Well it is my 2nd last day here in Hong Kong and I will post more about my impressions of Hong Kong tommorrow (as I haven’t really done all that much that is extraordinary etc) but what i will tell you about was my day on Saturday where I went to China, for only a few hours really.

When originally planning this holiday I had decided that I wanted to try and visit China, originally I was tossing up just visiting Shanghai for a day to get on the Maglev, but the flights were crap and I couldn’t justify it. Then I read about Shenzen. Easily accessible for a day trip from Hong Kong and fantastic shopping for fakes. Hello!!!! So really although my visit to “China” was not all that long or extensive (probably never strayed more than a few hundred metres from the border really) but it was a great day.

The shopping in Shenzen is pretty damn good and I only went to one of the big shopping areas “Louhu Commercial City.” Although not the true experience of China it is the true experience of shopping for fakes in China. Touts galore, crazy hassling but if you can bargain (and I probably can’t bargain all that well) you can do yourself a good deal. I managed to pick up quite a haul of stuff for around $400 AUD. A couple of fake rolexs, mont blanc pens and some clothes, some cufflinks, ring and even some sunglasses.

Now you might be chastising me in your head right about now for buying a fake rolex. I mean seriously, have you ever not wanted to buy a fake rolex? Now these are not crappy quality ones either. The weight is dead on right, nice and heavy just the way a rolex should be, the movement of the piece was right, the look was spot on, the quality was there, so a fake rolex for $100 compared to $2000+ for the real thing. I don’t mind. To be honest, I won’t wear it all that much as it is more a dress watch for me, but I like the look of it, and it was good enough for me! The clothes, it remains to be seen how long they last but hey, I don’t mind. If they don’t last long thats all fine and dandy, means my better clothes don’t get warn as much.

The shopping area was pretty packed full of both chinese and international tourists and people coming over to visit for the day from Hong Kong but people going the other way were just as prolifferant. To be honest, the longest parts of my day were spent queueing up for immigration. But I got a chinese visa, immigration stamp and an extra one for Hong Kong, adding more stamps to my passport. Love it!

I had a good time in Shenzen and managed to spend every last RMB (Chinese Yuan pretty much) I took with me. Pretty good few hours spent shopping and then I returned to Hong Kong, to keep the shopping up for the real stuff then.

After spending a good amount of time relaxing in the Asiana lounge and inhaling a good amount of lovely broccoli that was on offer (and some nuts to, o how my tastes have changed, I headed out to explore Incheon airport. I wasn’t really wanting to do or see anything, just wander and see what was out there. The light was fading fast so photos were still not really possible but I took what I could. After making it down to gates in the low 20s I decided it was about time I turned around and headed back towards my gate which was in the 40s. This may not sound like much, but at Incheon, that’s a fair hike.

I still kept browsing through random shops on the way and I swear the lady in the Tumi shop thought I was wasting her time but to be honest, I was genuinely interested in the price, but if I was going to buy anything it would have been in Hong Kong or Singapore. I wandered by the gate, saw that my aircraft was there and before the light disappeared entirely, grabbed a picture (along with the Star Alliance painted aircraft next door).

Pretty soon the boarding area did its usual thing of becoming a scrum with about 10 minutes to go till boarding. I was standing around waiting for a little bit when the business line filled considerably. So knowing that if I didn’t get in it shortly, I would be stuck. So I jumped in. Shortly thereafter (about a minute) they made announcements that the line was for Business and Star Gold only. Low and behold the entire line was for economy! Hah typical.

Asiana Airlines
OZ723
Seoul Incheon to Hong Kong
1950-2240
Boeing 777-200ER (HL7700)
Business Class – Seat 2K

Boarding: 1925 (Gate 43)
Push Back 1953
Take Off Roll: 2009 (Runway 33L)
Top of Descent: 2136
Touch Down: 2209 (Runway 22R)
Shut Down: 2221 (Gate 31)

Boarding was soon announced with the traditional bow greeting to begin the process and I was the first person through the gate, down the escalators and down the airbridge to the aircraft. I snapped a few photos while I could and then realized the person behind me in the queue, was my seat mate, but she did not look happy that she had someone next to her. Not my problem! I got myself settled then realized that this was a non AVOD fitted aircraft. O well. It’s only a 3 hour flight and they still show movies on a loop so I can still watch something!

Menus and pre departure drinks were handed out and unfortunately no Bibimbap on this flight either! But there was a Korean specialty and I was determined to try that. My seat mate as the doors closed tried to take up the spare seat that was on the other side of the aisle however once she moved over, she was sent back by a flight attendant as someone from down the back was apparently getting a battlefield upgrade. Lucky bugger.

We pushed back pretty much on time (and I got a little bit of a smirk for taking a photo of the crew as they prepared for their bow) and we taxied for a while out towards the parallel runways. It was a long taxi but gave me a good look at all the Korean Airlines aircraft that seemingly dominate the terminal (Asiana plays a close second really). The takeoff roll was definitely high power and so was the pull up at the rotate point as the pilots pulled as skywards towards Hong Kong.

Orders were taken and this time my seat mate was allowed to take the spare seat as the other person had not shown so I was 2 for 2 with empty seats next to me. Win! I was happy as larry as we reached 10000ft and the entertainment was switched on, headphones out and time to watch whatever was on the loop (Xmen First Class it is). I watched the movie as orders were taken and I asked if I could have a mixture of the Western and Korean menus as I really didn’t like the sound of the Korean dessert (fruit punch wtf?) . I was told they would see if they could if there was any left so I was hopeful.

As we cruised along dinner service started fairly slowly and the Korean meal seemed extremely healthy and light which was good. I ended up spilling diet coke all over my tray table (good work idiot) and managed to hide it well under the can for photos. When the main came out there was instructions in the menu on how to eat it and for a while I was ok with this, but the weird metal chopsticks which is apparently a Korean thing and just my inability to use them, I got fed up and just made up my own way. I ended up finishing the vegetables and one of the cabin crew tried to bring me more which I declined (I was struggling to eat what I had in front of me). The meal was good and spicy just the way I like it!

