nickharris87

Tuesday 17th February 2015

The alarm was set for 8am but the noisy pipes, dustbin men and other noises, made sure we were awake well before then – we had both slept reasonably well. We had a cup,of in room coffee, got packed and sorted and were on the road for 9am. It is a cloudy drizzly morning, but is still warn. We continued our odyssey west with Peter’s maps and guides highlighted at the ready.
First priority however was breakfast. The Great Ocean Road, went inland after we left Apollo Bay – it was very twisty and windy, as well as going up and down a fair bit – this did not however excuse some of the awful driving we witnessed – slow cars – last minutes decisions and just generally bad driving – it the risk of stereotyping, the vast majority of the bad rivers were of Oriental extraction – some of whom were piloting big camper vans!

Lavers Hill was our port of call – a restaurant called YatZies Pancakes – it was one of three at the crossroads – the best looking one was closed, so this was second choice, it is a restaurant /general store / petrol station / tourist info office all rolled into one. We both had a coffee, I had a bacon and egg pie, with a token attempt at salad on the side, Sue had a big slice of home made banana bread toasted. Both hit the spot and set us up for a bit.

Once we had eaten we continued on our way and the first port of call of the day was the most famous landmark on the whole road – The Twelve Apostles – a series of sea stacks emerging from the beach / sea – a stunning vista. It is well set up- and all free, there is a huge car park and kiosk on the opposite side of the road and you walk under a tunnel and along well defined paths to get to the viewing areas.

Everything about them is impressive – the size, the power of the sea, the colours, the beaches just everything. We spent a good while taking loads of pictures, it was still a bit cloudy but warm and the sun was trying to break through the clouds, there was a fair breeze but nothing too bad. It is apparent from the number of people here compared to the other scenic lookouts, that many people just come all the way to the Great Ocean Road for the one view so they miss out on so much.

After the Apostles, the scenic outlooks and spectacular views come thick and fast – some are just lay-bys at the side of the road, but some have their ow car parks and fenced off viewing areas. First major one is Loch Ard Gorge, which has three separate walks from the car park Shipwreck Walk tells the story of a famous shipwreck and takes you from the suite to the cemetery – we just saw the site and read the story of the two survivors. Back on the road through Port Campbell, we had a drive round but didn’t stop at all.

In quick succession after Port Arthur there were a number of spectacular vistas. Two Mile Bay, The Arch, London Bridge The Grotto and the Bay of Martyrs. All of them were different but all offered great photo ops. London Bridge was particularly interesting with the story of how one of the spans of the ‘bridge’ collapsed one day stranding two walkers who had to be rescued by helicopter – now you have to take in its beauty from above as no one is allowed onto it.

There was a degree of sensory overload by the time we reached the Bay of Martyrs which is a magnificent series of rocky our crops on a very powerful beach, but it was a great experience and I am glad we took our time and did it in a couple of days. After the Bay of Islands the road heads inland a bit and we then made faster progress towards our stop for the night Warrnambool.

The town itself was a lot bigger then we though it would be, and we drove along the A1 going through it there was a huge Woolworth’s / Kmart plaza and lots of motels. We followed signs to the Tourist Info Office and parked up – a lovely couple of ladies in there answered all of our questions and fixed us up with a great rate at a hotel called The Best Western Colonial Village Motel at 31 Mortlake Road, Warrnambool.

After chatting with them for a while, whilst I used the free wi-fi to get emails and get a message from Christopher, Sue navigated us to the hotel – it is still cloudy but the sun breaks through every now and again making it hot. The hotel is very nice our apartment is massive – it is on two levels and sleeps six. Downstairs is a kitchen, bathroom and living room. Two further bedrooms upstairs and a bathroom with a massive spa bath – after a couple of nights with just a shower, this is ideal.

A short time sitting, then we went out to the local supermarket, which is a Cole’s – them and Woolworth’s clearly dominate in this part of Oz although we have seen a couple of Aldi’s – so we will have to see if they expand like they have in the UK.

Before the supermarket I filled up with fuel at a BP station — Unleaded was $1.135 per litre and I got 52.8 litres or AU$60 worth.
Trip 505.

At the supermarket we got Weetbix and other breakfast stuff, as well as drinks and fruit – we have been warned that we can’t take any fruit over the border into South Australia, so we didn’t buy too much. Back at the unit for a bit of washing, a bit of internet and sorting. We also debated our plans for the rest of the week and where to stay in Adelaide – we booked a couple of hotels and we decided that tomorrow should be a chill day after all the driving of the last three days, so Sue went to resumption and they agreed we could have another night at the same rate – apparently they are full tonight but have a few vacancies tomorrow – most importantly we can stay in the same unit.

Once that was sorted, it was out again to the Kmart where Sue got another SD card, as she isn’t happy about the quality of the one she got yesterday. Food was the next order of the day and restaurants that open in the evening seemed a bit thin on the ground – we finally found one called Images, which is on Liebig Street, which is one of the main shopping streets in Warrnambool. It was fairly busy for 7.30pm on a Tuesday but we got a table okay. I had an enormous plate of fish’n’chips while Sue had chicken in a peppercorn sauce with vegetables. You get the choice with your mains – you can either have a bowl of vegetables or you can have chips and salad.

The food was excellent and plentiful, we also met the owner an ex-pat from Newbury who has been here 21 years having married a local girl. A nice night in every way. We went back to the car which was parked outside the local theatre, which included among its upcoming attractions – Leo Sayer in concert next month!

Back to the hotel to carry on with diary and getting sorted.

Trip – 520

Monday 16th February 2015.

Alarm set for 8am as we have to be checked out for ten, and we want to hit the road- it is a lovely sunny morning. We had a coffee and a nice Facetime chat with Christopher – it is still Sunday evening there.  We drank the coffee and got sorted then packed our cases, and checked out on a lovely hot sunny morning. We were on the road well before ten, which wasn’t bad going. Our route is well signposted, as The Great Ocean Road is the reason a very high proportion of people come to this area.

Straight back onto the A10, then  a turn off to the B100 heading for Torquay. The first stop was the tourist info centre, where a really helpful man called Peter, who was originally from Amsterdam (emigrated when he was 9 years old) gave Sue the lowdown on the best things to see on The Great Ocean Road. He marked up maps and gave detailed instructions for getting the best experience.

Armed with maps and leaflets our next task was to get some brunch, but first we drove down to the sea for a couple of photo ops, including one at Point Danger, which includes a War Memorial to the Anzacs. We watched the surfers below – some of whom seemed to be a school class – not a bad PE lesson! The town centre was close by and there was lots of free parking. There were also lots of places to eat and drink.

Our choice was The Torquay Deli on Gilbert Street – it had a good menu and free wi-fi. Sue was thwarted when she was told they had run out of salmon, so we both settled on poached eggs and ham on a ciabatta with coffee – very nice. the service wasn’t the quickest, but the chap running the place was very affable and quite busy – we weren’t in a rush, so it was okay.

Suitably refreshed, we headed back to the car and out of Torquay, which does look and very nice place with some lovely houses, nice shops and a fantastic location. Our first port of call was Bell’s Beach, which is only just outside Torquay but has a fabulous overview of the beaches and surf below – a theme that we got used to through the day. This is the most famous of Australia’s surfing beaches and apparently every Easter the Rip Curl pro tournament attracts thousands. Back in the car and another couple of fantastic outlooks for photo ops before the next of Peter’s tips – Anglesey.

Here he told us that if we drove up to the golf club there we may see some wild kangaroos – sure enough we parked up and immediately spotted two in the grass at the side of a tee. They appeared  unconcerned when some golfers came up and tee’d off – we got loads of photos and also saw several other kangaroos bouncing across the greens! We then drove to the shopping centre in Anglesey, where Sue bought a new SD card for her camera, as her current one filled as she was videoing the Kangaroos.

Back on The Great Ocean Road, we carried on west and headed towards Lorne – stopping for a couple more photo ops as we did so. One was at the famous Memorial Arch across the road – this was built as a tribute to the soldiers who returned from the First World War and built The Great Ocean Road. Here there was also another massive beautiful sandy beach that was totally deserted.

