With a long weekend opportunity at the end of May, our friends suggested a road trip down to Osaka with an intention to go to USJ. Despite having visited Osaka a bunch in the past, I've never had the guts to go to Universal Studios Japan because I've been afraid of the crowds! With Japan (hopefully) opening again to tourists shortly, this seemed like it would be one of our last decent opportunities, so we eagerly agreed to tag along.
Trip overview:
Sat, May 28
- 03:30 Pack car and leave, stop at a few rest stops along the way for bathroom breaks and snacks
- 10:30 Arrive at Nara Park, feed the deer, visit Todaiji temple, eat lunch
- 15:00 Check in at Osaka Airbnb
- 17:00 Visit Umeda
- 18:45 Dinner and exploring in Namba/Dotonbori
Sun, May 29
- 09:30 Kaiyukan/Osaka Aquarium
- 12:30 Lunch in Namba
- 14:00 Round 1 3-hour Spo-Cha in Namba
- 18:00 Spa World
- 20:00 Dinner in Shinsekai
Mon, May 30
- 09:30-19:00 Universal Studios Japan
Tues, May 31
- 09:00 Check out Airbnb, drive to Suita
- 10:00 Expo 70 Park, Tower of the Sun, Rose Garden
- 12:00 Lunch at Lalaport ExpoCity
- 1:15 Drive back, stop at a few rest stops along the way
- 18:45 Dinner in Odawara
- 21:00 Fill gas at Ebina rest stop
- 22:00 Home!
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DAY 1 - Saturday, May 28
Luckily these friends (M&M) live quite nearby to us and we had no trouble meeting up with them in the early morning on Saturday at 03:30am! Loaded up the trunk with our bags for the weekend and then settled into the backseat.
We stopped at a few rest stops along the way. I've never been to one of these before and was super impressed by each of them! I haven't been on a long road trip before - not a lot of opportunities on a small island and didn't really make a point to do one when I was on the mainland for a bit, so these were really cool to me. The bathrooms were all huge, modern and super clean (rivaling or even beating Haneda Airport) and had not only vending machines but also the typical conbini (7-Eleven, Family Mart, etc) and even some restaurants and omiyage shops.
We arrived in Nara around 10:00 (about 6.5 hours after leaving the Yokohama area) but took a bit of time to figure out the best place to park. There's lots of options but all kinds of different pricing too! We finally settled on a lot that seemed to be part of the park near Kofukuji temple and a flat rate of 1000yen for the day.
Of course we had to take the opportunity to feed some deer.
And also walked over to Todaiji Temple with the giant buddha, about 1.2km from where we parked. It was quite hot but I feel like wandering around the park is part of the experience, haha. 
We decided to enter for 600yen.
First stop, Umeda. Because I wanted to take the opportunity to check out the EATME store in Umeda EST which I had never been to before. I just took a quick look before also stopping by a very busy and large Daiso store for some hangers. Meanwhile, the boys had found a yakitori restaurant and they had a few drinks and appetizers before we moved on for dinner.
Day 2 - Sunday, May 29
We had purchased Kaiyukan (Osaka Aquarium) tickets ahead of time due to COVID-restrictions limiting entry and that had a specified entry time. We had selected 09:30 - 09:45, so we headed out from the Airbnb at around 09:00. Based on our other planned activities for the day, I was also carrying a change of clothes :)
After a few transfers, we got to Osakako, dropped off our bags in a locker train station, and made the short but sunny walk towards the aquarium. We stopped at Family Mart for a bit of a snack before heading in.
Being a bit hungry, we headed to Namba for our next activity and to find somewhere to eat for lunch! We hadn't been able to get into the Kushikatsu Daruma honten the night before because it was so busy, but luckily there's a lot of locations and we were able to get a table for lunch pretty quickly.
Ordering is done by scanning a QR code associated with your assigned table and then picking items from the website! It's super easy, even if you don't easily understand Japanese (as long as you have Google Chrome if you need the translation).
We then walked over to Round 1 because we wanted to try out the "Spo-Cha" (sports challenge). There's a few pricing options (free play, 3 hour, 90 minutes, etc), but since we had other plans after, we decided to go with the 3 hour ticket, purchased at a ticket machine on the 3rd floor.
It seemed that Round 1 also offered unlimited arcade games as part of the Spo-cha price, which on its own might be worthwhile!