The Korean Dessert was handed out and I was told that if they had leftover Ice Cream they would bring it to me as well (score) and after a while they did, along with Coffee and then chocolates. I felt like I had made an absolute pig of myself. Overall the dinner service took up a good portion of the flight and really this was good as there was only roughly an hour and a quarter left of the flight by the time this happened and the seat belt sign came on for a little bit of turbulence.

Pretty soon we were heading for our descent point into Hong Kong. Where had this flight gone? It was a smooth descent followed by a lovely smooth touch down. Unfortunately due to cloud it was hard to see anything out the window and I had no view of Hong Kong at all. We taxied again what felt like an age all the way around to the far side of the terminal from our runway and pulled up at a gate in the low 30s. What I did not realize again was just how big Hong Kong Airport is.

When finally released out into the terminal, I turned toward immigration and saw the walk in front of me. It looked to be a solid kilometre or more to immigration. Which is good because I needed to walk off dessert. Which I did, no moving walkways for me tonight!. Immigration queues were long (no fast track offered) but they moved fairly rapidly and not even a word from the immigration officer, just a stamp and done.

After having walked all the way to one end of the terminal for immigration, I then had to walk all the way back it seemed for my bag as our carousel was all the way back the other direction. Typical. My bag was rolling around on the far side by the time I got through and then grabbed my bag went through customs which wasn’t even a hassle. I bought the tourist pass with the Hong Kong express and was on a train within 10 minutes speeding towards Kowloon and my home for the next 5 nights the Novotel Nathan Road Hong Kong.

A relaxing morning work out in the Hotel gym, distracted by spotting before breakfast and after breakfast from the gorgeous views from my hotel room at the Hilton Narita. After getting distracted and almost missing the shuttle to the airport, I got my butt in gear, checked out and was on the shuttle to the airport a little early to get some spotting in with the morning traffic.

However plans as usual for me failed. I was unable to drop off my bag immediately upon arrival, even though being a newly appointed *G, I was unable to check in as they did not open for another 45 minutes. O well, time to drag my suitcase up to the observation deck and not spoil my morning of spotting I had been looking forward to since the observation deck is so easy to spot from.

With the observation deck at Terminal 1 overlooking the active departure runway, I was hoping to get some good shots and boy did I. Unfortunately out of the time I was up there, I could not get what I was chasing though (JAL new colours and a Retro Jet of course). As it got closer to 10am, I packed up my gear and lugged it all back down to the check in area, which as I approached it, was fully open and I walked straight up to the counter.

With check in slow and not really all that difficult except my boarding passes would not print to business so took a good 6 or 7 attempts to get them on the right boarding card stock before they were happy. With two freshly minted boarding passes in hand, 2 lounge invites for both Tokyo and Incheon (not that I needed them) it was time to do a bit more shopping around the upstairs area hunting for wierd flavoured Kit Kats and some airline goodies for friends back home. I did this and then headed down to security.

Security took a little time for me as usual as I have so much stuff to strip down and pull out and then reassemble on the other side, however I am getting better at the routine, people were starting to queue up behind me and i just told them to go past me it was easier this way. Once through, immigration was a breeze and I was the only person there. Once through, I decided to do a bit of lounge hopping (although I could only visit 3 lounges total). First up, ANA in Satelite 5, the furtherest away.

Off I trudged to Satelitte 5 where the ANA lounge was located for this area, a nice small lounge with some good views, but sadly, it was blocked of the active and only a barely used Taxiway connecting the two runways. So I just grabbed a quick drink and headed off to the other ANA lounge which I hoped would have better views. It didn’t This lounge in a different satelite (closer to the action though) was on the Ground floor and did not even have a single window. But I was in dire need of a snack, so sat down for a little bit, grabbed a drink and some rice crackers and did a touch of blogging. After this was done, I decided it was time to head off to the Red Carpet Club. The last lounge I could access, the closest to my gate and hopefully with the best views.

On my way to the Red Carpet club I ran a few errands, changing currency, doing a little shopping and just generally wandering my way down to the lounge. Once inside, this lounge was huge, but OLD. The seats had some wear and tear but meh, I didn’t mind, they had fantastic views of the runway and some edamame 😀 I grabbed a big heaping bowl of the beans and settled in by the window for some spotting.

As I was setting up though I noticed something out the window, a nice big giant Korean Airlines Tail. Could it be… yes it was! My last A380! The fresh and new Korean A380 was sitting just blocked from view, so it mean that once this plane moved, I could get a fantastic shot. So i checked to see what time Korean had departures and made sure to see what I could do about it getting that final shot.

With luck there was a departure around 1300 which was sure to be the A380 and that meant I just had to leave the lounge a little early for that perfect shot but I was not fussed, so after wandering around the lounge a little, I saw the A380 push back, quickly packed up and jumped outside the lounge to a good vantage point where i scored a perfect shot! I was happy as larry!

After the A380 departed I wandered around a little more before heading towards the gate area and waiting for boarding which was a little late.

Asiana Airlines
OZ103
Tokyo Narita to Seoul Incheon
1410-1630
Boeing 767-300 (HL7514)
Business Class – Seat 2A

Boarding: 1350 (Gate 35)
Push Back 1412
Take Off Roll: 1424 (Runway 16R)
Top of Descent: 1553
Touch Down: 1614 (Runway 34)
Shut Down: 1623 (Gate 47)

With boarding called a little bit late and a throng of *G travelling in Economy pushing their way to the front of the priority boarding queue, I was about the 10th person onboard. The flight was fairly empty really with only 5 people (plus an infant) in a 15 seat business class cabin and the back of the plane I did not see. The seats for Business were not lie flat or flat at all, but they were comfortable enough for what was to be a 2 hour flight. I can cope.

One passenger in 2K seemed to be getting pretty much all the attention from the Cabin Crew, at one point he had about 6 or 7 crew around him, pointing, chatting talking about something. I have no idea who he was. The couple with the infant got the rest of the attention with myself and the other passenger in business pretty much left alone it felt. A predeparture beverage was not offered till the doors were closed and then it was only water or juice (I was happy with water anyway). No entertainment system on the ground but I just read through the Wired magazine i appropriated from the RCC.