At Lorne we were ready for a drink and sugar boost so we parked up and went into a bakery on the main street – I had a huge apple turnover and Sue had a scone, very nice. There are two of Peter’s tips here – the first were the Erskine Falls which are actually 10km out of the village and a fair bit inland – we parked up there and went down the 200 steps for a great photo op of one the highest waterfalls in the region. We also managed to clamber over the rocks to get a close up of it, rather than just take photos from the lookout. The climb back up was a bit of a struggle and made me sweat a bit.  (Sue- I ran up – wonder if Nick will notice this addition!  I didn’t, but sweated a bit less!)  (Nick- Did notice but can’t argue with facts)

Next stop was Teddy’s Lookout, which is back in Lorne on George Street – truly magnificent views of the ocean, the beaches, the St. George River and the road itself below us. Last of Peter’s tips of the day was in Kennett River – there is a colony of wild koalas that live in the trees next to the aptly named Koala Cafe. I missed the turn and it took ages to do a u-turn, but I am glad I did, as we saw a couple of koalas, some parrots and other birdlife – the koalas high in the trees aren’t bothered by the tourists snapping away below – in fact one appeared to pose.

Leaving Kennett River, our thoughts turned, somewhat belatedly, to a room for the night. We headed for Apollo Bay, but it was after five pm and the tourist office was closed – it was immediately apparent from the number of ‘No vacancy’ signs that we saw that it wasn’t going to be simple getting a room – Sue got a list from the window of the tourist office of places that had vacancies when they closed – there were only about four. First try for us was the Best Western – they offered their last room for AU$280!! plus a charge for wi-fi. Another on the list was full and so we made our way to the Iluka Motel and Takeaway on the main road -Sue went for  look and whilst it isn’t a Marriott, it is clean and costs AU$100.

Our abode for the night is Room 4 – it has free wi-fi and a shower so we are sorted. We got the cases in and settled into the room. Time was marching on so we went in search of food -most places were closed or expensive and we actually finished up back at the Iluka, where they do an a la carte menu after 7pm and we had a lovely meal.

I had a rib eye steak with chips and salad whilst Sue had a huge salmon steak with a selection of vegetables and mashed potatoes. Very nice too. I had some of the local brew Queenscliffe Ale and Sue had a glass of wine. It was still light when we finished so we went for walk in search of a sweet – the first supermarket we went into was grubby and smelly and didn’t have a bakery counter, but the other one we had seen was closed, so it was back to the room to make do with chocolates and fruit we had in our bags. Sue also had more of her wine, but the lack of glasses meant her drinking it from a coffee mug!

Big news of the day is Ireland smashing the West Indies in the world cup.

Trip 324 KM.

Sunday 15th February 2015.

Alarm set for 8am so that we could have breakfast and go and pick up the car. It is a bright sunny morning today. Breakfast was pretty much a repeat of yesterday except the eggs were fried instead of scrambled – but all was nice all the same. While we were eating we decided to book a hotel for tonight and browsed hotels.com picking a Best Western in Geelong.

After doing most of the packing we walked along to LaTrobe Street then down to the Thrifty office on Elizabeth Street. There were two people serving , each with a customer but we were soon sorted – the car, which is a Colt GSX, which is a small SUV – Victoria plates 1DM 5GM – it is almost new and has just over 8k km on the clock. It was brought round to the road in front for us and we headed back to the hotel. We managed to park on the street not far from the hotel – a perk of a Sunday morning pick up.

After checking out and Sue saying goodbye to Euan we headed out to David’s retirement village in Wantirna – Sue navigated me along the busy roads to the M3 and then it was plain sailing – the motorway is a toll road and the tolls are charged automatically to my credit card via the rental company who add an admin charge of $3. there is no cash alternative and no getting out of it – other than avoiding toll roads – not entirely practical without a very good satnav in a city that is routinely grid locked at several junctions.

The ride out to David’s was very pleasant and we found the village and were very impressed – http://www.stockland.com.au/retirement/vic/melbourne-east/wantirna-village.htm

I rang David and he came to meet us – we last saw him two years ago, and his sight has deteriorated since then – hence he is living in an assisted community. He gave us the tour and then we went to his unit for a chat and to catch up. he then treated us to lunch at the local club. http://www.wantirnaclub.com.au/

The restaurant is very nice – he is member and signed us in- despite eating breakfast not too long ago I managed some lamb ribs with wedges and salad, Sue had some goulash with rice and David demolished the curry of the day – a beef Madras complete with rice, poppadoms and dips. We also had a real good chat and catch up before going back to his unit where the talking continued, he is a fascinating man to talk to and I love hearing his stories of old Army and Merchant Navy days.

About half four, we said our goodbyes and headed back to the city – Sue managed to navigate me past the MCG and out to the M1 and heading for Geelong – the roads are busy and I have already learned to be very watchful of other drivers in Oz! Apparently Geelong is Victoria’s second city and is obviously very industrial it has lots of railway lines and factories.

The hotel was just round a bend and involved a last minute swerve to get in. Sue checked us in – it is a two storey modern building, we are on the first floor (UK) in Room 25 – the room is very big with a little kitchenette, sofa and a chair – a big bathroom but only a shower. The chap checking Sue in was very helpful and gave her some leaflets about the Great Ocean Road. First priority is clothes wash. I sat and did diary while Sue got it sorted.

Next priority was a bit of shopping – we don’t want a meal tonight given the amount of food we have already consumed but we do need something, so we drove down the very picturesque and almost American Geelong High street to a big Woolworth’s. Here we got some lovely cheesy cobs, some tomatoes and some cooked meat to make our  own meal in the room, we also picked up cookies, pop and beer – the usual essentials.

It was still light at just after 7pm, so Sue navigated us down to the seafront where there was a lovely park and a long pier, we paused for a photo op before heading back to the hotel for diary, clothes washing, showers etc.

India have beaten Pakistan in Adelaide fairly easily.

Trip 150.8 km

Saturday 14th February 2015.

We had a bit of a lie in and started the day by exchanging Valentine cards. My phone had rung about 2.30am – I saw it was Jonno at the garage and guessed it would be about Chris’ car, so I ignored it and went straight back to sleep. We have a nice chill morning before the cricket this afternoon – the only downside is that the weather isn’t great – it is grey and cloudy and showery at the moment, but the forecast is for it to dry up.

Breakfast in the lounge was very good – the usual lounge fare with very attentive staff who tidied and replenished very well. The section of fruit and yoghurts was especially good and we were able to get a good base ready for the day ahead. By the time we got back to the room, the clouds had started to disperse and there was some blue sky in evidence.

We had arranged to meet Nick Jones, an ex-colleague for both of us – he has just retired and is enjoying an extended stay in Oz – he left home in October last year and has been here ever since, apart from a stop over in Thailand. The arrangement was to meet at a big pub called Young and Jackson at the junction of Flinders St and Swanson St opposite the exit to Flinders Station – Nick is currently staying with his cousin in the Melbourne suburbs and is travelling in by train. We walked out of the hotel to find several streets near the hotel, including Exhibition Street closed off to traffic for some sort of Greek Festival – there were lots of food stalls being set up and fairground rides -clear;y a big day in the Melbourne Greek community’s year.

As we got to the pub at about 12.15pm, Nick had yet to arrive but the pub was heaving, so we decided to wait a bit – the first game of the world cup has started with New Zealand playing Sri Lanka and it was being shown on the huge screens in the pub. When Nick arrived he was dressed in his jeans and carrying a brolly – apparently the weather in the ’burbs had been worse then hours – we had a beer in a slightly quieter part of the pub and caught up on his adventures- two and a half pints of run of the mill Carlton Lager was $24. Nick told us that he is heading home next week earlier than planned, even though he has had a fantastic time, he has grown a little weary of solo travel.

After having the drink, and a good catch up we decided to head to the ground – gates open at 1pm for a 2.30pm start. By the time we left the pub about 1.15pm the sun was shining and it was getting very warm. Nick is meeting his cousin and is in a different part of the ground – we had a wander round the ground looking for a bar without success, paused for photos and then said goodbye as he went off to meet his cousin.

Our tickets said gate 4 and we had a bit of a queue to get in but nothing major – there are still tickets on sale, but mainly for general admission standing tickets. We made our way inside our tickets are on the lower level among the England fans – a decision I was unsure of from the start. The good thing is that the seats were in the shade to start because by the time play commenced there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and it was red hot. At the start it wasn’t too bad, the people around us were fine and there were a group of the ‘Barmy Army’ stood at the back of our section – chanting a bit, but nothing to trouble anyone.

Australia batted first and started reasonably slowly – Aaron Finch and David Warner opened. Unfortunately Chris Woakes dropped Finch when he was on nought – a fairly easy chance that was shown over and over on the big screen subsequently – The Aussies reach 57-0 and then Stuart Broad bowled Warner and the next ball got Shane Watson to edge to Jos Buttler so was on a hat trick – Steve Smith survived but didn’t last too long when Woakes bowled him for 5 and they were 70-3 and we were fairly happy.

