Day 1. En route to Osaka.
How do I start? To be honest, this was a last minute trip that I initially was going to go by myself to Taiwan and Japan but my sister ended up coming as well. I was planning the trip but in the end she did most of the planning as I came down with the flu for a week and I was working day and night as well. Just a month before we leave, we were still trying to book accommodations as well as a TSHR from Taipei to Kaohsiung.
Our flight: Air China >> Vancouver (10 h 30 mins) to Beijing (4 h 40 mins layover) to Osaka (3 h). = 18+ hours to Japan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Flight in between: Jetstar >> Osaka to Taipei
Flight back: Air China >> Taipei (3 h 40 mins) to Beijing (2 h 10 mins layover) to Vancouver (10h 30 mins).
Long story short, booked the wrong airport on Jetstar thus we had to buy a 3 days TSHR pass for $100 CND which we only used to get from Taipei to Kaohsiung and from Kaohsiung to Taipei.
It was a very long flight to Osaka as we had that 5 hour layover at Beijing in the early morning when all the shops are closed. At least there are virtually no passengers at the airport.
Let the journey begin!
Our flight with Air China was at 2:30AM in the morning. En route to the airport, my sister and I got dropped off at Granville station to skytrain over to the airport. We bought one medium size luggage as Jetstar (Osaka to Taipei) only allows one check-in baggage (which I had to pay for - 25 Kg for ~$30-35 CND). - gotta save those green bills.
First meal on the plane. Not too shabby. Except the problem was that I dropped my spoon on the floor and it kinda rolled over to the seat in front so there was no way for me to pick it up. I notified the flight attendant that I needed a spoon. And she had trouble understanding what I was trying to say. I was like "spoon. spoon. Utensil." She said "okay" and left but she never came back with the SPOON. In the end, I had to throw the yogurt away as it has been several hours in room temperature and I will not risk a stomachache, so goodbye yogurt.
The first lag of the flight took 10 hrs. I went to the washroom once as it was just me and my sister sitting in a 3 people row. Yay, thanks to the dude who assigned the seats to us, he suggested that we both claim a window and an aisle seat as it is unlikely that someone would want to sit in between two strangers. LOL.
Once we landed in Beijing airport, we had to go to the international terminal to transfer and it took almost an hour as the line was zigzagging like crazy and there was only one staff working as well. Once we passed through, we had to go through a security check. I've notified the security officer that I have a portable charger and he said it was okay. Once I went through security another officer asked me what it was and I had to explain that it is a portable charger. They looked a bit confused. They were examining the device. Oh well. After this, it was an endless wait for the next lag as I could not fall asleep and there was no wifi. So I ended up looking at the ceiling or glancing at the pollution filled city through the glass windows. Can't see anything as it was covered with smog. Also once I landed in Beijing I kept smelling a burning smell, not sure if it is the smell of pollution or what not. The last time I came to Beijing, I did not notice this smell. Meh. BOREDOM at the airport.
When we landed in Kansai airport on Mar 27, 2018, we had to take the airport train to the main terminal. At the airport there was some kind of event happening and I got a picture of myself drawn for "free" in anime style. It was a bit awkward as the girl who drew my picture did not speak any English. There was a lot of *smiles smiles* from me and her along with some giggles. LOL. While I was getting my picture drawn, my sister was in line to buy the "Amazing Osaka pass - 2 days for ¥3300 " and the "hankyu one day pass - ¥800." The artist asked if she can take a picture of me with the picture that she drew and I said okay, just hoping it would not be posted online though. I was told it was a group of students who were offering the free portraits.
To my amazement, the Kansai airport is quite big and there is a lot of shops and restaurants as it spans a couple of floors. If you had a layover here it would have been awesome!
My sister also wanted her picture drawn so I had to wait for her; I explored the area and grabbed a lot of tourists guide and maps. Some of the maps have coupons in it so it was a nice find. Once my sister had her portrait drawn, we went up to the second floor to load our pasmo card as well as purchase the Nankai Airport express for Nankai (¥920) commuter train via Nankai airport line to Nambai station as the limited express train cost more and requires seat reservation. We already had a pasmo card from our last trip to Japan so we loaded the ticket into our card as well as loaded it with more ¥. The ride from the airport was long but at least we had seats!! YAY!!