By the time we started to push back and taxi, I was off in La La land, enjoying myself and not worrying at all about anything, just the way I should be right? We taxiied pretty quickly and did not even stop at the end of the runway or taxiway, just turned onto the active and blasted down it, the same way a 767 does anywhere. We rotated pretty quickly (must be a light load for this short hop) and were heading skyward through the cloud.

Menus were distributed shortly after the seat belt sign came off, and the options were either Western or Japanese. I was hoping for Bibambap but that must have to wait for the next flight I guess, so chose the Japanese for one last hurrah. Shortly after ordering the meal was brought out and it looked beautiful. I did not want to destroy what was such a beautiful presentation. But I was hungry and this was lunch… o well!

After enjoying my Japense lunch while watching NCIS, and then promptly losing the menu that I was going to keep, I asked for another one and was gladly given one so that was ok. After enjoying one last final Red Bean sweet with some coffee, I was content to sit back, read my magazine and listen to some music and pretty soon (10 minutes or so) we were given a pre descent warning by the flight deck. The flight just sped through and did not feel like 2 hours at all.

Soon enough we started descent into a very hazy and glare filled Incheon where photo taking was just difficult, so I tried not to unless it was something good (which most of the planes on the ground were). We taxiied to the gate and was soon parked. However as the seat belt sign came off, the business class section filled with economy passengers pushing their way to the front, even pushing the Cabin Crew out of the way as they tried to block them from coming forward.

Once the doors were open and disembarking began, I noticed one thing, Incheon is HUGE! However the transfer security was only a minute or so stroll from the gate and I was shortly through, up into Incheon’s cavenous airport, where I had to walk what felt like almost a kilometre to get to the lounge.

Once inside the Asiana lounge I scoped it out for a while, was warned that no departure announcements were made, so decided I would leave early again to go scope out the airport really and tried to find a powerpoint to plug in the laptop which was MUCH harder than it seemed really. Not much in the way of food was on offer mainly some salads, noodles and a few soft drinks and beers. I wasn’t worried as I had a pretty good lunch so found a good spot and just camped out to blog on the free wifi.

As my time in Japan draws to a close very very quickly I thought since I have been here so long that I would put some of my thoughts into one concise post.

Japan has been a total culture shock for me. The language barrier at times was the hardest, but yet there were times when it was frustrating but then there were others that people would do their best to help you as much as they could.

There are numerous things I will miss about Japan. The vending machines that dispense ice cold black coffee in a can. I mean seriously a coffee adict like myself this is heaven (I am drinking an iced coffee right now actually) and then there are the 100 yen vending machines. Where everything is 100 Yen. These are great for those times when you just want something other than water and the larger bottles of Tea or Cans of coffee are a bargain.

The wonderful variety of food. Although at any time I was always wanting to try Japanese food, it is not just japanese food that is available. There is always something that will fit your appetite no matter what and there is quite a bit of western food available as well (although often at a premium).

I will miss the cheap bowls of ramen at like 500-600 Yen a bowl. I will go home to the only really good ramen being at Wagamama or similar for like $15 a bowl. Yet over here the same bowls if not WAY better go for like $5 a bowl. The whole in the wall joints over here are always the best and after just a quick walk through an area I always tried to pick the spots that were full of Japense business men who looked like they wanted a quick easy meal as this to me was a good sign, and it usually worked.

The one thing I will miss the most though is travelling around the country by train. The Shinkansen was fantastic. I loved it. I will miss that english announcement every time the speakers came on “Welcome to the Shinkansen.” It is such a pity we don’t have anything even remotely close to this kind of transport system at home. But hey, what can you do.

I met some fantastic people here in Japan (Clare you are awesome) and also caught up with an old friend as well (Rumi thanks so much for getting me on TV!). It is such a pity that unfortunately it’s time for me to keep moving on. Time to head towards South East Asia, a new Country, a new City, a new experience.

Current Location: ANA Lounge, Terminal 1, Narita Airport

Tokyo to Yokohama – Thursday 25th August

Today was the first day of my journeys around Japan. Pretty much over the coming week I would be heading around Japan by Shinkansen, something I have always really wanted to do. The “bullet trains” as I called them as a child had always interested me and getting a chance to use them was going to be a childhood dream.

Todays journey would give me 2 Shinkansen rides as rather than do just a day trip to Yokohama from Tokyo like most people do, I had decided on stopping off on the way to Kyoto thus giving me the opportunity to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. Although this would only give me a full day in Kyoto I was willing to make that sacrifice (stupidly).

Up bright and early as had been usual most of these days I have been travelling there was one real reason to be up and going early. As I was staying in Shinjuku, I had to catch the JR lines into Tokyo station first before I could board my Tokkaido Shinkansen to Shin Yokohama. I had decided to go this way so that I could store my bags at Shin Yokohama for the day (my suitcase was travelling ahead of me and is actually pretty well priced, about $15AUD to send a suitcase from Tokyo to Kyoto). However Shinjuku as I found out is the busiest train station in Tokyo with around 4.5 million riders per day, and rush hour is just not fun.

So my 8:33 train to Shin Yokohama (Hikari 505) would mean the earlier I get out of Shinjuku the less hassle it is going to be. So I aimed to be on a train to Tokyo station no later than 730 to try and avoid some of the crush getting to the station, but really I just got moving as soon as I could get ready. After a quick free breakfast of the usual for me in the morning, I was off to Shinjuku Station via the tunnel that runs along the street from the Hyatt. It was an easy but slow walk with my bags and had me boarding a train to Tokyo around 7am. Awesome work, but still, the train was packed for about 2 stations so I still had to try and push my way on with bags and that was not easy.

Reaching Tokyo station was easy and as I had already scoped out where to go, I took my time in getting up towards the waiting room for the Shinkansen as the platform usually didn’t get released till about 20 mins prior to departure. I waited around without any music as it turns out my ipod is broken so some of my time today would be dedicated to obtaining a replacement to last me till I get home (thank god I can download music on the fly these days).

The wait was fine, and as soon as the platform went up, I made my way up to Platform 17 so that I could grab a spot on the platform and watch the trains come and go and hopefully get a half decent shot of our train arriving. This journey this morning would only be short but it was still the anticipation of it that was making me feel like a little kid.

