Day One: Two Days in One!
A beautiful sunny and warm day in Vancouver. Lana worked most of the morning before we departed by taxi for YVR (Vancouver airport). Checked in online of course the day prior and Lana is hopeful to get upgraded to Business Class using her upgrade credits as a frequent flyer. Our Air Canada (AC003) flight duration is around 10 hours in the air so it will be a long flight, but worthwhile given we will be in Japan.
This will be our third trip to Japan, but about ten years since our last visit which focused on Tokyo and attending sumo basho matches. We are huge fans and fairly knowledgeable about sumo and their tournaments. We can't wait to be back in the Tokyo Ryōgoku Kokugikan sumo arena.
Japan is 16 hours ahead of Vancouver so we leave on a Friday afternoon (May 11th) and arrive on Saturday afternoon (May 12th) the next day. Over the course of our travel day we will take a taxi - plane - plane - monorail - train - taxi. We purchased some Yen in Vancouver as we won't have time or access to an ATM and don't want to be stressed looking for one once we arrive. In addition, our Japanese friends Naomi and Hikaru have graciously provided pre-paid SUICA cards for our train travel.
At the time of our departure the currency exchange rate is 1 Japanese Yen = 0.012 CDN dollar. Or, better put 1000Yen costs us $11.67CDN. The Canadian dollar has not being doing very well on the international currency exchange.
Our flight itinerary is YVR to Tokyo's Narita airport. A layover of about 2 1/2 hours and then a much shorter ANA flight to Osaka that arrives around 19:30. Lana gets upgraded to Business Class so she is pretty excited. I am sitting in regular Economy class as usual as I don't want to pay a higher fare. I did move up a couple of rows from window seat to an aisle seat (Lana noticed an open aisle seat available) as there was only one person in the three person row. Did lots of crosswords, sudoku and kenken puzzles. Plus, watched "I, Tonya" and "Phantom Thread."
Tokyo's Narita airport is huge, clean, well organized and busy busy. Excellent signage for the traveler and lots of English signage. On the plane you complete a couple of Japanese documents and have them ready when you disembark as you need to clear both Customs and Immigration. Super long lineup/queue for "Foreigners" at Passport Control, but Lana's Super Elite Air Canada status entitles us to go a Fast Track line. From 100s in front of you to about 2. Very much appreciated after a long flight and then need to connect to a domestic flight. Lana sees a sign that indicates no milk + no camels allowed to be brought in. We think it means no camel milk allowed into the country--but Lana laughs that this is discriminating against camels!!!
Really cool at Passport Control as you put both index fingers onto a machine which reads your fingerprints and then takes a facial picture. Then we head for the baggage carousel as we need to pick up luggage (already tagged to Osaka airport) and put it on a special transfer carousel. On the way there though you lineup for your second card (customs) to be checked and then off you go. Really cool feature at Airport Security as they took my bottle of water and then placed it in a machine to check it? It was returned to me. Normally, Security simply takes your bottle of water.
As a result of Lana's Air Canada status we gain access to the ANA First Class lounge. Wow, this place is super busy on our arrival. Almost every seat is taken. Of course, the food is delicious and unusual. Delicate little sandwiches (veg, egg salad and the popular potato salad??!??!!), Japanese rice balls, sable cookies etc. Some English newspapers like the International NY Times. The lounge is really warm though--probably due to all the bodies and the air conditioning can't keep up. Off to Gate H for boarding of NH2179 to Osaka.
Very efficient loading of the plane and we are on time. About 80 minutes flight to Osaka airport. Osaka is a huge city of around 19 million people and the second largest in Japan. It is warm on our arrival despite the fact it is now night time. I tried to do a crossword, but was so exhausted began nodding off but not really. I want to save any sleep until I am in bed.
This will be our third trip to Japan, but about ten years since our last visit which focused on Tokyo and attending sumo basho matches. We are huge fans and fairly knowledgeable about sumo and their tournaments. We can't wait to be back in the Tokyo Ryōgoku Kokugikan sumo arena.
Japan is 16 hours ahead of Vancouver so we leave on a Friday afternoon (May 11th) and arrive on Saturday afternoon (May 12th) the next day. Over the course of our travel day we will take a taxi - plane - plane - monorail - train - taxi. We purchased some Yen in Vancouver as we won't have time or access to an ATM and don't want to be stressed looking for one once we arrive. In addition, our Japanese friends Naomi and Hikaru have graciously provided pre-paid SUICA cards for our train travel.
At the time of our departure the currency exchange rate is 1 Japanese Yen = 0.012 CDN dollar. Or, better put 1000Yen costs us $11.67CDN. The Canadian dollar has not being doing very well on the international currency exchange.
Our flight itinerary is YVR to Tokyo's Narita airport. A layover of about 2 1/2 hours and then a much shorter ANA flight to Osaka that arrives around 19:30. Lana gets upgraded to Business Class so she is pretty excited. I am sitting in regular Economy class as usual as I don't want to pay a higher fare. I did move up a couple of rows from window seat to an aisle seat (Lana noticed an open aisle seat available) as there was only one person in the three person row. Did lots of crosswords, sudoku and kenken puzzles. Plus, watched "I, Tonya" and "Phantom Thread."
