nickharris87

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.

Let me start by sort of apologising about the length and detail of these posts. This diary is written principally for my own benefit, and Sue’s, so it is more detailed than just a normal postcard type blog. I realise some people will find this boring but it is something I have done on almost every foreign trip since we got married in 1984. It is something of a family tradition that I picked up from my Mum. It is great to look back and re-read the diaries years later and, for that reason, they have tended to get more detailed over the years. Anyway – here is the first entry – photos will hopefully be added soon.

I haven’t really proof read the entries, as they are done ‘on the hoof’, so please forgive any typos that may be present – I will re-read and edit as necessary when we get home. Also have just seen a preview of the post, the website appears to have removed all of the formatting of the headers and some of the body so that it is all in a bland 11 point text format – I have re-bolded some of it but will see if there is anything I can do about that before the next entry.

Wednesday 4th February 2015.

The day dawned bright and cold – the feared snow was not in evidence, which is good news. Our latest odyssey gets underway today. I had finished work a bit early yesterday and was already packed and sorted. Christopher has taken the morning off work to drive us to Newark Northgate. We did a few last minute bits and set off just after 10.30am. The threatened snow still failed to materialise and we had a good, uneventful journey to Newark arriving a little early, but this gave us chance to get tickets for a trip to London in April.

The 1154 train is one that starts in Newark, so we were pleased to see it pull in just after we arrived. We boarded about quarter to and as soon as we had sat down they took our lunch orders. Hot food was a choice of Braised British pork stew with cobbler or Gruyere cheese and red onion compote in a polenta tart served with a mixed leaf salad. There were also sandwiches, but Sue and I both elected for the pork.

The train pulled off exactly on time, we are in seats 35 and 37 in the front coach M. The food was served before we got to Grantham and it was very tasty – they were also quick with both a hot and cold drinks run, though finished up with her G&T, green tea and bottle of water all arriving together. I stuck to diet coke but will no doubt make up for it in the lounge later. There is still a bit of snow lying from last week, but nothing to cause us any bother. It is only three days since we drove over the tops to Manchester to see Peter Kay in Phoenix Nights at the MEN and we saw proper snow then.

As the train sped south the sun continued to shine. I got the diary started and started to wonder what we had forgotten.We are away for five weeks and have ten flights. There have been a few small spanners thrown into the works as the trip has taken shape over the past 11 months, we are also going to a fair few new places with the inevitable unknowns facing us. However, we will worry about them as they crop up, for now we are doing 118mph just approaching Peterborough and the first part of the diary is done for now.

Later – the train arrived on time just before 1330 and we walked down to the Piccadilly Line for the schlep to Heathrow – the train wasn’t busy all, which is nice and one of the reasons we came down so early – there are 24 stops before we reached Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3 and 5. The journey took about 50 minutes and we walked up to the Bus station to get a 140 bus to the Bath Road – it was well before 3pm when we checked into room 4095 – a nice upgrade room. The chap who checked us in was really good – he welcomed us back and said all the right things about our online check in. He asked where we were flying to and when I told him about our plane delay, he comped us a 3pm check out, which is excellent.

After dropping our bags, we went down to the lounge for a nice coffee and some cookies / jellybeans. There was a great selection of snacks and newspapers. We have a while to chill here, so we will make the most of it.

Suitably refreshed, Sue had a wander round the hotel while I uploaded the first instalment of the blog. Sue reported a nice very quiet pool, so we got changed and went down to pass a very pleasant hour or two in the pool, the sauna, the steam room and the jacuzzi. It was only moderately busy, so there wan’t an issue.

Our plan had been to go to the Pheasant, but the lounge offerings including some nice cobs, crudités, pasta with meat sauce and a few small quiches meant that we changed our minds and ate in the hotel, where the cost was – Nil!! We also had free wine and beer to help us make our minds up. The white wine was Spanish Ayrum and the beer was a choice of Beck’s or Stella. Add to this unlimited supplies of jellybeans and cookies and we are set for a while.

This also gave us the chance to do some more Japan planning – making sure we know how to get from the airport to the hotel and minor things like that. At 7pm ANA emailed us our electronic boarding passes as promised – another thing to cross off the list. Some very nice cakes appeared as we were planning, so it would have been rude not to partake.

Thus the evening was spent chilling, planning and sorting out emails etc. We retired fairly early to get bathed and ready for a long day tomorrow.

