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Published: April 6th 2014
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Bullet Train Guard
Keeping perfect time for departure So I have never written anything like this however my first solo travel was all about stepping outside my comfort zone so I figured why not go to the next level and write about it 😊 I lost my father (my best friend) a couple of years ago and it taught me a lot about life and how much we take it for granted, I learnt that you have to take advantage of it because ultimately we are here for a good time not a long time. Travelling to a foreign country by myself that I know nothing about and don't speak any of the language was a challenge I wanted to take on. Solo. Maybe I would learn something about myself, who I am, what I am really made of and what kinda strength I had inside me. Being a Travel Agent gives me a great opportunity to have access to some very cool things but also learn to help give my customers an amazing experience. To be honest it doesn't really matter if nobody actually reads this, it's more about me getting this out of my head and written down so I can look back at my experiences then
Food Arcade
Hundreds of tiny hold in the Wall Street eats anything else but if you do read it I hope it doesn't bore you 😊
Day 1 - Narita Airport to Osaka, 4th April 2014 I landed at Narita @ 6:01am due to the curfew, we had made good time on the overnight QF21 flight from Sydney so had to do quite a few loops before landing. Such an easy flight, had a sleep woke up in Japan.... Winning. As I walk up the glass gangway I feel the cold from outside, on goes the beanie already lol. Get through customs quite easily, they take fingerprint scans along with facial recognition photo which is pretty standard across the world these days. I come through border control and immediately it's senses overload, people everywhere, weird vending machines with everything from coffee in a can to beer to water to food to whatever else I couldn't work out. I make my way downstairs to the JR office to exchange my voucher for a ticket, such an easy process and there is only 1 platform for the N'EX train (Narita Express). That was also was easy as, I just had to change trains in Shinagawa for the Shinkansen aka Bullet Train
Osaka Ferris Wheel
Nice view from the top but again graphic screens in the carriage showed me exactly where I was and where to get off. I made the switch to the Bullet Train found my seat and to my excitement found there was a power point so I could charge my phone, winning again and Sydney take note. The trains are ALWAYS on time, punctuality is very important to the Japanese so I knew exactly how long the journey would take so I relaxed an watched the gorgeous countryside pass by. We went through big city's, little villages, seaside towns and also got to see my first Cherry Blossom. I arrived at my destination of Osaka and a short cab ride later I was at Hotel Granvia Osaka, amazing location right above the local train station and smack bang in the middle of the shopping district. Oh side note, the taxis are very old Toyota Crowns, all of them, the drivers all wear suits and bow ties and have these old school doily like seat covers. First thing I do is take a shower in my tiny hotel room then head out to explore and hopefully get a bit of a lay of the city so I
Arcade
Food, pubs and video games know where I'm going as I don't have much time here. I spend the afternoon wandering around some big shopping centres, took a ride on the Osaka Ferris wheel that was on top of a shopping centre.... From there I could see in the distance a park with some beautiful cherry blossoms so when I got off I figured I would try and make a bee line for it but my gut reminded me I hadn't eaten in 18 hours so time to try and eat. Big struggle everything is in Japanese, obviously, and I'm a VERY picky eater so his was going to be a challenge, in the bed I resorted to the old point at the picture trick and I was rewarded with fried rice with beef and spring onions.... Delicious ! I then make my way in the general direction of the park I saw and this took me through what the Japanese call arcades, basically narrow streets with a roof over the top and lined with fresh food markets, video game parlours & bars.... Very cool. I walk past some sporting fields where some kids are training baseball and soccer, interestingly enough no grass all dirt.
I finally make it to the park and I'm blown away by the beauty of the cherry blossoms, they are just so stunning and they range from white to a deep cherry colour and as the wind blows the little petals come off and make it look like it's raining flowers, so pretty. After wandering around snapping photos I realise it's getting late so I start to head back to my hotel for a shower to heat me up because it is a very cold 9 degrees ! As I walk through the streets I look up and see exactly what I had always seen in the movies, thousands of power lines cris crossing and looping each other, seems unsafe to me but hey it's clearly been there hundreds of years so no biggie lol. As I get back towards the hotel the Friday peak hour rush of workers leaving the offices and darting down to the train station had begun, I just sat and people watched for a while as it was fascinating. I needed just a touch of home so when KFC magically appeared infront of me it was a sign lol. Interestingly Japan is mostly a cash
Cold
Says it all really society, it also appears that the only ATM that would give me money were the ones inside the 7 11s which are everywhere, very handy tip that one. So after pointing at a chicken and chips meal I arrive back at my hotel, put a movie on the iPad and feast before passing out drink in hand lol. My first day in Osaka was eye opening, confronting and a little emotional BUT I had made it and I was quite proud of myself. Oyasumi Nasai (Goodnight)
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