#20260301

土曜日の朝、アメリカとイスラエルがイランに攻撃示唆という記事を見て、絶対攻撃するだろうなと思っていたら、案の定戦争が始まった。やはり、という悲しい気持ちとともに、だけど、そのことに対する心理的な衝撃は少なかった。それは世の中にも同じ空気感があるからこそ、何事もなかったかのように、一つのニュースとして消費され、またかとでもいうように流れていっている感がある。

短期的でインスタントな武力行使が、米国の常套手段になっている。

ロシアがウクライナに侵略を始めたことへの衝撃。そこから、剥き出しの暴力が蔓延している。

My last full day in Japan! How did that happen so fast?? Today was dedicated to my biggest splurge of the whole trip: Super Nintendo World! And Universal Studios since SNW is inside of Universal, but tbh I don't care about anything else at Universal (Jaws, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter World). So I was mostly going for SNW, my visit very much aided by a Christmas gift from my brother and sister-in-law. My ticket to SNW had an entry time of 11:50, but I wanted to get to the park a bit earlier to ride a few rides in the Jurassic Park area. Even if I've never seen the movies I can still enjoy the rides! I had a quiet coffee in the hostel common area, one of the few people up, and headed out a bit after 9:30. It was only about a 30min transit. I had made sure to bring only a small bag knowing how busy it would be and that I'd have to keep it out of the way on most of the rides, but once I got to Universal I did store my coat in a coin locker. It was around 12°C and sunny, and I was guaranteed to get too warm in the coat. It worked out for the most part, other than the fact that my hands were kind of cold! This was not aided by the fact that I rode a water(ish) ride first thing...

Of course the park was busy, but I had come equipped with my Loop earplugs, a mask, and sunglasses. Three talismans to ward me against crowds. It was perfect, thanks to those I was so completely unbothered. I also had been mentally preparing myself the whole trip for how busy it was going to be, it wasn't exactly a surprise.

The reason I rode a water(ish) ride first was because the line was very short, and I wanted to do what I could in the hour and a bit until my SNW entry time. There were of course warnings that you could get wet, but I don't think I realized how much...? But when I got to the front of the line and prepared to board the ride, and noticed water on the seats... Uh oh. No turning back. It was a cool ride, took you through a river past a bunch of animatronic dinosaurs, and then inside through the research/holding facility. The plot I guess was that some of the dinosaurs in the facility were breaking loose and causing danger. It was a pretty loud ride with all the alarms and dinosaurs screeching, but I had taken my earplugs out because of the water, so I settled for just plugging my ears. The big descent of the ride, after we left the facility, was where I got hugely splashed! I got some of the worst of it being on the outside edge of the raft. The Japanese family next to me was laughing with me as I was coming to terms with how soaked I got! The fact that I was wearing all black was some consolation, and at least I had had the forethought to take off my mask too. I also reasoned with myself that at least I had the whole day to walk around and dry off, rather than doing it at the end and being damp on the transit home!

After that I went to the "Flying Dinosaur" ride, just beside the one I had just ridden. My SNW entry ticket also came with express entry to the Mario rides and then either this Jurassic Park ride or a Jaws one, and Sabine had said the Jurassic Park one was really good, so! I could see people on it as I was walking around that area of the park and it looked incredible. It's a coaster that has you lying down on your stomach to ride it. They have one like this at Canada's Wonderland (near Toronto), and it's one of my favourite coasters there! By luck of the draw I ended up in the very front row with two extremely afraid Japanese girls and a scared but excited Filipino guy. It was so much fun!! It has probably been like 6-7 years since I was on a rollercoaster (despite thinking about it every time I'm back in Toronto), and I had forgotten how much I love them. It was very thrilling, going through loops and barrel rolls. Also as it brought us up to the top of the first drop, we had a great view across the whole park and the city beyond it! On a really beautiful clear day too. Here's a pic of some of the coaster track from across the park:

My hands were quite cold after first getting soaked and then being flown at 100km/h at 150 feet up (literally, I looked up the speed), but that was the only con about the ride. Oh, that and I was afraid I'd lose my glasses. The staff during the lineup and scanning process kept miming for me to take them off (we went through metal detectors to ensure nothing was left in our pockets and had to demonstrate to many staff that we had nothing on us) but every time I said "I can't see without them" and they just told me to be careful. I settled with wrapping my mask elastics around the arms of the glasses like 4 times each side, and it did the trick! Phew. I did have my sunglasses, but it wouldn't have been fun to lose my regular ones.