Our mood went down from there – Finch started to take the bowling apart in a huge stand with George Bailey and was eventually out for 135. Glenn Maxwell ( 66 off 40 balls) and Brad Haddin (31 off 24) added to the misery and even though Steven Finn took a very unlikely hat trick with the last three balls of the innings 342 was always going to take some getting. Add to this the ‘Barmy Army’ were getting louder and more repetitive as well as being racist, obnoxious and embarrassing as their alcohol intake increased. We did have some food though – I had a meat feast pizza and Sue had a burger and we shared chips – at $25.50 it wasn’t too extortionate and both were fairly tasty.

The England innings was a steady parade of wickets albeit with some fantastic Aussie bowling, catching and fielding. When Woakes was out, we were 94-6 and top scorer at that stage was Ian Bell with 36. By this time the obnoxious louts behind us had swelled in number, lost all interest in the cricket and were just behaving like total idiots to the bemusement of the police who were watching closely and occasionally picking off one or more of them who crossed some vague line  – some of their number were old enough to know better and I think will be somewhat embarrassed when the inevitable videos appeared on YouTube.

Our interest was firmly focused on the cricket – Titch Taylor put a bit of a stand together with Jos Buttler then Chris Woakes – unfortunately Stuart broad was out first ball, but with Jimmy Anderson he managed to get to 98 not out – he was then given LBW but reviewed it – they also ran for a quick leg bye and Jimmy Anderson was run out – the LBW was overturned but the run out was upheld – even though it was a dead ball after the finger went up for LBW.

A sad end to a sad game James Taylor stuck on 98no and England beaten by 111 runs and the idiots in the ‘Barmy Army’ giving everyone an awful impression of what England sports fans are like.  Having said that, we had a great time – it was a brilliant experience to be in a crowd of over 84,000 watching high quality cricket and, though it pains me to admit it – the Aussies were simply better than us. In sport that can happen. We joined the throng heading back towards the city and the hotel. We called for a beer at an offie, then went up to the lounge for a bit of fruit and a soft drink. We also had a couple of the Valentine chocs that were still out.

Thursday 12th / Friday 13th February 2015.

Up before the alarm once more. This morning we are again given the choice of a restaurant or lounge breakfast, but first we have to sort out our warm weather clothes and banish the jeans to the suitcase for a while! We decided to go and have breakfast in the Shook! Restaurant downstairs – it is a huge place with several different serving areas for the different cultures – there are Indian, Chinese, Malay and some western foods like beef bacon and chicken sausage. There is also a selection of fruits, cereals and other western items. We both had quite a cosmopolitan selection from all of the stations and had our usual fruit and yoghurt starter followed by a plate of savoury items – mine was all served on a lovely Indian bread.

Once we had eaten, we went up to the lounge for a latte, as the coffee in the Shook! wasn’t the best. The lounge guys made a real fuss of us again and asked us if we wanted another breakfast -their selection up here is more like the western Marriott fare that we are used to, including some lovely salmon that wasn’t available downstairs. We politely declined their offer but made sure check out time was 12 and our friend, the Lounge manager offered to give us late check out, but we are going to be out all day, so there is no need.

Back in the room, we got sorted and I published a few more days dairy onto the blog. I am doing much better this trip for keeping it up to date. Once we were packed, we went downstairs to the lounge and checked out. The Manager asked about web check in, because it is still new here, and once we had checked out he came to the lift with us and invited us back into the lounge when we come and collect our bags this evening! He even gave us keys to operate the lift in order to get back up.

Out in the bright sunshine, we began our wander by heading to Bukit Bintang Plaza, opposite the monorail station. We have been here on other trips, it is a six level market with lots of individual booths, though many seem to be selling the same things. We had a wander and Sue bought a new glasses case that she had been looking for. It was 5myr – which is less than a pound. There are a whole load of phone shops, phone case shops, clothes shops, shoe shops and a few that are individual. On one floor there were lots of hair establishments – mainly for the ladies, but there were some for men.

One in particular caught my eye, it appears very modern and clean. It was called Quick Cut and you had to pay upfront for a card (16myr) which then entitled you to a haircut. There was no one waiting and I need a haircut so – In for a penny and all that! I paid my money and managed to communicate the style I wanted (grade 4 all over!) and the lady got on with it. I suggested Sue go for a walk round but she stayed and watched! It didn’t take long and was very thorough. At the end they have a vacuum pipe that they use to suck all of the loose hair from your scalp and around your shoulders – an excellent concept . I was very happy with the result – all for less than three quid – bargain!

After then we went back out into the sunshine and decided to catch the monorail to the are of Chinatown and the Central Market – it was only pennies to get the three stations to Maharajalela. When we got off first stop was a very impressive temple which we had a look round, then we walked to the main shopping street of Chinatown – Petaling Street – it is more famous for its night market, but the day market is also very busy with lots and lots of fakes – watches, football shirts and designer gear – all at silly prices. It was great just wandering and looking.

There are markets and shopping malls everywhere is KL – some are official, with branded goods and very expensive shops – others are for the locals and and ridiculously cheap, but the quality of some of the goods leave something to be desired. Premier League Soccer and La Liga from Spain are big business and the shirts of Chelsea, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Barcelona dominate the market. We were sort of heading for the Central Market but kept getting side tracked into other fascinating shops, malls and markets – great fun. After all of this wandering in the hot sun, we paused for a break and an ice cream cone from McDonald’s – choc dip cones 1.8myr (about 38p). Eventually we made it to the Central Market, which was completely different to any of the others – this one is aimed fairly and squarely at the tourists – it is cleaner, airier and much, much more expensive. We noticed quite a few English accents here – most of which belonged to people proudly wearing ‘Cunard’ stickers to let everyone know they part of a pack, and are tourists ripe for the picking!

Having a rough idea where we were most of the time we hit the yellow monorail line at Masjid Jamek and found another street market, where I bought a 516 gigabyte flash drive from a market stall for 10myr (less than two quid). My thought was that if it is duff I have only lost two quid, but if it is okay I will wish I had bought fifty of them! Our rough sort of destination is walking towards the twin Petronas Towers, but they are obviously further away than we thought and by mid afternoon the heat and the foot slogging were beginning to take their toll, by this time we had reached the Renaissance Hotel where we stayed on our last visit, so we hopped on the monorail at Bukit Nanas and went back to Bukit Bintang.

It was a bit early to go to the hotel so we went into the massive Pavilion Shopping Centre again – we had a look round the Japan section that has loads of Japanese shops cafes and restaurants before having a cup of coffee in Starbuck’s to take advantage of the free wi-fi. I had a Facebook chat with Christopher, his car is still broken, but he has Sue’s so he isn’t too bothered. After the coffee we discovered a huge food court below the centre that isn’t on any of the mall maps and has some great coffee and cake places. It also has Tony Roma’s and there is a TGI Friday’s upstairs.

Back at the hotel we went up to the lounge and were welcomed with open arms, Reza insisted that we have some food and drink, so we made the most of his offer with some lovely salad, meats and even a couple of slices of quesadilla, which was excellent. I had an Asahi and Sue had some sauvignon blanc to ease the journey to the airport. Reza continued to make a fuss of us, but we didn’t see him when it was time to leave.

When we got downstairs to get the bags, our friend who had checked us in and the lounge manager were both waiting to say goodbye and made another real fuss – asking if we had enjoyed the stay -we assured them we had and there would be good reviews. When we got outside, it had been raining quite hard but had stopped. We made our way to he monorail and go the tickets – the first two trains that came were on the two carriages and were PACKED! There was a couch to get on them, but we noticed that several locals remained waiting where the third and fourth carriages would be and they assured us that a four carriage train would come. The trains are only three minutes apart and it was just after 7pm – so it wasn’t an issue.

Sure enough the third train had four carriages and we were able to get on with room to spare – in fact after a station or two, we got a seat each. The train got us to Sentral okay and we made our way to the Ekspres departure area through the huge Nu Sentral Mall. There was a train in nine minutes when we arrived and it pulled up five minutes before it was due to depart – it wasn’t as busy as the way in and we got a seat easily. the journey was in the darkness, but we clearly weren’t hanging about.

At the airport, we made our way up to the 3rd level and were directed to area X for Business Class check in – all Air Asia X International flights are checked here – there isn’t any individual counter for each flight. There was only one couple in front of us and we were soon sorted – our bags are almost at 23kg each now, but I had paid extra for a 30kg allowance, so it wasn’t an issue. They didn’t even tag the bags as heavy.

