Showing posts with label KIK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label KIK. Show all posts

Monday, 26 May 2014

Post #40 (17.05.14) >> The last evening and the flight home

For dinner, I took the last chance to wrap up my love affair with Soemon-cho & Dotonburi by having a walk around, taking in the sights and sounds.


Red Bull promotion




We discovered there was a Cat Cafe at the quiet end of Dotonburi ! oh well

Old school building in the middle of bustling Dotonburi
We were supposed to have a crab kaiseki meal at the famous Kani Doraku crab restaurant to complete our dining experience in Japan.
There was a 20 minute wait for a table and we were kinda short of time.

Instead, we went on the cheap and ate at Sukiya.
Bang for buck ... cheap good & satisfying.







Happy Birthday Trevor ! this is for you. <3.


Back at the airport ... the vending machine in the picture below was the last i saw & used :|


Time to get back on the plane for the epic 20 hour journey.


The first 8 hour leg from Osaka to Kuala Lumpur was great, we pretty much slept for 6 out of the 8 hours.
We didn't notice when then plane took off & woke up just in time for meals and landing.
The trip was made better by our magical flight attendant.
What a great way to end my Japanese experience.





MMM Octopus snacks !
Back in Kuala Lumpur, the fact that we weren't in Osaka anymore.... really hit HARD !
What a contrast of feelings >_<
Oh well, at least we were heading home.

We had another shower at the Sama Sama express hotel and hung out at the lounge until it was time to board.


At the boarding gate, everyone was put through an interrogation process.
Some people were grilled intensively and extensively, being asked personal questions and asked for identification.
I presented my passport with the photo page open, my face was scanned by the police officer up and down some reason focusing on my sideburns.

Soon after it clicked in my head, we had been subjected to increased security screening due to flight MH370 !

Goodbye Kuala Lumpur ... F*CK YEA !!!!

We got on the plane and took our seats.
The flight was looking quiet, there were empty seats here and there, two infront of us and three empty seats behind us.
We hoped luck would be on our side and we could sprawl out.
With our fingers and toes crossed, the plane finished re-fuelling.
Positive thinking got the best of us as two parents (with pommy accent) with a crying baby came onto the plane, walking down the aisle looking in our direction.

Not any normal parents mind you, the mother was one of those women who talked out aloud at their baby, this would be ok if the baby could comprehend.

Like every other flight so far, the flight was slightly delayed.
The captain said his usual apologies and soon after we were in the clouds.

The baby boy was going off his head, He was going CrAZYyyYyYYyYy.
Shut The F*ck Up you little c*nt !
The parents began to bicker about the non control of their child.

Paul and I got squirted on by a sippee cup.
My headrest was hung off and my ears were slapped by little ^angelic^  Charlie.


I considered popping all six of these tablets to knock myself out.
Instead i popped my earphones in and cranked my phone to 15/15 volume.
No success.

Charlie, the 1 and 1/2 year old baby boy, just wouldn't quit.
The mother responded to his shreeks, cries and screams with baby talk ... thinking that would calm him down, it didn't work.

He went on and on and on, just like the Duracell bunny.

"Charlieee why did you do that ? I was just trying to feed you, you dont have to hit me'"
"OwWww Charlie that hurt !" ... Good work Charlie, you did something good !
*Screech* *Shreek* *Cry* *Sook*

"Good boy Charlie, i'm so proud of youuu"
Shut the F*ck Up !!!!!!! both of you .. for f*cks sake !!!




8 hours felt like eternity...  another 5 hours ... GAH ! another 4 hours ... GAH ! another 3, 2, 1 ...



I filled out the incoming passenger card, ready to declare the Sashimi knife in my luggage.


Hello Sydney ! Although the holiday was over, it was nice to know I was only moments away from seeing the wife again.

I wasn't so happy about going back to the real world.

For me, going on holidays has it's ups and downs.

The feeling of leaving work on the last day, knowing you are going away is awesome.
Arriving at the Airport departures. checking in & going through customs puts a spring in my step.
Landing at the destination and feeling so far away from reality is such a nice feeling.
Retail therapy is so soothing.
The mood changes when the trip reaches the half way mark, this is when i realise; OH NO there's only so many days left.
It starts to get depressing when there are only 1 or 2 days left.
The weight of the world falls back on my shoulders on the flight home, *sigh*

Our action packed whirlwind tour of Japan is going to be a trip that will never be forgotten.
There is no doubt when my memories fade, I can revert back to this blog to re-live it all over again ^_^

Thanks for reading.

Monday, 12 May 2014

Post #04 (11.05.14) >> Arrival & the Hotel Vista Grande Osaka

It was a nice feeling knowing we had finally reached our destination after such a long journey.

We landed @ at Kansai International Airport.



This Airport is a modern structure with a wavy roof constructed on an artificial man-made island.
KIX is the world's airport longest airport building at some 1.7km in length.
Construction wise, it was also the world's most expensive at the time.

Once through customs and after collecting our luggage, we proceeded to the second floor of the passenger terminal to catch a train into the city.





47 minutes later via the Nankai Airport Express train we arrived at Namba Station.

A short three minute walk from the train station to the hotel was my first glimpse of what was to come.




Wow ! this place was different to anything I've ever seen before.
To put simply, it was clean and quiet but full of people at the same time !.

At this point the culture shock was the hardest thing to comprehend.
The Japanese people looked and acted so differently, especially compared to the Malaysians I had just seen.
Even the most naive non Asian people would know these people aren't all the same.


Hotel Vista Grande Osaka
http://www.vistagrande.jp/en/
5-15, Soemon-cho, Chuo-ku, Osaka, Japan

A small hotel conveniently located, close to everything including the restaurants and night-life of Dotonbori and shopping of Shinbiashi-suji etc..

The Lacoste stores I plan on visiting are a mere 550 & 1100 metres away  (^_^).

We arrived at the front counter to check-in to our rooms & pickup our B-mobile sim cards.


Trevor and I are sharing a twin room together whilst the other guys are in a triple share room.
Great value for A$69 a night, even less for the other three guys.

Room #1018 is our home for the next few days.







Our view out of the window

Last year on our Melbourne trip, Trevor and I shared a room together with two single beds.
One day, he claimed that he woke up to the sight of me watching him sleep.
Truth be told, that is not how it was ... he was actually watching me sleep.

To ensure I wouldn't mistaken Trevor for my wife in the middle of the night, I wanted to seperate the two single beds.
I looked for something to act as a barrier but there was nothing to serve that purpose.
We ended up using a pillow to seperate our faces.

Another issue was the bathroom blinds, which didn't quite close and stay closed enough ! uh-oh.



After settling in and establishing some ground rules with Trevor, it was time to explore.