BLOG -- My Trip to Japan V.5 -- ADVENTURE PART 4 (Tempozan Harbor Village, Nara)

Here is Part 4 of my Japan blogs. This covers two new areas that are on my future re-visit list!

TEMPOZAN HARBOR VILLAGE

DAYS SPENT: 0.5

OVERALL THOUGHTS: We went to Tempozan Harbor Village mainly for the aquarium. I was also considering experiencing one of the cruises or going on the ferris wheel but couldn't fit them into the itinerary. It also would have been nice to check out Legoland, but like all Legolands adults usually need to be accompanied by a kid.

PLACES VISITED:

Tempozan Market Place

The Tempozan Market Place is a shopping area close to the aquarium. Legoland is also inside the Tempozan Market Place. Overall, this was a nice place to bum around while waiting for our admission time for the aquarium.

What you see when you enter Tempozan Market Place from the front entrance. The display is very nice.

The entrance to Legoland.

The entrance for Naniwa Kuishinbo Yokocho, an area serving various street foods in an old Showa-era setting (between late 1926-early 1989).

Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan

When we got to Tempozan Harbor Village around 10:12 AM, there was already a long line to buy tickets for the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan (which I'll refer to as "the aquarium" for the rest of this entry). We joined the line and was able to buy tickets for 11 AM. You are not able to enter the aquarium before your slotted time, but once you enter you can stay there for as long as you like for that day. Around 10:55 AM, we got in line to enter the aquarium. There was a family ahead of us who had tickets for the aquarium but it turned out that their tickets were for a later timeslot. Their tickets for a cruise, however, was happening at 11 AM! They ran off towards the cruise.

Ticket prices for the aquarium vary by day. The ticket prices can be viewed on the aquarium's official website in the "Admission fees & other tickets" section. I've noticed that when you get to the website for the first time, it might automatically translate text to your language, but the calendar and ticket info don't show. To make the calendar and ticket info show, change the language in the top left corner of the site to Japanese (the option above English), then change the language back to the desired language. I'm not sure if that works for everybody, but that's how I've been able to see the calendar and ticket info. When we went, tickets costed 2700 yen each.

The aquarium was really fun! We saw a variety of animal life, many on the aquatic side. We took our time going through each exhibit, spending most of the time looking at the huge whale shark. My favourite exhibit was the penguins. The penguins just moved about and did their thing, not seeming to care that lots of people were looking at them.

There were also inkpad stamps to collect throughout the aquarium. Whenever we came across one, we'd stamp the design into our notebooks.  

Aside from the very crowded gift shop, it was a very fun experience and I would totally visit again! :)

A black-crowned night heron to the left, and a mandarin duck on the right.

The mandarin duck cleaning itself.

The black-crowned night heron cleaning itself.

A South American coati.

I wonder what aquatic animal this is. ;)

The whale shark! It is huge!

Some spotted and splendid garden eel.

Jellyfish! XD

Some jellyfish moving.

More jellyfish moving.

Penguins. Lots and lots of penguins.

It was around 1:17 PM when I took this photo and tickets were on sale for the 2:45 PM slot!

OTHER PHOTOS:

Our route to Tempozan Harbor Village partially shared the same route for people getting to Expo 2025. This means that commuting, even after the rush hour, was very crowded!

A neat display at I think Osakako station.

A wide view shot of Tempozan Harbor Village.

I don't know why, but I like this shot, hahaha.

NARA

DAYS SPENT: 0.5

OVERALL THOUGHTS: If you want to spend a day looking at deer, possibly feeding some deer, and also running away from some deer, Nara is the place for you! We missed visiting Nara during the last Japan trip because I got sick. I wasn't going to miss it again!

Aside from Nara Park, we checked out the Higashimuki Shopping Mall that was close to Nara station, which had some neat places. 

