1) The Cute
Sanrio Puroland – Tokyo, Japan
My third trip to Japan, and my second visit in Tokyo, I decided it was time to step away from the temples and sushi, and fulfill the dreams of my inner six year old. I only had a short 46 hours in Tokyo to see a friend before she flew back to America, and Sanrio Puroland was at the top of her list of “Tokyo Must-Dos”. To be honest, I didn’t even know it existed until she told me about it, but as a lover of Hello Kitty, I knew she wouldn’t have to ask me twice.
Way too excited for cuteness overload.
Initially I was a little shocked by the steep 4400 yen (approximately 44 USD) entrance fee, since I knew this theme park was not about to be filled with thrilling rides, but all it took was the sound of the music coming through the doors, and all was forgiven. When would I ever be able to enter a park dedicated to all that is Sanrio? (This is also Japan – nothing comes cheap.)
Upon entrance, you are instantly transported into a pink, cute, and sickeningly sweet land of fluffy, plush toys, life sized Sanrio characters, high pitched Japanese calls through the intercom, and people of all ages. I was most definitely not the oldest one to be found looking around, full of so much excitement, I didn’t even know where to go first.
Pick a toy, any toy.
Everything, right down to the vending machines, utensils and food held true to the theme- everything imaginable was covered or shaped with Hello Kitty, or one of her adorable friends.
Life size Kitty!
We found ourselves in the arcade and played a few games before we headed into the main theme park. This is where we took a short “boat ride” through Puroland, where we were giggling over the Japanese we didn’t understand, and the Kindergarten students screaming in fear each time the boat took a dive down a small hill.
After asking a few people, and getting distracted by one of the many shops selling merchandise, we were at none other than Hello Kitty’s house itself.
Yes this is exactly as it sounds. Hello Kitty’s house is a series of rooms, all furnished with Hello Kitty shaped things – the TV, the bathtub, the wardrobe. You name it, they could make it into her head’s shape.
This is apparently where Hello Kitty dines.
After getting to the end of her house, we had the option of waiting in line to meet her, and take a picture. Of course we couldn’t resist, so we waited in line until we were put into a locked room of puffy, pink walls that soon opened revealing this:
After taking a picture with our own camera we said goodbye and headed on to the Hello Kitty themed games. You had to help her get through the lab with your key to gain points to earn either a bronze, silver or gold at each task. My favourite challenge? Resuscitating her back to life with defibrillators.
Fix the sick Kitty!
After making it out of the lab, we headed back to the arcade to watch some of the Japanese teenagers who were arriving in Cosplay for an event happening later that evening.
We then took part in one of my favourite ways to pass the time in Asia while bored – sticker booths.
Somehow, we managed to spend 5-6 hours wandering this park, amusing ourselves with the total of one ride – the “boat ride”, but filled with countless games, browsing and character encounters. We ended our day at Puroland by seeing one of the many shows going on throughout the day, which even includes a live acrobat show. We watched a life sized Kitty ride around in the final parade of the day with a brightly lit crown upon her head.
If you go to Sanrio Puroland to be surrounded by adorable things, and not expecting roller coasters, then I’d definitely say that the 4400 yen is well spent. I had so much fun with my friends here, and didn’t spend a second feeling guilty about getting excited over the smallest things, and felt like a kid again.
Sanrio Puroland might be one of the cutest places I have ever spent a day! (If life sized Hello Kitty characters don’t scare you…)
2) The Weird
World Park – Beijing, China
On my most recent trip to Beijing, China, my travel partner was convinced there was a theme park dedicated to the cultures, food and people of the world called “World Park” in the suburbs of Beijing. It only made sense, Beijing did host the olympics in 2008, and China is such a homogenous society, that having a chance to experience other cultures from within their own country sounded like a fabulous idea.
Upon arrival it was quite obvious this was not what World Park was all about, and lead to one of our strangest, but most entertaining days in Beijing…for a shocking price of 100 Yuan to get in (approximately 18 USD). This was probably the most we paid for anything while in China.
The entrance gate to Beijing World Park.
Beijing World Park was exactly that – a park full of miniature duplicates of the world’s most famous landmarks. At first we were a bit disappointed – where was our German beer, our Japanese sushi, and French bread? We then took a “when in Beijing” attitude and did as the Chinese – TOOK PICTURES.
Wandering the mysteries of Stonehenge, while never having to leave Beijing.