Here are some of the examples of the activities that were available:
The most involved thing we did was this mini-bike race. It involved a sign up sheet (limited number of spots) and a specific appointment. We would have wanted to try the go-karts but that was already full by the time we tried to sign up. They asked that you get to the area 15 minutes ahead of time and we were given a brief, signed some kind of statement of understanding and then told to put the safety gear on.
We got one loop to try out the bikes, each starting on our own and then we lined up again and raced for the length of a song and stopped when the staff member let us know we were done (probably about 5-6 laps depending on how fast we went).
Throwing hoops (basketball accuracy) and darts. They also had a 3-on-3 basketball court area in another section.
Gun shooting and simulation golf
We really enjoyed the batting cages! This was the entire 11th floor and had a few different speeds available.
"Smash ping pong" where the machine served a ball and you had to return it onto a pressure board on the opposite side to earn points.
Soccer penalty kick accuracy. You were allowed 12 kicks per session and earned points based on getting the ball into certain sections of the backboard.
Archery
This "throw and catch" activity was surprisingly popular (often had a line) which we didn't initially plan to do but it ended up being really fun actually?? There were a few gloves, softball, baseball and an American football available.
The roller rink had a free skate time (rental skates available) and then was also used for go kart, segway and mini bike races at specific times which were overseen by a staff member.
That was our last major activity of the 3 hours but there was definitely more that we didn't get to try - rodeo, multi-sport courts (badminton, tennis, volleyball), hoverboards, billiards, segway drift (little individual/per foot rollers) and a lot more! Here's all the activities on their website. It would definitely be fun to spend a weekday doing the free play with a group of friends when it might be a little less crowded for some of the activities. Round 1 has a bunch of locations, so maybe we will try again at a location in Kanagawa! You don't necessarily need to wear "activewear" in order to do these. We were OK in casual clothes, but definitely recommend shoes/sneakers!
Last planned activity for the day was Spa World! I've read about it in the past when I was looking for something to do in Osaka, but never found the time or enough interest to visit on my own. M&M were pretty hyped about it so it was a must do for this trip and I was happy to finally give it a chance. We ended up walking from Tennoji station after accidentally getting on to the wrong train, but Dobutsuenmae or Shin-imamiya are much closer. Since we were going to be relaxing next anyway, it didn't matter much to us!
Unfortunately the pool area was already closed, but we were still able to use the spa areas and purchased our tickets from the vending machine, put our shoes in lockers and went to our separate floors - 4th floor for women (European theme) and 6th floor for men (Asian theme) this month.
It's pretty much an onsen area, so somewhat obviously, I do not have any pictures of this part. We had a little bit of confusion figuring out exactly where to go and what to do, so I'm going to write it down here quickly in case I go back and need to remember how it works haha.
After purchasing tickets and entering, put your shoes in a locker with a 100yen refundable "deposit" (returned when you put the key back in). Walk around Spa World without your shoes, but hold on to your personal belongings based on what area you will go to.
The girls went to the 4th floor and found the locker room. Here, there are more 100yen refundable lockers, but much bigger. There are also the smaller towels available that you'd typically see at an onsen (not meant to be used as a washcloth).
Once completely undressed, pass through the getting ready area and then enter the spa area and find a shower/washing section. There are a few throughout but there's also a main one after you pass through a bit to the right. Wash cloths, shampoo, conditioner, body wash and toothbrushes are available.
After you are clean, you can use any of the spas and saunas (typical onsen etiquette applies)! There are quite a few with different "country" themes (Greece, Finland, Atlantis, etc). We spent about 1 hour doing this before we stopped to rinse off and then get ready again. Before exiting the spa area, there are body towels available to dry yourself completely and also some in-house roomwear/dresses to wear while you are getting ready again.
I returned to the locker to get my makeup and sat down in front of a mirror which also had some lotions, qtips, tissue and a hair dryer at each station. I was able to get dressed and feel like I was ready to go out again fairly easily, which I found surprising since I often find it awkward to get ready in places other than my home, but the facilities make it really easy.
We met up with the guys again, got a QR code associated with our ID bracelet to exit (if you have additional charges, so you don't need to carry cash. We didn't have additional charges), retrieved our shoes and then scanned ourselves out!
For dinner, we headed out to the Shinsekai area, which was not planned and we basically just happened upon it. I'm not familiar with this area at all, so we just walked around a little bit before we settled on a tsukemen restuarant.