There are three lots of gates for international flights once you have checked in L P and Q – we are going from P8, but according to the Priority Pass app, the lounge is by the L gates, so after we had passed through Immigration where I had my fingerprints taken (they weren’t taken on the way in, and Sue didn’t either time!) we made our way through security there and got to the lounge to be told by a very helpful young man at the Premium Plaza Lounge that there was also one by the P gates as well called the Wellness Centre, as it was also a spa. So, we had to make our way all the way back and go to the P gates. The lounge here is also a Plaza Premium Lounge, but it is before security.

The lounge was fairly quiet, with a selection of hot food like pasta and chicken with veg but I was still sorted from the JW Marriott, so I just had a Tiger beer to be sociable. Sue had some chicken and vegetables with her Tiger beer. We weren’t in the lounge long but were able to have a bit of a freshen up, as it has been a sweaty day and we have walked some miles.

We made our way down to the gate and went through another security check, we had bit of a queue to get into the gate area, which is massive and is heaving with people. The plane tonight is another Airbus A330-300 but looking at the amount of people boarding there won’t be many empty seats. We were soon called for priority boarding and got our seats 1a and 1c at the front of the plane. We watched the parade of people going down the back – the size of some of the carry ons was on a US scale! Loads of people had a big carry on and a rucksack too.

Pushback was at 10.40pm and we had a mammoth taxi for wheels up at 11.10pm and soon went into the clouds. The flight time is 7 hours 40 minutes and our causing altitude for the 6600km flight will be 37 thousand feet. We also have to put our watches forward 3 hours. As soon as we levelled out the service started – apparently I had ordered chicken teriyaki for myself and chicken satay again for Sue. The meals were the same as yesterday except we didn’t get apple juice or cake!

As soon as we had eaten, we put the seats down into flat bed mode, which is a bit of a misnomer, as you aren’t quite flat – we had been given a good quilt and a pillow, so I managed to bit of sleep – it was after midnight (3.15am Melbourne time) when we settled down. The lights came on just under two hours out at 7.45am, but there is no breakfast service – not even a drink. Below us as I type is mile after mile of flat farmland.

Interlude for impressions and memories of Japan.

This seems a good point to record my brief impressions and memories of our first trip to Japan. My overall impression is a very, very positive one. I had expected efficiency, but was taken by surprise by the friendliness and helpfulness of the people. Also how many of them were able to speak at least some English.They seem to have almost full employment and everyone who is given a job performs it to 100% of their ability, no matter how apparently menial it appears. Tokyo was as bustling and vibrant as I expected, Osaka was much, much bigger than I thought it would be and the hotel there must rate as one of my all time favourites.

The technology and connectivity is as good as I thought it would be, and the bullet train experience was just fabulous. One frivolous memory is the toilet seat technology – the ones in the hotel lifted as you walked into the door – they could be programmed for one or both seats to lift. As soon as you sit down the seat starts to warm and water starts to run – some even play music, though this seemed more common for Sue than it did for me. There is then the washing experience at the end! Different jets for men and women and (in my experience at least) very efficient.

The food was very good – we tried to experience new tastes (Octopus dumplings for example). The weather was a little colder than I thought it would be, but the occasional snow flurries in Osaka didn’t bother us.

The only slightly negative thing I would say, is the same as I have said in many, many places we have visited, and this is the invasion of the western brands into the local culture and the homogenisation of the world – the usual suspects of Burger King, McDonald’s, KFC and Starbucks are everywhere in the big cities. the worldwide luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Prada, Mont Blanc et al. have also taken a stranglehold and some local brands have obviously been pushed aside. The local stuff is still there but it doesn’t dominate like it should. Hey ho! Just my ramblings.

Later – back to the diary.

We landed on time at 9.35am but were then held in the plane for a few minutes as a man came on and had some sort of discussion with the pilot – Sue got the impression that the pilot was being told off for something, but we were allowed off after a few minutes and handed a priority pass for immigration on the air bridge. We followed signs and got in the midst of a board of people just getting off an Vietnam-air plane that had landed just before us – we followed signs for UK, Oz, EU and US passports.

A very helpful chap said we would be better using the machine readable queue, as it would be a lot quicker than the VIP area. Sure enough we put passports into the machine – answered three questions about TB, convictions and something else, and it gave us a card to put into another reader that took our photo and let us in – as easy as that. No queue, no questions. We made our way to baggage claim and had to wait a few minutes – Sue’s bag was second off, mine was a few later.

We made our way outside and bought two tickets for the city express bus for AU$18 and joined the queue. I tried to change a few Japanese notes I had left but the ANZ currency exchange would charge an AU$8 fee! We waited for the bus chatting to a guy in the queue then got on – the bus has free wi-fi and whisked us downtown to the main bus terminal – the AU$18 fare includes transfer to your hotel, which is done my a fleet of mini busses. Very efficient and good value.

As we drove into the city we could see two helicopters flying around with banners beneath them – one said ‘Lost – two balls’ with a picture of two cricket balls – the other banner said ‘If found, please return to the England Cricket team’ – a sign of things to come! We waited a couple of minutes then the mini bus took us to the hotel. We were able to check in to room 7-11 straight away, which was nice. The room is huge with a settee and easy chair and huge TV , there is no bath though – we know that since the hotel was renovated, all of the bath have been replaced by showers.

We were in desperate need of coffee, so we went to the lounge after a quick freshen up – I went first having had problems with my key, then Sue had problems with hers so went downstairs to see the concierge who was a Scottish lad called Euan, who brought her up to the lounge to make sure it worked – they got chatting and he said he would sit her a gift out from the hotel.

After we had drunk coffee and had some fruit we went down to the room and found a bottle of wine and some chocolates with a lovely note waiting for us – another great touch from Marriott. As we haven’t eaten since the meal on the plane last night, we decided to have a walk out into downtown Melbourne in search of food. We went into the centre and eventually found a little cafe in a small precinct called Thee Drops Espresso. I had a Roasted bacon and chicken panini warmed up and Sue had a massive chicken salad sandwich.

Once we had eaten, we made an abortive attempt to play the lottery, then headed through the CBD to Flinders Street Station, then over the Yarra footbridge that has hundreds and hundreds of padlocks all over it – don’t know if this a Valentine’s thing or a permanent arrangement. We turned left on Southbank Promenade and headed up to Queen Victoria Gardens pausing to photograph wildlife en route. It is a bit cloudy, but very warm and certainly sunglasses weather.

Following the banks of the Yarra, we went up to the bridge on Olympic Boulevard and into the huge tennis complex with the Rod Laver Arena dominating – there were concerts by Rod Stewart, Kylie and Rosette being advertised. There is a lot of work going on. As we walked along the river we had seen loads of film trucks and outside broadcast vans. I had wondered if they were connected to the cricket, but on the footbridge over the railway lines going to the MCG, there were loads of cameras, lights and actors all hanging around.

There was no problem with us walking right through the middle of them. We asked a lady with a tabard and a radio and she said it was filming for a series called Childhood’s End for the US network NBC – the bridge was now part of New Athens in the adaptation of Arthur C Clark’s classic sci-fi book. We carried on to the cricket ground and found the Aussies were netting in the complex that is open to the public.

There were quite a few watching, but we were able to watch the stars go through their paces at very close range. Shane Watson, Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Finch, David Warner and even Michael Clark (who is currently injured) were there – there were others as well, but they didn’t take their helmets off and it was difficult to recognise them They were being bowled at by young ground staffers from the MCG proudly wearing ‘Net Bowler’ shirts and really pinging the balls down. There were also some Aussie staffers doing throw downs. It was good entertainment and we got some good photos. Warner and Watson in particular looked to be in good form smashing the balls out of the middle of the bat.

After watching for a while, we headed back to the hotel via a 7-11 for a much needed cold drink. It is nowhere near as humid as KL and is a bit cloudy still, but it is hot. Back at the hotel we hit the lounge for a drink and were there when they brought the food out. I wasn’t hungry so just had some cold meats with salad and really nice bread. Sue had a beef dish with peppers and rice. There was also some very nice sparkling wine and beer.

After having just a small snack we decided to go down to the pool area – there is a huge spa pool that makes up for the lack of a bath in the room – Sue also swam some lengths and for most of the time we were the only people in the pool and gym area. I was going to have sauna but it was cold when I went in and hadn’t really heated up by the time we left. As we were there we saw lightning through the glass roof and heard some thunder and it started to rain heavily, so we decided that we wouldn’t go out, we would just go back to the lounge for some sweet, beer and G&T after we had changed.

