A Walk To | Universal Studio Osaka Japan

I'm not a fan of amusement park, call me old because I prefer to heritage spots or museum than amusement park haha. But Universal Studio Osaka is exceptional, because of Harry Potter! Almost all my friends who visited Japan put Disneyland in their list but I'm not a disney girl person haha.

greeted by that pervert smile

It was rainy and very cold that morning but I was so excited to go to my school, Hogwarts *err delusional*. We were a bit shocked because we thought that weekday and rain will make the crowd fewer but we're wrong haha. We had to queue to get in to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter but it's fine. We just gave our ticket to USJ employee and they put our ticket in some kind of counting machine then we would know what time we could enter the area. So we could stroll around other area while waiting, ah I love Japan with its queueing system haha.

rain can't stop us

While waiting, we walked around looking for food and shops. It's hard to find halal food here but finally we found this turkey leg stall. It's really a big turkey leg and taste good! *Or maybe it's because we're hungry

turkey leg! nomnom

must-take-this-adorable-turkey-leg

Aaaa wizard world! We walked through the woods path then we found abandoned Weasley's car. As a tourists and a reader of Harry Potter since I was in elementary school - I took pics of every spots in here haha.

Then we found the Hogwarts express, Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. I was curious that I got into all the shops but mostly they sell the same items. 

Last but not least, Hogwarts! 

hogwart's lake

Olympus Mju Zoom 115 + Fuji Xtra 400 (exp) and Pentax Espio Mini + Fuji Superia 200 (exp)

How to get there:
By train, the entrance gate of the Universal Studios Japan is located a five minute walk from Universal City Station on the JR Yumesaki Line (also referred to as JR Sakurajima Line).

Hours: Varying hours, typically from 10:00 to 18:00 during low season and from 9:00 to 21:00 during peak season.
Fee: 7200 yen. I bought the USJ ticket & one week JR Pass at HIS Travel in Indonesia

A Walk To | Dotonburi and Shinsaibashi

Minami is one of the most popular destination in Osaka. The area is full of shops, entertainment sites and food destinations. There are also lots of entertainment spots in Minami but we walked around Dotonburi and Shinsaibashi that night, our objective is to get dinner and shopping! haha.

It's a bit silly but I really wanna feel the ambiance of Osaka city at night when hundreds of neon lights and mechanized signs were turned on, the famous Glico Running Man sign :D

Olympus mju zoom 115 + fuji xtra 400 (exp)

How to get there:

From Shin-Osaka and Osaka Stations, the Midosuji Subway line connects Shin-Osaka and Osaka/Umeda Stations directly to Namba Station. It takes approximately 8 minutes and 240 yen from Osaka/Umeda Station and 15 minutes and 280 yen from Shin-Osaka Station.

Ijen's Superman!

I thought Rinjani's porters are the strongest men in the world, and then I saw sulfur miners at Ijen.

When you're at Ijen, you'll see these men passing you. They collect solidified sulfur and carry a very huge loads over 70 kilograms on their shoulders with bamboo baskets.

They do this work up to 3 times a day - by trekking 3km up to the crater then walking down the steep path to the collection point. They use only their bare hands and basic tools. Don't think about safety face mask, they wear only a piece of cloth or old tees to cover their nose. 

This high risk job which risk their health and life earns them Rp 70,000/day (around $7) which I could spend easily in a day :(

If you pass them, do not hesitate to buy molded sulfur. It means a lot :)

Photos are taken using Pentax Espio Mini + Fuji Xtra 400

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Trekking | Ijen Crater

It was 1am, we prepared to start trekking Ijen Crater from our campsite. Ijen volcano, located in Banyuwangi, has a large acidic volcanic crater lake called Ijen Crater (Kawah Ijen in Bahasa Indonesia). Beside sulfur mining, Ijen is famous for its "Blue Fire". It is said that there are only two craters in the world that have blue flames, in Iceland and Indonesia, whoa! 

blue flames

We had to trek 3km (2-3 hours) to reach the rim of the crater. We reached it just in time to see the blue flames, about 1 hour before sunrise. So, this 'Blue Fire' is caused by the ignition of leaking sulfur fumes from sections of ceramic pipes laid to a volcanic vent.

I saw the beautiful looking blue fire with the surreal turquoise color crater lake and milky way sky. Even though it was still dark, I could tell that Ijen was so pretty! 

the crater lake

reaching the peak again on sunrise

sulfur miner's basket 

How to get there:

Check my previous post here

Tips if you plan to visit Ijen:

• Start trekking at 2am at the latest, So it gives you time to hike up without rushing, see the blue fire and chase the sunrise from the top of Ijen.
• Bring headlamp, wear warm jackets, trainers, and outdoor shoes or running shoes if you don't have any.
• Bring mask if to protect you from sulfuric gas. I used it as well on the way up since there was a fire two weeks ago in the area. The path were still covered with ashes.

Photos are taken using Pentax Espio Mini + Fuji XTRA 400

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