PLACES VISITED:

Nara Park and some surrounding spots

We got to Nara Park around 10:10 AM, thinking that there'd be very few people around. We were wrong. The place was full of tourists... and deer! We walked a bit in Nara Park and then we walked towards Todai-ji Temple. When we got to the entrance of Todai-ji Temple, we decided to walk along the edges instead of paying the 800-1200 yen admission to go inside. Wherever we walked, we encountered deer. Some were lazing about; some were standing and observing the crowd; some bowed their heads (so cute); some approached with their deer-eyed looks in hopes of getting fed.

If you want to feed the deer safely, below are some things to keep in mind:

-There are tons of vendors selling deer crackers throughout the park. You don't have to get into the long line that might form at the vendors closest to the subway station (i.e. the vendors most people might see first if commuting to Nara Park).

-As of this writing, deer crackers are 200 yen. Deer crackers are the only things you should feed to the deer.

-Based off reading some Reddit threads, aim to get to Nara Park earlier than noon for a better chance at feeding the deer. Sometimes vendors may sell out of the deer crackers or the deer may no longer be as hungry in the afternoon.

-Aim to feed deer that are by themselves to avoid getting crowded. Once other deer see you feeding or holding any kind of food, there is a good chance that they will approach you. They don't make much sounds when moving so you could get surrounded and not even notice until it's too late. When deer get really close they could nip or bite so try to avoid getting into that situation. My boyfriend got bit on his side once and one deer bit above my butt. Thankfully we didn't bleed, but my boyfriend had a small reddish mark for a few days.

-Keep unused deer crackers in a pouch or bag with a zipper as some curious deer may poke around your pockets or open bags. Along the same vein, keep any personal belongings in a pouch or bag with a zipper. That wallet or phone in the back pocket is not safe!

-Be extra cautious of feeding deer with antlers, filed down antlers, or nubs. They are males and tend to be more aggressive than females.

-If you want to try communicating to the deer that you have no food, hold up your hands high while showing your empty palms to the deer. I can't say it will work all the time, but some of the deer should understand.

Overall, our time there was very nice and relaxing (with a mix of alertness for any ninja deer). Seeing the deer was great and we'll definitely come back again!

The deer crackers. One pack was more than enough for us.

A map of restaurants and cafes nearby.

A sign cautioning getting close to male deer during mating season.

Cute.

More cute.

Some deers surrounding us.

My boyfriend feeds a deer (I don't show my boyfriend's face).

Feeding a sitting deer.

A father kites a bunch of deer and then gives the cracker to his son.

Did this deer make a sound?

My boyfriend feeding that deer.

The deer making more sounds.

A deer bowing.

OTHER PHOTOS:

A display at Nara station.

The entrance to Higashimuki Kita shopping street (across from Higashimuki Shopping Mall). We didn't explore it.

A vending machine for macarons.

That's it for Part 4. One Adventure portion and three other Japan-related entries are left! I've really been taking my sweet time haven't I? ^^; Hopefully I'll get them done before the year is over ^^;

Thank you for reading! If you have any questions or comments about any of these places I visited, feel free to say something in the comments box or fill out a contact form!

Take care, stay safe, and until next time! :)

BLOG -- Recap of August

August was a pretty busy month. I watched a fair amount of movies. I went out a few times. And I did some cooking. 

Outings / Events in August:

- My boyfriend and I attended a friend's wedding. It was a lovely time.

- My boyfriend and I checked out one of the days for the Japan Fest that was happening in Mississauga. We couldn't stay for the whole day, but it was nice seeing all the vendors, stalls, and performances.

- I participated in the "PlayStation Blackout" and did not log into my PS5 from August 23 - August 30. It was a bit inconvenient because I usually watch things from Crunchyroll or Amazon Prime from the PS5 during dinner and sometimes lunch. We ended up watching things from my boyfriend's laptop instead.

- I made some fried banana balls for the first time. It was fun, though some of them came out burnt. I thought they still tasted good.