The train that would be ours pulled in from its journey and was soon cleaned and replenished ready to go. The Japanese sure do know how to turn a train around. What took the crews here a good 15 mins would take over an hour back home for a train 1/10th the size. Once the train was cleared they announced boarding (I think) and as soon as other people got on, I did the same (monkey see monkey do).

Hikari 505 – Tokaido Shinkansen
Tokyo Station to Shin-Yokohama
0833-0852
Ordinary Car – Car 7 – 700 Series

The train pulled out late due to the weather (it was a touch rainy) and we were soon cruising along at high speed making a quick stop at Shinagawa before getting back up to speed for the trip down to Shin Yokohama. This journey was only going to be 19 mins but it was fantastic and I loved every little second. I scoped out some of the carriage to find out how I need to store bags for future journeys as for all but this one I was going to be getting on at an Intermediate stop so would need to act fast once getting onboard.

The legroom is good but the seats a little small, part of me wishes I had paid for a Green Car pass but the difference was just not justifiable for the journeys I would be making and considering there are no Green Cars in Tokyo, it would go to waste pretty much.

Soon enough the journey was over and I was alighting onto the platform at Shin Yokohama and needed to find my way around to store my bag for the day and then hop another train down to Yokohama Station itself to explore the city some more.

Yokohama to Kyoto – Thursday 25th August

After a morning of exploring Yokohama I returned to Shin Yokohama for some lunch at the Ramen Musuem and a little bit of silliness all mixed into one. With food in my belly (and plenty of it) and some souveneirs in hand I headed back to the station to get my new mp3 player up and working and synced with whatever music had lying around (one half decent song and some random French music my friend Yena had given me).

Once all done and my Train was up on the board, I made my way up to the platform to again enjoy the sights and sounds that is a Shinkansen station.

Hikari 519 – Tokaido Shinkansen
Shin-Yokohama to Kyoto
1552-1815
Ordinary Car – Car 14 – 300 Series

The train arrived a few minutes early (thankfully any delays from earlier in the day have disappeared) and as soon as the doors opened I hopped on board and found that the car was half empty. So after originally stashing my bag back at the end of the carriage, I moved it up to above my seat after a few minutes since it was obvious no one was going to be sitting next to me.

This time the journey was going to be longer, so I settled in for the ride, Tablet out to read and put a good dent in War & Peace, snack, Tea and Camera in hand I was all set. This time you could feel the speed in the older 300 series trains but in saying that, the seats were pretty similar if not a little bit more basic. One thing I did notice though was the buffeting you get when you pass another train or in most cases a Nozomi train passes you, god damn that is a jolt that wakes you up. More than a few times it jolted me out of a doze I had.

We passed Mt Fuji, covered in cloud as expected, and cruised at high speed all the way through the Japanese country side. It was an awesome journey and now I know why this was a child hood dream.

Pretty soon we were coming into Kyoto and it was time for me to get off sadly. O well, I will survive. Upon arrival at Kyoto I disembarked, snapped a last couple of photos then trekked my way to the Subway for my journey to my hotel.

Kyoto to Osaka – Saturday 27th August

Today was to be my shortest ride overall on the Shinkansen. A total journey of about 14 minutes, but in reality I could of just done day trips to Kyoto from Osaka but it would of meant I would miss out on somethings really. So this journey was pretty much necessary in my head, but probably not to others.

The morning overall went ok and I arrived at the station with plenty of time after negotiating the subway with a suitcase. There is only 4 platforms at Kyoto station for the Shinkansen and 2 go to Osaka, 2 to Tokyo so it wasn’t half obvious where I needed to go, so off I went and camped out close to where my carriage would come in, to watch the trains and smash through some more of War & Peace (almost half way through and I started back in Canada).

Hikari 503 – Tokaido Shinkansen
Kyoto to Shin-Osaka
1016-1030
Ordinary Car – Car 7 – 700 Series

The train arrived as expected 2-3 minutes early and after letting the mass crowds disperse, I jumped on board and stashed my suitcase at the back of the carriage and dragged myself towards my row. Unfortunately I had to get my seatmate to remove her bags from my seat however she then removed herself entirely from the row to someone elses seat, so me thinks that someone who shouldn’t be in the carriage was camping out there.

The train journey flew by, watching as we rolled out of Kyoto and within 5 or 6 minutes started hitting open country side and then literally within another 5 minutes we were coming into the outskirts of Osaka. It was a flash in the pants journey really.

As we pulled into Shin-Osaka we passed the yards of I’m assuming the Local Shinkansen base and there was 700 series and Railstars lined up for as far as the eye could see (ok maybe 40 or 50 of them but it was still an awesome sight.

The train arrived into the station and after letting everyone else out of the carriage so that I could get my suitcase without having to fight through people, I was off into the Bedlam that is Osaka and to find my way to the main Osaka station in Umeda.

Osaka to Hiroshima – Monday 29th August

Today was another journey further south with the usual process. Up early, gym, check out, walk to station. Rinse repeat etc. I hated leaving my hotel and its luxurious surrounds but unfortunately it had to be done. After doing the traditional Osaka past time and eating myself to ruin (the japanse word is kuidaore) the night before, I figured that I should really walk to Osaka station and get the train to Shin Osaka, rather than getting a cab. It was a quick walk without bags and only a bit longer with them. I knew where to go this time so it was fairly easy.

After arriving at the station, I made my way round to the Central Gate, up the escalators to the platform and low and behold the train I needed was but a few minutes away. Simple as! From there it was a quick easy 5-6 minute ride out to Shin Osaka where it was back through the confusing labirynth that is Shin Osaka JR gates towards the Shinkansen gates. Now since I had not eaten yet and intended on eating on the train, I needed to find somewhere that sold bread or something more westerny for breakfast cause I really didn’t feel like a bento or a bowl of ramen at 7am in the morning.

