NSun's 2025 Adventures in Asia

[NSun]

I checked out of the hotel and went to the train station - well, at least the one I thought was right. I ended up going to the wrong one so had to get a whole new ticket - one of the stupidest mistakes I made in my life. Basically it was from Shin-Osaka rather than Osaka station...or it could've been the other way around. Anyway, enough whinging and self-resentment.

I got an ice coffee from a cafe chain called Doutor.



I went on to have dumplings for lunch before boarding the delayed train.



I then went on a walk around nearby department stores. I almost wish I would've bought a thing or two but the power plugs would make it not worth the effort.

 

[NSun]

Then when I knew I was at the right station, the train ended up being delayed by an hour. Ah well, I got to see some of the other trains.





This is the one that'd take me to Tottori.









And onward we went. We passed through Kobe.





Akashi - a city where Mitsubishi has a major factory.



This bridge was I believe the line for the Shinkansen.

 

[NSun]

The last hour or so saw us go through some rural areas that honestly reminded me of Switzerland.









Coming into the city.



And finally made it - 4 hours later than expected. Took me about a minute to find old mate.



Unfortunately old mate took a couple of days off work to see me and the first of those two was 'wasted' if you know what I mean. Oh well, he was still happy to see me as he hadn't had many visitors lately and he was looking forward to seeing me. We did get to spend the rest of that afternoon and all day the next day together.

He is someone who always knew he wanted to do something involving Japan as he studied it at uni and is fluent. He was a lifesaver to me as no one spoke English here - he helped me check into my hotel. My hotel was the Green Rich.





The view from my room.

 

[NSun]

Old mate took me on a walk around town and then took me to dinner. This prefecture is the smallest in Japan and didn't look like somewhere you'd go as a tourist unless sand dunes were your thing. But I did enjoy catching up with him at all that had happened in our lives in the past year or so.























That night, we had dinner at this fast food chain - Sukiya.



My order - was about A$10 all up.

 

[NSun]

The first photo from the next morning I took at 5.30am but hadn't looked at it until now and just remembered something else going on in Tottori at that time. A track and field team from Jamaica were either in Tottori or about to be in Tottori as part of a training camp for the forthcoming world championships. I saw many places with various welcoming signs.



More of the early morning In Tottori.















It was spooky - how quiet everything was. Even the station was deserted.

 

[NSun]

I met up with old mate about 11am and we had lunch at a food court that was by that time busy, but didn't take pictures. We then got on a regional train to a station 5 minutes west called Tottoridaigaku-mae. The plan was to walk to the coast and then to the airport from where we'd split up, I'd fly back to Tokyo from there.



This was the station we got off at. We essentially walked to the turn-off where you'd go to the airport, but went the other way to the beach.






















Here we are - at Karo-Minato beach. It was 28 degrees so I was in the mood for swimming but was told I couldn't because it was jellyfish season.

 

[NSun]

Then we walked back to the airport, had a bite to eat and said our farewells. With ANA the only airline from here, I had no choice about who to fly back to Tokyo with.







We need more of these back home - airside watching spots of the runway.









Was a standard 1 hour domestic flight. Had a spare seat next to me and declined the meal.



It was very interesting getting back to Tokyo as I thought we had a proper terminal gate as we got off - it was not just aircraft stairs, we were greeted with air conditioning and flooring consistent with a terminal, but it was only a passage down to the tarmac and to catch a bus which seemed to take 3 times the distance back to the terminal than necessary.

 

[NSun]

My hotel for 2 nights was the Haneda Airport Mercure. I took the train 2 stops rather than the bus as I couldn't be bothered searching for the shuttle at this time of night. Was pretty good in my view.











I got these for being a Gold member when I only got it due to getting a 'match' from Qantas. This'll be good while it lasts.





The view from my room the next morning.

 

[markis10]

My hotel for 2 nights was the Haneda Airport Mercure.

