The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Japan

I don't usually blog about my travels in detail but I received a bunch of questions about my recent trip to Universal Studios Japan's The Wizarding World of Harry Potter that I decided to just write about it here.

Some quick details: My friends and I stayed at a small hotel along both Osaka's Chuo and Sennichimae lines, which was just a quick ride to Universal City. We headed to the JR Osaka Loop Line's Nishi-Kujo stop, and then crossed to the JR Yumesaki platform heading to Sakurajima. Universal City is two stops away from Nishi-Kujo and the entrance to USJ is a few hundred meters outside the station.

Prior to going there, we had already discussed being at USJ by 8:00 AM. Unfortunately, we were still at Nishi-Kujo station by that time, so we knew we were running a little later than schedule. It turned out that the few minutes weren't a problem. We decided to purchase our tickets at Hotel Kintetsu Universal City, which is the nearest hotel to USJ and was on the way from the station. The ticket counter opened at exactly 8:30, but since we were third in line, we got our tickets right away.

We already had our tickets by the time we passed this arch.
I don't know how early the main ticket booth opened, but by the time we got to there, there were already lines at the counter (but all moving quickly). But no, those were not the long queues you should be wary of. Everyone else was now queued up by the gates, waiting for them to open. There's a special line for guests who can enter earlier; just be sure to find the correct lines. We were there on a Thursday and though the website said that the park opened at 10:00 on that day, we were let in by around 9:15 (9:00 for the special pass holders).

Once the gates opened, there was a mad dash to the Harry Potter area, located near the lakeside (turn right after Main Street or just follow the crowd). From reading a few early blog entries AND USJ's official site, we all knew that there were timed tickets to the Wizarding World attraction. So when everyone started running, we ran for it as well. My friends and I got separated at this point and I belatedly realized that we had not discussed where to meet once this happened. I just kept running to the area and looking for a kiosk or ticket machine with a long line.

There was none I could see.

At this point, I had stopped to catch my breath and was now just walking along Forbidden Forest. I was still in a hurry wondering: (1) where my friends were, and (2) where the ticket machine was.

Past the Whomping Willow, still no queue.

Already inside Hogsmeade, still no queue. (Also, you don't think I took these photos while I was running, right?)
More alarmingly, still no sign of my friends. People were running deeper into Hogsmeade and towards Hogwarts Castle, so I decided to ask one of the attendants around.

Me: (in English) Is there a ticket for this area? (Because hey, everyone said there was!)
Attendant: (looking surprised by the question) No, no ticket. (Maybe she was thinking, What the hell are you doing here if you don't have a ticket?)
Me: (thinking, hmmm maybe she didn't understand me. Time to bring out my laughable Japanese) Uh... koko... kippu... arimasu ka?
Attendant: (in English) This area, no tickets.

Twilight Zone. Okay, no tickets. I'm not going to question the fates. I was already in, right? (But why were people still running?)

Just follow the signs!
I thanked her and jogged to the castle anyway, since I saw people heading there. That's when I foundnd the longest queue I've seen so far. And finally, my friends were there! We lined up and soon realized that the queue was for the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride and a trip through Hogwarts Castle. I didn't want to go on the ride, so I went through the separate entrance for those who just want to go on the Castle Walk. You get to walk through the same thing that the ride-goers go through before the Forbidden Journey starts, but since there are less of us in our lane, we weren't rushed by the attendants.

Once we were through with the Castle Walk, we decided to explore the rest of Hogsmeade. From butterbeer to robes to owl posts to wand selection, there was a surprise waiting at every corner.

We did not expect the long line at Honeydukes so we decided on lunch at Three Broomsticks first. The meal is more expensive than usual, but I thought the serving size was just right and the interiors made it feel like you were really there.

Details are everything!
Finally, when we got to Honeydukes, we made a beeline for the chocolate frogs and peppermint toads...

only to find out that there are small kiosks outside that sell the more popular items like the frogs and the every-flavored beans.

But then again, who would pass up the chance to enter Honeydukes, right?

