longer queues first.The queues were be peaked around 1 plus to around 5. Between that timing, take some photo, do some shopping,  get some food and take a break. Leave the photo taking when the queue is long.
7. Do some research before you go as time is limited. You can't take all the rides. We watch street performances as we go along. Then we fnished all the 4D rides and the special anniversary rides as the must take rides and we finished all of them.
8. For aesthetic food, it will be the Minions and some of the small snacks kiosks selling cute desserts or sweets. If you are on a budget, try the less popular cafe like the Jaws. The price of the food can be around 30% cheaper and there is usually more peaceful
9. In the afternoon, a lot of people were sitting by the roadside resting around afternoon as it is getting hot and tiring. You can venture to less popular areas and there are rest areas with benches.
10. Stay till the night if you can as the park looks different at night. And there is the Harry potter night shows and a parade.

11. There are tons of options for Dinner at the Universal city outside Universal Studio so there is not a need to get in Universal as food options are limited and expensive
12. The only ride with English sub is Minions. However, the ride experience is more important than the story line to me
13. The map of Universal Japan is confusing. The restaurant maps are on the other side and rides on the other, no shops or landmark indication. There are a few signs around. Not all information are available on the map
14. There is not a need to get a numbered ticket for Harry Potter unless you are going on weekends or the summer Holidays.
15. Wear contacts if possible if you taking the 4D Rides and Roller coaster rides

Review of some of the rides

1. Harry Potter Ride and the forbidden ride (4D Ride)
    This is our first ride. We took around 30mins to queue as it is our first ride. We rushed to queue for it when it just opened.  The wait can be much longer. This is not an actual roller coaster but it is one of the more scariest and most vivid ride. It was fun, but scary to me. Worth a try.

4D ride is at this castle but we start queuing at the entrance

the queue was a long walk with some interesting things to see 

2. Spider-man The-ride (4D ride)
    We were a bit lost. But the queue was not long. We took 10-15 mins to get to the ride. This has less drop and spinning. Graphics was good but not as vivid as Harry Potter. If you are not sure of whether 4D rides are your thing, you can try this one out first. I enjoyed this as I spend less time screaming for my life.

3. SailorMoon : The Miracle (4D ride)
   We are really fans of Japanese anime and cartoons but this was the one of the special of the 5th anniversary of the Universal Japan. The setting is like a movie Theater, there is no dropping or turning. Just the character appear closer to you in 4D form.  It is suitable for kids and elderly. The show is quite an interesting watch with the 4D animation.. Recommended for your heart to take a break from the excitement and a good place to rest your tired feet. We waited around 30 minutes to watch the show.

4.Attack of the Titans : The REal (4D ride)
  This is a theatre setting too. This include real life actors/actress involves in this. There is slightly lesser 4D animation and the chairs does not move too. I did not enjoy it as much maybe as there is a language barrier to the storyline. We waited around 30 minutes for the show too

5.  Minions : Freeze Ray Sliders
     This is not a 4D ride. This is something like the kids" spinning tea cups but the spins are more intense and has some jerks here and there. If you want something outdoor but not too boring. I will suggest this ride. It was quite fun for me. The waiting time was around 15 minutes.
 

6. Despicable Me Minions Mayhem ( 4D Ride)
     We queued an hour for this ride as this during the peak hours, around 3pm. The ride as animated drops and spins. It is more exciting than the Spider-man but less intense than the HArry Potter Ride. This is the only ride that provide English Subtitles. As I have taken this ride before in America. It is less fun due to lack of the surprise elements.

7. Backdraft
    I was not interested in this ride at all as I read on how boring it will be except the last part. But my friend suggested it and the show was 5 minutes from starting when we walked past. The first 15 minutes was just explanation of backdraft and how the movie was made. It was all in Japanese. Then the last 5 minutes was the fire scene. Take note that there is no seats available. You stand and watch a clip in Japanese.