After finishing that ride there was only about 15mins until the entry time for SNW, so I sat on a bench to rest my legs a bit, knowing I was going to be on my feet for a while in SNW. This ended up being a wise choice. When I entered SNW, I mostly said "fuck it" to being careful of other people in my photos; it was obviously impossible, and no one going there doesn't know to anticipate everyone's going to be taking pictures. It was so, so exciting, immediately upon entering! You walked through a big green pipe that played the classic noise when Mario travels through the pipe, and then through Peach's castle (complete with giant pictures on the wall), before being greeted by the amazing vista of Super Nintendo World. Seeing it in photos was one thing, but actually getting to be there and take it all in was bonkers!!

A whole bunch of the props were moving around, the coins all spinning, piranha plants reaching out, thwomps crashing down, the whole nine yards! I can't truly explain how much it felt like actually walking into a video game with how bright, animated, and oversized everything was. The bright blue sky we were blessed with really helped sell it too, I am glad I got to see it all in the sunshine. The area was also filled with people with these power bands (I didn't get one, they were like $45) that allowed you to interact with parts of the park, like punching blocks to get coins (made the noise and I think virtually gave points on the smartwatch-esque thing), finding hidden(ish) symbols around the area, and playing little minigames (all of the minigames had lineups so I'm extra glad I didn't bother with a band. better for kids I'm sure).

I did a round of the top level, stopping to admire and take pictures of everything, before heading into the Mario Kart ride. I realized after I had ridden it that I forgot to tell the staff I had an express pass and did not need to wait as long as I did, oops, but the wait really wasn't that bad anyway. One of the benefits to being there by myself was getting to use the singles lines which tended to move a bit faster. The entrance was through Bowser's castle and had the lines snaking through the interior of the castle, surrounded by torches and chains and dungeon-esque decor with some enemy animatronics around the walls. All of the staff for each different area of the park and ride had a different kind of uniform, which was SO fun, and the staff here had racing suits on, they looked awesome!

Everyone got given these Mario hat headbands to wear during the ride, because once you boarded you snapped some goggles onto them which revealed an AR (augmented reality) viewscreen in front of you. They were clear goggles with bright images depending on where you looked. I had no idea this was a feature of the ride!! Each kart contained 4 riders in 2 rows and everyone had a steering wheel with two buttons on the shoulders (as far as I could tell, the buttons both had the same function). When you looked down towards the steering wheel you could see how many coins (points) you had, and how many blue shells (ammo) you had. Once the ride started, you were given a very quick tutorial on how to use the buttons to shoot at enemies/other players, and you aimed by looking towards them. The steering was not a true function of the ride, we were on a track, but to make it more immersive. The entire cart would spin around as we steered around corners. It was a bit overwhelming because I kind of wanted to look more closely at the track we were going through, but I had to focus on the enemies I was trying to hit! You also had to look at the item blocks as they came towards you to collect more blue shells (even though they were blue they functioned like green shells). I was having SO much fun that I started tearing up at one point, which is really silly, but I just felt so happy that I could be here having this experience! I'd been wanting to go since SNW opened in 2021, and it was pretty surreal finally being there.

At the end of the ride you could see every rider's score (I guess based on the amount of people you hit and items you collected). I didn't win but I wasn't last! Somewhere around 10 out of 16. When you disembarked you walked through the back of the castle, surrounded by the badges from the Grand Prix circuits from the game, and then into a gift shop (of course). Even the gift shop had a cool design, like a gear/repair place. I picked up a few things (secret!) before heading to the rest of SNW.

The main part of SNW was two levels, so I went down the stairs to see more from different angles. Mario and Luigi were hanging out down here for photo-ops, as was Toad! Toad in particular was super cute and had a minder with him as he was wandering around. You had to feel kind of bad for the person in the suit.

Next, I went to the Donkey Kong Country side of SNW! I haven't actually played any of the Donkey Kong games but of course the park was just as well done as the Mario area. Tons of palm trees everywhere and jungle-style decor and props, and the man (gorilla?) himself was there too.