Exposures:

- Nothing this month.

Finished...

Watching:

- (Movie): Tony -- The main character was a bit annoying at times, but I enjoyed the movie overall.

- (Movie): Death Proof -- The first half was a bit slow, but the second half was very enjoyable.

- (Movie): Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy -- I think I enjoyed this movie the most out of the Bridget Jones movies (please don't hate me! lol).

- (Movie): The Graduate -- Didn't like it, though that might have been the intention.

- (Movie): The Handmaid's Tale -- Most of it seemed pretty faithful to the novel, though for a movie it was just okay.

- (Movie): Koyaanisqatsi -- Not my kind of movie or documentary, though the music at time reminded me of other music from things I liked.

- (Movie): Invitation to a Murder -- It was okay.

- (Movie): Extremities -- Not really that good.

- (Movie): Original Sin -- Pretty bad.

- (Movie): Five Nights at Freddy's 2 -- I think this was a bit better than the first movie, but it's pretty bad.

Playing:

- (PC): Princess Maker Refine -- I enjoyed it but some of the options are quite unbalanced. I got the Kingdom Commander ending.

- (PC): The Planet Crafter -- I played this with my boyfriend and it was a fun experience. We've seen all the endings, but we are still terraforming one more planet before being completely done.

- (PC): Unpacking -- This was a fun and relaxing experience.

Reading:

- Nothing this month.

Currently... 

Playing (not all at once):

- (PS5): Gal Guardians: Demon Purge

- (PS4): Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!!

- (PS4): Dark Cloud 2

- (PS4): Skyrim
- (PS4): Moon: Remix RPG Adventure

- (PS4): Baldur's Gate I: Enhanced Edition

- (PS4): My Time At Portia

- (PSP): Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure

- (3DS): Phoenix Wright: Dual Destinies
- (GBA): The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition   
- (Wii): Fortune Street 
- (PC): UnEpic  
- (PC): Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (When They Cry)

- (PC): Crusader Kings III

- (Mobile): Dragon Quest III

- (Mobile): Bloons TD 6

Watching:

- (Series): Criminal Minds: Evolution (Season 2)

- (Series): The Goldbergs (Season 5)
- (Series): Huff (Season 1 - Episode 10)
- (Series): Stranger Things (Season 5 - Episode 5)

- (Series): Bob's Burgers (Season 5 - Episode 6)

- (Series): Squid Game (Season 3)

- (Series): House of the Dragon (Season 4)

- (Series): Shrinking (Season 4)

- (Series): Invincible (Season 4)

- (Series): Nirvana the Band the Show (Episode 6)

- (Anime): Log Horizon (Season 4)

- (Anime): Pyscho-Pass (Season 4?)
- (Anime): Kakegurui (Season 3?)
- (Anime): Basilisk: The Ouka Ninja Scrolls (Episode 2)

- (Anime): Gintama (Episode 13)

- (Anime): Tokyo Revengers (Season 4)

- (Anime): Gurren Lagann (Episode 10)

- (Anime): Chihayafuru (Season 4?)

- (Anime): One Punch Man (Season 3?)

- (Anime): Junji Ito's Japanese Tales of the Macabre (Episode 5)

- (Anime): Demon Slayers (Season 4 - Movie 2)

- (Anime): Jujutsu Kaisen (Season 3 - Episode 60)

- (Anime): Naruto: Shippuden (Season 3 - Episode 63)

- (Anime): Umamusume: Pretty Derby (Season 4?)

- (Anime): Made in Abyss (Season 2)

- (YouTube): StephenVlogs (Day 1061)

Reading:

- (Manga): One Piece by Eiichiro Oda (Volume ?? -- Chapter 1148) <-- I'm behind again
- (Manga): Berserk by Kentaro Miura (Volume 2)

- (Manga): Hunter x Hunter by Yoshihiro Togashi (Volume 10)

- (Novel): 86 by Asato Asato (Volume 2)

That's it for August. Here are a few pics, a summary of my pulls in Blue Archive, a couple videos I screen recorded of my races in Umamusume, and a video I watched on YouTube.