8. Elmo's Go Go Skateboard
   The waiting time is around 5 to 10 minutes. I did not take the ride because I was scared. My friend took the ride. The skateboard roll up and down and a 360 degree spin. I did heard a kid tell the dad that the ride was really fun. We wanted to take the Flying Snoopy but as it was raining, we left the queue.

9.  Harry Potter light show
      We were exploring the Harry Potter in the evening as I seen some beautiful shots of it at night. As we were at the castle, I realise there were a lot of people standing around. We enquired the staff if there is a show coming up. He says there is a light show starting in 5 minutes. This is not listed in the pamphlets. We were lucky as we were back to explore the castle as the place looked beautiful at night. The show is a short but interesting to watch. I can't find the timing of the show at night, but I believe there is a few shows as I overheard the staff telling a person the next show timing. Just ask the staff about the timing available for the show.

10. Universal Spectacle Night Parade
    We did not manage to locate the place or the parade was cancelled due to the on-off rain. We only have the staff there doing a photo session. Quite disappointing to us. We went off to watch the Gozilla show which was at the spot where we were waiting for the parade.

8. Gozilla vs Evangelion : The Real (4D Ride)
    There is no waiting time as it is around 830pm and most people have left. This is the same theatre as the sailormoon. This is available from afternoon onwards. This ride is quite fun although it is in the theatre. The chair did jerk at some critical fighting scene and there are some other effects. I find it quite fun and not scary at all. I was happy that I did not missed this ride.

Food

The most famous food in Universal is the turkey leg. We did not eat it as it does not look appealing to us.
If you are there on budget, eat proper food at the restaurant as as meal can cost like 1500 yen or more. A simple beautiful looking ice cream or a cup of butter beer will be around 800 yen and it does not make you full. We only try the Butter Beer, we paid extra for the cup as it is one of the cheapest souvenir, extra 500 yen. The Butter Beer taste like Caramel. The rest just look good but really expensive.

 We visited 3 resturant. We left the HArry Potter resturant when we really the food are quite expensive and not really Aesthetic.

We ate at the Minions resturant. We went around 1pm.  There was a short queue. Everyone need to order a set meal. The price is not cheap but it includes a drink and a salad. We order 2 sets of the main course and a cream puff set. I was say the food is average but is visually interesting. The price of the main course is around $20+ each and the cream puff set around $10+. The whole meal comes up to around $70 even if we did not order 3 main courses.

We walked past Jaw resturant. The price of the food looks a few hundred yen cheaper than the minions resturant. If you looking to save a few bucks and avoid the crowd, the food looks decent. I googled the image of the resturant. It is quite interesting too.

What to do other than eat and rides?

When the queues have long waiting time and the weather is hot. Walk around for some photos, and run to any of the shop for air con and more photo taking. There is not a need to buy but some of the shops are quite interesting to window shop. There are also street performances here and there

HArry Potter

HArry Potter

HArry Potter Castle

Catch some street performances

chance upon the dinosaurs while exploring the park

Baby Dinosaur

One piece?

 

Shopping, hide from the Sun and photos

Night scenery of Universal.

The last shot of the day. We had fun. :D

I just changed my mobile phone and all the photos are taken using by mobile. I am quite pleased with the quality of photos. I took a video of the Harry Potter Light Show, I think the quality is quite good. However, I am not going to share it. I don't want to spoil the fun and the elements of surprise when you watch the show. Have fu!!

Western Australia Perth : Airport Apartment by Aurum

Every year , I will bring my parents to one destination of their preferences for a trip.

This time round, we decide to be slightly more adventurous and try a non-Asia country, Perth.

My parents are more than 70 year old and quite conservative.

We took a flight that reach at around midnight.

It was not possible to rent a car at midnight. We decide to go visit Margaret River before Perth City.

We decided to book an apartment near the Airport.

We choose Airport Apartment by AURUM .

1.The apartment is it provide free transfer from Airport to the apartment to and back to the airport. We need to get back to the Airport in the morning to pick up our car.

It is safer for us to get  a good night sleep and set off tomorrow.