I also rang my Dad’s brother David and arranged for us to call and see him Sunday after we have picked the car up – some Facebook chat with Nick Jones sorting out the meeting for tomorrow and an early night after our short nights sleep on the plane yesterday.

Wednesday 11th February 2015

The alarm went off at 6.50am. A reasonable night, I found the bed a little hard, and the walls of the hotel are clearly paper thin, as I was able to hear conversations/ TV, that weren’t loud, from other rooms. We got sorted and re-packed fairly sharpish and went to get the lift at 7.45am. There were four lifts and we waited as all four came in turn, and were too full to get on. Eventually Sue squeezed on one and I got on the next – we called at every floor with disgruntled looking folk waiting for one with space.

The lobby area was bedlam with lots of coaches waiting outside to be filled. Sue had already checked out by the time I got down and had identified our coach. We loaded bags on the back and got onto the 12 seater minibus. It departed one minute early at 8.04am. and headed over the bridge to the airport. It is a bit hazy this morning, but we saw what we thought was our Air Asia plane taxiing to the gate as we entered the airport.

Inside the terminal, the bedlam state got even higher – there were people everywhere queuing at the various counters. We saw on the TV monitors, that Air Asia used desks 7-12 which fortunately were near where we had come in and were an oasis of calm. The business class counter had no one in front of us and a lovely ANA employee checked us un. She told us the airport was always busy, but it was particularly busy at the moment in the run up to the Chinese New Year celebrations. She also told us there would be a long queue at security.
As we hadn’t had breakfast, we went in search of the lounge that accepts Priority Pass, which we knew was landside. After a couple of false starts we made it to the Korean Air lounge – another real area of calm. We had coffee and some breakfast I had some pancakes with chocolate sauce and picked up a wrapped package of what I thought was cake – it turned out to be a pack of boiled rice! Sue had some crackers, some peanuts and a sponge cake thing – not her normal healthy start.We resisted the full alcohol selection, which included some very expensive brandy.

Suitably refreshed, and checked in on Facebook we went to join the security queue – we had seen it as we went up to the lounge, what we didn’t realise was that it snaked round the corner and then went into tensa barrier system with just a sea of people and lots of security people shouting very loudly. We feared the worst as we joined the queue at 9.15am, but remarkably it moved very, very quickly and what we thought may leave us late for our flight was over and done in less than 20 minutes – Japanese efficiency at its best again.

We passed through immigration without any problem and into the shops. Kansai has the longest concourse of any airport in the world apparently, and it needs it this morning. We are leaving from gate 8, which is at one end of the concourse whilst we are somewhere near the middle. This meant us getting a monorail shuttle – we arrived at the gate with ages to spare and set up camp. I got a drink from the machine with the last of my Japanese coins and took advantage of the free wi-fi.

Boarding began just before 1030 and the business class boarding was clearly signed – when we got on the plane we found two nice ladies sat in our seats – 2a and 2c. There are only 2 rows of business class (12 seats in all) and the problem was quickly sorted. Apparently they were upgrades and had been given the wrong boarding passes. They moved to 2d and 2e and we took our seats. We were given orange juice just after we sat down, the seats to go down to flat beds and there is loads of leg room.

We pushed back in the sunshine at 1058 – we were sixth in the queue to take off, two behind a huge Thai Air A380 that we had seen at the gate near to ours. Wheels up was 1115 after quite a long wait. The First Officer told us after take off that we are on an Airbus A330-300, our flight time will be seven hours and our cruising altitude will be 40k feet. He also reminded us to put our watches back an hour for KL time.

We got good views as we climbed up over the snow capped mountains, then our over the busy ocean with huge container ships below, before it clouded over. We were quickly served out pre-ordered meals of chicken satay with rice – there was also a croissant, a pice of choc cake, carton of apple juice and a Kit-Kat on the tray. It was a nice meal. There is no IFE even in business class but you can hire tablets with new films on for 60MRY (£11.45) or 45MYR (£8.20) if you pre-order on line. I have plenty on my iPad to watch so I won’t bother. Sue has her Kindle so won’t be partaking either.

Later: We read, chilled, napped and ate for the rest of the flight – before we landed one of the cabin crew brought an extra veggie meal that I had apparently ordered and paid for! It was rice and potato with a few veg, so not unpleasant – we shared it. We didn’t see much of KL as we approached due to it being cloudy, but the whole flight was uneventful – which is a good thing! We landed at about 5.15pm KL time

After landing we had quite a walk to Immigration, where there was no queue at all – this is the first time I can remember entering a country with no landing card to fill in, no questions at Immigration about why we are here and how long we are staying etc. just a cursory grunt and a stamp in the passport – sorted! Our bag arrived very quickly too, after having priority tags on them. We walked out of customs and straight to the KLIA Ekspres counter, where I got two return tickets for 140myr (£25) – from experience we know that we could get a bus or a taxi, but the traffic in the city is awful and the train offers a 28 minute ride to Sentral. We got the 5.50pm train, which wasn’t a bad effort and showed how quickly the entry formalities had been.

The train journey was quick and smooth and when we emerged we went to the taxi counter, where they offered us a ride to the hotel for 100 myr – just under 20 quid. I had remembered that the monorail went close to the hotel, so we went into the main Sentral station, which was bedlam for rush hour, and after a bit of internet research (which would have best been done before we got here) – we headed for the monorail and bought two tickets to Bukit Bintang for 4.6myr (85p for us both)! It was six quick stops on the very busy monorail – it has been very hot since we got here and very cloudy – the dark clouds clearly threatened a storm, but we made it to the hotel before it arrived.

Our gold card treatment continued here – I had checked in on line and a lovely lady sorted out the formalities and then insisted on taking us to to the 27th floor to show us our room, which is 2726, she explained that there was food and drink in the lounge until 8pm – as it was just before 7.30pm by the time we got to the room, we got our skates on.

The room is fabulous in a fabulous hotel – it has massive high ceilings and a huge bed plus bathroom with bath and separate shower and is all very ornate and expensive! We went down to the huge lounge on the 24th floor and hit the buffet – some lovely lamb meatballs, fresh salmon, and loads of lovely salads and breads – a real nice spread for us to tuck into. I also had a couple of Asahi beers while Sue had a couple of very, very generous G&T’s. I tried some chicken sausage, but wan’t too impressed. There were also some lovely cakes and fruit to finish off – it was a bit of a rush, but all worth it.

After we had eaten we went out into the very, very busy Bukit Bintang area – there are lot of upmarket shops, loads of hotels – the Westin is next door to us and the Ritz Carlton is behind us. We wandered round in the hot night air for a bit – there are loads of fantastic decorations up for the New Year – they really go to town. The street vendors selling their fake watches and selfie sticks are also everywhere. It is great for people watching. Opposite the hotel is the huge Pavilion Shopping Centre – there are massive New Year decorations here – all sponsored by Crabtree and Evelyn – reminders of home !

We didn’t wander too long as although it is 10pm here – our bodies are saying it is 11pm so we went up to the room to get sorted.

Tuesday 10th February 2015

Sue had set the alarm for 7am this morning as we want to go up to the 360 degree observatory at the top of the hotel building. We had been given free tickets when we checked in, but they are only valid for entry from 7am until 7.50am and you have to be out by 8.30am. We went down from floor 55 to the reception are on floor 19, then went down to the 16th floor where we got another lift up to the 60th floor. This opening is only for Marriott guests, but quite a few were taking advantage of it.

Once we had reached the top, we were 300 metres above ground – it claims to be Japan’s tallest point, but I think there is a tower in Tokyo that would dispute this – even so on a sunny morning, we were treated to fabulous views all around. We had been given a leaflet explaining what is visible in each direction and spent a good hour or so taking photos and enjoying the view.

When we got down, the staff were just being given their morning briefing, doing their motivational speeches and bowing to each other before the public were admitted at 9am- very impressive. We made our way down to floor 19, then back up to floor 55 then down to have. breakfast in the lounge on the 38th floor.

The lounge wasn’t busy and we both had pretty much a repeat of yesterday, except that we both made a point of trying what we now know is a local delicacy, Octopus Dumplings – they look worse than they taste with the tentacles apparent when you cut them open – the taste is a little bland but the thought of what I am eating is enough to make me gulp them down.

When we had eaten, Sue asked the chap in charge about check out time and he immediately said there was no rush and comped us a 2pm check out! He also mentioned that our room wasn’t occupied tonight. This is a little strange as I had tried to book an extra night on the website after the Air Asia cock up, but it has been saying the hotel is sold out for weeks. Hey ho! We debated last night and decided we wanted to be near the airport tonight for ease tomorrow morning.