Some of the stalls at the Japan Fest. It was quite crowded!

My Dress Hina figure came! She looks very pretty. 

I tried out one of the World Heist menu items at McDonald's -- Japan's Garlic & Black Pepper Chicken McNuggets with Black Garlic dipping sauce. It was a little pricey but not bad. It has a kick to it.

Some of the fried banana balls -- some burnt and some not. I ate probably over 10 pieces on the first day.

Even though I got Niko and Kurumi at 90 rolls, I continued pulling for the full 200 rolls since this will likely be the last time I'll be interacting with original gacha system. The next time I pull will be when the gacha system changes. After 200 rolls, I sparked another copy of Kurumi. RIP Blue Archive's original gacha system! o7

One of the Libra Cup races where Summer Gold Ship won! I am running her for fun and I was surprised that Summer Gold Ship won even once... until I looked at the other umas ^^; You might need to enlarge the video to see it properly.

Valentine Mihono Bourbon won for this Libra Cup race and got me to A finals. I suspect my Symboli Rudolf helped make it happen :) 

"How Organizing Became the New Clutter" by That Practical Mom. There is some useful information here.

Thanks for reading!

As usual, if you have any questions / comments about anything, feel free.

Take care and until next time! :)

BLOG -- My Belated Thoughts on... Sony's No Physical Disc Production After January 2028 Announcement + The Gacha System Change in Blue Archive

I know that I am very late on sharing my thoughts about Sony's month-old announcement of ending physical gaming disc production after January 2028. I actually wasn't going to say anything about it in my blog, but if I'm going to talk about the gacha system change in Blue Archive, I might as well briefly share my thoughts on Sony's thing, too.

NOTE: I should mention that this post may not be very interesting for you, specifically for my thoughts about Blue Archive (unless you are a fan like me).

Regarding Sony's No Physical Gaming Disc Production After January 2028 Announcement

Well... What can I say that hasn't already been said? Nothing, really. For me, there truly is a lot to say, but it's already been said. I don't like that Sony is taking a digital-only direction with its gaming. This is not just because I grew up playing games physically. This is not just because I think physical is better than digital, though my preference does lean towards physical (I understand there are pros and cons to both formats). And there isn't just one big reason why I don't like it. It's a combination of many things: reducing shopping options, preservation risks, no refund / transfer / sell options when you buy something you later regret playing, no way to display fandom, no way to lend the game... I may have missed mentioning some other things, but those are some of what come to mind when I think about Sony's announcement. 

And of course: If Sony is pushing for their future games to be digital-only, that likely means that the PS6 will have no disc drive. That means I won't be able to play my Blu-Ray movies. When the PS3 first came out I often joked that I wanted the PS3 mainly so I could play my Blu-Ray movies. It was a joke, but was always a selling point for me for the Playstation consoles. 

I also wonder WHO this announcement is for. Who is this benefitting? The gamers? Or just Sony?

Just to provide some context on my thoughts: As mentioned earlier, I personally tend to prefer physical over digital, but due to a lack of space, I've become more picky with which games I buy physically. I'll often buy physical versions when I'm a big fan of the game series or of the creator / developers / publishers (Yakuza games, Atlus, Suda 51, Yoko Taro, Vanillaware, etc.). The last physical game I got was Yakuza Kiwami 3. I usually buy digital if the game is only available digitally or there is a major discount. 

In the end, if Sony continues going in the digital-only direction for future gaming, there's a high chance that I won't buy the PS6 and will stick with PC gaming and play games on my older consoles. Even though PC gaming is pretty much digital-only, there are different storefronts like Steam, Epic Games Store, and GoG, so there are still some buying options. 