So the timed entry tickets? Not yet applicable for early park-goers, it seems. I think it depends on how many people are in the attraction before any sort of timed entry applies. If you're there when the main gates open, I suspect that you could still enter the Wizarding World without running from the main gate. But please note that we were there on a Thursday in the fall, which could have been part of the off-peak season. I don't know how applicable these tips are if you're heading there around the holidays. The golden rule is still the earlier, the better, which is also a good way to avoid the crowds. The timed entry tickets seem to take effect later on, maybe when the attraction is at full capacity or maybe an hour or so in the day. In any case, when we left, we already saw that the area had been closed off and attendants would look for the guests' timed entry tickets before allowing them into the Harry Potter world.

If you plan on going to USJ, make this attraction your first stop. The place is beautiful. Not everyone gets the chance to walk through the pages of a beloved story and this experience just made Harry Potter come alive for me. I didn't regret a single minute.

One Foot in Front of the Other

I would have loved to say that the reason I haven't been posting regularly is because I've been traveling, but the truth is I've just been preoccupied with a lot of other things. I've been a bad blogger. Still, my year has been dotted with some short trips here and there, proof that I've never really been one to stay put. Finally writing this post has been good for me. It was real. It happened. It feels like a lifetime ago, but it happened.

(Warning: This post is image-heavy)

Singapore (January)
I was on a plane bound for Manila on New Year's Day and I want to think that it set the tone for this year's travel plans. Two days after that, my youngest sister CJ and I headed to Singapore. It was both my graduation present to her (she started college last fall) and a chance for me to visit some dear friends.

No trip is complete without a visit to Clarke Quay. We headed there for a short walk on our first night and then returned a few days after to take the river cruise.

It was my first time at the Botanical Gardens. I would love to bring my mom to this place.

My sister insisted on getting a henna tattoo at Little India. She even brought her own design.

We headed to Chinatown on our last day. I insisted.

Taken at the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. I've been there a few times before but this was the first time I found out its name.


Macau (March)
This was a bittersweet journey for me. At first, I was excited for a very brief shake-up-the-weekend trip with my long-time travel buddy Liv (and new friend Mark).

Casinos everywhere. Of course we had to try one.

We stayed only a few blocks from Senado Square so this was a familiar sight. We passed by the Square whenever we went out or came back to the hotel.

Good morning, sunshine.

Liv took this photo in front of the Macau Tower, showcasing different artists' work celebrating the Year of the Horse. This was one of my favorites.

Ruinas de Sao Paulo, gutted but still standing.
One of my best friends--light of my life, heart-sister--was in the hospital before I left for this trip. Macau was one of the places that we had always talked of visiting but we never really got the chance to start any concrete plans. So I took photos and filed notes away, chronicling my trip for her, thinking of all the things I would tell her when I returned. At about four-thirty AM on the day that I was supposed to return, I woke to missed calls and messages and I knew that she had gone on a different journey without me. I still miss her.


La Union (April)
Every year, I only make one New Year's resolution (I believe in focusing). This year's went to seeing more of the Philippines. When my good friend and neighbor Mac invited me to go to La Union for Visita Iglesia, I jumped at the chance. I was still reeling from many things and I thought this was a good opportunity for me to find a little breathing room. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera so my photos ended up being mobile device-grainy.

Little town, it's a quiet village...

At the first church we visited. It had plenty of painted leaves and forests on the walls that it made me feel at peace.

Plenty of these old churches had these steps (or are they buttresses?) built against each side.

I liked the contrast between the dusty-looking brick church and the green that seemed determined to break through. Rally, heart.

Quezon (May)
I checked off something on my bucket list when another old friend (classmate of many years) Camille and I headed to Lucban, Quezon for the Pahiyas Festival. We tease each other about being kaladkarin (literally easy to drag along) and in the past few months we've been hoarding up on cultural experiences. Visiting Lucban was a nice change of pace and I would love to return to Pahiyas (time to befriend a local!) in the coming years.

The Pahiyas is definitely the most colorful festival I've seen.

Like seriously colorful. This is edible decor.

Even our food was colorful.

Pahiyas is a time to be grateful for the bountiful harvest, so it was common to see houses decorated with wheat and vegetables.