World Park was basically a playground for Chinese tourists to indulge in taking pictures of themselves, while pretending they were traveling the world. We never really concluded whether the engagement and wedding shoots we saw taking place all around us were legitimate or for fun, since we saw bags of costumes lying by lighting and photography equipment scattered throughout the park.
I wonder if we could have had a fancy photo shoot of our own?
Romantically gazing into each other’s eyes under the Eiffel Tower.
Oh hey, now I’m in France!
Just took a quick trip over to London after.
The Grand Canyon, San Francisco and New York. This seems geologically correct.
It was soon brought to our attention that we were the only foreigners in World Park, and were being asked for our photos with Chinese families and couples – especially my friend with the “golden” (blonde) hair. We were the most worldly thing about World Park, and probably mistaken for an attraction.
Now we are in Egypt, and this camel is not happy about it.
An eerie feeling took over us when we witnessed animals getting involved in what should be known as Asia’s largest photo zone. This poor camel sat chained to a pole until a willing Chinese tourist paid to put on an Egyptian outfit, sit on top of him, and pretend that he was riding him through the desert with the pyramids in the background.
Happy to escape Egypt and hang out in Sydney for a bit.
My first time seeing Taj Mahal!
Just when we thought we saw it all, we saw our favourite miniature of all – The Great Wall of China. We found this humorous, since you could find the real Great Wall only two hours away. The Chinese tourists still loved every second of it, and heavily photographed their time on the fake Great Wall of China – while in China.
The fake Great Wall!
We decided it was time to go when we landed in Venice, and we saw pigeons with their wings clipped, unable to fly and stuck within the Piazzo San Marco duplicate. It wouldn’t be Venice without pigeons… but this was violating a few animal rights and moral codes for my liking.
Pigeons with nowhere to go.
Near the exit of the park, we found abandoned buildings, that looked like they might have once held restaurants and shops, but were now outdated, and full of graffiti…oh and women selling keychains. World Park was an experience in itself, as we got to become a Chinese local tourist for the day, and not a typical foreign visitor, but if ever asked to recommend this unique experience to someone with a limited amount of time in Beijing – I’d say pass…unless you want to be able to claim you traveled the entire world within 3 hours.
The Expected
Lotte World – Seoul, South Korea
The Korean winter isn’t fun – it gets cold, and it gets windy, but that doesn’t mean that one of Seoul’s favourite theme parks is no longer an option. Lotte World keeps the fun going all year round, and is the world’s largest indoor theme park. Like many of the theme parks in Asia, there aren’t any roller coasters that will cause you to shake in fear, and more geared towards children, but there are many ways to keep yourself entertained all day, and several ticket options and price ranges to choose from. (14, 500 won ~ 40, 000 won – approximately 14 USD to 40 USD)
Overlooking the indoor portion of Lotte World!
Right away we envied the Korean families and couples sporting tacky headbands, so we bought ourselves a pair with large, sparkly bows, and proudly put them on top of our head. Now we could wander the theme park, and maybe even blend in.
Although none of the characters were recognizable, we still enjoyed interacting with them, and learning a bit more about the magic that is Lotte World. There were many slow moving rides, where you got to sit with your friends, and look over the park, while enjoying each other’s company. Oh – and there were more sticker booths.
Every few hours, Lotte World hosts an incredible parade that runs through the entire park. The park becomes dark, the lights are turned off, and the music begins, as everyone in the park lines up along the side to get a peak of the Russian acrobats and dancers in intricate costumes.
Lotte World also holds a large skating rink on the lower level, where you can rent skates and skate around in circles to music with your friends. I decided I didn’t need to be slipping on anymore ice in Korea, seeing as it had become part of my daily routine.
When the weather is a little warmer, there is also a river and lake that runs through the park, that leads to a giant castle, quite similar to the one found at Disney World in Orlando. Sadly, I only got to see it in the darkness of the night, and then got in trouble for being outside by security…so we went back inside and enjoyed a few classic rides.
Lotte World is a lot of fun, and so simple to access by subway, that it makes for an easily planned escape from the busy life of a Seoulite, without even having to go outside! I wouldn’t go as far as saying it is comparable to Universal Studios in Japan, as many Korean people would, but it is definitely a well done indoor theme park, and exactly what I was expecting for the day – which is sometimes exactly what you want.
What’s your favourite theme park? Was it what you were expecting, or something completely different?
Nomadicbee 