Woke up at 4.30am and had a quick shower then got dressed and ready for the airport. Dropped the postcards off at reception for them to post home. Walked over to the airport, which only took about 15 minutes and then by the time we had bought our tickets we only had half and hour to wait for the train.
In true Japanese style the train turned up on the dot and left exactly at the scheduled time of 6.07am (I don’t think you could ever blame public transport for being late for work lol). On the way to the airport we managed to catch a gorgeous sunrise and got a few good shots and some video.
Arrived at the airport bang on time and then checked in which was really smooth. My bag weighed 23.5 Kilos, which I’m still not sure if that is under or over the allowance as I didn’t like to ask what the allowance was in case they suddenly decided to charge us.
Bought some souvenirs of Japan as so far I have managed to get something for the house from everywhere I have been to (not tack either, I hope lol). Bought a lucky cat for the house that you place near a doorway and it is supposed to beckon good luck into the house. Also bought a few smaller ones as gifts for people at home to try and keep the baggage weight down.
When we got to the gate I got one of the check in staff to write some names as well as the words England and Spain in Japanese for the postcards. I’ve already posted the Japan ones though but will write it on the Australia ones as there isn’t any weird writing in Australia lol.
There was hardly anybody on the flight so we were able to spread out over the 3 middle seats and we had also got extra leg room seats with Phil being a big tall heffer lol, The flight took off on time (expected nothing less) and shortly after taking to the sky we passed over Mount Fuji and as the sky was really clear we were able to get really clear views for photo’s. It kind of makes up for our disappointing day yesterday and not being able to see it.
The service, meal etc on the flight was great and we took advantage of the free drinks since we’ve been polite on all the others so far. By the time we had eaten, drank, watched a movie and a bit of TV and then it was time to land.
The arrival lounge was very clean and smooth to get through, no queues, and then as soon as we got to the baggage carousel our bags were off. Drew some money out of the ATM and then got some scrolls made in Chinese writing as the airport were doing it for Chinese New Year (tomorrow).
We decided to by a travel pass for £30 as it wasn’t much more than it would cost us to get to the hotel and back, and it also gave us unlimited travel for 3 days on the tubes. Jumped on the train to Kowloon station and then there was a courtesy but to the hotel.
Unfortunately we weren’t on bed and breakfast so would have to sort out our own but the cost to add it on was £14.50 each so Im sure we could get something for less than that elsewhere. Also the internet was chargeable at either £4 an hour or £12 per 24 hours so we might not get online so much as don’t fancy spending our money just to get online every day.
Dropped our bags in the room and then went for a look around the local area. Prices didn’t seem half as bad as they were in Japan, especially when you went off the main streets into the back streets where the locals go. We decided to jump on the tube and just go a few random stops away from the centre to be away from the main tourist areas. Got off the tube at Mong kok an had a look around for something to eat as it was time for dinner already. The area near the station was still busy but not as commercial as where we were staying.
We found a small side street place to eat that looked busy and was filled with locals, everything in the windows was in Chinese (except the prices) so we thought we would just take a gamble as it seemed reasonably priced. Sat down at the table and the waiter, thankfully, brought us over a menu in English and two drinks of Chinese tea (must be the free drink of the venue). I ordered stir-fried noodles with beef and a portion of rice, Phil ordered a stir fried rice dish. The portions were very big (I probably didn’t need the rice) and the total bill came to £7.40 so it’s definitely cheaper than Japan as you would pay more than that for a tiny take away sushi per person.
After dinner we found a supermarket to buy some beers and stuff for breakfast as we thought we’d have a quiet night tonight so we are up for partying tomorrow for New Year. It came to £5 each for beers, crisp, juice, cereal and milk for breakfast so it was obviously better than having the £14.50 breakfast each.
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