Started the day with a visit from Dan and obligatory nose strips. I feel like the only reason why I put on pore strips is because Dan needs to and I feel obliged to follow suit. It's always extremely fascinating to see all the gunk pulled out onto the strip and Dan's strip is always twenty times more mountainous than mine - as gross as it sounds, looking at it up close feels extremely satisfying.

Our initial plan was to head out to Pu'er for lunch but I think we became lazy potatoes and opted for fish markets instead (since it's a less than five minute walk away). I felt like mornay and cheesy scallops so we ordered a platter for $50 and also brought Dad home a quick lunch.

Quality is horrendous :(

The honey prawns and calamari were nice but the rest of the platter tasted quite bland and just wasn't fulfilling at all sigh - My impression of fish markets have never been great (always feels like I'm wasting my money as meals are never very satisfying) but I guess splurging hastily once in a while is alright.

Then headed to the Opera House for dinner at The House Eatery by George.

Share board & George board

Absolutely fell in love with their pate and artichoke dip (never have I ever had artichoke so finally tasting the microphone vegetable was quite the unique experience) but the olives were a no-no for me as they were so much stronger than the normal black ones (and I never liked black olives in the first place anyway). I think the family finished 80% of the olives anyway so it's probably an acquired taste which takes a while to get used to!

Dan's lamb pappardelle (this was a bit disappointing crey)  

Dad and I both ordered confit duck - the duck was amazing but I didn't like the bean cassoulet around the plate so I left it all and demolished the centrepiece instead. Whoever came up with the idea of cooking duck in its own fat, god bless you.

Mum's pan roasted barramundi 

My brother and Mary shared the slow roasted lamb shoulder - this was definitely the highlight of the night, every individual piece was so tender to the extent that I would actually come back to this place just for this dish. I think this was $58 but the servings were very generous (even though it was for 2 to share) so it was well worth the price 

Headed back to the brother's for birthday cake and I usually get Savoy's cakes as they are the fluffiest, lightest and moistest cakes on Earth but change is never bad, especially when it's Messsina! Even though I'm one of the later ones to join #club19 but I finally made it aww yas

Immediately after purchasing our tickets, we ran for Hogwarts (not even joking)

Swag ass flying pigs 

The wait was excruciatingly long but Chris brought along apples and strawberries so we munched on the fruits while waiting. The entire place was a lie because the moment you think you're in the castle and close to the ride, you realise that it's another lining up maze inside. I think we waited for a near hour but once we got on the ride, it was all worth it (probably one of the best rides in the actual park). We were all seated together in a row of 4 and it was a 4D adventure (which sounds pretty lame becuase 4D doesn't sound so special) but all the special effects and everything were so cool holy shit. The entire ride I was kicking my legs at the props because they were scary af/I wanted to defend myself LOL Also swore a bit too much during the ride....

Then we got butterbeer! Tasted like butterscotch and ginger but I didn't really like it because I detest all things ginger (the taste is just bleh) But it was a good hand warmer to accompany the cold ass weather.

The no glove life

Then we visited the "shop with all the wands"

The Monster Book of Monsters! I recall waiting for people's reactions when the book started to move but even the little kids didn't seem to be very scared of it... maybe it was just us... maybe it was just me LOL

Then we headed to Honey Dukes for all the candy!

Happy snaps!

I look like I'm about to bash someone

Hnnngghhh there was so much candy but it was also quite expensive so Dan and I didn't end up buying anything.

This was my favourite scene in Harry Potter and the figures actually moved and re-enacted the entire scene! It was so cool, I watched it over and over again while everyone else was looking at all the candy #noregrets

And then we left Hogwarts and headed for the other rides!

This was the Jaws ride and the line was also pain stakingly long - there were a group of school girls in front of us who kept taking selfies with their selfie stick every few minutes. We were so bored waiting so I think there were several attempts where we tried to photobomb their kawaii sessions. I sneakily took a photo of the group squatting on the ground and posing but it was a bit blurry so no picture for the blog!

The ride was pretty cool, the river was spitting fire and several sharks popped out of nowhere which made everything quite exciting. As usual the ride was quite short so I don't know if the long ass wait was worth the few minutes :(

Then we had lunch at the Jaws joint! I think everyone opted for a soft shell crab burger but I chose to stay peasant and ordered a chicken burger (I think) - Either way food was okay, nothing amazing because we all know that amusement park food is overpriced and tastes so so.

Lulu and I had to go pee (when we realised that the first free stall was a squat toilet we let the people behind us go first LOL) and when we came back to find the boys they were no where to be found?? Nek minnut they pop out of nowhere with dinosaur hats on... so Lulu and I decided to join the group, find more dinosaur hats and proceeded to take family portraits hehe

I think it may have been quite the embarrassing sight but it was incredibly fun so all worth

And then we visited Elmo's sister's store (I don't remember what the character name was but the entire store was overly pink). I think by then we had gone on quite a few rides (it even started to snow!!) but none of them were as amazeballs as the one in Hogwarts. Most of the rides were 4D which were actually quite good for 4D rides? All I recall is that Australia has shitty 4D rides and movies so Japan was definitely a fresh breath of air. 

I have no idea what is going on here

There were points in time where Chris would pretend that he was actually being blown away by the wind which was so hilarious to watch LOL Everyone who walked past us kept staring but it was so, so, so, so funny and I wished I had recorded it. The wind was harsh on us that day but Chris' dramatic performance made it seem cyclonic (either way it was fucking hilarious - mind the language) 

And then we bumped into Ernie!!!