Back in the room, we packed, pillaged the freebies, and got sorted then went back down to the lounge for a drink and to sort photos etc. We could have gone for a walk round again but given the biting wind and the short time available we decided to give it a miss and make the most of our luxurious surroundings a little longer.

Around 12.30 pm we got our bags then checked out in the lounge. This has truly been one of the nicest hotel we have ever stayed in, and we have stayed in some nice ones. We took our bags down to the shopping centre and to the JR ticket machines. We knew which ticket we wanted and so that wasn’t an issue, you just buy tickets to the correct value – 880 yen in our case ( just under a fiver). Interestingly some of the monitors by the machines were warning of delays and cancellations due to snow – fortunately not in our region.

Our line is the Kansai line and we need the station before the airport – Rinku Town. Our platform is 18 and we made our way down. The monitor said there was a train in a couple of minutes at 1325, so we waited – when it came(exactly on time) , Sue was checking the boards and I saw that the front of the train said Kansai Airport. However, when we got on the boards in the carriage had a different list of stations and destination of Wakayama. We looked confused and actually got off back onto the platform, but another nice lady beckoned us back and managed to communicate that the train splits at a station down the line and the first four carriages go to the airport, whilst the bit we were currently in goes to Wakayama.

Sure enough, as we set off an announcement in English confirmed that the train split at Hineno, so at the first station we moved forward to carriage number 4, and settled back to enjoy the ride in the sunshine. We passed through abut half a dozen stations, people came and went but it was never over busy. At Hineno, we split as planned, then the next stop was ours, Rinku Town.

The Washington Hotel is right next to the station and is signposted but Sue called in at a tourist office and was given a load of stuff including details of a nearby Outlet Mall and discount vouchers for a big Ferris Wheel we had seen as we approached Rinku Town. We left the station and managed to miss the hotel entrance, so we walked right round the building before we got in. A very nice lady checked us into room 1003 on the tenth floor of 16. She also gave us a discount voucher for the buffet restaurant in the hotel called Kitchen Garden. 1003 is a nice large room with two beds,bath, free wi-fi, and the expected creature comforts of kettle TV etc.

After settling in we went for a walk in Rinku, which is a resort town on the coast with a stone beach and the amusements associated with a seaside resort. Our first stop was a massive supermarket opposite the hotel, next to the Audi Dealer the Racket Club called Trial Supercenter. It is a bit like a big Walmart, except probably bigger.We had a great time wandering and comparing prices. There were some real bargains, like the standard sit up and beg push bike which is really popular here for about £40.

Next stop was the huge Ferris Wheel, it is a sunny day, but quite cold, so we weren’t too surprised to find we were the only customers – the ride cost about a fiver for both of us with discount and Sue had to sit with a large Pokemon type character of a cat!! The ride took abut 15 minutes and gave fabulous views of the surrounding area including the airport which is on a man made island connected to the mainland by a 3km bridge – more on the airport tomorrow, I am sure.

Back on terra firma we headed for the Outlet Mall, which is massive and is very, very western – to the extent that it could have been transported from the US. Shops include Nike, Adidas, Tag Heuer, Crocs! Hugo Boss, Dunhill,Armani, Dolce & Gabana, Burberry and Clark’s to name but a few among many many shops. We went in the Van’s shop where chequer board shoes like Christopher wears were 2000 yen (£11!!) Trouble is 98% of the men’s were sized 5-9 and anything over size ten just didn’t exist. We had a good time wandering and stopped for a coffee and cake in the Food Court at a Belgian Chocolate outlet- they made a very big thing that it was Belgian Chocolate from Belgium! The cake was nice though.

Sue looked at trainers in New Balance and actually found a pair in her size, but they were quite expensive, so she didn’t bother I almost bought a polo short in Asics but the designs I liked didn’t have my size. We learned that the sizing goes S, M, L, XO, 2XO. We did manage to get a little something for Christopher in the Adidas Store. The Nike Store was remarkable – apart from the pricing in Yen, we could have been in the UK or US – including selling Manchester United shirts.

Next to the Mall is a white stone beach – we had a walk onto it, but the wind is still biting, so we didn’t go too far. Next stop was a huge sports warehouse call Sports Depo. It is massive and stocks gear for all the major sports. The one thing that is noticeable is the lack of replica kits and sports star endorsements on the displays – the exact opposite of a UK/US store. There is a massive baseball section but no team kits there either, apart from the local team. Last shop of the night was another massive one, this time specialising in electrical goods on the lines of Best Buy. It really is gadget heaven and made for interesting mooching, but we didn’t buy – even though there were some great deals on SD cards, USB sticks etc. etc.

Time was marching on, so we wandered back to the hotel and went to the buffet restaurant – we were seated straight away and had a nice meal. As you would expect, there was a cosmopolitan selection including a Chinese area, Japanese area and a nice lots of salads – the western influence seemed to by limited to a chef cooking steaks and a bowl of french fries. We ate our fill, as you may expect – at one time I had steak and chips, spring rolls, curry with rice, salad and bang bang chicken on one plate. Soft drinks, tea and coffee were included in the price, as were ice cream and sweets, but if you wanted a beer you had to buy a package of ‘all you can drink’ which was 1944 yen (£10.71) for Men and 1728 yen (£9.52) for Ladies. I stuck to melon soda and orange juice while Sue had some coke and then went on to green tea. We finished with some cake, ice cream and rather bland chewy Japanese sweets.

The buffet was more than adequate and once we had eaten, we went to the convenience store in the hotel for drink. I got a can of Asahi and Sue saw Beefeater Gin and Tonic in a bottle – sorted! We went back to the room for diary, baths and another early night for an early start tomorrow.

Monday 9th February 2015.

Up at 7.15am today. There is a Nespresso machine in the room, which is yet another nice touch. We had a coffee and got sorted – number one project this morning is to sort out the confusion of when we are actually flying out of Osaka because my profile with Air Asia has got us checked in on the cancelled flight still and emails haven’t been replied to!

First things first, down to breakfast, the lounge was quiet when we arrived and we had a really good breakfast, there was a superb fruit selection, then lots of hot food to choose from, then the expected mix of east meets west with a huge array of things including western cereals and an attempt at sausage – very anaemic looking and probably best left! I enjoyed a nice omelette – a variation on the them was that you select your own fillings and put them in a bowl, the chef then mixes them into the omelette – very nice. We ate our fill and headed out into the bright sunshine.

Later – Today could have been a disaster, but turned into a good day where someone appeared to be looking after us – all because I made a very, very basic schoolboy error 😉

All appeared to start well, we mastered the ticket machines on the subway and bought day passes for 800 yen each (about £4.40). We got a red line train and headed back along our route of yesterday north past Shin Osaka and then on to Senri Chuo (M8) where we had to catch the monorail to the airport. We had noticed that there was a driver change at the Esaka (M11) station, three from the end of the line but didn’t think any more of it, we were just amused by the antics of the driver waving his arm to point in the direction of travel before setting off.

When we got of, it was explained that the last three stations were on a private railway, not part of the subway and we had to pay a surcharge – it was less than 50p so not a disaster. We found the monorail after wandering through yet another big shopping complex and bought a ticket out to the airport for 330 yen (£1.80). the runout gave us some fine views of the cityscape showing how the huge Marriott dominates and also some good views of Japanese urban life as we slowly edged to the airport.

By a massive twist of fate – just as we descended the monorail towards the terminal, my phone went – it was Air Asia apologising for the delay in contacting us but assuring me that we had been swapped to the flight on Wednesday as we had asked, and we are still in Business Class and she would be emailing me details to confirm. This is where the twist happens, we had come to the WRONG AIRPORT! (I now know) there are two in Osaka – Osaka International (where we were) and Osaka Kansai (where Air Asia fly from). How awful could that have been if we had turned up with suitcases expecting to fly? We are a good way north of the city and Kansai (KIX) is south!

I was feeling somewhat silly, to out it mildly. After a quick look round Osaka International Airport we bought a return ticket on the monorail, then we paid the 100 yen extra at Senri Chuo and we headed back to the City!! Sue had read that the main shopping area of the city is Shinsaibashi (M19) so we got off there and had a real good mooch round for the rest of the daylight hours.