WELCOME TO OSAKA!!!
I've booked an AirBnb during our stay in Osaka for the duration of 6 days. It was a bit expensive but the location was not bad as it was a 10 mins walk to Namba station. We had so much trouble trying to follow the instructions that the host sent to us to get to the apartment as the instructions were a bit vague. We did not have wifi as well. I believe we spent 30-40 minutes walking back and forth looking for the building and nobody on the streets stopped to help as opposed to the last trip to Japan where everybody seemed willing to offer a helping hand (but that was in Tokyo). After boiling in the sun for a while and walking back to our starting point, somehow we found the hidden apartment. We went in through the glassdoor and opened the mailbox, grabbed the key and was hit with another problem. How do we open second glassdoor? as there was no keyhole. Good thing one of the residents came home and helped us out. Apparently, you have to enter your room number and then insert your key and the glassdoor will open automatically...
Our check-in time at the AirBnb was 3PM but considering the hold up at the airport in addition the gruesome search for the apartment we definitely made it passed the checkin time by 2-3 hours.
Time for some pictures of the AirBnb.
Once you enter the AirBnb, you have the washing machine and the mini kitchen area to your right. It was difficult to understand how to use the washing machine so we did not use it. There's also a small area to leave your shoes and change into slippers.
Next, you have your mini bathroom. The toilet is very weak, so you have to hold onto the flusher for a while if you want to flush the toilet. I've been seeing lots of nasty things on a daily basis. Yuck. Also it is so cramped in here that I kept on banging myself against the wall, especially when I take a shower. Hopefully, the neighbors are not bothered by it. LOL
This is the bedroom. It has a couch right next to the bed which you can use as a sofa bed as well, but if you are tall then good luck. There is an aircon as well but we didn't need to use it at all. We just used the fan attached to the ceiling in the morning or when we get back as the weather was quite cool at night. I have to say this room have a lot of daily necessities which a lot of places, even hotels do not provide such as sanitary napkins, iron, ironing board, portable wifi, charger, shampoo, conditioner, moisterizer, tissue, cotton pads, etc etc. There's a balcony for us to sun dry our clothes and towels.
The only bad thing about this place is the toilet. Not good. Also, the carpet as a bit dirty as well.
By the time we dropped down our luggage, we headed back out for some exploring at the Shinsaibashi shopping area. During the time that we went to Osaka, there were a lot of tourists; it was very difficult to walk as we walked in a herd and hard to shop as well as there were a lot of pushing. I saw a lot of tour groups as well, especially from Korea and China.
Entrance to Shinsai Bashi Shopping Centre.
We hunted down "Isonoryotaro sushi" for dinner by following google maps. We really wanted to experience sushi on a conveyor belt. Sushi was not bad, only 100 yen per plate. There is also self serve tea as you can see. You just need to push and hold onto the button and out spill green tea. By the end of the night, we ate 10 plates of sushi. LOVE THE SHRIMP ONES!!! You also get a coupon for next time as well where the sushi would be 90 yen per plate instead of the standard 100 yen.
Display of fake food everywhere in Japan
Look at the amount of people!!! SO much shoving and so difficult to take photos!
Why does Disney characters in Japan look so damn cute?! Much cuter than their North American counterparts.
I see the Glico man again!!! YAY!!
As we were walking around, we saw the Calbee store so we bought the seaweed chips. In conclusion, I won't buy this flavor again as it was a bit too strong. I think this was ¥300.
To conclude the first day of arriving in Osaka, we bought Suntory soda with 3% alcohol content. It was delicious!! 5/5!! I will definitely buy this again when I come back to Japan!!! It does not taste like alcohol at all. Every time I go to Japan, I buy flavored alcohol since most of their drinks don't taste like beer at all!
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