I remember touching his belly and we both wtfed at each other HAHA

It was nearing 4pm so we had a rest at the diner and we were so close to calling it a day... until we left the restaurant and found out that the badass rollercoaster we saw on our way in... reopened. It was temporarily closed because the weather was fucking crazy (winds were insane plus it was also snowing) so when people were rushing in to line up for the ride, we decided to join too. I think Lulu and I were internally dying inside because the first slope down was so fucking steep and it just looked horrifying in general. 

I don't understand why Chris has to third wheel us all the time. 

One of the attendants came to us and gave us stickers to stick on Chris' face. 

The wait was also extremely long (and super super cold) and as we neared the front of the line, we realised that we were allocated the front row of the rollercoaster. Pussying out, I asked if the second row of people were willing to swap with us HAHA and they did so it was all gee. When we were strapped in and about to leave, Lulu started to tear up and holy shit it made me even more anxious. She did say that she cried during another ride at Disneyland but I didn't know it would actually happen?! The way up to the top was so scary (legit the scariest I've ever felt during a rollercoaster ride) and when we fell down the steep slope I felt like I was going to die. The weightlessness was so fucking strong and I thought that there was only going to be that one steep slope.... but I was wrong. I don't remember how many there were but there were several instances where I felt like dying from all the weightlessness encounters. As the ride ended I looked at Lulu and tears were rolling down her face and I vowed to never go on a steep rollercoasters ever again. 

We then went to the Snoopy store, rode the kiddy rollercoaster (twice I think) and took a cute ass family photo with the character stands hehe. It's a shame that the family photo was taken with Chris' camera (so I can't upload it here crey), but I do remember it being super adorable ^____^

Headed back to Osaka for dinner! (We couldn't decide on what to eat, I think it took us a decade to choose)

Everyone else ordered the Tempura don (which I swear to buddha I requested it with the egg) and I settled for the world's greatest sukiyaki holy shit (legit was the best sukiyaki dish I've ever had). After dinner we called it a night, huddled outside Osaka station as if we were summoning our superpowers to save the world and said our goodbyes. I don't think double dates get any better than this.

$70 included a room where there was a massive bed (took up 80% of the floor space) and by the end of the trip, I had overwhelmed our bed with 8 extra pillows. Breakfast was also included and there were cute activities you could do with other people at the hostel (such as okonomiyaki nights).

Kyoto station had many restaurants within the building itself so we made a stop to McDonald's because you know, we don't have it in Australia. This is partially true because we don't have the ebi fry burger (which is heaven) and nuggets are so much cheaper here. Unfortunately they don't do sweet and sour sauce so I had to settle for barbecue crey. The iced tea in Japan is also very tricky because you have to add your own lemon syrup and sugar syrup and it doesn't end up tasting like iced tea at all. 

We thought we could devour a meal and 10 nuggets each (because we were starving and we vowed to a small dinner - which ended up being feast anyway) but it was quite the struggle street to down the remaining nuggets. Either way, the entire meal was around the $15 mark. Considering that 20 nuggets costs a solid ~$12 in Sydney, this was actually quite the bargain hehe

Australia please introduce this 

Spent our first night exploring the Nishiki markets - we actually stopped by so many little shops on our way to the actual markets (especially 100 yen stores and second hand luxury stores) so we ended up arriving later than expected. Dan bought a set of plastic bow and arrows from the dollar store while I splurged a little on gifts for Serena and stationery goods.

These label stickers are everywhere and there were so many times where I was so close to buying one of these (they're quite pricey for a sticker) but then after periods of contemplation I realised that I  had no where to stick it on/there were too many cute ones to choose from so deciding which one to buy would also be a pain in the bum. Hence, I saved a few dollars because I didn't end up buying any. 

After seeing this I guess I felt quite grateful towards the minimum wage of $16 in Australia

After a long stroll around the markets and the neighbouring shopping streets, we had dinner at Pomme no ki! I don't remember what this was called but it was definitely yummy - Dan didn't seem to like it as much because it was a bit too heavy for his liking. (Trying to watch your weight in Japan is definitely a hard task) 

This was also amazeballs (probably 5 times more delicious than the one above)

Anything Shinchan I will love (except Shinchan merchandise is actually quite pricey crey) 

We then continued our shopping adventures - Kyoto was probably one of the favourite places to shop in because it was the first city where we discovered second hard stores for branded clothing. We only went to two of these stores in Kyoto and asked the store person if they had other locations in Tokyo (which they did) so we were over the moon. (We didn't actually end up visiting the stores in Tokyo sigh) 

Commemorative photo 

I think I also got a Prada cardholder that day too? It was actually quite funny because I brought Dan's surprise gift for Valentine's Day (the silver Prada cardholder) to Japan and I wanted to gift it to him on the actual day but for some reason I whipped it out days before at Yodobashi in Tokyo while looking for a phone charger. Ruined my perfect plan but I just couldn't wait any longer. It was legit out of no where, even Dan was like what the fuck what just happened, why is this happening at an electronics store? 

So we ended up with a family of Prada

  

Bought these at the markets hoping to aid the movement of our bowels (mine in particular) - never been so grateful before towards the cheap prices of fruit in Sydney. But then the strawberries are quite the bomb in Japan... $10 of yummy goodness.