As we left the station, the first thing was saw was the Louis Vuitton shop, then we went down a long covered pedestrianised  shopping street called Shinsaibashi-suji Shopping Street, lots of small retail outlets, but with a few familiar names like Body Shop, Tommy Hilfiger and McDonald’s dotted in between, the funniest thing was seeing a girl outside a children’s clothes shop called  Babydoll hawking obviously fake Minnie Mouse children’s nightwear, right next door to the Disney Store.

Running parallel to the shopping street is a busy road called Mido-suji Avenue and there we saw like a beacon a huge Apple Store. We went in and were able to get on the wi-fi to see that the phone call from Air Asia had been correct and we were able to check in for our new flights on Wednesday in seats 2a and 2c – still in Business Class. We were also impressed by the orderly queue for the Genius Barr – nearly all the way round the store.

Back on Shinsaibashi-suji, our next stop was a Tourist information place on the third floor above Tommy Hilfiger, it all looks very new and we seemed to take them by surprise as actual tourists looking for information! They were lovely, offered us all sorts of leaflets, asked us to sit down for a comp cup of Japanese Tea and searched the internet for hotel near KIX before printing a list off for us. I had asked because I thought they may be able to book for us, but they didn’t appear to do this.

More wandering that took us as far as the Doutom Boribashi Bridge over the Doutomborigawa River, there were lots of Japanese folk here taking photos, as it is a bit like Piccadilly Circus with lots of adverts all around and is obviously a landmark. It was here that we saw the first snow flurries in the air – nothing much as it is a mainly blue sky, but the wind is biting.  We continued to wander off the beaten track a bit and found ourselves in XXXXX Market.

This was quite an eyeopener. for a westerner with lots of ‘meat’ and fish stalls – including one with what looked like shark’s heads in water. One of the stalls sold barbecued fish of various shapes and sizes cooked on a small charcoal BBQ. We watched the owner put a skewer of white fish on the barbie, but he wasn’t happy the current ones were cooking fast enough, so he took a blow torch to them to hurry them along! A fascinating wander – some of the restaurant offerings also made us wince a little.

Back into the main shopping area, we called into an absolutely massive 8 level bargain type shop called Don Quixote  we had a good mooch round and bought some green tea flavoured Kit Kats which seem very popular here – if bag space hadn’t been such an issue then we could have got all sorts of interesting bits and bobs. I think we would have resisted the DIY piercing kits that were being advertised, complete with video demo above the stands. As we went back to the station there were a few more snow flurries, it was a lot busier with more shoppers and lots of school children making their way home, some with shorts on as part of their uniform!

The train back to Tennoji wasn’t too busy, as I think we are just before the rush hour. Back at the hotel, we went up to the lounge and I printed off our boarding passes with the help of one of the lovely ladies on reception who took me into the Business Centre and pointed out the English computer. We also had some nice cake and a cup of coffee and before long the evening food and drink service started.

The food is very similar to yesterday, so I had some of the meatballs in cheese and some salad, Sue had some salad and we both had some lovely salmon quiche, it is only nibbles but we had our fill, very nice – we also had the drink to supplement it. I had Asahi Beer and Sue had some wine. I also booked a hotel for tomorrow night – after some debate we decided to get as close to the airport as possible for a morning departure and I used hotels.com to get their last room in the Washington Hotel at a place called Rinku near Kansai airport – more about that tomorrow.

After eating, we went for a walk outside – first job at the JR Station below the hotel was to recce where we are going tomorrow – we need the Hanwa Line and a very helpful young lady gave us a map with all of the stations in English, as they are all in Japanese on the wall, with only the main selected ones translated.  Once that was sorted we braved the biting wind outside to walk over the road to get a view back to the hotel for photo-op – we made our way to a park we could see from the room, which is actually a Zoo and got the required angle.

Back in the warmth of the shopping centre we wandered round a bit more including book shop – the books and magazines here are ‘back to front’ by our standards and the lines of text on the page run from top to bottom, but we still recognised a lot of European and US faces in the magazines.  Back up to the hotel for another drink and a piece of cake before a relatively early night, as we have an early start in the morning.

Sunday 8th February 2015

We stayed in bed until 7am this morning – very early still for a Sunday! We got sorted and went down for another very good breakfast in the Lavarock. It was busy but very nice again. Back in the room we decided to have a walk over to the railway station to get our tickets for the train sorted in case there were any issues. It turned out to be very simple. There were lots of different places to buy tickets – we have chosen to go on one of the faster trains – this makes the tickets more expensive but it is something else crossed off the bucket list.

Sue did the talking with a very helpful young man whose English was very good, but he had a prompt sheet in English when he got stuck. We are booked on the Nozomi train leaving Tokyo at 1250 arriving Osaka at 1523 Car 5 seats 4-D and 4-E cost 14,450 yen each (about £80). Once that was sorted we walked back to the hotel grabbed our bags, checked out then chilled in the library for a while taking advantage of the wi-fi and free coffee.

Later – around 11.50am we had a slow wander in the very drizzle out of the hotel and over to the station. We set up camp next to a Starbucks near track 18, and I went for a bit of a look round. The 1210 had just departed and a few people were queueing for the 1230. As you would expect it is very well ordered and polite – each carriage has two designated queuing points, front and rear. Just after 1235 we wandered up for photo ops – our train was in and we could see the cleaners beavering away and a man going down each carriage swinging all of the seats around so that all pax are always facing the direction of travel.

At about 1145 we boarded and at exactly 1150 we pulled way, gaining speed remarkably quickly and smoothly. The Nozomi train is the fastest of all of the bullet trains with a top speed of 300kph (186mph) – the 515 miles to Osaka takes 2 hours 25 minutes! This includes a few stops on the way. The first two stops are at suburban Tokyo stations of Shinagawa and Shin Yokohama. When we left Tokyo the carriage was less than a third full but by the time we left Shin Yokohama it was about 75% full – from there (1309) it was full speed ahead to Nagoya (1433) Kyoto (1510) and finally Shin Osaka (1525).

Leaving Tokyo is was a bit grey and drizzly still but it was fascinating watching the city of by for ages before we hit the rural areas, these included a lot of tunnels and obviously a fair bit of climbing but the ride was smooth and very, very quick. Nagoya is a huge industrial city and by the time we reached it the sky was blue and the weather was much improved. Kyoto also seemed to go on for miles, before we pulled into Osaka dead on time. the staff were great, the ticket collector and the buffet trolley girls made a big point of bowing every time the entered or left a carriage.

Watching the countryside go by was a real experience – the whole ride lived up to expectations. When we left the train we stopped to take a photo of the rear of the train, but were both taken by surprise with the rate of acceleration away from the platform as it headed to Hiroshima – neither of us got a good photo! We went down into the station in search of the metro. We know which station we want, but were immediately struck by the lack of bilingual signs that we had got used to in Tokyo.

The ticket machine was a bit of a mystery so we finished up buying the cheapest ticket for 180 yen (£1), knowing that we may have to pay an excess at the other end. We are on the red line, getting on at Shin Osaka (M13) and heading for Tennoji (M23). The ride was uneventful and sure enough, when we got off we had to pay an extra 100 yen (55p). We asked the ticket guard how to get to the Marriott and after a bit of confusion his colleague said he would show us! He set off into the busy shopping mall next to the station and told us to follow him. We walked for a few minutes up, down and round in a warren of corridors and eventually he pointed to a door – talk about above and beyond the call of duty!

I had expected great things from this hotel having read about it, but over the next few minutes I was blown away – Sue, who knew nothing about it was positively giddy! We had to get a lift up to the reception on the 18th floor and the hotel is posher than posh with huge champagne bar and massive reception with unbelievable views over the massive sunny city scape. When I checked in the girl told us she had put us up on the 55th (top) floor and insisted that one of the bell girls took our bags and showed us to the room – talk about being treated like royalty! She also gave us some free tickets to the observatory in the building. The exec lounge is on the 38th floor so from the reception you jump from 18 to 38, then up to 55. Our room is spectacular with unbelievable views -talk about luxury – we kept exploring and finding lovely surprise touches including some wonderful freebies. We then decided to go for a drink in the lounge and again we were blown away. Staff everywhere in a huge lounge with a great selection of snacks and drinks. We got some coffee and cake and sat and revelled in our good fortune.

It was time for planning and plotting and posting our good fortune on Facebook. Sue had already decided that she doesn’t want to leave here. She had been expecting a normal Marriott – a nice hotel, but this one blows the socks off nice! We had a coffee and some cake / chocolates, the staff were lovely as you would expect. The cake (afternoon tea service) finished at 5pm, but by 5.15pm everything was laid out for the evening food service!