Lana's Business Class appetizer of shrimp and lobster salad with a glass of champagne. David Hawksworth is the executive chef planning menu's for Air Canada Business class. This was one of his signature dishes.
Red wine braised duck leg with baby peas, pearl onions and mushrooms. There's a smashed potato underneath that you can't see. This was pretty tasty.
Brown butter tart with custard cream and Japanese green tea. Great finish to a meal especially on an airplane. Randy's observation of Lana's Business Class meals "dramatically superior to the economy meals which are scheisse!"
Tokyo's Narita airport is huge, clean, well organized and busy busy. Excellent signage for the traveler and lots of English signage. On the plane you complete a couple of Japanese documents and have them ready when you disembark as you need to clear both Customs and Immigration. Super long lineup/queue for "Foreigners" at Passport Control, but Lana's Super Elite Air Canada status entitles us to go a Fast Track line. From 100s in front of you to about 2. Very much appreciated after a long flight and then need to connect to a domestic flight. Lana sees a sign that indicates no milk + no camels allowed to be brought in. We think it means no camel milk allowed into the country--but Lana laughs that this is discriminating against camels!!!
Really cool at Passport Control as you put both index fingers onto a machine which reads your fingerprints and then takes a facial picture. Then we head for the baggage carousel as we need to pick up luggage (already tagged to Osaka airport) and put it on a special transfer carousel. On the way there though you lineup for your second card (customs) to be checked and then off you go. Really cool feature at Airport Security as they took my bottle of water and then placed it in a machine to check it? It was returned to me. Normally, Security simply takes your bottle of water.
As a result of Lana's Air Canada status we gain access to the ANA First Class lounge. Wow, this place is super busy on our arrival. Almost every seat is taken. Of course, the food is delicious and unusual. Delicate little sandwiches (veg, egg salad and the popular potato salad??!??!!), Japanese rice balls, sable cookies etc. Some English newspapers like the International NY Times. The lounge is really warm though--probably due to all the bodies and the air conditioning can't keep up. Off to Gate H for boarding of NH2179 to Osaka.
Very efficient loading of the plane and we are on time. About 80 minutes flight to Osaka airport. Osaka is a huge city of around 19 million people and the second largest in Japan. It is warm on our arrival despite the fact it is now night time. I tried to do a crossword, but was so exhausted began nodding off but not really. I want to save any sleep until I am in bed.
ANA Business Class seating Flight to Osaka. Lana had another good sleep/rest in her personal travel cubicle while on the plane.
ANA First Class Lounge at Narita Airport. This machine is to choose water, pop and other liquids where you put your cup under a numbered dispenser and then pushed the button of choice. How Japanese with a vending machine style!
Lana is a Star Wars fan so we have a picture of a Star Wars plane at Narita airport. ANA airlines launched a special fleet of 4 Star Wars decorated planes. We happened to see the C-3PO one in Tokyo. So cool.
Our Airbnb apartment is located near the main train station (Umeda) in downtown Osaka. Instructions from out host were to take the Monorail from Airport to the first stop Hotarugaike which is part of the private Hankyu Takarazuke Line. Using our Suica cards you touch the entry pad to get into the station and then touch pad again on exit to calculate what will be deducted from your pre-paid card. Cost for both Monorail and train is around 200 Yen per trip per person. The train and monorail were very clean and tidy.
Upon arrival at Umeda Station we encountered huge crowds of people so it is bustling with noise and people - lots of energy! The address provided by the host for our apartment didn't work in my Maps.Me app and Lana couldn't find it using her Google Maps. Easy decision to grab a taxi especially given it is only an eight minute walk apparently. We find the taxi stand very quickly and the taxi doors automatically open. I showed the taxi driver the address and he wasn't sure? He punched in information and seemed to indicate (no english) he could find it. It wasn't a long drive and we paid 660Yen (his meter didn't change as it was within 2 kms). He found the correct street, but not the address (12-5). The addresses can be confusing for North Americans as they are not always in order but based on when the building was built. The streets in this neighbourhood are very narrow with lots of cyclists, pedestrians and other traffic constantly in the way of the driver.
We grabbed our luggage and then walked in one direction down the street where the addresses weren't too close to our number. Yikes! Getting a little worried about finding this place. We decide to change directions and then 'voila' we find 12-5--our taxi driver had dropped us off just past it. The challenge was that our AirBnB host gave us the english name of the complex (Royal Haitsu which of course is written in japanese characters outside!!) No way to know the translation for this but thank goodness Randy's eagle eyes saw the street number plate on the building--whewww!!! Now to gain entry to the apartment and then our suite. The host had provided a box number and then a lock combination to open and get the keys. It works so we are pretty happy. The place is super small by our standards maybe 220 square feet. Very clean and tidy with good directions for wifi. We are on the 8th floor with a sliding door to get a good breeze into the apartment. Some noise from people below in the street, but fortunately we are on the quieter side of the building.
Electrical outlets in Japan are like North America, but they use a different voltage. No need to get our luggage organized as we are only here for the night. For some reason my MacbookPro didn't seem to be charging so that wasn't a good start. By 21:30 Lana was fast asleep on her bed. There are two small beds in the room so we will be in separate beds. I think I turned off the lights around 22:00 and hoping for a great sleep given total exhaustion.
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