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Saturday 9 July 2016

BLOG -- My trip to Japan V.2 -- ADVENTURE PART 2 (Gamagori -- Laguna Ten Bosch)

So this was the reason I stayed in Nagoya during my first week in Japan. Ever since I found out years ago that a life-sized Thousand Sunny replica existed, I had to experience it! For those who don't know, the Thousand Sunny is a ship from One Piece, one of my favourite anime series.

Once I booked my flight to Japan, one of the things I did next was look up if the Thousand Sunny was still accessible to the public and where it was. It may sound silly, revolving part of my trip around something that could be perceived as so trivial, but... well... I'm a silly person! Hahaha :) 

When I went to Japan for the first time a couple years ago, my trip wasn't fully "complete" until I experienced melon-filled melon bread. This time it was the Thousand Sunny. And the Thousand Sunny led me to Laguna Ten Bosch, an amusement park in Gamagori.

GAMAGORI (LAGUNA TEN BOSCH)



DAYS SPENT: 1

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Initially, I set aside three days of my trip just for Laguna Ten Bosch. But after factoring in admission cost and commuting time (it takes about one hour from Nagoya to Gamagori), I aimed to do everything I wanted in one day. And I did.

Since Laguna Ten Bosch is the first amusement park I attended in Japan, I have no idea how it would compare to other Japanese amusement parks. All I can say is that there are some interesting attractions / exhibits and I thought it had a bit of something for every age. Rides, stage shows, flowers, a food market, a spa area (I did not explore the spas at all) -- a little bit of everything. 

Would I recommend it? Yes! I did enjoy much of my time there. Unfortunately I didn't get to experience all the attractions I wanted since they started after I left. I... may have to go back one day, and I will say why later in this blog.

If you are thinking of going to Laguna Ten Bosch for the One Piece attractions, I strongly suggest paying for regular admission. I paid "passport" admission which gave me free access to the regular attractions. Since I had no interest in their roller coasters, I struggled a bit trying to find attractions to experience to make my "passport" admission worth it.


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REGULAR ATTRACTIONS / AREAS VISITED
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Parallel Walk


Out of all attractions, for some reason the Parallel Walk piqued my interest. And I have a slight fear of heights... ha... And it's a two-seater ride and am I by myself... haaa...

I thought it was neat that the riders had to pedal to make the ride progress. It was also amusing to see two people get on the ride, but only one was pedaling. When it came to my turn, I was by myself to the ride, and it was fun but unnerving at the same time. I kept thinking, 'Must keep pedaling! I can't get stuck up here!'. That was like my exercise for the day.

With regular admission, Parallel Walk would cost 200 yen.


Wonder

So I mainly attended this because it was one of the more costly attractions (600 yen). It was a dance performance with a projected star background. It was okay, but it didn't do much for me.


Fire Fire NEXT

I noticed this attraction having long lines throughout the day, and for good reason. It was pretty fun! Fire Fire NEXT is a pre-set indoor ride with various enemy targets littered through the walls. When you get to them, you shoot the targets with a laser gun. Sometimes shooting some targets reveal other targets. At the end of the ride, you receive a score card and the ending you got. If I didn't experience this so late in the day (around 5:30 PM), I would have gone again.

With regular admission, Fire Fire NEXT would cost 750 yen.


My rating and score card for Fire Fire NEXT. 
*sigh* Bad ending, lol... ^^''


Flower Lagoon



This was an area with tons of flowers. It was really nice seeing all the different types and colours. I didn't like the bugs, though, lol.


I liked this. It's one way to see the flowers up close. 

Another shot.

Flower arches at the far back!

So colourful! 

So violet!

So purple!

So red. This one actually feels a bit creepy.


La Grille


I actually stumbled upon this by accident, and I really enjoyed it. It was a stage show about a character going through various worlds. And there was singing and dancing in each world. I didn't understand a thing, but it was neat and enjoyable. One of the worlds had a performer doing tricks with a chair, and then a table. It was really cool. I also really enjoyed the show's theme song.


"Dinosaur Event"


I stumbled into this by accident as well, and I would say this was the highlight of the regular attractions. I don't know what this event was actually called, hence the quotation marks. 

It was a very entertaining event. Based on the motions ('cuz I didn't understand any of it), I think two dinosaur tamers and their team were searching for dino eggs. First they enlisted help from various children in the audience, who then went about the area looking under crates and such. Then partway through two dinosaurs appeared. I think the dinosaurs were manned by people inside while the head was part animatronic (the eyes would blink!). 