The drinks were also available – full bar service including champagne all laid out for you to help your self. The gin is Bombay Sapphire and there are several beers to choose from including Suntory and Heineken but is stuck to the dry beer I am getting a taste for Asahi. The food spread is wonderful – lots of small ramekin dishes of various salads and cold dishes, two hot dishes of meatballs in a cheese sauce and some chicken thighs plus some nice breads, rice and salad. There were quite a few things that we didn’t bother with – including a big bowl of octopus dumpling balls!! The staff keep glasses topped up and plates sorted.

After we had eaten a few bits we went for a walk downstairs in the shopping mall – it is Sunday evening, but the place is still rammed. Below the hotel is the Kintetsu Department store – another claiming to be the Japan’s largest. the Food Hall was amazing with lots of meats, fish and other delicacies on offer. Outside was another Tower Records, and lots of other shops that were fascinating. It is a little cold, but dry. We wandered and wandered following our noses, then had to work out how to get back to the hotel, we sorted it eventually.

Back up in the lounge we were kept amused as we ate our evening cake treats by two Japanese guys – one in particular was rather the worse for wear and the lounge boss was working full time keeping him in line – including quite forcibly marching him out of the lounge to the smoking room to have a cigarette when he tried to light up where he was. One of the lovely ladies who were waiting and serving came up to us to apologise for their behaviour, but they hadn’t bothered us and we have seen a LOT worse in Mansfield. Sue did an email to Christopher and I got the diary sorted as well as doing some planning for the rest of our stay in Osaka – we may even have to leave the hotel at some stage!!

It has been another long day, so we weren’t late settling down.

Saturday 7th February 2015

A good nights sleep, I made it until 6.30am. I did a bit of diary and published the first three days to the web, while Sue got sorted, then we went down to the Lavarock Cafe for our comp breakfast – the same two chaps who were on last night greeted us. We were seated straight away and the spread was excellent – a really nice selection of fruit, lots of cold items, including cheeses and salmon plus cooked to order omelettes and other hot stuff – all in buffet format – very, very nice and another reason to keep the gold card.

Once we had eaten, we nipped upstairs to get sorted. It is a cold but very bright and sunny morning. We headed out on foot – first stop was the massive Tokyo Station, which is only a short walk away. We did a recce for the train tomorrow, and found that there are lots of different ways to buy tickets for the Shinkansen train, which is the one we need. The old part of the station is a very impressive domed old building but it has been massively added to and has a warren of tunnels, all with shops and fast food outlets lining them.

Leaving the station by the west exit we headed over the road to see one of Sue’s choices that she had read about – the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace. We walked to the main road and then alongside the huge Ote-Bori moat with its massive koi swimming about and some interesting looking ducks. We walked round to the Hirakawa-mon Gate and went in. Entry is free, which is nice.

The gardens are vast and meticulously cared for – it probably isn’t the best time of years to see them, but we had a good wander round looking at the rare and exotic fauna including huge collection of different types of bamboo!. We then made our way out of the Ote-mon Gate and walked round to the Nijubashi Bridge which is the only bit of public domain that gives a view of the Grand Imperial Palace of the Emperor – it is only a glimpse, but that doesn’t stop loads of Japanese folk flocking for a photo-op. Given the number of guards about everywhere, I don’t think many people would be daft enough to try to get a closer look. All morning we have seen loads and loads of runners in all shapes sizes and abilities who are taking part in a fun-run that appears to be a circuit of the whole of the place grounds – not a bad jog in the sunshine.

We left the palace behind us and walked towards the huge block of government buildings, including the Prime Minister’s residence and the massive offices of the National Diet Building! They seem to be doing a good job, because there are very few overweight Japanese folk about. We had a bit of a chat about what to do next and Sue consulted her trusty guide book – we decided to go and see some of the big shops, so we headed to Shibuya. We were right next to Sakuradamon metro station, so it was a quick change at Nagatacho to the purple Z line and two stops to Shibuya.Interestingly as we were waiting at Nagatacho we were stood by a sign for a ‘Women Only’ carriage. It only applies to weekdays before 9.30am – I assume when the trains are most crowded. A girl saw us reading the sign and explained -‘No gropers’ !

Shibuya is famous for its huge retail outlets and Shibuya Crossing, a very busy crossroads that has herds of people walking at each other as they cross the road. This gave us a great photo op. We then went over to a seven storey CD and DVD store opposite and had a pit stop in the Wired Cafe – we had a coffee and a very nice plate of salt caramel potato crisps, which were potato slices fried and covered in salted caramel and on ice cream – excellent! Just the sugar boost we needed. We then had a wander round the shop – an awful lot of UK and other familiar releases available in Japanese format, they seem to be mad on Sherlock given the size of the displays, and the number one album is by Kiss! Their 40th anniversary release!

Suitably refreshed, we headed of into the throng of Saturday afternoon shoppers and went down Koen Street past the massive massive Tower records that still seems to be booming here despite biting the dust in the UK and US many years ago. There is also a massive Disney Store a huge Karaoke complex, and lots and lots and lots of places specialising in Hello Kitty, Pokemon et al. When we got to the end of the road we found it cordoned off as part of a police incident – there was tape over a large area but the incident appeared centred on a building just off the main road – judging by the shields and the cops getting their gear on – my guess is a hostage situation, but we didn’t hang about to get a closer look.

Our next stop was what claims to be the largest department store in the world – Tokyu Honten Store on Bunkamura Street – it is eight storeys high and has three basement levels and is truly vast – we went up to the roof garden to see if we could get a good photo op, but were thwarted by high fences. We split up and had a wander – I wanted to use the loo but was put off by the trough design, I decided to wait till I could sit down ;-).

When we met up we headed back to the station to go to our next destination – another selection from the guide books – The Tokyo Skytree. Fortunately the station for this is Oshiage, which is at the opposite end of the purple line to Shibuya, so it was an easy train ride – when we arrived the whole area as heaving. The tower is 634 metres tall and is the second tallest building in the world behind the Burg Khalifa. At the bottom is a huge seven storey shopping mall, so this is an attraction in its own right on a Saturday afternoon, there is also an aquarium, and ice rink and other people magnets – hence the crowds.

The waiting time for the tower was showing as 60-90 minutes but we decided to bite the bullet and join the massive queue – I have to say it was actually very well organised and fast moving – we joined the queue at 3.25pm and bought our tickets at 4.20pm. Tickets were 2060 yen each ( just over £11.) Once we had bought them we were whisked up in one of four very fast lifts to the top. The view of the city is, as you would expect, stunning. At the top it was busy but we were taller than most, so it wasn’t a problem. The area at the top is divided into 12 sectors with a very good guide to tell you what to look out for in each one. Unfortunately it was too cloudy to see Mount Fuji.

It was great looking out and spotting things so we decided to stay a bit and let it get dark. You are not at the top, you are at the 350m mark called the Tembo Deck could pay extra and go up to the 450m mark to the Tembo Galleria , but we didn’t bother, this was high enough to see a LONG way! Especially impressive was the complex Tokyo train system that runs below like a very busy model railway. Once it was dark, we went down in search of food – easier said than done. There are lots and lots of place to eat, some very busy, some where there was no English on the menu at all, and a few that we didn’t fancy – we refused to come to Japan and eat Indian, Chinese, Italian or American! The ones that were busy have a basic but effective queuing system – a line of chairs – often going round the corner from the restaurant – patrons simply hutch up along the chairs until their turn to go inside comes along.

Eventually we finished up in a food court and found a nice Japanese noodle bar. I don’t know it’s name because the signs were all in Japanese, but there were English translations and pictures of all the dishes, and we were able to point to what we wanted. Sue had Soup Noodles with pork, seafood and vegetables. I had Soup Noodles with fried pork – we also had a Kirin Beer each – very nice they were too and very cheap. Even though it was a food court we had proper pots and ladles (Sue did attempt to eat hers with chop sticks!)

After we had eaten we had a wander round the food stores and supermarkets and eventually got some cake to have back at the hotel. Back on the purple line, then changed to the Ginza line to Kyobashi and back to the hotel. It has been raining this evening but hadn’t bothered us at all. It was noticeable that the Lavarock Bar was deserted – obviously the clientele last night were mainly post work revellers.

Back at the hotel for diary, cake and beer. Sue also had a chat with the ladies on reception to get some good advice and tips about tomorrow’s train journey. Sue stuck to Bud, but I tried more Sapporo, then Ashahi Dry beer. Very nice they both were too. Diary done! All good and time for a bath. We have walked some miles today and my legs are telling me so.