Regarding The Gacha System Change in Blue Archive

I've been playing Blue Archive for almost 3 years now. I think the character designs are nice and the story is a good mix of funny, emotional, and sometimes thought-provoking (the kind of mix that I like). I also think that the game is pretty generous with its players, giving a fair amount of pyroxenes every month (the currency for the gacha system). 

I think the gacha system is also pretty good. I don't know if it is the most generous gacha system but it is good and easy to understand. One might think that all gacha systems are the same and it says nothing about the game, but I disagree. I think a gacha system can say something about the game's developer and how they want to treat their players (and what they might want from their players). For example, a gacha system that guarantees the desired character / item in 1000 pulls with little ways to accumulate the gacha currency could suggest a game that strongly encourages spending real money and by that point, is not free-to-play friendly.

Below is an outline of the current gacha system for Blue Archive:

-Currently, there are 4 types of rarities for a character: 1-star, 2-star, 3-star, and 3-star limited

-Each time you roll on a banner, you earn recruitment points (1 roll = 1 recruitment point)

-Rolling 10 at a time guarantees at least one 2-star or higher character

-When you accumulate 200 recruitment points for a featured banner, you can spend the 200 points to get one of the featured characters. This is the pity system (aka "sparking")

-The recruitment points are often shared between the current featured banners (for example, if you do 60 rolls on Banner A, Banner B will also display 60 recruitment points) 

-Even if you get the featured character before reaching 200 recruitment points, the recruitment points do not reset

-Featured banners usually come in two: one banner per featured character. Sometimes more characters are featured and each get their own banner

-When the banner changes to feature a different character, the accumulated recruitment points are lost and converted into some in-game crafting resource

If the above is too wordy, the general gist is when a banner comes with a character you want, you pull on the banner with a guarantee of getting that character in 200 rolls. If you get the character before the 200 rolls (say at 150 rolls), you can roll 50 more times in the other character banner and then spend the 200 recruitment points on getting the other character (if you wanted the other character). 

While there is always a luck component with gacha systems, I like the general predictability with Blue Archive's gacha system. At worst, you will do 200 rolls for each featured character that you want. If you are lucky, you can get both featured characters (and possibly more) in 200 rolls. This gacha system favours the player whenever they get lucky. The only challenge is saving enough currency for 200 rolls. For a free-to-play player, it could take about 4-6 months depending on how frequent the player logs in and such to collect / earn the free pyroxenes. 

A few weeks ago (late July), an announcement was made that Blue Archive's gacha system was changing, starting with the Japanese servers (as of this post, the gacha system changes have already been implemented and reactions online seem to be mixed). Below are the changes to the system:

-The recruitment point system is ending. Instead, there will be a roll counter.

-If the desired character is not pulled before the 100th pull, a guaranteed 3-star character will be pulled with a 50/50 chance that it could be the desired character.

-If the 50/50 chance does not result in the desired character, the roll counter will continue with each pull

-If the desired character is not pulled before the 200th pull, the desired character will be guaranteed on the 200th pull

-When the desired character is pulled, the roll counter will reset to 0

-The roll counter is carried over to future banners, but limited and normal banners have their own roll counter

-There are milestone rewards for certain amount of pulls done on the banner, which include 4 10-ticket pulls

In short, Blue Archive's gacha system is changing to be similar to Genshin Impact's gacha system. Back when I played Genshin Impact, I accepted its gacha system for what it was, 'cuz Genshin Impact didn't have any other gacha system to compare against. 

For Blue Archive, when I compare the new gacha system against the old gacha system, I think I personally prefer the old system. 

With the old gacha system, I knew what I needed to do to ensure the characters I wanted -- just save for the right amount of rolls in case of pity and ignore other banners in between. Then feel great if I don't have to use all my rolls 'cuz I got lucky at some point. For example, I pull my desired character at 180 pulls and I do 20 more pulls to spark the other character with recruitment points. 