2. There are 2 toilets which make it much easier to get ready.

3. The price is quite reasonable as we are only staying for the night. 

Review of the place

1. The arrangement of the Airport transfer was easy. The driver was friendly and helped with our luggage. Good first impression.

2. The room was big and clean. There are two bedrooms, 2 toilet and a washing machine/dryer. The living room/kitchen is quite big with a sofa, bed, dining table and a fully equipped kitchen.

It is quite weird to see a bed right in the living room. There is also a balcony.

3. We did not get to try the kitchen nor the laundry facilities so we can't comment much. The shower is hot and not too weak. We had a good night sleep.

4. I am not sure if there is a lift or escalator. We took the stairs. Maybe email the apartment if you are need to know.

Overall, I am quite satisfied with the place and the free transfer. There is nothing around the apartment so breakfast will be at the airport or somewhere else. 

 The airport car which is a bit blur.. Sorry for the bad photo. 

The living room. I missed out the photo of the microwave. There is a microwave.

One of the double room.

One of the toilet with the laundry facilities.

  

outside view of my apartment

Box/Shelves rental

I been too busy to update this blog as I have trying to do some small business
I have working with a few box/shelves rental company. Let me share with you my experiences and maybe this will help people who are thinking whether to take the risk or join the fun. Let think about from merchants or sellers' perspective.


The companies I know are Cube sprout, Inbox, Hako, Toyoutpost, Box Boss, Box Societe, District 5, Ministry of Cube .. There should be more of them.

Let me do an analysis of renting a box or shelf.

1.  Different companies have different commission charged. It is usually between 8% to 10%. Most of the shelves rental still carry their own products which include toys or phone accessories. Therefore, do take note of the commission when marking the price of your items as for every $100 of sales, $10 is the profit.

2.  Different companies have different staff management. Some companies has a minimum of 2 or more staff daily. Some companies only 1 or 2 staff. The negative point of having 1 staff is not enough to serve the customers and the need to close for lunch break. People may just get tired of waiting and leave. 

However, the quality of staff is important. 

Some staff just sit behind the counter using their hp and chit chatting. They have no knowledge of the items in the shop and just use the excuse that they are just a consignment shop. Sometimes you are selling the item but the staff will just ask the customers to look for items themselves. People are turned off by the staff's attitude. I am not sure if the management does check on the service by the staff.

Some staff are always on their feet and helping out customers' questions. Some staff bothered to pack the shelf and some just tell you they are busy or it is too difficult. It is hard to have good sales in a messy shop

Some staff are just too preoccupied behind the counter to deter shoplifting. 

I will suggest dropping by the counter to double check on the quality of staff. Good staff will really help in the sales as they are friendly and willing to help. They also will help you pack your items and deter shoplifting by just being on their feet. On the other hand, do not expect the shelves to be always neat as priority is serving customers and not packing the shelf to pack .

3.  Price war. Most shops have a clause on not allowing price war. Not all shops actually take action when price war happens. They just say is competition. So someone can come along and sell something at a much lower price. Some will discourage the other sellers and inform you if this happens. If a price war starts, the only winners are the shelf rental shop and the customers. Having different promotion to entice customers is actually good, but having sellers price cutting each other will only results in sellers losing substantial income. Price cut is an irreversible process.  There is always the reasoning of the survival of the fittest or in other words, who have the most capital.

4. This kind of shop is attractive to a lot of people as it sells a variety of stuff. There are some shops that does not control the variety of items sold. It is getting boring. Nowadays, a lot of shops has not been controlling the items sold.  The main thing is handphone case and accessories, slime and kpop. 

5. There are some shops that allowed their staff to sell items in the shop. The advantage of that, it increase the variety of items sold. If you are doing well, they can always join in the game. They will know exactly what is selling well, how to display and more information than you or any new seller that is joining you. There are some rules and regulations to keep staff in check. 

Cost involved

If you are renting single shelf. The rent will be $150 to $200 plus. Let take the cost of $180. In order to cover the rent and commission, you will need a sales of $200. If your stock cost is around $100 for a month, then you will need around $300 for a single shelf and $500 for a double shelf to cover some of the operating cost.