After no help from the train barrier guard for directions (for some reason they don’t understand the word “Bakery” or “bread” I managed to get the information desk person to understand my actions for “Food Court” (imaging me shoving hand in mouth mimicking eating and then drawing a big square like area) and he pointed me in the direction of the lower floors with a warning that it is closed. Well stuff him I thought, I’m going to check it out. He was wrong, the grocery store (which was awesome btw) was open so picked up some lovely bread to go with a banana and some coffee and a bottle of tea for the train journey. My morning was set.

With now an abundance of time before the trip to go, I did the usual thing, wait it out on the platform watching the trains come and go while reading. It’s a good way to people watch to if your into that sort of thing. What I did enjoy watching though was the actions of the JR Train staff. Their hand movements, gestures etc when the trains are approaching and departing was totally foreign and interesting to me. It was great to watch.

Eventually my train showed up as next on the platform and so I moved up to where my car should pull in so that I could grab a spot for my suitcase first up without having to fight for one. As I was lining up a lovely tour group of Asian persuasion (not sure if they were japense or chinese) turned up and tried to push their way infront of me on the platform. With a quick “I do believe I was here first you can wait behind me” they moved out of the way. I know it probably wasn’t the nicest thing to do, but to be honest, don’t cut in line! Eventually the train arrived!

Hikari 495 – Sanyo Shinkansen
Shin-Osaka to Hiroshima
0835-1019
Ordinary Car – Car 12 – N700 Series

This was my first ride aboard the lovely shiny new N700 series. Boy are they pretty much the same inside but with a bit more flashier toilet area. Nothing much different with a 2-3 seating set up and the same style seats as the other train sets. What was different was the seat cushioning (much softer than the 300 or 700 series) along with the fact that power ports were highly evident. Either way it was good no matter what.

My seatmate was only joining me as far as an intermediate stop and once he departed I had the entire row (both sides of the aisle) to myself. Good way to travel. Unfortunately after not much sleep, It was difficult keeping my eyes open and I was nodding off here and there for most of the journey so not much reading got done. A shame really as there wasn’t much to see out the window with the majority of my time awake spent in tunnels.

A few little things spotted on my journey south was a 500 series shinkansen at one of the stations along with the old school 100 series as well . Both a sight to see (unfortunately no ride on a 500 for me and I didn’t even know a 100 series still existed in operation, in fact I saw 2 just outside of Hiroshima).

It was a pretty easy journey and once arrived at Hiroshima, I was downstairs, collecting a map and making my way to the Tram Stop… I mean Streetcar Stop for the journey to my hotel.

Hiroshima to Narita – Wednesday 31st August

This is the longest day of train travel I would have on this trip which meant if I wanted to be at Narita at a half decent hour to relax etc it meant being up at OMG o clock for an early train out of Hiroshima. Things were not looking up the day before when I had totally misunderstood my train time, thinking it left 5 minutes later than it would. Woops! But I was up, ready and good to go and in a taxi on the way to the station with plenty of time. Even the cab driver wanted to make sure I had plenty of time and made sure that the 5 minute cab ride would be ok.

I had found online a good timetable with the station platform arrival and departures for all the trains that go in and out of the stations, so I was fully prepared this time. As it was going to be a morning of tight connections, I was fully prepared. Today’s journey would have me in 3 sections. Hiroshima to Osaka, Osaka to Tokyo and Tokyo to Narita. All in all around 7 hours of Travel time but about 6 inside the trains themselves . When I arrived at Hiroshima station there was pretty much nothing open, not even Macdonalds so I just did my usual. Read and people watch (not that there was many people around). I did score photo wise with a 500 series Shinkansen pulled into the platform behind me running as a Kodama to Shin Osaka and a 100 series Shinkansen arriving into Hiroshima terminating its journey. What luck!! Soon enough my train arrived, a 700 series (boo) Rail Star (yay!)

Hikari 542 – Sanyo Shinkansen
Hiroshima to Shin-Osaka
0715-0854
Ordinary Car – Car 8 – 700 Series Rail Star

This was my first journey on the Rail Star which isn’t to much different on the outside than a standard 700 series but where it differs is inside. Inside they are only Ordinary seats, no green car and its only 2-2 seating. No piggy in the middle on this train, which means the seats are bigger, more comfortable as well. More like a Green Car for the entire train. It looked good. Pretty soon we were under way. I read for a little while before trying to call home to wish my mum a belated happy birthday and then broke out my prepacked breakfast I had cobbled together from the Grocery stores in Hiroshima.

As the train cruised north, I half looked out the window, half read and half consumed my breakfast. I was going to miss the small cans of coffee you can get and after trying a very wide range it was hard to pick a favourite, but either way, coiffee in a can rocks. Where else can you get your coffee hit from a vending machine in small enough doses you don’t feel guilty having several!

It was a pretty unremarkable train journey as the same with the way down, it is mostly tunnels between Hiroshima and Osaka so the book was a fantastic distraction. I managed to smash through a good 15 chapters on this journey and soon enough we were coming into the outskirts of Osaka. I positioned myself bag in hand, ready to go at the doors so that once we arrived I could jump in a lift/escalator and get myself across the terminal as I only had about 10-15 minutes till my next train so getting stuck/lost was not an option. Thankfully there was a train timetable in the train vestibule and after checking it over, I noticed that the train started in Osaka so it would be easier because as soon as I got to the platform it should be there.

When we pulled up, the lift was directly outside the door I was standing at and managed to make my way to the next train in less than 3-4 minutes and that included trying to find the lift for the new platform after it was not where I thought it would be. The next train was waiting for me on the platform so I jumped onboard and stashed my bag then found out the first bad thing for this journey. I had been seated on the right side of the train… nooooooooooooooo. I needed the left if I was going to get a view of Mt Fuji. Well that is just not good! Without time to go down and get a new seat assignment, I figured I would just move to an unreserved car around the time we should pass Mt Fuji (cars 1-5 would be unreserved and being in Car 7 would mean I wouldn’t have to go to far from my bag).

Hikari 510 – Tokaido Shinkansen
Shin-Osaka to Tokyo
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Ordinary Car – Car 7 – 700 Series

The train was extremely empty in my car and would hopefully stay this way if I was lucky. I could hope right? I found my seat, dropped my stuff and quickly jumped back onto the platform for a few photos before getting myself better settled. Within a few minutes the train was rolling out of the station heading for the north and Kyoto. Kyoto was our first stop and it would not be long to get there. Unfortunately my new friend Clare was on the train after mine, so no chance of seeing her today ?