With the new gacha system, I'll be doing the same thing (saving for the right amount of rolls in case of pity and ignoring other banners in between). Then feel bouts of happiness, frustration, and disappointment as various scenarios happen during the pulling experience:

-I lose the 50/50 chance (DISAPPOINTMENT: the new gacha system kicked in and didn't go in my favour)

-I win the 50/50 chance (HAPPINESS: the new gacha system kicked in and went in my favour)

-I get my desired character before reaching the 50/50 chance (a MIX of HAPPINESS and FRUSTRATION: the new gacha system for 50/50 didn't kick in, BUT the roll counter still reset, meaning if I wanted the other character I'd have to potentially do up to 200 rolls. The old system would have worked better in this scenario so that early rolls are kept as recruitment points)

-I get my desired character at roll 150+ (FRUSTRATION: with the old system I'd just need to do 50 more rolls to get the other character, but with the new system I'd have to potentially do 100 or 200 rolls on the other banner if things don't go well)

I can see how this could appeal to players who would like to do more casual pulls among various banners since the roll counter carries over, but for me, it just doesn't work with my strategy. 

I have read online posts saying that the new gacha system should on average take less pulls to get the desired characters (especially when factoring the 4 10-ticket pulls from the milestone rewards). While that might be true (I haven't done the math myself), it doesn't take away the potential negative emotions that will come from things like losing the 50/50 chance and getting your desired character on the 200th pull. At least with the old system, getting the desired character on the 200th pull means having enough recruitment points to outright spark the other character. With the new system, getting the desired character on the 200th pull means starting over on the other character banner and possibly doing another 200 pulls.

I think if Blue Archive really wanted to change its gacha system without being too disruptive, it could have added the 50/50 chance on the 100th pull and left everything else alone.

Whenever the new gacha system gets implemented to Blue Archive (anticipating in about six-ish months), I will refrain from buying the monthly pyroxene packs for at least 3 years. Afterwards, if Blue Archive is still alive, I'll see how I feel then. I don't spend too much in Blue Archive anyway (so far $80 in almost 3 years), and the new gacha system change will ensure it stays that way.

That's it for this post.

If you are still here, thanks for reading! I really blabbed a lot ^^; The next blog should be a continuation of the Japan blogs.

Take care and until next time! :)

BLOG - Recap of July

July was fairly busy. My birthday came and passed. My boyfriend bought me the tiramisu scoop cake from Costco, which was something I wanted to try out. It wasn't that good in my opinion. 

Outings / Events in July:

- Met up with some former co-workers for a sushi buffet lunch. It was fun.

- Did an escape room with my friend, boyfriend, sister, and her husband for my birthday. We did the "Last Resort" room and was one puzzle away from getting out! It was a good and scary time.

- I took advantage of a promotion and am subscribed to Amazon Prime for a couple months. I can catch up on some shows now. I'll definitely be re-watching Project Hail Mary at some point.

Exposures:

- Nothing this month.

Finished...

Watching:

- (Movie): Dressed to Kill -- Some parts of it are definitely dated, but overall I thought it was a decent movie. Some of the twists were unexpected or amusing.

- (Movie): Tár -- I really enjoyed this.

- (Movie): Lars and the Real Girl -- For such an odd premise, I really liked how the subject matter was treated. Very beautiful and emotional.

- (Movie): 12 Angry Men (1957) -- I'm not one for black and white movies, but this kept my attention throughout. I think it'd be great if more people watched this awesome movie.

- (Movie): The Sheep Detectives -- It was a lot more thought-provoking than I expected. I really enjoyed it.

- (Movie): To Freedom -- The low movie budget really shows.

- (Movie): La Cage aux Folles -- It's not really my kind of movie, but it's okay.

- (Movie): City of God -- It was well done, but too grim for my liking.

- (Series): The Boys -- The first few seasons were good, and it was just okay afterwards. I'm glad it's finally over.