Thursday 5th / Friday 6th February 2015

There was a choice this morning, we could take breakfast in the lounge, or have the full monty in the restaurant – we had a look in the lounge, and there was everything that we wanted, so we stayed there. Very nice fruit, followed by the usual cooked stuff with salmon and some very nice spiced fried potatoes with peppers. The Starbuck’s coffee machine was another bonus.

Once we had eaten breakfast we went back up to the room to chill and get ready for the long flight tonight. The comped late check out is nice, but it is not the fast paced holiday that we are used to – that will change I am sure. Neither of us fancied a trek into London, so we will just hang loose, drink coffee and read. Isn’t that what you are supposed to do on holiday anyway?

Later – we chilled in the lounge after checking out of our room. The ANA website said that the check in at Terminal 2 didn’t open until three hours before the flight (4pm) but just after 2pm we decided to head over to the airport because there is a 24 hour bus strike today and lots of TFL routes are affected. But, as always happens when you aren’t in a rush, the second we arrived at the bus stop – so did the bus!

A smooth journey to T2 and sure enough, the ANA desk was deserted. The new Terminal is very impressive, but there ain’t much do to or see landside. I went for a wander and saw two ANA girls by the desks. I asked them what time they would open and one said that they should open at 4pm but as we were here they would open in ten minutes – and sure enough they did! A lovely lady checked us in and gave us tips about immigration. By 3-15pm we were airside in the vast shopping area of T2. I left Sue browsing and went under the taxiway to our gate and lounge on the other side.

Our plane was at the gate as I arrived, but the area was deserted. The United lounge is immediately opposite, so I went in. It is a huge facility and was almost deserted when I arrived – lots of food offering, a huge bar, loads of seats – most of which have plug points, and a very nice food selection. There is also free wi-fi.

Sue joined me after having a good mooch round the shops and we treated ourselves to a pre-flight drink. Sue had a very generously made Cosmopolitan and I had a bottle of Bud. The food was too good to resist – a lovely selection of salads and sandwiches plus quite a few hot dishes including beef chilli and a chicken curry called Chicken Kholapuri. There were also lots of nice vegetables, which pleased Sue. We only had a small amount, as I am sure we will be well fed on the flight. Chatting to the lad behind the bar, who fancied himself as a bit of a cocktail whizz, he said that it wasn’t very often this quiet, we had missed the rush as the United flight to Washington had just gone.

To be fair, the lounge did fill up quite a lot, with a good number of Japanese folk obviously on our flight. As always in a good lounge, the time passed very quickly. I had a bit of curry and rice with salad and Sue had a few bits as well, but wasn’t that hungry still, after the big breakfast. We also managed a couple more drinks, I stuck to the Bud but Sue moved onto the champagne.

Around 6.30pm we went down to the gate, just before boarding started at about 6.35pm – again very efficiently, the Boeing 777-300 filled up. I am in 7a, the front seat in Business Class – it is a three class plane, Sue is just behind me in 8a. The ‘pods’ are fascinating, with large TV’s and seats that fold down to a lie flat bed. The IFE features a very cosmopolitan selection including quite a few new US films like Nightcrawler, The Equaliser, The November Man, Whiplash and Brad Pitt in Fury. There are also a selection of old movies like Erin Brocovic, Notting Hill, School of Rock, The Matrix and Mr Bean’s Holiday! There are also a lot of Japanese films where I couldn’t pretend to guess what they are all about.

We pushed back at 1858 – just a few minutes early and had a long taxi to runway 9 Right, where we got into a bit of a queue and eventually got wheels up to the east at 1922. We immediately headed north east and flew over Wembley then headed out to the Norfolk coast. Our gate to gate flight time is set for 11 hours 45 minutes – we fly north east to Scandinavia going over Oslo then north of Stockholm and Helsinki, then north of all of the Russian land mass heading into Tokyo from the north – we currently have a 172kph headwind at 31,000 feet north of Amsterdam over the North Sea.

As the seat belt sign was turned off the IFE started and I am content to watch the sky map and type at the moment – the menus have been handed out and they are basically a book. They have just taken the choices for the main meal – it is a choice of Japanese or International cuisine.

Both have the same Amuse – ‘starters’

Pate de campagne with orange canapé style
Sautéed prawn with lemon and herb
Mushroom stuffed with chicken mousse –

Apparently everyone gets these.

The Japanese selection is;-

Zensai (a selection of morsels)

Soy based sauce cured herring roe
Marinated prawn saikyo miso taste
Simmered duck in soy based sauce
Simmered beans in syrup

Nimono (simmered plate)

Simmered assorted vegetables and chicken dumpling

Sunomono (delicacies dressed with vinegar)

Smoked salmon and quick-seared scallop with egg yolk vinegar.