There are other cost like buying racks and containers, damaged and stolen stock and also labour cost. If you put in 5 hours into the shelf, you should expect at least $50 for labour cost. Labour cost include travelling time, packing of items for sale and packing of shelf.  The remaining then is your actual profit. It is advisable to drop by once a week or fornightly, to restock and get comments on how to improve sales and display. The hours put in should be more than 5 hours.

A lot of people do not count in all the cost, especially their own labour cost so they think they are making a big profit. There are also cost like damaged goods and shoplifting. 

I heard of a lot of people commenting it is good profit because an item can make like $5 profit. In order to cover cost of $550, 110 of the items need to be sold which is like 4 items per day to cover cost. And this, we are only talking about covering cost and not making profit

If you stand around and watch, there are sales but not a lot of items are sold per shelf That are some people who believe making a $1 profit per item is already enough. We need to sell 550 items which is almost 20 pieces a day. If you are selling hair clips or phone case, you will realise very few shelfs sells 20 pieces a day. Maybe more than 50 phone cases are sold, but divide by the large number of shelves selling phone cases. It will be not as much. Selling what everyone is selling is not going to beneficial unless you have something different. The profit margin must be higher to cover rental, commission, labour, stock and theft. Do your accounts first, a lot of people just end up paying rent to the shop and not making profit. Or believing they are making a profit by ignoring some costs. 

Tips

1. Visit the shop a few times to not just check out the traffic flow. The quality of the staff which is are the staff packing the shelves, helping the customers and walking around.
2. Try to keep the same price as others. There is no point starting a price war as others will follow suit or reduce the price even more. and it will just benefit the customers. Decreasing price will not bring the same increase in sales. Unless you are intending to use a lot of money to kill off all competitors.
3. Count your cost and expenses properly. Sales is not the same as profit. Remember you are not free labour.
4. Look at how other vendor arrange their items. Learn how to present in a neat and orderly manner. It will be more attractive.
5. The rent of shelf is usually is higher at eye level. If you are selling small items, it is better to get an eye level shelf. If you are selling big items, it is better to save cost by getting lower but bigger shelf so more items can be put in.
6. Closed and open locker depends on the items you are selling. There are a lot of shoplifting nowadays. Some occurred when the staff are just too busy and some when they are too lazy. Open locker allowed easy access to the stuff you selling, even when the staff is busy. There are some people who walk away because the staff is busy. Open locker are have more damaged goods and shoplifting.

It is a good way to start small business, there are people who started at the shelf business and managed to start their own shop. There are people who worked at this shop and learn enough to use these shops to making their living. However, more people actually just pay rent to learn a lesson. Think carefully about the costs and how much sales you can expect. 

Tokyo free and easy : Meiji Shrine

We decided to take a bus down  instead of the train. Firstly, it is only like 3-4 stops from our apartment and the busstop is just 3 mins walk away. Secondly, it was the first time that we are taking a bus in Japan. We followed Google map instructions and have no problem for our little bus ride.
You can also use your Suica car for the bus ride.

We were quite happy that we actually took a bus. We got off at Kitasando Entrance.There were beautiful ginko trees along the road on the way to Meiji Shrine. Such a beautiful sight. Autumn is a good season to travel as there are lot of vibrant colours and the weather is not too cold and not too hot. It was easy to navigate to Meiji shrine as we just followed the google map. After the entrance, we still need to walk around 5-10 minutes  to the shrines.

We did not know the day we went on the day of Harvest festival at Meiji Shrine. It was a pleasant surprise. There are a lot of decorations by fruits and vegetables. It is held at the around late November.

There is english fortune telling poetry costing 100yen.

Traditional Japanese wedding

There are a lot of locals dressed up for the event especially children. It is so cute to see them walking around. 

After watching the display at Meiji Shrine, we make our way to Harajuku. 

There was a Chrysanthemum exhibit. Not a very bit display but it was beautiful nonetheless. 

