postcards from usj
9:45 AMI realised I was meant to post about this trip (re 3Q QB post), but since then, I’ve already gone to USJ twice.
In my first trip, I was unable to gather my courage in time to do Backdrop, which personally for me was the scariest ride in USJ. Perhaps it was because I did not like the fact I could not see where I was going.
This time around, I made sure this was the first ride I went to. I went on the ride and was honestly really scared. All I could think of was “wow, I’m really doing this.” I turned to my left to tell the pretty girl beside me that I am scared. She then signals me to select a song, perhaps to ease my fear. I didn’t know because I think I was just jittery about the whole situation, so she helped me select a song. And in the most Swiftie fashion, I selected “Shake It Off”.
The ride started and for the first time, I dared to open my eyes. Oftentimes I’d close my eyes because I’m just too nervous but after many of these rides, I’ve realised the need to cherish this while I can. When the ride ended, I thanked the pretty girl who helped me select the song early on. We took a selfie, and exchanged Instagram accounts. Ruka is her name, and later she took out her papago app and wrote “I’d like to go to Nintendo World”.
Well, looks like I made a new friend and onwards we go to Nintendo World.
It turned out that it would take us around 3 hours to wait for Donkey Kong, one of the more famous roller coasters in USJ. Then I suggested we go to Koopa’s Challenge. While waiting, we met a guy who constantly took photos of the area. If there’s one thing I love about USJ is that they definitely took the time to decorate their interior. We then took a couple of pictures of him with the interior design and introduced ourselves. Curtis from Taiwan, Ruka from Japan, and Q from Malaysia. Come to think of it, we really did only have a Papago app and a dream.
We then proceeded to spend a huge chunk of the time together. My favourite part was when we were at the parade and were dancing together with the dancers, and while we are all about the same age, it did feel like we were all children again. Ruka was also so generous in treating us to lunch. She said that this was “Japanese generosity”, and it just made my experience in Japan all the more heartwarming.
It was even more wholesome when Curtis managed to overcome his fear of heights. We started off with going on the Flight of Hippogriff, as a build up to taking on the Flying Dinosaur. While waiting, Ruka also taught us some Japanese and we learnt the viral Japanese song that goes “Ruby-chan! Hai! Nani ga suki?”, and also realised all three of us are into kpop and kdramas.
Before leaving, I really wanted to treat Ruka something as a means to thank her for lunch. But as I ask her what she’d like as a souvenir, she wrote voraciously on her papago app and what she’d wrote really made me tear up, “Our memories here are already very rich”.
I decided to write this here because I don’t want to forget any of these moments. I took away this trip a lot more than just crossing out my bucket list to ride on Backdrop.
I realised, I may have tunnel visioned my life in Malaysia.
There's so much more out there, and perhaps this is my calling.
0 chit-chat(s)