Shusai (Main course)

Sake-steamed yellowtail with grated daikon thick broth

Steamed rice, miso soup and assorted pickles.

International Cuisine

Appetiser – Smoked duck with cardamom

Main plate –

Fillet of beef steak with creamy mushroom sauce.
Sautéed salmon and celeriac puree with white wine sauce

Bread – three types of bread

Both menus then feature the same dessert selection.

Desserts

Sticky toffee or Manchester tartlet
Cheese
Fruit

Sue and I were both adventurous and selected the Japanese selection – when I asked if I had to pick from the menu I was told – no you get it all !!

I also elected to have a Sapporo beer as it is the one Japanese beer I have heard of. Sue stuck to the traditional G&T 😉

So far, as I type this I have had the Amuse and have to say I am very impressed – three cold canapé selections – very tasty, and the pate de campagne had a real nice kick to it.

Later – the food was excellent – some really interesting tastes, but there was a lot of it! I ate it all apart from a bit of the rice and a few of the pickles, but I tried them all. Almost as soon as I has eaten I turned the seat into a bed. First impression was that is isn’t as comfortable as Virgin Upper, because your legs go into a bit of a tunnel in front of you and it isn’t natural to turn over, but once I got used to it, the bed was fine and I got some good sleep.

I was aware of the lights coming on as we were just over a couple of hours out of Tokyo flying over the frozen wasteland of Eastern Russia – it looks very cold and inhospitable down there with not too many signs of human encroachment into the wilderness. It is 5am UK time and 2pm in Tokyo, so goodness knows what we will sleep like tonight.

Almost as soon as I was awake the lovely crew were asking what I would like for breakfast.

The Japanese selection is :-

Kuchidori (treats to pair with saki)

Minced Chicken with Welsh onion in miso
Simmered Chinese cabbage and deep fried tofu in soy-based sauce
Japanese savory omelet

Shusai (main course)

Salt grilled salmon

Plus steamed rice, miso soup and assorted Japanese pickles.
Fruit.

International Cuisine

Main plate – Spanish omelet with cassoulet

bread served with Charente Lescure butter and strawberry jam.

Despite being anything but hungry I elected for the Japanese cuisine and, once again, you get the lot! When it came it was a lot of food again and I must admit I didn’t do it justice. I hate to waste food, but it was just too much! I ate, and really enjoyed the salmon and the fruit, but the rest was too much for me and I picked at it at best.

We are currently heading south over the sea between China and Japan, ten hours into the flight still just over 600 miles to go in an hour and 20 minutes.

Later – we got great views of the area north of Tokyo as we flew in – the thing that struck me most was the number of golf courses – they seemed to be everywhere, real big ones with huge Clubhouses as well. here were also a lot of large fields of solar panels and huge industrial towns on the coast like Hitachi.

It was 3.50pm when we landed and had a long taxi to gate 208. We de-planed quickly and made our way to immigration – this was a breeze, no one in front of us, very brief questions about how long we were staying, two fingerprints, photo and stamp – sorted! We had a bit of a wait for our bags, but given how quickly we got to baggage reclaim, that isn’t a surprise. We were surprised by the number of very small bags that had been checked – compared to the UK and US where folk try to take huge bags on rather than wait a few minutes at their destination.

From research, we knew to look for the Keikyu Tourist Information Center, where we wanted to buy tourist tickets http://www.haneda-tokyo-access.com/en/info/discountticket_welcometokyo.html the desk was very easy to find and two lovely ladies sorted the tickets for us after examining our passports to make sure we are tourists. The tickets are 1900 yen each but give us a ride on the Keikyu Train Line, which gives us access to the Tokyo subway system, and the ticket is then valid for three days unlimited subway travel. We bought the tickets and the girls insisted on giving us a free pen each and two coins to put in the ubiquitous toy vending machines that seem to be even more common here than in the UK – at least we didn’t ‘win’ any Pokemon.

We went down to the platform and there was a train in, so we jumped on it. We were expecting the first station to be Shihagawa, but it wasn’t so we wondered if we were on the wrong train or going in the wrong direction. We jumped of and realised we were going the right way – we now know we got onto a stopping train instead of an Express, but a lovely lady passenger saw us looking at the map and managed to communicate that we needed the next train and we could make one change to get to Shimbashi, where we could change to the Ginza Line.

She then took us under her wing, told us where to get off and which way to go – she then got on the second train after us and showed us how many stop to stay on this train for, as she got off before us. At Shimbashi we swapped our train ticket for a subway one and made our way in full rush hour to the Ginza line. We thought we were only on one stop, so we got off at what we thought was Kyobashi and made our way up to the platform level – a map on the wall showed us the Marriott and off we set.