Playing:

- (PC): Divinity: Original Sin (Enhanced Edition) -- It was a long game but my boyfriend and I finally beat it. I enjoyed all the exploration and looting.

- (PS4): Black Bird -- I surprised myself when I finally cleared the True Mode. I got the worst ending but I'm counting it! It was a crazy experience but I enjoyed it.

Reading:

- Nothing this month.

Currently... 

Playing (not all at once):

- (PS5): Gal Guardians: Demon Purge

- (PS4): Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!!

- (PS4): Dark Cloud 2

- (PS4): Skyrim
- (PS4): Moon: Remix RPG Adventure

- (PS4): Baldur's Gate I: Enhanced Edition

- (PS4): My Time At Portia

- (PSP): Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure

- (3DS): Phoenix Wright: Dual Destinies
- (GBA): The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition   
- (Wii): Fortune Street 
- (PC): UnEpic  
- (PC): Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (When They Cry)

- (PC): Crusader Kings III

- (PC): The Planet Crafter

- (Mobile): Dragon Quest III

- (Mobile): Bloons TD 6

Watching:

- (Series): Criminal Minds: Evolution (Season 2)

- (Series): The Goldbergs (Season 5)
- (Series): Huff (Season 1 - Episode 10)
- (Series): Stranger Things (Season 5 - Episode 5)

- (Series): Bob's Burgers (Season 5 - Episode 6)

- (Series): Squid Game (Season 3)

- (Series): House of the Dragon (Season 3)

- (Series): Shrinking (Season 4)

- (Series): Invincible (Season 4)

- (Anime): Log Horizon (Season 4)

- (Anime): Pyscho-Pass (Season 4?)
- (Anime): Kakegurui (Season 3?)
- (Anime): Basilisk: The Ouka Ninja Scrolls (Episode 2)

- (Anime): Gintama (Episode 13)

- (Anime): Tokyo Revengers (Season 4)

- (Anime): Gurren Lagann (Episode 10)

- (Anime): Chihayafuru (Season 4?)

- (Anime): One Punch Man (Season 3?)

- (Anime): Junji Ito's Japanese Tales of the Macabre (Episode 5)

- (Anime): Demon Slayers (Season 4 - Movie 2)

- (Anime): Jujutsu Kaisen (Season 3 - Episode 54)

- (Anime): Naruto: Shippuden (Season 3 - Episode 54)

- (Anime): Umamusume: Pretty Derby (Season 4?)

- (Anime): Made in Abyss (Season 1 - Episode 8)

- (YouTube): StephenVlogs (Day 1061)

Reading:

- (Manga): One Piece by Eiichiro Oda (Volume ?? -- Chapter 1148) <-- I'm behind again
- (Manga): Berserk by Kentaro Miura (Volume 2)

- (Manga): Hunter x Hunter by Yoshihiro Togashi (Volume 10)

- (Novel): 86 by Asato Asato (Volume 2)

That's it for July. Here are a couple pics, some screenshots, and a couple videos I screen recorded of my races in Umamusume.

Some of the stuff ordered at the sushi buffet.

I found out that 86 was no longer on Crunchyroll so my boyfriend got the Blu-Ray for me as a birthday gift. I will never forget! <3

Summer Gold Ship came at 30 rolls!

Copano Rickey came at 21 rolls! To balance my insane luck, I did 400 rolls in the Light Hello / Agnes Tachyon banner and got nothing in the last 200 rolls.

One of the Leo Cup races where Copano Rickey (with C Turf) won :). You might need to enlarge it to see the video properly.

This is the Leo Cup Finals. I won but which uma in my team won? Did you guess correctly? I'm so proud of her 'cuz she's rank S+ against a sea of SS & UG ranked umas! :) <3

Thanks for reading! The next blog will likely be different from the usual Japan blogs as I gotta ramble on a change in one of the gacha games.

As usual, if you have any questions / comments about anything, feel free.