The train pulled out dead on time so we were very quickly speeding north and after getting an estimated time we would be around Mt Fuji from the conductor I proceeded to get stuck into some blog writing and then at Kyoto watched almost the entire car empty out and only be replaced by 3 or 4 people (about 10 or so got off). The cart attendant started walking around tempting me with her fine smelling coffee but I was determined to try and wean myself back off coffee before the end of this trip and getting back home to reality in a short 11 days! I could not believe this trip was coming to an end.

My chance of a window seat in the same car around Mt Fuji dropped dramatically at Maibara when it felt like the entire car filled up, damn! I had a seat mate for only a little while as he departed at Nagoya. The train continued on north, loading and unloading passengers. I tried to focus on my book but just at times could feel myself starting to close my eyes. I set an alarm to wake me up in case I did nod off for approximately 10 minutes or so before we got to Mt Fuji. Luckily I had no threat of falling asleep at this time really as by now I was wide awake.

Since the car had filled up again after Nagoya there was no chance of me getting the correct side to see Mt Fuji from the same car and I couldn’t be bothered trapsing back to the unreserved seats, so I just hung out in the vending machine area near a window till I could see what I thought was Mt Fuji. Again, cloud. A lot of cloud. We passed Fuji station dead on time as pointed out by the conductor and then I wasn’t to disappointed.

I returned to the seat and continued to read, there was less than an hour left of this journey as we started to come into the more outerlying areas of Tokyo. Once we hit Shin-Yokohama I knew we did not have much time left to go and as Shinagawa approached, I packed up my stuff and made a break for the end of the carriage to extract my suitcase so I could get out of the car quickly. I had decided after getting stuck in the most uncomfortable seats from Osaka I was going to use up some of the last of my Cash and upgrade to Green Car for the Narita Express. I just needed something comfortable and some support for my back really.

After pulling in my first stop was to hunt for a bento box for lunch which after the first stand I found was charging exhorbitant rates so found the Newdays (convience store) which was full of people getting bentos and rice balls so figured they must be good and they were cheap as well. With lunch in hand I headed over to change my ticket over to Green Car and after spending some of my last cash on the ticket, I walked across Tokyo station all the way to the NEX platforms which were on what felt like the extreme other end of the airport.

Unfortunately there are no seats on this platform around near where I wanted to be and since I knew the Green car ends of the platform would be less crowded I just stood around and waited.

NEX 27 – Narita Express
Tokyo to Narita Airport Terminal 2
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Green Car – Car 12 – E259 NEX

Soon enough the first half of the NEX arrived and then shortly after I boarded we were headed off. I got my blogging out of the way then sat back to enjoy my lunch as we cruised out of Tokyo in the peace and quiet of the Green Car.

With the update in my blogging done, I dropped the laptop back into my bag and secured it in the luggage area and returned to my seat for what was my first ever onboard Bento box in Japan. After almost 10 days of rail travel I was finally getting my bento box. It had taken this long as most of the trains I had booked onto were either early morning or late afternoon.

I had picked the healthiest looking bento (nothing in Japan is perfect) and also since I had not had a rice ball/triangle (onigiri) either I grabbed one of them as well, but I wasn’t sure what flavor or filling was in it, so it was a bit of a random luck going on. O well! The food was good and pretty soon we were passing through Chiba and then Narita itself. This is the way to travel I was thinking to myself. A comfy seat, plenty of space, peace, comfort and quiet. What more can you want (well a hot coffee in hand would be nice but an Iced Tea will have to do).

Pretty soon we got the arrival warning into Narita Terminal 2 and I was up and getting my bags ready. I knew that the train would not spend long at Terminal 2 so didn’t want to spend much time screwing around and I had Wasabi Kit Kats to find in Terminal 2 while waiting for the hotel shuttle. Once off the train, up into the terminal and explaining to the Security that I was just changing to a hotel shuttle, I was up into the Terminal hunting for weird flavoured chocolate.

My stay in Hiroshima was not totally what I expected. One of the places I had to visit when I had planned on coming to Japan was Hiroshima. With its history of involvement in the war, with “the bomb” as it is reffered to, I could not miss it at all. However what I did not expect was just how much contrast there is in the city.

The city was much smaller than I expected so to think that the bomb was dropped on this city for anything other than military purposes would have been a bit narrow minded in my opinion. If they had of wanted to inflict mass casualties to civilans they could of picked a much larger city such as Tokyo or Osaka or Yokohama. This would of meant a much higher civilian casualty rate. But they didn’t.

Speaking of the bomb there is about a good 50-100 memorials dotted around the city centre dedicated to different people or groups of people affected during the blast and unfortunately 99% of these are in Japanese so you can’t tell who they are for. The bigger more important ones though were just fantastic with the Childrens Peace Memorial a bright and colourful affair that would bring happiness to anyone. The cenotaph, reflection pond and eternal flame to me though were the pinnacles of the memorials. All stunningly beautiful and done in such a way to make us remember the affects of war.

The peace memorial park and museum are highlighted by the A Bomb dome. The A Bomb dome is the remants of a dome topped building affected right near the Hypocentre of the blast. The structure is still partially intact so is a fitting reminder of just what sort of destruction a blast of this kind can cause. A reminder that war is hell. The museum though, was only 50Yen entry. That’s not even $1! The museum was fantastic and unlike the peace museum in Osaka not a touch of propaganda. The museum outlined Hiroshima and its history before and after the war in clear facts with no bias either side. Just what I wanted to see.

What I did not want to see though it seemed was the leftover remants of the war. Torn clothes, childrens toys etc all ripped apart or damanged by the blast. I could just not handle it and made my way quickly through this section. The letters were the same. I know that I should of spent more time reading these letters etc but again I could just not handle it, the sadness it brought to my heart was unbearable and I left quickly so that this big man did not start to tear up. Wikitravel was write, this museum could ruin your day very fast!