The hotel was easy enough to find – trouble is, this wasn’t our Marriott – we should have stayed on the train another stop! A very helpful chap told us it wasn’t far – he offered to call us a cab but we said we would walk as to wasn’t far so he gave us a map and off we set. We called at the Apple Store on Ginza to make sure we were going in the right direction. We walked past huge posh shops like Bulgari, Armani, Tiffany’s and Dior to name but a few.

Eventually the Courtyard Tokyo Station appeared like a beacon. We had to check in on the fourth floor and a lovely lady checked us into room 343 and gave us loads of vouchers for free breakfast, free food and drinks in the evening (courtesy of the gold card) and other hotel info. We went down to the room then chilled for a bit and got emails. We were really ready for a drink, so went to the cafe that we had the free food and drinks voucher for a cafe bar called GGCo, it is just opposite the lifts up to the hotel lobby. We went in and were given a sheet of food and drink that we could select from. I had a Suntory Malt beer and Sue had another generous G&T. We also shared a nice plate of lettuce, salmon and bread – it just hit the spot, but it was the drink we were more in need of.

Suitably refreshed we headed out into the bright lights of Tokyo – the Ginza area is a high end shopping street with loads and loads of fascinating places, it was great just following our noses for an hour or two – even after 8pm very very few of them had closed. We had a wander round, and inevitably checked in at the Apple Store and walked back down past the Ginza station before turning right and going back along a parallel street. Among the things we saw on the second street, which was more restaurants and clubs was a huge white Rolls Royce Phantom with blacked out windows and the registration number 1 !

It was after nine by the time we got back and neither of us were sure if we were hungry or now, but both fancied something, so we went into the Lavarock bar – the other one that gives free food and drinks to golds/plats – it was very busy and we got the last table – it was near the smoking section (we have already seen how much the Japanese love their cigarettes -at about £2.20 a pack) but the smoke didn’t bother us – another round of Suntory and G&T plus a Calzone and salad each hit the spot, with a lot of people watching as well – brilliant!

Back up in the hotel for some soft drinks and some fruit in the library while we got caught up on the net and planned our day for tomorrow. It was after 11pm when I went down for a bath and Sue joined me later. A long but enjoyable couple of days, and a good start to the trip.

Introduction
Welcome to yet another, probably fruitless, attempt at keeping a blog going during one of our long trips abroad. Some people who read this may know that I have tried this before, but a combination of poor internet and having better things to do whilst we are visiting fabulous parts of the world, have meant that the blog has fizzled out long before we have started the homeward leg of the trip.

However, I will try again and see how it goes. The main purpose of this trip is to go and watch England in the Cricket World Cup – which we will hopefully be doing at the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on 14th February.  It is a long way to go for one cricket match, so after some discussion we decided to ‘make a trip of it’ by going via Japan on the way down and Vietnam on the way back. We are also pulling in another cricket match in Sydney and visiting lots of parts of Australia that we haven’t seen before.  Our previous trips have been pretty much confined to the cities of Perth, Melbourne and Sydney but this time we are hopefully going to get out into rural Australia – with a drive from Melbourne to Adelaide along The Great Ocean Road.   We are also flying up to Cairns / Port Douglas and hope to see The Great Barrier Reef.

As I say, this is our third trip Down Under since I retired, and on previous occasions we have always gone via Hong Kong. This time we fancied something different and wanted to visit new countries – our hand was then forced even more by Virgin Atlantic (our carrier of choice) cancelling their flights from Hong Kong to Sydney. So! After woe more debating, we booked business class air miles tickets on Virgin to Tokyo, and then returning from HKG, as soon as they became available at the 11 month mark. This was then followed by booking a variety of airlines during the subsequent months to make the itinerary detailed below .

Our dear friends at Virgin then complicated matters even further during the planning, by cancelling their Tokyo flights as well!! Hats off to them though – they very quickly, and apparently efficiently, re-booked us to ANA out of LHR on the same date, and kept us in Business Class, so there will be more new adventures on a Japanese Airline. The upside to this is that ANA fly into Haneda Airport, which is much closer to the city centre than Narita (the airport Virgin use). The slight downside is that the ANA flight doesn’t take off until 1930. The VS flight was due to leave at 1130, so we had booked a cheap (non-refundable) night at the Marriott on the Bath Road near Heathrow the night before we fly. Hence we are now faced with a day down there kicking our heels until the evening flight – Hey Ho! It could have been a LOT worse.