I didn't want to leave without taking a photograph of Mt Banahaw. My final opportunity came while we were speeding back to the tour bus on a tricycle. Camille held me while I leaned out to take this shot.
I wonder what sort of adventure the rest of the year has in store for me. Liv and I have another trip planned; Camille and I have been plotting one (it would be the first time we'd fly together) since the beginning of the year. But time is such a curious construct that all these really do feel like they were part of another life, and all the plans that we're making now still seem to be so far away. What I do know is that I wish I can always keep going somewhere, 'one foot in front of the other, through leaves, over bridges.'

The Beaches Book Club (August-September Challenge: Travel)

I had mentioned in a previous post that a few friends and I have formed an informal book club to encourage us to finish our reading piles. We're all readers but we tend to like different genres so it was hard for us to settle on a common title; I think the only thing we agree on is manga, and even that's still subject to further de-classification! In the end, we decided to go with a travel theme because it provided us with a wide range of things to pick -- and besides, we all liked to travel (even taken trips together, both local and abroad). Any book that touched on a form of travel was accepted. We began our books in mid-August and ended in mid-September. We had a list of questions we tried to answer, which focused mostly on the travel and cultural experiences mentioned in our respective books. While I took on Colin Cheong's Tangerine, here's a rundown of the other books the rest of the group had finished reading this month:

Book: How to Travel with a Salmon and Other Essays
Author: Umberto Eco
Reviewed by: Magnetic Rose
Thoughts:A collection of short articles and essays -- mostly parodies, written by Eco between 1975 and 1991. Includes instructions on How to Travel with a Salmon, How to Eat in Flight, How to Go Through Customs, and How to Deal with the Taxi Driver -- all funny, none real. The book covers places like London, Edinburgh, New York, and Milan, while tackling a number of ways to travel: first class, coach, train, taxi, and lastly bicycle. Funny as hell -- for smart people.
What was the best travel trivia/advice that this book gave you? Airline food will kill you.

Book: You Shall Know Our Velocity!
Author: Dave Eggers
Reviewed by: Oz
Thoughts:Reading this book is like going on a trip with two of your crazy, funny, (and probably cute) guy friends. Will comes into a big amount of money which he feels he doesn't really deserve. He decides to travel around the world with Hand, one of his best friends. Their trip involves visiting obscure countries and giving away Will's money bit by bit to the people they meet along the way. So the time they spend in each obscure country is mostly a mad scramble to find a way to go somewhere else. And all this they've decided to do after losing their best friend Jack to a car accident. Despite the craziness of everything going on here though, there are moments of raw emotion that lend a certain authenticity to everything that's happening.
What was the best travel trivia/advice that this book gave you? I honestly can't think of any decent travel advice I've learned here except probably what NOT to do on a trip. Will and Hand are disorganized, crazy, unprepared, unhygienic, unselfconscious. Their trip is a nightmare for anybody remotely OC.

Book: The Time Cavern
Author: Todd A. Fonseca
Reviewed by: Code Jutsu
Thoughts:When ten-year-old Aaron moved from the big city to the country, he thought it was a boring sleepy town. Then he met Jake, a know-it-all farm girl who said his house was haunted. She claimed an Amish boy disappeared without a trace after hearing the wind call his name. Aaron thought she was just trying to scare him...until the night he heard his own name in the wind. It was interesting, fast-paced and kept me thinking. Being a book targetted for 10 year old boys, explaining things *I* already know was a bit of a drag for me. But hey, I need to remember I am not the target audience. Its strength though lies with it's approach with the young protagonists, they are believable kids thrust into unusual instances. This book helped me understand more of the Amish, their religion and way of life. It was done with respect, and did not become preachy. It may be for kids, but it is interesting enough for kids at heart like me.
What was the best travel trivia/advice that this book gave you?Try anything once :)

Book: The Tattooed Map
Author: Barbara Hodgson
Reviewed by: Kitchen Cow
Thoughts:Lydia and ex-boyfriend Christopher travel to North Africa for entirely different reasons. Lydia because she lives to travel while Chris travels to buy curios and art pieces for clients. After an encounter with a mysterious stranger, Lydia finds a set of flea bites on her arm. Instead of it disappearing though, she discovers that the bites start taking the shape of lines and symbols, eventually turning into a tattooed map that slowly spreads along her arm. The story offers an interesting enough premise that borders on fantasy and realism. Unfortunately, it will forever be compared to Griffin and Sabine. It makes a good attempt to follow in the landmark trilogy's footsteps but it doesn't quite get there. The author fails to introduce story elements that I find important, like Lydia's relationship with Christopher, which was described in the book flap but is never really introduced until much much much much later in the book.
What was the best travel trivia/advice that this book gave you?Don't talk to strangers if you don't want strange tattoos on your body! J/K

