Charliebrownau Japan Trip - Day 01 (30 Jan 2010)
DAY 00
Prep for the Trip:
Thursday while I was in town after meeting Kerra for Lunch I managed to find
a camping store that sold me a warm coat and gloves .
Yesterday (Friday) I managed to pay rent
(Which of course Ray White was giving bad service yet again)
and went to Comm Bank to get one of these "Travel Debit Cards" which is basicly
an Debit Credit Card but the Money is in Yen straight away and the charged me 15 bucks
for the card & converting cash in it (you know virtual cash) to Yen.
So this means I know have 1000 AU converted to Yen to spend while over in Japan
Also this fancy Commbank Travel Card allows anyone I know in Australia to DD
money into it if they want me to buy stuff (Cool hey !)
DAY 01
I woke up early since I had a crappy sleep .
While doing the finishing bits to my packing,
I had a huge panic around 3:30 AM .
I couldn't find my folder which had all my documents in it ,
which also had YEN Notes.
I went outside and took the cold in air , then started to look around ,
about 15 mins later I found it . PHEW
I left my House at 5:45 AM , I got an Business Class Taxi (Which wasn't cheap)
to the Brisbane International Airport. I arrived at the Airport at 06:20 AM .
I met up with Kerra and his little brother a little later.
It took a while to get everything sorted out at the Airport
and I felt a few kilos heavehttp://www.livejournal.com/editjournal.bmlr since I was wearing heaps of layers of clothes .
--
The Flight from Australia , Brisbane to Port Mosbey was okay ,
didn't get to see much out of the Window now and then some cute big fluffy
clouds that looked very cool . I was amazed how BIGHT things are this
far up in the sky , UFO's would so need Anti Glare Windows if they exist.
The meal was nice , you got to choose from two ,
so I choose the rice with lamb , which I needed a bib for since
half ended over my new clean white shirt . We were up the back in the
middle row and Rob was put in the middle as he was the tallest.
(Both Rob and Mick are over 6 foot and im the small one ,
yet when we got to Japan I was tall compared to the locals)
The in flight movie seemed boring , something that I would watch on a Sunday
thou but it was a very used VHS tape on old bad quality small CRTs, but the
food definaly made up for it , tip , NEVER try to have a cupa tea while
in turbiance (its sorta like balancing the cup in the unbalanced ocean)
We arrived at Port Mosbey Airport for our Plane swap over intermission .
Ive officaly been to another Country now , just just Australia (YAY)
Port Mosbey was Interesting stop over , the area seemed like Nimbin to me
but it was VERY VREY HOT (Yes more hot then Brisbane) no shortage of hills
and mountains and I saw a few fires on the way to the air port.
I got singled out in the International wait zone and I thought I was in
the crap (Not even in Japan and arrested) but it was a system in place
to increase the amount of people getting processed . It helps being the
last in line sometimes :-)
The International waiting lounge wasnt that flashy but it had an simple
shop that sold some items (Cold water, cold cans of coke company drinks ,
cigs , tourist stuff , etc) This shop had a sign saying they accepted
AU Money, Japan YEN and Local Keno currency (Guess what two counties come
this air port a lot). Robs little brother Mick bought a drink from the
Tourist shop with Yen and converted it to Keno
(They didnt give yen change) What was cool about the drink that it had
Made in PNG on it (Papa New Guini),
he then offered some Keno to Rob and I to buy can drink .
I bought an Pineapple Fanta
(Yes it does sound and taste as cool as its labeled).
*** PICS HERE **
We then waited a little while and then got directed to the air plane for
Nirita (JAPAN) , this plane had cool little bits on the wings but we had to
go from the walk way arch , down stairs , to outside in direct sunlight and
ohh boy was it freaking hot , the hot was bought to you from made in PNG .
The next plane had fancy LCD screens to watch this really cool movie with
Sandra Bullock (Yes I'm a sucker for movies with her in it).
I managed to hear the whole movie , then later on killed the headphones ,
the seats were not fat bastard people friendly in this plane.
On the topic of extra large compared to japan people size ,
I doubt my Flatmate Ivan or a person I know Big Jeff could fit in the air plane
toilet , OMFG it was small and cramped .
I used a napkin as a bib this time to avoid any more mess , the meal we all
those was steak n potatoes, which was yummy , along with free juice , free water
and free tea and we scored a free mars bar (Not made in PNG , but made in AU)
--------------
Coming into Japan for the 40 min descent , we were looking out our window
and Mick was like , ohh I think I can see boats with lights it wasn't until
a little later on , I choose to look at the other side of the plane window
and could actually see LAND with a TRUCKLOAD of pretty lights (other side pretty ++)
The pretty lights got boring after a while and I thought are we their yet .
It took about an Hour to get thou immigration and customs but with 10 minutes to
spare we all managed to find our luggage , get down stairs to the Japan Rail Pass
Centre Shop (Swaps Coupon for Pass) and the nice lady allowed us to book the Nirita
to Osaka Train Ride. We ended up getting the Rail Pass to start tomorrow (31 Jan)
for 2 weeks .
