HopSkipJump

Sunday we had plans to visit a ring making workshop in the afternoon, but no earlier plans. So we decided to go to the Kaiyukan aquarium in Osaka to see the fish, including whale sharks. By the time we got there, they were selling timed entry tickets for 12:15 or later. Rather than wait around until then, we bought tickets for 4:30 and went to find air conditioning. We found it at Osaka station and one of the tracked malls. While there, we happened upon a spontaneous J-Pop performance on a pedestrian bridge! The ground floor of the shopping center had a craft fair with the products of various makers being sold from booths for much less than typical department store prices. We wandered around admiring the different things. Soon it was time for our ring making workshop. The studio was a couple of stops away from the station, so we got there quickly and were shown the ropes on how to make our rings. The rings had options of different textures based on the type of hammer used. The names we...

 Saturday morning we got breakfast at the hotel and headed to the station to take the train to Nara. Japan has one nationwide railway line, JR, plus a number of smaller regional and local trains plus the metro systems in cities. Most use the same fare system (locally) and the same stations, but the tracks vary. So a good chunk of our time was finding the correct track in the station for the train to Nara. We found it a few minutes before departure. Several folks were waiting on the platform, but a nice lush train to Nara was waiting right there, so we got on board. It was a very pleasant ride through the first stop. On the way out of that stop, a gentleman came to our seats and sternly indicated that those were his seats. We got up and moved somewhere else, and decided we needed to lay low and get off at the next stop, which we did. It turns out the train was a limited express with reservable seats and an extra fare. Back on the platform, we asked if we needed an extra fare to ride...

 Friday morning was our flight to Osaka! Our room reservation included breakfast, but since it was way before the breakfast room opened, the hotel put together a sack breakfast for us! Awesome. Waking up early was no problem since we were both excited to fly to Japan. The departure form Changi was just as easy as the arrival, it seemed at first. Two glass turnstiles where one’s picture is taken, and we were in the airport. It turns out the actual scanner was at the gate for the individual flight rather than at the entrance to the terminal, which seems much more efficient.  We flew on Scoot to Osaka, which is Singapore Air’s low-cost airline. They offered premium economy seating for a really good price when we made our reservation, so we went for it. The legroom was huge. It also came with a meal which could be selected form a menu - mine was chicken satay with rice, and was really good. After about a 7 hour flight, we landed in Osaka and went through immigration and customs. W...

 Thursday was Jane’s last day of class, and the day we moved to the Changi airport due to our early flight the next morning. We spent the morning consolidating our things into our suitcases, and while Jane went to school, I ferried our stuff over to the airport hotel. A shell sell off my suitcase during the flight over, which makes it super unwieldy when full - but we still have a warranty on it so I’m not ready to replace it until I get home and can cash that in. Once I got there, I took a trip around to see the Jewel, the centerpiece of the airport, the garden/shopoing/dining center built around a fountain, the one Beth described previously. During the day it was a sight to behold for sure. I had two errands to run - one, to deep Jane’s Singapore phone, and second, to get some more of the Earthworm perfume Jane formulated. Selling the phone was easy enough - I found a shop a quick subway ride from the hotel and was able to sell it without much trouble. Getting the perfume was tri...