Blogs from Osaka, Osaka, Japan, Asia - page 7

I was fortunate to travel to Osaka, Japan for a company business trip. On the flight over, I had a short layover in Honolulu, Hawaii. Only for a bit over an hour, but it was a thrill for me to be there none the less. Upon arrival in Japan, I had to figure out how to get to the city center without any help or guidance from anyone. As I have travelled in Europe on several occasions by myself, I was not really nervous, but actually anxious. I was pretty tired, and I just wanted to get to my destination. After figuring out the train system and having make shift conversations with Japanese employees at the airport and train station, I am on my way. I depart the train station, and I have to then catch ... read more

War eher eine kurze Nacht, aber hat definitiv Spass gemacht. Um 11 Uhr checke ich aus und mache mich mit einem kleinen Umweg in Richtung Bahnhof. Der kleine Umweg heisst für mich, dass ich ein weiteres Mal ins Handcraft Center gehe. Ob ich mir heute bereits ein Kimono kaufe darüber bin ich mir noch nicht sicher. Im Endeffekt habe ich mir zwei kleine Büchlein gekauft mit Kanji-Merkbilder, damit ich wenigstens das eine oder andere Kanji erkennen kann (in der Tat hat es schon ein ganz klein wenig geholfen!). Es galt nun also nur noch nach Osaka zu kommen, theoretisch hätte ich den Shinkansen nehmen können, ich entschied mich aber für die langsamere Variante von Japan Railway. In Osaka angekommen fand das Zurechtfinden wieder statt. Es war wesentlich weniger auf Englisch angeschrieben als in Tokyo oder Kyoto ... read more

I decided to check out the aquarium in Osaka since I learned that they had a Whale Shark in their biggest tank. While that was very cool to see one of them slowly swimming about, I was quite surprised to learn of the existence of Giant Spider Crabs. I have both a video and some still shots of them. Near the exit of the aquarium is a fairly good sized Petting Pond where you can reach down into the 8 to 12" deep pond and touch Rays, Zebra Sharks , and Leopard Sharks as they swim by. The Leopard sharks seemed the most anti social though as they had congregated in an area of the pond which cannot be reached by the hands of the aquarium guests. The Rays were pretty funny in that they often ... read more

Today I took the train from Tokyo to Osaka. I had booked in a hostel for the night leaving my luxury hotel behind lol. I have to say I'm super impressed with the Japanese trains. They are modern, fast, clean, quiet and very punctual with loads of leg room and reclining seats. This is what UK rail and train operating companies should be aiming towards! When I arrived I didn't really have any directions as the website was a bit pants so it was time to fly by the seat of my pants and hope luck would fall my way, which it did! I found the Japan rail office which had free wifi and a very helpful lady who pointed me in the direction of the subway and stop to get off at. Then bemused by ... read more

Day 2 - Osaka to Kyoto, 5th April 2014 I woke up for the first time in Japan nice and early, refreshed after a good sleep with a positive attitude and ready to go exploring ! I only had till checkout time, which was 12 lunchtime (loving that) and due to the short nature of my trip it was then off to the old capital of Kyoto. I had found a really cool app called Triposo which is a tourist kind of guide type thing, basically you dictate how long you have to explore and it works out a map for a walking tour of the city to see all the highlights, genius. Thanks to Vodafones new overseas option I only have to pay $5 a day and I have access ... read more