Its now 2:12am Tokyo time, so factoring in the 2 hour time difference, I've now been awake for 25+ hours. Why on earth am I sitting here writing a blog entry??

I'll keep it short. Probably.

The remainder of the flight was excellent. The extra money paid for the business class seats was well worth it. Compared to an economy class flight, the extra room, service and entertainment meant that the trip seemed so much quicker. Truthfully I was a little disappointed when it was time to touch down.

Last time we came through Kansai airport it was an absolute nightmare. See my 2008 blog for details. It was hot, humid, stupidly busy, frustrating and unpleasant. An insane footrace from the plane to the gates with all of the other non-Japanese, to be met by very slow officials who took an eternity to process each passenger. Icing on the cake last time was having our bags stolen.

I was expecting much the same this time, with the exception of the temperature, as it is now approaching winter. Not so.

A leisurely walk from the plane to the train which takes the passengers to the check in terminal, only the first group of 30ish people made the train. Great start. Onto the customs queue, which took at least 90 minutes last time.



This time we were at the front of the queue in 15 minutes. A further 5 minutes and we were processed and through. Arriving at the baggage carouselle, Our bags were the first ones off the plane, and were grabbed by a Kansai airport staff member who handed them to us. I don't think that any non-Japanese tourist has passed through Kansai airport arrivals quicker than we did tonight. In no more than 25 minutes we got from the plane to the train. Unbelievable.

A very slow train journey then followed, with 3 very tired girls who all struggled to stay awake. A single train change, and onto JR Namba station, which is a nightmare to navigate. Many maps exist in the station, most of which are currently inaccurate due to the remoddelling work happening at the moment, and none of the maps display North where you would expect it to be (at the top) making navigation a complete gamble.



After a few blocks walking, we had found our hotel and checked in. I came back downstairs to visit the 7-11 for a midnight snack and some drinks. I love Japanese 7-11's, and everything they sell. It's good to experience the simple pleasure of a ham, cucumber and wasabi mayonaise sandwich, with Pocari Sweat on the side again.
The poor 7-11 attendant tried to explain something to me in rapid fire Japanese, which I had no hope of understanding. He eventually convinced me to put my hand inside a wierd box and extract a couple of tickets, which apparently won me a coffee milk. Great, I guess.

So I'm going to bed now before my head hits the keyboard. Tomorrow will be mostly a day of rest, with a day-trip to Minami and Dotombori tomorrow, Osaka's most famous shopping and entertainment districts.