Osaka, March3

2:21PM EST - “On the plane”

We’re finally on the airplane to Osaka!

Our travel to Japan came with a transfer in Paris so the plane from Amsterdam to Paris left at 7:20 in the morning. From Charles de Gaulle Airport our plane to Osaka left at 13:10. Our travel is estimated to last a total of 17h and 30min... Around 10 more hours to go from now - when I’m writing this - on :D
I can also see where we are and currently we are flying over Denmark. (See photos) We’ll fly over Russia for the most part, then a bit of China and Ocean and we’ll be at our destination~ Right now Jo-anne is dozing off and on next to me XD She became very tired waiting for this flight and with the early morning it doesn’t stimulate the tiredness hahahha - there’s no one besides us in our row of (3) seats so we’ve got a bit more room! Lucky us!!

For some basic information etc.
- Japan has a time difference of 8+ Hours. (Holland 00:00 -> Japan 08:00). So if you want to chat with us or contact us we’ll be able to reply till around 3:00PM your time! It’ll be 11:00PM here, right about bedtime hahahha!
- Regarding the spreading of the Corona virus; We’re aware Japan was one of the first countries where Corona also spread after China. However there is no negative travel advice from the government nor will we be visiting ‘heavily’ infected areas such as Hokkaido, a Northern island of Japan. Of course we’ll still face a risk but so do we back in the Netherlands where the first few cases of Corona have been announced as well. The only downside we face right now is that many Musea and Theme parks will be closed until the 15th of March as precaution. Which unfortunately led to our tickets for Universal Studios Japan being cancelled as that was planned on the 6th of March... :,) but worry not, we, as the geniuses we are have rebought tickets for the 16th of March! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) So for now it’s just hoping the precaution won’t be extended.
- Our travel schedule:
Osaka: 3rd - 7th of March
Kyoto: 7th - 9th (first hotel) - 9th - 17th of March (second hotel)
Tokyo: 17th - 31st of March
Home: 6:15PM 31st of March

We left, as most of you know, on the 2nd of March and will arrive in Osaka at 8:55AM on the 3rd of March. We have a night flight and arrive in the morning so if we sleep well I hope the jetlag won’t be that bad after we land XD
After we land we’ll first grab our luggage of course and then go and pick up the handy pocket wifi we ordered, which allows us to have unlimited wifi for the rest of our stay. We’ll also pick up an ICOCA Card which is like the OV-chip card in the Netherlands! It’s only for the Kansai region though (Osaka & Kyoto) so we’ll have to buy another card when we’re in Tokyo.

I just got my dinner served! It looks quite delicious as i’m lowkey hungry hahha, waiting an hanging around an airport takes a lot of energy ;P
Just filled in the Custom declaration papers, a lot of stuff I don’t understand was on it but I’m guessing i’m not illegally entering the country XD
I’m going to eat now〜

またわ!
Ma-ta-nè
~ See you (later)!

- Yaru

P.S. They’ve got BTS albums on the plane’s music list!! Bless!

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10:03PM EST - “Almost There”

We’ve got 2H and 21min to go until arrival! It’s been a very pleasant flight up til now. The turbulence in minimal and because there’s an extra seat empty we’ve got more room to take a good nap. Jo-anne has been hogging the 2 seats for the past hour or so XD but that’s fine! She’s fast asleep and looked like she needed it~ Sleeping on a plane isn’t very comfortable either way and I woke up many times, but I did manage to grab some hours of rest in the end, fortunately.

I’m going to read for a little bit, wondering what we’ll get for breakfast and wondering what Osaka will be like!!!

Byee!!
- Yaru

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11:11PM JST - “Hotel and South Namba”

Today felt like a long day. Not weird considering the travel, the walking and all the new impressions XD

The pocket wifi which we picked up at the airport is super convenient! Already a really good decision to order it. We took the train from Kansai-airport to Tennoji-Station and from there we walked to our Hotel - FP Hotels Grand South Namba.

The city is so much different than i’m/we’re used to. Of course it is but it is really charming. The big modern buildings co-exist with small rundown shacks but also really traditional houses here and there. When we we’re walking around we took some back alleys off the main road and suddenly just found a corridor like street which was really just a small park, a lot of elderly were sitting and strolling around there. We already found an Anime store XD and wherever you look you either see a convenience store (Family mart, 7-Eleven, Lawson) or vending-machines. It’s actually crazy how many there are in just one street. Then again, the stores are super duper handy and i’m wondering why we don’t have at least one of those in every city.

Because we accidentally took a 3h nap and only woke up around 8PM we decided against going out to eat for today and explore the wondrous world of convenient store food. Let me tell you, it’s delicious! No it’s not 4 star Michelin food but the quality is really nice. The onigiri (riceballs with filling) are really cheap and great as a travel snack (or dinner XP).
Fun fact: it’s considered rude to eat while walking. Some convenience stores have a place to prepare the food on your own and seating space. Otherwise you’ll just have to stop walking for a bit if you want to eat a snack!


We’re tucking in for bed!
On tomorrow’s schedule is the Pokemon cafe!!! We made a reservation for 12:30 so around lunch, I’m curious what it’ll look like!

おやすみ!
O-ya-su-mi
~ Goodnight!

~ Yaru