The boys still had some life in them so they went to seek out of a bar for a dai-jockey beer or two while the girls took all of our stuff from shopping + change of clothes, etc and hauled it back to the Airbnb.
There was a "traveling bakery" van/stand just outside the station, so we stopped to buy a few melon pan for the next morning's breakfast.
Day 3 - Monday, May 30
Sorry to break this trip up even further, but I want to give our day at Universal Studios Japan its own post!
As a short summary, the park was unexpectedly (to us) crowded and I got motion sick after the first couple of rides and had a slow and less than ideal day as a result. [Click here for the full post!]
Day 4 - Tuesday, May 31
Time to head home! We had a long drive ahead, but all day to do it. We got packed up and ready to leave the Airbnb by 09:00. With all of our luggage back in the car, we were on the road again, headed towards Suita based on a recommendation from Mintkismet.
We parked at Lalaport ExpoCity mall after about a 1 hour drive at 10:00 just when the mall opened. The parking areas for Lalaport ExpoCity are identified by red signs and there was a lot available when we arrived. If you're looking for the park parking, seek out the blue signs on the opposite side!
We walked through the Orange section of the mall and then through the center on the ground level to walk across for the entrance of Expo 70 Park near the Tower of the Sun.
We purchased Japanese Garden "tickets" (not really sure about the protocol for this) and entered the park, immediately being greeted by the Tower of the Sun.
We walked around him in the clockwise direction and then decided to check it out a little further by going into the lower level. Entrance fee is 750yen and since we figured we were unlikely to return any time soon, we decided to go in!
Photos are only allowed on the first floor, but you climb stairs all the way up the tower centered around a tree showing the evolution of life starting from amoeba and then progressing all the way towards man at the top. It was really interesting and not what we were expecting to be inside at all. Once you reach the top, you follow the a different set of stairs on the way down and there's a few more pictures and explanations. There is an English component to most, if not all, of it.
We walked further into the park towards the Rose Garden because the season was supposed to be just right for it. It has rained a bit earlier in the day so there were quite a few raindrops still around and some of the flowers were browning a bit but it was still very full and colorful.
We stopped for some soft cream and a quick break in the Japanese Gardens area just behind the Rose Garden. 
There's A LOT more to the park, but since we wanted to return home around 20:00, we needed to leave the area around 13:00 - 14:00 so we headed back to the mall to grab lunch.
There's A LOT more to the park, but since we wanted to return home around 20:00, we needed to leave the area around 13:00 - 14:00 so we headed back to the mall to grab lunch.
There's quite a few choices but we settled on a lunch buffet with a really good price and seemingly good variety.
They had all kinds of dishes - italian pastas, pizza, french fries, karaage, different tempuras, udon, pho, inari sushi, sliced pork belly, some curries/stews and soups and a pretty decent selection of desserts including a waffle maker. Plus more that I'm definitely forgetting. Not the best food we ever had but a huge variety and a good price for lunch.
We left Lalaport ExpoCity at around 13:15 and got on the road again back towards Kanagawa.
Since we were slated to get back just after dinner time, we thought we'd stop in Odawara to get pho at a restaurant M&M were familiar with based on a friend's prior recommendation.
Staff were super accommodating and food was really good and the portion size was bigger than I expected! I don't know Vietnamese food that well but the presentation was top notch and seemed excellent to me.
We took a few breaks at rest stops along the way and again I was impressed with how modern and clean each one was!
We made one last stop at an Ebina rest stop on the way back to fill gas and pick up a couple pies from mille mele!
And arrived home just before 22:00! Unloaded the car, said our thanks and goodbyes, took a shower and poured into bed because we had work the next morning :)
The motion sickness at USJ was definitely less than ideal but overall, I'd consider the trip a success. I'd never have thought to drive down to Osaka on my own, and we actually were quite lucky that our friends were willing to do the driving themselves both ways while we were able to relax in the back. I got to learn about the rest stops (their frequency, what amenities they might offer, etc) without all the stress of it being a first time experience (our friends are reasonably familiar) and we were in good company.
The weekend was packed but in a good way and we almost needed a vacation from our mini-vacation when we returned! I was able to do some familiar things (deer park and aquarium) but also some new things aside from just USJ (like Tower of the Sun and Spa World). I hope we can do more weekend trips in the future, whether by car, train or plane :)
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