There are a lot of Chrysanthemum display in Japan during the month of November. 

If you are into nature, November is month of the vibrant autumn leaves, the Chrysanthemum flowers and yellow ginkgo leaves.

It is quite easy to navigate from Meiji Shrine to HArajuku. It is not that far but walking will take around 10-15 minutes depending on your speed.

It is good to plan both location together. 

After a walk and exploring Meiji Shrine, it will be time to feast and shop at Harajuku.

There is a museum at Meiji Shrine that displays a lot of historial items including items being the Emperor and Empress. Entrance fee is 500yen. I never been there so I can give a review on it

Meiji Shrine: From Harajuku Station on the JR Yamanote Line 

 Meiji-jingu-mae Station on the Chiyoda 

Or you can take a bus like what I did. 

It depends on where you are starting your journey from.

Tokyo Free and Easy : Tokyo Tower

Can see the Tokyo Tower from the station exit. You can definitely find you way there.

Directions

How to get there

There are a few stationS available to reach Tokyo STation. Definitely will choose the one with the least walking time unless you have a day pass to make use of.

I got off at Akanebashi Station and follow signs and exits and definitely my Google map. Navigation is not hard. Just follow the crowd.

There are 2 paths leading to Tokyo Tower, the closer one is a steep slope and the path further down is flat. If you with eldery or not one who like slope, walk further down and take the shorter and flat path

My favourite shot.

JCB card members will have complimentary tickets for Tokyo Tower. That is why mine is 0 yen


Tickets for Main Observatory:
Adult 900 yen and child is 500 yen.
Tickets for One Piece Tower and Main Observatory Set Ticket:
3900 yen for adult
2000 yen to 3600 yen for students/child

Main Observatory Business  Hours are 9am - 11 pm ( Final Entry at 1030pm)

Tokyo on piece Tower Business Hours ar 10am - 10 pm ( Final Entry at 9pm)

For any tourist who did to do their snack shopping.

MOst snacks are available at airport unless some more unique ones.

However, airport has quite a long queue and a big crowd so go to DFS early if you intend to purchase souvenirs at the airport.

  We did not go to the Tokyo One Piece Tower. However, there are some images which you can take photos with.

Tips :

1. If you are exiting at the same station as me, choose the right path to the Tokyo Tower unless you don't mind slopes.

2. Apply for the JCB card, you save $10

3. Go around 1 to 1 .5 hour before sunset. Google sunset at Tokyo. It will give you ample time to take photos of the Tokyo tower in daylight and also a clear view of the buildings and landmarks. It will be hard to spot Mount Fuji and other significant landmarks.

4. Choose a clear and bright day. The views will be better and clearer and the sunset will be beautiful. I did not manage to catch any sunset as it was too cloudy. I was quite disappointed. 

5. If you are into night scenery, a tripod will be good.

6. Do not plan to have your dinner at Tokyo Tower, the food choices was very limited. The food court food was just average. Not really worth my time and money.

I never been to other observatory towers in Tokyo so I can't give my comparison.

It is definitely worth going for me as I did not pay for the tickets. 

The other 2 Obversatory Tower.

Tokyo Skytree

Roppongihills

How to travel around Tokyo Metro Subway Jr Keio Line Suica Map

Tokyo train lines maybe complicated but with Google Maps. Things has become much much easily.


Suica/PAsmo Card

If you are doing a free and easy in Tokyo, you can buy a Suica / Pasmo card at the airport. For theThe card will cost 2000 yen, a deposit of 500 yen is automatically included in the price. The deposit can be claimed back ONLY in Tokyo, at by JR East stations for Suica, and participating private railway and subway stations for Pasmo. You can purchase both cards at the airport. There is no significant difference in price most of the time. Mainly is for the convenience of checking out the fare and queuing up to buy tickets and having to take out your money every now and then. However, it can't be used for shinkansen, limited express tickets and airport bus.



For me, I bought the Suica card, it can be used in some other parts of Japan which include Osaka and Kyoto which I also visited.