Take care and until next time! :)

BLOG -- My Trip to Japan V.5 -- ADVENTURE PART 3 (Shinsaibashi, Tennoji)

Here is Part 3 of my Japan blogs. We briefly explored a couple new areas -- one to get a souvenir for a friend and the other to check out a couple temples.

SHINSAIBASHI

DAYS SPENT: 0.5

OVERALL THOUGHTS: We came here mainly to get a souvenir for a friend and spent some time in line to get that souvenir. After checking online, I found out that Shinsaibashi is next to Dotonbori and Shinsaibashi has a large shopping street (Shinsaibashi-suji Shopping Street) that leads to Dotonbori. We have explored that large shopping street multiple times and didn't realize it was part of Shinsaibashi. ^^;

PLACES VISITED:

America-mura (American Village)

If you are looking for "non-mainstream" fashion, America-mura is the place to check out. We did some window shopping, but didn't step inside 'cuz of the pricing on the displayed T-shirts. If the T-shirts costed 3000-4500 yen, how much would other clothing cost? Close to the end of our exploration, we saw a BOOKOFF shop and went inside. What a relief to see T-shirts at more reasonable prices (around 1350 yen), even though the clothing was secondhand.

If we had more time, I think I'd like to come back. I'm almost certain we missed some shops. There should be a small Statue of Liberty in America-mura, but we missed seeing it. ^^;

A shot of America-mura.

The line we were in to get the souvenir. The shop is called Lilo Coffee Roasters.

The inner goth / punk in me wanted to check this shop out (Volcan & Aphrodite), but I was too shy to walk in.

TENNOJI

DAYS SPENT: 0.5

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Tennoji was our area for visiting temples. There were two temples within walking distance of each other. There was also a zoo and a museum but they were closed (we were the area way too early). If you plan to visit the zoo and the museum, aim to get to the Tennoji area after 9:30 AM and not on a Monday. There was a place I missed exploring so I'll definitely come back to Tennoji again. 

PLACES VISITED:

Isshin-ji Temple

This was a temple with some interesting statues. It was raining so we kept the visit pretty short. The greenery gave a serene atmosphere and the front entrance had an interesting canopy design.

A back entrance to Isshin-ji Temple.

A statue among some greenery.

The front entrance. Those statues look intimidating.

Shitennoji Temple (outside)

The walk to Shitennoji Temple was about 8-10 minutes from Isshin-ji Temple. As we were walking, we noticed a number of children in school uniforms walking in the same direction. My initial thought was, 'Is there a school trip going on?'. It turns out that there is a school right next to the temple! There was a sign next to the school's entrance expressing that this is a school and to please not take pictures. 

When we reached Shitennoji Temple, we realized that we were in a "lobby area" and we had to pay an admission to really enter the temple. There were three different admissions: 300 yen to the inner precinct, 300 yen to the garden, and 500 yen to the treasure house (why was there so many different admissions?). With our schedule being a bit tight that day, we ended up not paying the admission and instead briefly exploring the lobby area before heading towards our next destination (which was the Hikaru no Go exhibit in Den Den Town).

The entrance to Shitennoji temple.

A map. It looks pretty huge!

A glimpse of what we would have seen if we had paid the admission.

This souvenir shop has been taken in by the gacha. The first 4 green characters in the sign above reads "omiyage", which loosely translates to souvenirs for friends, colleagues, and family from a destination.

OTHER PHOTOS:

A vibrant mural in Dobutsuen-Mae station.

The entrance to Shinsekai, a place I wanted to check out in the evening.

All the stalls in Shinsekai were closed in the morning.

A long bridge towards the Osaka Museum of Fine Arts.

That's it for Part 3. Thanks for reading! If you are still here despite all the long pauses in between, thank you for sticking around! XD

If you have any questions or comments about any of these places I visited, feel free to say something in the comments box or fill out a contact form!

Take care, stay safe, and until next time! :)