I had an express entry to the ride here too, Mine Cart Madness. The interior line area was all done up in gold, a very fancy temple, with vines hanging down along the path. The plot of this one was zooming through the jungle in a janky cart, preventing the Golden Banana from being stolen by ?Tiki Taks? I'm sure this made more sense to people who have played the games. The ride itself was pretty fun, I didn't know but the cars had a kind of herky-jerky movement to them which was a little hard on the neck (being warned about it ahead of time might have been nice), but that was part of the concept. Some parts of the track it took you through were visibly broken as well, so they really leaned into the unpredictable speed over these bits! This one also had nice views over the other parts of SNW, and all the statues and jungle themed parts along the ride were cool. Some sections even misted you, I'm guessing to mimic a humid jungle?

In this area of the park I'd seen people walking around with these incredible ice cream things, and figured I had to at least get one overpriced themed food while in SNW. Most of the food stalls were heavily meat-based (hot dogs etc) and the restaurants had quite long lineups, so a sundae it was! I also can't pass up banana flavoured treats, I love that shit. As it turns out it was banana soft serve topped with waffle pieces, granola, fruit sorbet (possibly strawberry and lemon?), and popcorn! A bit of everything. It was super delicious and refreshing, since I was getting quite warm in the sun (entirely dried off by now!)

I found a seat on a bench next to a guy who was clearly exhausted, I'm guessing waiting for his family to be done a ride, and an older woman whose family was off waiting for a photo with Donkey Kong. After a little while she struck up a conversation with me, which was difficult considering she did so in Japanese, but I knew enough words to know she was asking where I was from, how old I am, how long I was here, where I'd been to in the park and such. She showed me some pictures of her family enjoying other areas of the park, I told her where else I'd gone in Japan, she asked if there was snow in Takayama (thanks Fruits Basket for making me know the word for snow, "yuki"). I eventually finished my ice cream and remembered to introduce myself to her before we parted ways (her name was Yumiko!). It was a wholesome little rest in my noisy, chaotic day!

I went back to the Mario side of SNW to ride Yoshi's Adventure, a more kid-oriented ride. I didn't have an express ticket for this one and it was claiming a wait of 80 minutes... so I thought about not doing it... but I was there to experience it all! Fuck it! Whatever! I'd be upset if I didn't do one part of the park. Parts of the line went through a cutely decorated area (the Yoshi games really knock the cuteness level outta the park), but it was a long enough line that for a section we wound through an unremarkable concrete and metal outdoor section between two buildings. I pulled out my phone and worked on drafting my blog post from the day prior which helped pass the time (idk why doing that makes me feel like I'm time traveling/teleporting but it really does). It was mostly fine, other than my knees starting to ache and the two boys behind me having basically no concept of the space they took up, since they kept bumping into me. I tried to have patience for it since they were only like 7 or 8, and were also clearly bored by the long wait, so I didn't chastise them but I did kind of wish their parents had told them to mind the people around them. Ah well, I put it out of my mind as best as possible.

The ride itself was very chill. There was a constantly looping track oh Yoshi-shaped carts that took you on a leisurely path, through a very small indoor section with a Kamek and some Shy Guys flying around before heading outside, above the Mario section of the park. The pace was slow enough that you really got the chance to see everything from up on high! And because it was slow, I could take some pictures (not very good ones mind you, the video I took was better).

Once the ride had finished I did one more round of the Mario side of SNW. I looked in the other merch store they had (that wasn't attached to the Mario Kart ride) on the hunt for Waluigi merch - they didn't have a single thing! Zero Wario or Waluigi representation at all. They had other villains/enemies like Bowser, Boo, Koopas, Bullet Bills, etc., and the even had misfit Pikmin in the stores, but no Wario or Waluigi. Wild! Are they just not cared about at all in Japan?? I was a little sad about that. My boy... Anyway, I continued to walk around until I felt like I had really gotten my fill ow SNW, knowing it will be a while before I'm back here (if ever).