I (Charlie) managed to nab a free booklet on our adventure thou the airport and
we asked the JPN rail pass lady for food court .
So it was on level 4 , we headed up to only find out the food court and 99% of the place actually closes up around the time we wanted a feed . For the next few hrs we got shuffled around , no you cant be in this area , go their , until we got to Exit Number 3
down the bottom on the main exit floor which had a row of green local pay phones and 2
100 yen internet computers and a free information touch screen gizmo.
Toilets and Bathrooms are interesting to say the least .
3 models of Toilets in the Men's room:
Normal western without fancy buttons or squish water to your bottom at normal height.
Normal Western but mod'ed in a slightly odd shape with buttons and arse warmer .
Japan style that's built into the floor
The water basin is all touch sensor so the water and soap comes out via sensor (healthy)
The dry your hands by air thing is a bit different and using COLD AIR not HOT and it blows like 100x faster its like a blow job to get the germs away.
We had several people come over to us and check out pass ports , police and
security guards. We all ended up getting some sleep on the air port lounge
seats which were comfy once you added coats as a pillow .
Its a shame the Airport doesn't have free wi-fi in this area .
AT 5:21 AM more lights came on in the whole level and
it looked like they opened the exit doors. Then about 10 mins
later a whole bunch of people quickly swarmed into the airport
and disappeared into locked doors (I'm guessing they were access doors for staff)
The Airport does have showers but this costs 500 yen for 30 min's of use ,
is it only me or should this be a free service and should be opened till at
least 1am ? it closes at 21:00 , considering we got the JR stuff done at 21:20 ,
their goes having a shower.
-------------------------
Well the plan is for tomorrow (31st)
- Place gets shops open at 06:30 and we probably are allowed to move around freely then ,
since we have guards making sure we stay in our little constricted area atm
- Find somewhere that sells a nice warm cup of tea ( The one in the vending machine didn't look that great and the vending machine didn't seem that easy to operate compare to the that I got the yummy fruit drink off when we first got here )
- Find Soft Bank Mobile Phone Shop , apparently they open at 6.30 am ish
on level BF1 of the Nirita Airport 2
- Level 3F . free wi-fi access 7am onwards
- Get Train from Airport to Osaka
- Get to Hotel , rest , pass out
---------------
Here is a map of Japan , during our Stay we will be in Tokyo , Osaka and sapporo
UPDATE:
Yes I will post photo's later on when I don't feel so tired .
Prep for the Trip:
Thursday while I was in town after meeting Kerra for Lunch I managed to find
a camping store that sold me a warm coat and gloves .
Yesterday (Friday) I managed to pay rent
(Which of course Ray White was giving bad service yet again)
and went to Comm Bank to get one of these "Travel Debit Cards" which is basicly
an Debit Credit Card but the Money is in Yen straight away and the charged me 15 bucks
for the card & converting cash in it (you know virtual cash) to Yen.
So this means I know have 1000 AU converted to Yen to spend while over in Japan
Also this fancy Commbank Travel Card allows anyone I know in Australia to DD
money into it if they want me to buy stuff (Cool hey !)
DAY 01
I woke up early since I had a crappy sleep .
While doing the finishing bits to my packing,
I had a huge panic around 3:30 AM .
I couldn't find my folder which had all my documents in it ,
which also had YEN Notes.
I went outside and took the cold in air , then started to look around ,
about 15 mins later I found it . PHEW
I left my House at 5:45 AM , I got an Business Class Taxi (Which wasn't cheap)
to the Brisbane International Airport. I arrived at the Airport at 06:20 AM .
I met up with Kerra and his little brother a little later.
It took a while to get everything sorted out at the Airport
and I felt a few kilos heavehttp://www.livejournal.com/editjournal.bmlr since I was wearing heaps of layers of clothes .
--
The Flight from Australia , Brisbane to Port Mosbey was okay ,
didn't get to see much out of the Window now and then some cute big fluffy
clouds that looked very cool . I was amazed how BIGHT things are this
far up in the sky , UFO's would so need Anti Glare Windows if they exist.
The meal was nice , you got to choose from two ,
so I choose the rice with lamb , which I needed a bib for since
half ended over my new clean white shirt . We were up the back in the
middle row and Rob was put in the middle as he was the tallest.
(Both Rob and Mick are over 6 foot and im the small one ,
yet when we got to Japan I was tall compared to the locals)
The in flight movie seemed boring , something that I would watch on a Sunday
thou but it was a very used VHS tape on old bad quality small CRTs, but the
food definaly made up for it , tip , NEVER try to have a cupa tea while
in turbiance (its sorta like balancing the cup in the unbalanced ocean)
We arrived at Port Mosbey Airport for our Plane swap over intermission .
