Another day in Japan, Osaka - Universal Studios (More Photos)

Our second day in Osaka we headed over to Universal Studios.

Hubby and I were so excited as we have been lucky enough to have been to Universal Studios in LA and loved it.

Something we found different during our travels in Japan.  The weather was definitely a lot cooler than home.  Most times 9C - 10C and cooler at night.  Yes, we layered but I was always quick to take off my big jacket and jumper as the day time warmed up.  We noticed however, that the locals tend to rug up in their woolies that suit them for the early morning and the night time and never take these layers off as the day goes by.  Just amazing.  I was sweltering sometimes and they are standing there in a heavy jacket.  Even bumped into a guy from Sydney on our visit to Universal, he has lived here since June.  I commented on this to him and he had noticed it too.  He said the other day he was at the train station and saw this guy all rugged up, obviously warm...instead of taking a layer off he had a little hand towel to wipe the sweat from his brow and neck.  

Anyways,  here we are at the entrance to Universal Studios.  Not sure if you can pick us out. :-)

The globe.

The main street as you walk in.  We arrived not long after opening and as we walked down the street were ushered over to the footpath as the Christmas Carols were cranked up loud.......

Then all of a sudden were watching a Christmas parade with Elmo and friends.  So happy, cheery and fun you could not help but smile.

After the parade we headed further down the road...this is one of the many buildings.  First stop was the Spiderman ride.  Enjoyed parts of it...most I had my eyes closed and remembered that I am a scaredy cat and don't really like fast rides these days.  So the rest of the day Hubby and kids would do a ride while I people watched.

Our son took this, to make it look like we visited China too.

School girls were everywhere.  Not just at Universal Studios but anywhere we went on our journey of Japan.

Same with school boys.  Just noticed one of these students actually has his jacket off.

This is one of the rides that I missed out on.  Apparently you climb to 25 metres high in the dark and drop on this slide into water.  I enjoy watching this bit. :-)

Now we (hubby and I) had been telling the kids how wonderful Backdraft was and had forgotten about Waterworld but when we saw the sign...how wonderful this was when we saw it in LA.

Although both shows were still terrific they definitely lose a lot of the experience when you do not understand the language.  Backdraft has a lot of talking prior to the show to explain about fires and how they grow and burn but that was lost on us as it was all in Japanese.  Same with this Water World show....although heaps of fun and we joined in when the crowd was clapping, putting thumbs up and thumbs down but we had no idea most of the time why.

This is not a complaint at all....as I don't expect that they should have any other language than Japanese. Just a note in case someone is thinking of flying to Japan to visit Universal in lieu of USA.  You do miss some of the experience if you don't understand what is being said.

All the same this guy was very funny and the front few rows of people got wet by is offsiders throwing buckets of water.

Amazing what these guys can do with the jet skis in such a small area.

Is this not a fantastic shot.....my hubby managed to click the camera just as the plane crashed on through.

Flames and fireworks going off everywhere....definitely an exciting show in any language. :-)

All the stars of the show.

Our daughter thought this place had a fantastic name so had to get a photo.

These guys were brilliant and now we wish we had a video but they just appeared out of no where.

They were so synchronised it was fantastic.

They would march along and then suddenly both turn together in to go in a different direction.  Continue marching and salute in time.  No music or drums to guide them.

And look at how close they were whilst marching.  I would have surely tripped on the guy in front.

This is the specially decorated train that brings you to Universal Studios.

Now that brings me to the end of another fantastic day we had.