MOre information on Suica Card and where to get it

More information on Pasmo card and where to get it

Good read on both cards http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_003.html


One-day Pass

There are more than 1 type of one-day pass available.

If you do want to save some money, you can buy the pass only on days that you travel extensively.


1. Metro one day pass Adult 600 yen Child 300yen

At trip on the metro cost around 170-310 yen. If you make more than 3 trips, this is a good deal to get. However, not all places are accessible by the metro. Do your research and plan those metro trips together, it will help you save quite a significant amount of money. This is valid for 24 hours.


2. Toei Subway and Tokyo Metro One day pass. Adult 1000 yen child 500 yen

This is valid for Toei Subway and Tokyo. However, this is only valid for the day of purchase


3. Tokyo Combination ticket (Tokyo Furii Kippu) Adult 1590 yen Child 800yen

This allow unlimited rides on Tokyo Metro, Toei Subway, Toei Streetcar (Toden), Toei Bus (except for buses with fixed seats, etc.), all sections of Nippori-Toneri Liner as well as all JR lines within the Tokyo metropolitan area. This is only valid on the day of purchase

4. Tokunai PAss Adult 730 yen child 360 yen

This is for JR trains (except JR express trains) running within the 23 wards of Tokyo as many times as you want.

This is valid on day of purchase.


5. Toei One- Day Economy pass Adult 700 yen Child 350yen kyotso ichinichi Josha-ken


This is available on Toei streetcars, buses and from ticket vending machines at Toei Subway stations. This is avilable on day of purchase



6. Yurikamome One-day Open ticket Ichiniichi JOshu-ken Adult 800 yen Child 400 yen

Availble for Odaiba (Tokyo Bay area)


The one day pass is available at the train station itself. The Metro pass will be available at the metro station.



More information on one day pass


GOOGLE MAP: How to navigate your way around Tokyo


As I mentioned, Google maps work very well in Tokyo and other parts of Japan.

Before you set off, you can plan your route. Google map will show you the different options available. If you have the metro pass, you will try to choose the one that suggest metro rides. And if you are someone on a budget, you can choose the one that is the cheapest or walk. If you are with elderly, choose the least complicated and the one with least walking.


Key in the place you are going. You can choose my location. As I am back in Singapore, I can't choose my location. Walking is the cheapest. Jr line seems to the cheapest but takes the longest time and the walking time is almost the same as walking straight to the location.

Fakutoshin line will be the metro line. The bus caught my interest the most as I have never taken the bus in Tokyo before and the walking time is shorter. I asked the hotel about the bus route, but they do not know anything about it.I went during autumn so the weather was good for walking. If you are going during summer/cold winter, maybe walking is not a good choice. The bus is good if you are not good with stairs but bus stop is not as clearly marked as train station. The good thing about walking is sometimes you catch some beautiful sights that you clearly don't expect to see.


I am a bit paranoid about getting lost so I will be check whether the walking route is complicated as sometimes we missed a turn and we end up walking a much longer distance. I will keep my GPS on till I reach the destination to ensure that I don't missed out anything











1. Taking the bus to Meiji Shrine









Click on the options for more details like walking distance. The number of stops. Fairly close by bus stop.



Bus stop is near to the shrine which means I can take a nice walk around the gardeb before I reach the Shrine.

2. For the walking part, I will definitely recommend you keep the GPS. They will tell you when to turn at every little junction. Will get there safe and sound and shortest possible time. Zoom in to see the important landmarks to make sure you are on the right track. And there is a little arrow when you are walking. Make sure your arrow is pointing to the direction of the road you are supposed to talk. I sometimes do a 360 turn to make sure I am starting on the correction direction.

Below is the preview. You can analyse the route to decide if it worth the walk. However, when you are walking and the GPS is on, you can instant update of your location so you will not be lost.






3. Going by Metro. They will show you the stops and time so if it is a long ride. Can just space out and play with you hp. press the individual options for more information.




I am not an expert on Japan transport but I hope this helps.