On my way out of Universal, I thought about riding one of the other coasters in the Hollywood section, but it was a substantial wait and my knees were feeling the effects of the Yoshi line. I had planned ahead and brought my cane with me, which helped a bit once I whipped it out, but that much standing is really no bueno so I was in some pretty rough shape. I poked into the Hello Kitty store, as well as other general Universal stores still looking for Waluigi, but struck out again. Time to go home. It was around 4pm by the time I left the park, so a full day there! The walk to the train station was slow and painful, but I made it in the end. I knew if I went to my hostel first, and up to my room on the 3rd floor, I would not be making it back down again. But I desperately needed food, having not really had any options at the park and a light breakfast. So I stopped at a Nepalese place by the subway station closest to my hostel, and got a mixed plate and a lassi, knowing at this point any alcohol would take me out.

It was all delicious! Curry, soup (dal baht), and some vegetable side dishes. The one at the bottom of the picture was pickled radish, and it was so good! I was sad I only had a few pieces of it! On my way out I asked the staff what it was (so I could find it elsewhere or try making it myself), and later I searched for recipes for khadeko mulako achar. We'll see if it turns out anything like what I had!

A few streets down from the restaurant was a sento that was apparently also tattoo friendly, and sounded like something I could really use after a long day and with my sore, swollen knees. I toddled over and verified that indeed I was allowed in, scrubbed down (they provided the soap and shampoo at this one which was nice, and the towel I rented was nice and fluffy), and spent just over an hour there. The main hot bath was almost uncomfortably hot so I didn't spend a ton of time in it. They also had an electric bath, with 3 different settings, and placards (including English) explaining the different settings and where the electricity came for each of the 3! It was might strong though, much stronger than the one in Kyoto, so I could only tolerate putting my legs in on the gentlest setting. They had what was called a "starlight bath" but it wasn't actually outside? It was through a door into a cooler room, done in wood rather than tiling, with a few small skylights, and then small lights scattered around the rest of the ceiling to make it look starry. There was a small cold bath (very cold but nice for dunking in when I overheated), some lounge chairs (adirondack style and also long, curved pool loungers), and what ended up being my favourite bath. It was a nice temperature, not too warm, and labelled the "microbubble" bath. It felt like sitting in warm soda! In a good way? Not super bubbly soda like Coke, but a more gentle effervescent bubble like sparkling water. The water was slightly opaque too, it really reminded me of Milkis (a Korean carbonated yogurt flavoured milky soft drink - look, it sounds weird, but it's good). I spent most of the time alternating between this bath and one of the loungers. I'd seen other guests smartly splash the loungers with warm water from the bath before sitting on it so it wasn't cold, and there was a large cup next to the baths just for this! There was a fan running in this room to keep it cool as well.

It was really a great decision to come here after the day I had had, and I left feeling much better. The changeroom even had some nice moisturizer to use, and when I went to the rest area in the lobby I found they had some drink options, so I went for a plum sour (made with shochu, a Japanese distilled liquor) so I sat on the tatami section of the rest area and drank that to cool down.

After that, it was a quick stop at the convenience store for a crunchy snack and a beer to drink once I got back to the hostel while writing up my blog. When I got there there was a young Japanese boy working on some English homework with I presume his relative (or maybe just a friend), he was doing a great job working through translations of sentences. I sat and just wrote up some of the previous day's post on my phone, but I didn't last long, extremely sleepy by this point. I resolved to wake up by 8am the next day to ensure I could have time to pack everything and drink a coffee before 10am checkout. I was a little worried about fitting everything in my bags well, but it was absolutely a tomorrow problem.

I'm so glad I could go to Universal Studios, and also very glad I left it for my last full day, because it wiped me out so bad! I'm quite happy that the way home from the park was the only time I needed my cane all trip. It is absolutely due to the fitness class and yoga I've been doing since September. As it turns out, it really does help. Along with my meds increase to treat the emergent arthritis in my hands, which will obviously help the arthritis elsewhere too. I'm just really proud of myself, and happy that my illness is well-controlled enough now that I can spend 3 weeks walking so much almost every day and way more active than I am in my daily life, and be pretty okay about it! I absolutely would have had a harder time even 5 years ago, when it was less well managed. God bless modern medicine, and myself for actually committing to my own wellness as I've gotten older. A bit of a tangent, but it was really on my mind the whole trip!

Only one more post left, of my actual last day and the (spoiler alert) trials and tribulations of my trip home. That's being a bit dramatic, but it wasn't the easiest day (or two days depending on how you look at it). That's why it's taken me some time to get this post up... but I did it!!