Good choice, it’s incredible value and while it’s not downtown the easy access to the monorail and KK line is great. Just booked another stay. Note the hotel is actually between the two stations so you can get off at either one, slightly longer walk if you get off early from HND. The drugstore across the road will have pretty much anything you want, a couple of good eateries across and up the road as well. The Pinchinku outlet next door is worth a look if you’re curious.

 

[NSun]

Some shots from the following morning's walk.

 

[NSun]

Then I went into the Ginza area and had a look around. I'll get lunch out of the way first. I had...butter chicken - as one does in Japan. And it was up there with the best I'd had - that naan was huge.



More pics of the Ginza area and the shopping malls.

















One multi-level department store had a level just dedicated to whiskey. Some of my whiskey-loving mates loved that pic.

 

[NSun]

From there I went to Shinjuku. I was just paying for public transport by tapping my card on and off and it was all working well...thus far.






Then got off at an area that is coming up in my gallery as 'Nishishinjuku'.











Then walked about 10 minutes to Shibuya and found this aerial garden - aerial in the sense that it was over the road and you could get there by walking a few flights of stairs.

 

[NSun]

Eventually, I made it to the famous crossing. I walked across twice, but also spent a few minutes viewing it from a nearby shopping mall/pedestrian bridge.













By now it was 4pm and took trains back to the hotel - it took 2 trains and a couple of hours. It was difficult to get around without English. Now I don't just expect everyone to speak English. But...perhaps I had too high expectations from my last trip 20 years ago and I remembered it was better. I did some Googling and found that English has declined in Japan in that time and is now even behind Vietnam and Laos. Nonetheless, it is different having to help yourself as opposed to having others (i.e. my father and a business associate of his back then) do it for you. And perhaps it was just one incident when I needed to use translate at the hotel bar that night just to order a drink. Ah well, next time I'll be more prepared although Old Mate promised next time I came back he'd come into Osaka or Tokyo for me and he'd help me around.

 

[NSun]

The next morning, it was time to go home - I was on the daytime QF26 home. The hotel had a shuttle to the airport and I took it. Haneda was very quiet at that time of day, the lounge was even closed. I was disappointed with it because I couldn't do anything (i.e. order food or connect to wifi) without downloading the JAL app. The decor and tarmac views were nice.









Anyway, VH-QPD for the flight home - last flew that one in late 2020 in my first trip to Melbourne post the lockdowns. I was curious to see whether we'd be subject to the secondary liquid check - precedent says any non-Caucasian country but turns out Japan is on the 'safe list'. Curious to know one day what is the exact criteria.

Boarding was done in group numbers and there was a separate aerobridge for Business class.



Found this card waiting for me on my seat - nice touch if ever there was one.





I was on the wrong side of the aircraft to see the ground staff bow to the aircraft. Was a long taxi to the runway but we took off roughly on time. I have to admit that it was tough to be offline for the business day and had even more notifications than I did coming back from Dallas on QF8 because the flight was from 2pm Sydney time whilst this flight I missed the entire day. I had to get a mate to buy footy finals tickets for me.



Breakfast was served quickly, and when the crew saw I ate fast they offered seconds.





It was mostly overwater although we flew over Guam, Emdem Deep (the 3rd deepest point of the ocean), PNG and Queensland.



Dinner/Lunch was served 2 hours prior to arrival.



Dumplings.



Schnitzel - one of the best J meals I've had.



'Chestnut and almond cake with chocolate mousse and poached pear' - as it was described.



First sight of the Aussie coastline near Mackay in Queensland.



Jackson North Wind farm.

 

[NSun]

On the final stretch.







And my photo collection ends there. No queue to get out at customs as it was a quiet time of the day. Was a relief to land and see my friend got footy tickets successfully.

Well that's it for this trip report. Thanks for all who read. Next non-NZ international trip is to Europe/UAE in mid-2026 then to South America later in the year.

 

[OZDUCK]

Thanks for taking the time to write up this TR. I have to admit that I was surprised about the drop in English 'understanding'. Like you I don't complain about 'locals' only speaking their own language but the countries I have revisited with a gap of decades - Germany/ France/Spain - have all, in my experience, shown an increase in the amount of English that is understood.