Book: French Lessons (Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew)
Author: Peter Mayle
Reviewed by: Otaku Champloo
Thoughts:This is a non-fiction book written somewhere before and during his stay in Provence. This particularly looks into how France has forever changed his palette. Its strength lies in his casual narration of places and faces in France and why they love their food. His descriptions are vivid enough to make you hungry and long for the little villages in France. I also consider his humbling experience a strength. As an Englishman, his culinary experience in France has brought his English arrogance down at least in terms of food. Prior to reading the book, my impression of French food is snooty bistros with either steaks or pommes frites with a splash of French sauces here and there. I thought that French food was all about fine dining with wine to drink however, reading Mayle's culinary explorations, the French were at home with rustic meals and lunches that can go on forever, like Filipinos!
What was the best travel trivia/advice that this book gave you?Don't judge a food by how it looks or where it's from. Don't be afraid of what you don't know. Eventually, what scares you can surprise you and turn out to be the best culinary treat you'll ever have.

Book: Vroom with a View (In Search of Italy's Dolce Vita on a '61 Vespa)
Author: Peter Moore
Reviewed by: Pixel and Ink
Thoughts:Peter Moore chases a boyhood dream -- to go from Milan to Rome on a Vespa. But it couldn't be just any old Vespa. Peter wanted a bike as old as he was and in the same sort of condition. He called the bike Sophia. Peter Moore's tone is very casual, so the book easy to read. It actually reads as though he's talking to you over drinks (or rather, ponce, like did in his book) and telling you about his adventures with Sophia. I love he gave each town/city/village he visits its personality because of his descriptions of them. I also really liked the subplot of him looking for the elusive green Vespa on Kinder Egg Surprise chocolates throughout his trip. He was the kind of traveller who would go see a place beyond its tourist spots. He learned about their histories, and tried to immerse himself in the local culture. He also told a lot about the history of the Vespa and how it impacted the Italians' way of life. I love that Sophia (and the people enamored by her) helped pave the way for Peter and us, the readers, to see what's not written in guidebooks.
What was the best travel trivia/advice that this book gave you? Just do it!

Book: Dark Star Safari (Overland from Cairo to Cape Town)
Author: Paul Theroux
Reviewed by: Just Wandering
Thoughts:Approaching a landmark birthday (60 years), Paul Theoroux decides to go back to Africa and travel from Cairo to Cape Town overland. He travels to Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. The biggest strength of the book is that it's way off the beaten path. Apart from Egypt and South Africa, he features places that nobody would think to visit. He has worked in Africa before and can speak some of the native languages, so he was able to interact with the locals. He gives a brief history of the towns and cities he passes through and gives a pretty straightforward description place of just how much the place has deteriorated from when he was living there several decades prior. He can get pretty serious with the political stuff, but generally, it's not a hard book to read. One of my favorite quotes from the book: The greatest justification for travel is not self improvement but rather performing a vanishing act, disappearing without a trace.
What was the best travel trivia/advice that this book gave you? There are two things that pop to mind when we say Africa: bad news (famine, drought, hunger, war,... etc.) or lions, elephants and zebras. As Paul Theroux describes, taking the African Safari takes you to the "safe" Africa: far and isolated from the locals. If you want to really experience Africa, it's best to do it by going on your own and traveling overland.

Another friend took on The Ladies of Llangollen by Elizabeth Mavor, about two Irish upper-society women who ran away from their families and set up home together in Llangollen, but I'm not sure if she was able to finish it. Still, I think it was a good start for all of us. Not only did it give us that added push we needed to finish these books, but our online discussions made us feel that we've just read eight books in one go. We're about to start on our October challenge (which predictably is anything horror/occult/paranormal/thriller) and I already can't wait!