The contrasts of the city though was on the 2nd day when I had a tour of the Mazda factory. This is where the contrasts were starkly evident. In a city that was totally scarred by the war and practically destroyed (not many buildings survived the blast at all but those that did have been preserved beautifully). The city shows this stark contrast when you look at the size of the Mazda factory and how high tech the city has become. Mazda has always called Hiroshima home and with the head office and design components based in Hiroshima along with a fairly large factory it is just crazy to see these differences. It was as though they were not bombed at all!

The size and scope of the Mazda factory blew me away. It was fantastic to see the lines in operation and also be astounded at just how big a car factory can be. The new vehicles were rolling off the line extremely quickly and heading for ships quick smart. The factory is more like a small town with its own fire brigade, security force, bus line, hospital and even its own Shrine! Of course what factory is not complete without a bridge right through the middle of it. Not just any bridge either. This is the longest privately owned bridge in Japan (possibly the world) and of course we drove over it!

The tour itself was fantastic and after getting to see a few very rare Mazdas I was quite happy at giving up a bit of time in Hiroshima to see it. To be honest I think I gave myself a bit to much time in Hiroshima. The size and scope of the city means you can do so much so quickly and I think I could of given myself one less night and had a late afternoon train out to spend some more time in another city like Osaka or Kyoto or perhaps visit the new Maglev train park in Nagoya. O well, next time! What Hiroshima does allow though is quiet reflection.

There is ample time in life to rush around and go fast, but being able to stop, think and reflect on things was good. It was something I needed I think on this trip. Even though Hong Kong is going to be fairly relaxed for me as it will be spent mainly shopping, It was good to take a bit of a break and reflect on the good times I have had on this trip so far. To think back on the fun memories I will take with me forever now. I know that Hiroshima allows for this with many people sitting in peace park, watching life go past them. Hell I would of joined them on a bench in the park reading a book if it wasn’t so hot!

Current Location: Hilton Narita Airport – Narita, Japan

So as one of the things I had decided to add to the “things I should do on this trip” or one of the “things I should do before I die, but not really all that important” list was to try Fugu. The infamous or notorious blow fish, puffer fish or fugu, whatever you want to call it, is a delicacy in Japan (and around the world really). I had been given a tip by some people I did my fish markets tour with on a restaurant to try it out in Osaka. So that’s what I was going to do!

Thankfully my new british companion clare was also in the area and she decided she was up for a bit of craziness so she joined me. We made our way to the restaurant just off the famous Dotonburi in Osaka and were ready to put our lives in the hands of the master chefs. The restaurant “Genpin” is a chain of Fugu restaurants all over most of Japan and it seems fairly touristy’ish, however not even the Ritz could find anywhere else open on a Sunday night that serves fugu in August (as apparently it is not at its most prevalent at this time of year).

So once I was chastised for wearing my shoes and grabbed by the waiter (that shocked me a bit) I removed my shoes and we had the traditional, sit on floor experience. The meal was set and not cheap (about 5000 Yen) for 6 courses of fugu. A Starter of Boiled Fugu Skin, Sashimi of Fugu (super thin so you could see the vein pattern, like paper thin), Fried Fugu, Fugu Hot Pot (the famous Shabu Shabu style… awesome 2 birds one stone) then Hodgepodge Porridge (we were not sure what that was to start with) then Dessert (which was going to be ice cream, we knew it).

So we ordered that set menu and figured we may as well enjoy it. Lots of jokes were made while we waited for the first course if “intentionally eating poison fish” is counted on our travel insurance policies, what we would do if someone else got sick, would this be the first time we ever made a runner if need be etc. Good way to break the tension. When the first course arrived, we made a pact to take a bite together at the same time. None of this “you go first” stuff.

I won’t break it down for you course by course or anything like that, the photos will do that for you when I upload them, but to be honest, It just tasted like any other fish, nothing special. No tingly sensation, no numbness, no death. The Hot Pot was really good and the porridge turned out to be using the leftover hot pot stock with bits of noodle still floating in it, to make a congee style dish with egg and rice etc. Was really yum.

We finished off the night with a few photos, I got to hold the Fugu and when they haid it all blown up and im holding it in the middle of the street, you could hear the screams of “FUGU!!!” coming from people everywhere and I became quite the spectacle (well probably the fish was not the gaijin holding it). All in all a good night and something I can tick off the list and say “Yep I’ve eaten fugu and lived to tell the tale”

Current Location: Crowne Plaza ANA Hiroshima, Japan

Well I thought I would post again this morning since I have a bit of time while I relax in my room after a light breakfast. When I planned this trip I had originally intended on staying at a cheap Comfort Hotel here in Osaka. But then for some reason I was just not happy with it. Over and over again I searched for something better. Then I started getting all the industry rate deals and I had settled on changing the hotel. I pulled the trigger on the Swissotel in Osaka cause it was such a good deal. But then for some silly reason i emailed the Ritz and well, it was to good a price to turn down!

Well I am here now and I am blown away. Although it does not look like the most modern of interiors, thats the Ritz Carlton way. It is meant to feel old and english style. The service here is impeccable. Nothing is to much at all for anyone and they apoligise if they cant help you the very second you come near someone. They are always there to help and hell, they go out of their way to do anything they can for you. I wanted to access the gym before opening hours tommorrow, not a problem, I just need to call the front desk and they will open it for me!

Although I don’t feel like paying a fortune for a breakfast I won’t really eat (after Kyoto i would rather not risk it), they have the best pastry shop next door to the hotel where I picked up some beautiful wholemeal bread that was fresh and gorgeous for like 160 Yen (about $2AUD) and add that to the cheap and plentiful bananas that are around here in Japan (all imported) and I have a relaxing morning in my lovely comfortable room (since most things dont open till like 10am).

The other thing with this hotel is they will do everything for you. I saw someone in the gym having their training shoes and gear carried into the gym for them by the staff. In the room service menu you can pay (5000 yen) for someone to get dressed up as the Ritz Carlton Lion and they will come into your room and get a photo taken with you and it comes printed and framed with a basket full of goodies.

This kind of craziness comes with a price though. I can afford it thanks to industry rates but staying here normally… no way!!! I feel totally out of place though with designer clothes, bags etc and lots of luxury cars in the drive way. Hell I will probably be leaving, dragging my beaten up suitcase up to the station for the train back to Shin Osaka tomorrow morning… lovely!