When the egg was found, some argument between the two tamers ensued which caused the egg to be dropped. Then... craziness! The dinosaurs went crazy, rushing into the audience every so often and attacking them. The tamers were desperately trying to find the egg again while the dinosaurs continued going around and attacking the audience. It was soooo hilarious. My forehead was tail-whipped by one dinosaur while I trying to take a picture of the other one.

That was so fun.


A short clip of the dinosaurs in motion. It's really crappy quality, I apologize. 
I don't understand any of the Japanese. 



OTHER REGULAR AREA PHOTOS:

The bridge to Flower Lagoon and another area. The arches light up at night.

I really wanted to see this attraction "activated", but I would have had 
to wait around 7:20 PM just to see it.

Pic of Sanji on the bridge to the Festival Market.


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ONE PIECE ATTRACTIONS VISITED
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POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING!!! Depending on where you are in One Piece, these attractions could have spoilers. The attraction I considered MOST spoiler-y, I moved into its own "walled off" section around the end.

A.S.L. "Exhibit"


This was an exhibit that focused on Ace, Sabo, and Luffy's friendship. This exhibit also came with a mission. When I paid admission (600 yen), I was given a pamphlet in Japanese. I opened the pamphlet and saw a series of multiple-choice questions... all in Japanese. I tensed up. Omg! How do I do this??!! When I said "I don't understand Japanese" in Japanese, they tried their best to convey that I can find the answers in various parts of the exhibit. "Good luck!" one of the employees said in English. 

Also in the exhibit was a brief animated film in Eiichiro Oda's (manga artist) style. It was pretty cool, seeing the manga style characters come to life like that. 

I would recommend this exhibit to any One Piece fan. Answering those quizzes, though, was really difficult, lol... I passed it, phew! 

A shot of some of the One Piece information "strewn" about the exhibit.

Sabo, Luffy, and Ace. When you get close, an audio track 
plays with the dialogue of the scene.

Ditto with this scene.

All the info you'd like to know about Luffy, Ace, and Sabo... in Japanese! lol.

The pamphlet with the quizzes. I ended up getting a "NICE" score and got to pick out 
a faced-down card. I got Sabo. I think Nami came with admission of the exhibit. 
The card on the left is actually the score card from Fire Fire NEXT.

The quizzes I answered. Even with me slowly reading the katakana and hiragana, 
I barely understood what I was reading and was guessing at the last two questions.


Thousand Sunny Cruise


Ahhh, my reason for being in Nagoya... but due to the windy weather that day, all the scheduled cruises were cancelled! :( I was still able to explore the boat at a discounted price (800 yen instead of 1200 yen). *sigh* It just means I'll have to try coming back another time. I want to be on the ship while it's moving around the waters! Otherwise I won't feel as immersed... hahaha.

Exploring the ship was really cool. There were life-sized figures of all the crew members. And it's just... really cool, lol. That a ship from an anime series was replicated and can move. It's amazing


Another shot of the ship.

Luffy.

Zoro.

Sanji. Ahh, my kick-a** chef <3

Nami by a table of yummy-looking foods.

Brooke.

Franky.


OTHER ONE PIECE PHOTOS:

I don't remember where I took this pic, but it's really cute!

Life-sized Law vs. life-sized Doflamingo. Ohhh, who will win??!

So many puzzles for sale.

That's it for Part 2. Thanks for reading! The next Japan trip-related blog will cover some of the places I visited in Tokyo. Not sure which places just yet.

If you have any questions or comments about any of these attractions or Laguna Ten Bosch in general, feel free to say something in the comments box! :)


The spoiler-y One Piece attraction is past these scrolly things. Just like in my reviews with a "Spoilers" section, I'll add some more scrolly things afterwards in case anybody wants to comment, but not see that section.

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The One Piece Attraction Considered MOST-Spoilery


Whitebeard and Ace's Graves


Some may consider this an old spoiler... but hey! Not every One Piece fan is all caught up. These graves were really well-made. I actually teared up a little, and I wanted to kneel and pay my respects. Ahhh... I'm such a geek, lol.  

"Ace, may your soul be eternal. Your brave soul will always be with us." 

"Edward Newgate, Captain of the Whitebeard Pirates. Here lies a great Captain 
and Father, liberated from the exhausting role and labor, who captained 
the Moby Dick in the spectacular era of pirates."

*bows* May you two rest in piece.



That's it for this section. Thanks again for reading and feel free to comment :D

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