You will see below that we have ten flights over a five week period. Four of them are on Air Asia – not a problem until the tragedy of the crash of QZ8501, which disappeared on 28 December, having crashed into the Java Sea off Borneo. This meant a bit of worry, but more seriously it seems to have caused Air Asia to cut back a bit, and we got a text less than a month before travel saying that our flight from Osaka to KL had been cancelled for commercial reasons.  Cue more consternation and frustration trying to get switched to an alternative flight the following day. As I type, less than a week before departure, I think this is sorted but have yet to receive 100% confirmation.

The countdown is almost up – as I type this introduction I have a couple more days to work – there is a lot of snow out on the road outside which i am hoping will be gone by Wednesday when Chris takes us to Newark Northgate station.

I hope you enjoy this blog – please leave me a comment – either here or on Facebook, to let me know what you think of the trip, or to pass on any tips you may have for the places we are visiting. I am not promising that it will continue for the whole trip, or even how regular the updates will be. I will also try and finish the blog from the previous trips.

All the best

Nick & Sue.

The plan

This is a brief itinerary – acute observers will see that most things are booked to an almost military precision – others are just left blank so we can go with the flow and follow our noses a bit.

Wed 4 Feb             To Heathrow by train. Stay Heathrow Marriott.  Pheasant?
Thur 5 Feb            London to Tokyo Flight NH278 on ANA depart 1900 from T2
Fri 6 Feb               Arrive Tokyo Haneda 1555 stay for two nights at Marriott Courtyard at Tokyo Station.
Sat 7 Feb              Explore Tokyo        Courtyard Station.
Sun 8 Feb             Bullet train to Osaka. Approx 250 miles Two nights at Osaka                 Marriott
Mon 9 Feb            Explore Osaka                    Osaka Marriott
Tue 10 Feb            Day in Osaka stay at hotel to be decided.
Wed 11 Feb           Fly to Kuala Lumpur D7-533 depart 1100 arrive 1700. One night   booked   at JW Marriott.
Thur 12 Feb           Day in Kuala Lumpur  then fly overnight  to Melbourne.      Depart 2230 – Air Asia flight D7 214
Fri 13 Feb             Arrive Melbourne 0920 two nights Melbourne Marriott   Day in Melbourne.
Sat 14 Feb             England v Australia at the MCG         Melbourne Marriott
Sun 15 Feb             Pick up car (Thrifty) .  Head to  Adelaide.
Mon 16 Feb            Melbourne – Adelaide is approx 620 miles via Great Ocean Rd.
Tue 17 Feb
Wed 18 Feb
Thur 19 Feb            Arrive Adelaide ?
20 Feb                   Adelaide
Sat 21 Feb            Adelaide
Sun 22 Feb             Drop car Adelaide airport- Fly to Cairns – Early morning
Jetstar JQ960 0600-0830 Pick up car Great Barrier Reef.
Mon 23 Feb            Port Douglas?
Tue 24 Feb
Wed 25 Feb
Thur 26 Feb            Fly  Cairns – Sydney Jetstar JQ955 0910 – 1305
.                            Stay 5 nights Marriott Circular Quay
Fri 27 Feb            South Africa v West Indies at the SCG         Marriott CQ
Sat 28 Feb                                                                                Marriott CQ
Sun 1 Mar                                                                                 Marriott CQ
Mon 2 Mar                                                                                 Marriott CQ
Tue 3 Mar            Fly Air Asia Flight Sydney – KL D7 223 Dep 1155 Arr 1730
Stay at Tune Hotel at KLIA
Wed 4 Mar            Fly KLto Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) Air Asia dep0910 Arr1000
.                             Booked into Marriott Renaissance Riverside.  2 nights
Thur 5 Mar            Explore Saigon                    Renaissance.
Fri 6 Mar             Fly to Ha Noi.     Jetstar flight BL796 1330 – 1530
.                             Hong Ngoc Dynastie hotel Hanoi
Sat 7 Mar            Overnight cruise on Emotion Luxury Cruiser out of                          Halong Bay
Sun 8 Mar            Return to Ha Noi about 1630 xfer to JW Marriott
Mon 9 Mar             Explore Ha Noi                                                                            JW Marriott
Tue 10 Mar            Fly Ha Noi – HKG on Vietnam Airlines. VN592  1040 -1330. Courtyard Hong Kong Sha Tin
Wed 11 Mar             Fly HKG – London Virgin Atlantic – depart 2335
Thur 12 Mar             Land London 0450 Revivals then catch train home.