Current Location: Ritz Carlton Osaka, Japan

After making it out of Kyoto without the feeling of having seen to many Shrines or Temples I am starting to think that I liked it more than everything else I have seen in Japan so far. Even though it is a little bit more touristy and I did not have the most pleasant experience with a prepaid breakfast at the hotel (which is a whole other story) I really did enjoy my time in Kyoto.

The town is home to some of the biggest and oldest temples & shrines in Japan and has about 6 or 7 World Heritage Listed sites located within the city limits. I only managed to get to see 1 of these sites but I did get to see some of the biggest Temples in town along with some very small local temples and a few shrines that are out of the way.

It is a small sleepy village atmosphere in certain parts but then other parts of the city have that touristy mecha feel that the other parts of Japan i have experienced have had, however they seem to be able to control it more.

One thing I will recommend is a tour called “Walk in Kyoto, Talk in English” run by Johnny Hillwalker. He must be almost 80 years old and does the tour 2 days a week. It is a bargain at only 2000 yen but it is well worth it to see the side of Kyoto not many get to see. It is only about 4 or 5 hours and you don’t cover much ground overall but you do get to see some good things, like some of the home industries in Japan, some of the more traditional kyoto style treats like Inari Sushi (vegetarian sushi) and also the Japanese pastries which Kyoto are famous for.

One good thing came out of the tour and I have met up with an awesome girl by the name of Clare. A British girl who did the tour as well and we kinda spent the afternoon together randomly exploring Kyoto and now also going to meet up tommorrow night here in Osaka for some fugu!

The comparisons between Kyoto and Osaka though, MAJORLY different. I have gone from Big city to older smaller city, back to BIG CITY! Osaka is like bedlam to me right now. It puts me off a little when I am getting poked, prodded, pushed, pulled, stabbed and stood on in a foreign country and people just don’t seem to care. At least in Germany or France they actually apoligised however here, they just ignore me and treat me like crap, so I have given it back a little at times.

I did get to scope out Osaka castle today and the International Peace Museum as well before the rain destroyed the rest of my plans for the day but it was well worth it. I have decided to make the most of tommorrow my only other day in Osaka and cram in as much as I can hopefully in the morning before the rain hits. At least this time I am planning a bit better to coincide with opening times!

Current Location: Ritz Carlton Osaka

Yes I’m turning Japanesa, I really think so. Ok enough bad music puns now but Tokyo has been great, frustraations and all. Even though I speak no Japanese and have had bugger all luck the last day or so it has been great. After my day spent exploring Tokyo with Rumi it was time to explore on my own but I had booked one thing, a Tsukiji Fish Markets tour. I had found a reccomendation online from one of the blogs I read and the price wasn’t bad for a guided tour through the market to areas you really shouldnt be able to access and also a maximum group of 6.

The down side.. meeting at 4am so that you get to experience the Tuna auctions. Now thankfully I had been living on coffee, adrenalin or some combination of the two over the last month or so as I only had like 3.5 hours sleep before getting up roughly 230am so that I could get an expensive cab ride to the meeting point. Thank god for convience stores selling giant bottles of coffee at 4 in the morning. The tour was great and our group of 4 including the guide got to see heaps in the markets and experience so much. The tuna auction was unbelievable. It was like a song and I got some video along with dozens of photos.

After the auction unfortunately our guide had left so he could make his normal job but the market was now in full on crazy mode as the auctions were closing down and the selling was about to begin. Since I couldnt really enter the other areas and didn’t feel like getting run over by the bikes, automatic trolleys or dozens of trucks I high tailed it towards the restaurants. Our guide had pointed out what he thought was the best in the market for sushi. 3500 yen for a set and it was worth every yen. It was amazingly fresh and delicious. No soy or wasabi needed unless already on it. This was I think the best sushi I have ever eaten and thats a big call after Tojos (sorry Cory).

After my breakfast of fish, rice and green tea I moved on to the stalls around the market area that sold the other goods to the shoppers etc full of fruit, veg, random assortments hell even some souveneirs. I picked up a tshirt (cause i can) and also some fantastic looking Japanese peaches which were more like nectarines but they were the size of a softball and cheap to, 125 yen each. With this it was time to brave the rush hour subway rides back to the hotel but I did not spot a push man 🙁

Pretty much the next two days was spent exploring random areas of Tokyo including most of Shinjuku, Ginza, shopping for plastic foods in the area where all the restaurants shop, Shibuya, Harajuku and Ameyoka. Some highlights include spending 45 minutes trying to pick a bento box for lunch in Shibuya for lunch, eating random foods at dinner in Shinjuku and walking through Harajuku all the way to Shibuya seeing the transition from cheap youth clothing and craziness to the high end brands like Louis Vuitton etc within 100m.

There has been some frustrations though. The language barrier is massive, but I knew that coming into Japan. I have barely spoken as most people just don’t understand me so I just point, nod and gesture, usually works the best. I also seem to have broken my ipod so will have to pick up a temporary replacement to get me by as this one can be fixed under warranty (thankfully).

All in all I have enjoyed Tokyo. I will be back so that I can see more of the parts I missed like the Ueno Zoo, Akihabara at night, the Imperial Palace and the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku.

Today though was an utterly random day. I planned to visit Yokohama on my way to Kyoto for purely one real reason. The Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum. This place is totally random. A museum dedicated to Ramen. The people in Yokohama love their ramen so why not dedicate a museum to it. The ramen was good with different kinds from all over Japan. I had two types (thankfully you can buy half bowls) so I had a bowl of Tonkotsu and also Miso ramen. Both were unbelievably good. It’s a bit of a toss up which one I like better. I must have more to experiment 😉

Pretty much I realized though, Yokohama really is pretty boring other than that. But what was not boring for me today was riding the Shinkansen. I had two journeys on it today and it was a child hood dream come true. You can read more about it in my trip report in a few days time after I put all the journeys together in one easy post, but seriously loved every minute of it!

Current Location: Citadines Kyoto Karasuma Gojo