Ive officaly been to another Country now , just just Australia (YAY)
Port Mosbey was Interesting stop over , the area seemed like Nimbin to me
but it was VERY VREY HOT (Yes more hot then Brisbane) no shortage of hills
and mountains and I saw a few fires on the way to the air port.
I got singled out in the International wait zone and I thought I was in
the crap (Not even in Japan and arrested) but it was a system in place
to increase the amount of people getting processed . It helps being the
last in line sometimes :-)
The International waiting lounge wasnt that flashy but it had an simple
shop that sold some items (Cold water, cold cans of coke company drinks ,
cigs , tourist stuff , etc) This shop had a sign saying they accepted
AU Money, Japan YEN and Local Keno currency (Guess what two counties come
this air port a lot). Robs little brother Mick bought a drink from the
Tourist shop with Yen and converted it to Keno
(They didnt give yen change) What was cool about the drink that it had
Made in PNG on it (Papa New Guini),
he then offered some Keno to Rob and I to buy can drink .
I bought an Pineapple Fanta
(Yes it does sound and taste as cool as its labeled).
*** PICS HERE **
We then waited a little while and then got directed to the air plane for
Nirita (JAPAN) , this plane had cool little bits on the wings but we had to
go from the walk way arch , down stairs , to outside in direct sunlight and
ohh boy was it freaking hot , the hot was bought to you from made in PNG .
The next plane had fancy LCD screens to watch this really cool movie with
Sandra Bullock (Yes I'm a sucker for movies with her in it).
I managed to hear the whole movie , then later on killed the headphones ,
the seats were not fat bastard people friendly in this plane.
On the topic of extra large compared to japan people size ,
I doubt my Flatmate Ivan or a person I know Big Jeff could fit in the air plane
toilet , OMFG it was small and cramped .
I used a napkin as a bib this time to avoid any more mess , the meal we all
those was steak n potatoes, which was yummy , along with free juice , free water
and free tea and we scored a free mars bar (Not made in PNG , but made in AU)
--------------
Coming into Japan for the 40 min descent , we were looking out our window
and Mick was like , ohh I think I can see boats with lights it wasn't until
a little later on , I choose to look at the other side of the plane window
and could actually see LAND with a TRUCKLOAD of pretty lights (other side pretty ++)
The pretty lights got boring after a while and I thought are we their yet .
It took about an Hour to get thou immigration and customs but with 10 minutes to
spare we all managed to find our luggage , get down stairs to the Japan Rail Pass
Centre Shop (Swaps Coupon for Pass) and the nice lady allowed us to book the Nirita
to Osaka Train Ride. We ended up getting the Rail Pass to start tomorrow (31 Jan)
for 2 weeks .
I (Charlie) managed to nab a free booklet on our adventure thou the airport and
we asked the JPN rail pass lady for food court .
So it was on level 4 , we headed up to only find out the food court and 99% of the place actually closes up around the time we wanted a feed . For the next few hrs we got shuffled around , no you cant be in this area , go their , until we got to Exit Number 3
down the bottom on the main exit floor which had a row of green local pay phones and 2
100 yen internet computers and a free information touch screen gizmo.
Toilets and Bathrooms are interesting to say the least .
3 models of Toilets in the Men's room:
Normal western without fancy buttons or squish water to your bottom at normal height.
Normal Western but mod'ed in a slightly odd shape with buttons and arse warmer .
Japan style that's built into the floor
The water basin is all touch sensor so the water and soap comes out via sensor (healthy)
The dry your hands by air thing is a bit different and using COLD AIR not HOT and it blows like 100x faster its like a blow job to get the germs away.
We had several people come over to us and check out pass ports , police and
security guards. We all ended up getting some sleep on the air port lounge
seats which were comfy once you added coats as a pillow .
Its a shame the Airport doesn't have free wi-fi in this area .
AT 5:21 AM more lights came on in the whole level and
it looked like they opened the exit doors. Then about 10 mins
later a whole bunch of people quickly swarmed into the airport
and disappeared into locked doors (I'm guessing they were access doors for staff)
The Airport does have showers but this costs 500 yen for 30 min's of use ,
is it only me or should this be a free service and should be opened till at
least 1am ? it closes at 21:00 , considering we got the JR stuff done at 21:20 ,
their goes having a shower.
-------------------------
Well the plan is for tomorrow (31st)
- Place gets shops open at 06:30 and we probably are allowed to move around freely then ,
since we have guards making sure we stay in our little constricted area atm
- Find somewhere that sells a nice warm cup of tea ( The one in the vending machine didn't look that great and the vending machine didn't seem that easy to operate compare to the that I got the yummy fruit drink off when we first got here )
- Find Soft Bank Mobile Phone Shop , apparently they open at 6.30 am ish
on level BF1 of the Nirita Airport 2
- Level 3F . free wi-fi access 7am onwards
- Get Train from Airport to Osaka
- Get to Hotel , rest , pass out
---------------
Here is a map of Japan , during our Stay we will be in Tokyo , Osaka and sapporo
UPDATE:
Yes I will post photo's later on when I don't feel so tired .