Again a good hunt this summer! (part 1)

KLM Boeing 777-300ER - 'Fulufjallet National Park'

It's been a while since I have had updated the blog. And as we speak, I'm back from another summer holiday trip. This year I went back to Osaka (Japan) and of course Hong Kong to pay a visit to my grandparents. The trip starts with a comfortable flight with a KLM Boeing 777-300ER to Osaka. We had a row of 2 seats at the back of the aircraft. These seats required an additional fee of € 30,00 (Thugs!). After the gate closed it became clear the seats behind us weren't occupied, so.....I moved a row back and we were both having a lot of space. From that retrospective the extra fee was a bargain to gain an extra seat! 

Hero Gangu - Nippombashi, Osaka

The focus of this story will be on the Transformer/ Collectible hunt. Since I have been Osaka earlier and Hong Kong is practically my second home, I won't do much of city-trip review. Of course I will upload some pictures of the trip itself. Should you be more curious about the cities themself, take a look at these links: Osaka; Hong Kong.

So first stop is Osaka. The hotel Kikuei is situated in Namba, the southern part of Osaka. Very crowded and from the hotel, one of the 3 centered Transformer retailer was visible: Hero Gangu, Nippombashi. (site is Japanese only)

1st batch along with me in the Rimowa

The loot here was quite good: Fansproject Causality CA-03 Thundershred.
The other two pieces were more than JPY 12.000, while this one was only JPY 5700. I tried to find out why, but there were no signs of being eventually a K.O version, so that's a bargain. Secondly I was looking everywhere for the now hard-to-find Encore 15: Mini cassettes vol. 1 consisting Ravage, Eject, Rewind and Buzzsaw. Guess what...I found it here. It was JPY 9800 (€ 71,00/ US$ 94,00). Considered the availability and the price on ebay it's a steal.

Super Potato - Namba, Osaka

Furthermore my 2nd loot from Jungle Entertainment (Site do have English!) consists: 
- TF Encore 16 Bruticus (Scramble City)
- TF Collection 07 Sideswipe (Takara)
- TF UN-04 Megatron Cybertron Mode (FOR SALE!)
- TG-14 Voyager Class Soundblaster + Buzzsaw 2x (1 for my brother)
- TG-12 Deluxe Class Air Raid
Both TG were available for a 'wooden nickel'.


The last resorts for a good hunt were both Mandarake shops in Umeda and Shinsaibashi. Thanks to the toy-shop map of Heroic Decepticon!

Gold!!!

Furthermore we bumped in Namba on Super Potato, a shop for retro-gaming.
This is also a heaven for the good old days of the Famicom/NES/Superfamicom etc. It is really incredible when you see their inventory. Next time, I'll grab something from here!

Well, that's it for now. Part 2 will follow soon!


Hereafter some images during the Japanese part of the trip

Tsutenkaku Tower 103 m

The new Rimowa Salsa Deluxe!

Sunset during flight KL0867 to KIX

Nismo March.....(GT-R?)

252 meters of depth (or height)

Osaka Prefectural Government Sakishima Tower

Osaka by Night - Umeda Tower (173 m)

LCC from Japan: Peach - Airbus A320-200

 

Leaving Osaka Japan - Kansai International Airport

Two weeks in Japan (conclusion)

After a long period finally the conclusion of the Japan trip. After the arrival in Tokyo metropolis we headed directly to the Tokyo Tower. As usual there was a lot of smog, what resulted in a ghost-city like picture at 250 m height.
On Saturdays allmost every citizen of Tokyo is running and jogging along the Tokyo parks near the residence of the emperror of Japan. It doesn't matter the conditions are hard. With temperatures of 37 degrees Celsius and humidity of 90% people keep on running. We also visited the business district Shinjuku and the 'twin towers' of Tokyo Government Building which are 202 m high.
The next day I spent a day with my niece who was graduating in Japan for Biomedic Technologies and would return to the Netherlands within a few weeks.
She showed me Akihabara, Shinjuku, Meji jungu in the Shibuya district.

As known the Akihabara district is a heaven for otaku. All electronic gadgets, videogames and cosplays are concentrated in this area. Fascinating....
I was also able to get my hands on new SNES carts from the 90's. I love it!!!
The store was called Retro store....catching! All videogames systems from the 80's till now are available!
As you can see: Loads of retro games!
Later that day we spent some time on world's famous crossing point at the Shibuya district.
Two days later we concluded our journey in Japan and returned to The Netherlands with a dayflight with KLM.

The return flight was a little less comfortable due to a lot of turbulence during the flight.

It was a great way to explore the Kansai region and Tokyo metropolis. Somewhere in the future, I would like to take another trip to Japan.

Do you like city-trips?








Parking in Tokyo & Jogging with 37 degrees Celsius!









The original Metal Gear! & Lots of Super Famicoms for a bargain!








The remarkable English skills of the Japanese & Wedding in Meji Jungu








Asakusa district for souvenirs & Shibuya 109 Center Gai at dusk.









Tokyo Narita Airport & Boeing 747-400 PH-BFL City of Lima.







KLM's Economy Comfort class & Halfway around the polar circle.

Nice view!

Two weeks in Japan (part 2)

Part two starts with a daytrip to Japan's former capital Kyoto. We visited the Ginkaku-Ji temple and garden.
At first we missed our get-off point at the temple. After a while we concluded that we should go back a few km. A local on bike who was initially a little irritated because we were standing in the way, was very kind to help us. He was one of the very few Japanese who spoke properly English. The plan was to walk along the 'path of philosophy' to the Nanzen-Ji temple. But halfway we decided to get of the track and take the bus back to te centre of Kyoto due to the high temperature rising till 36 degrees Celsius. At Kyoto station we visited another temple and also the Kyoto Tower which is about 130 meters high. A new record in comparison to the Tsutenkaku tower (103 m).
The Kyoto station was also very impressive. a high rised building with many escalators. One after another going sky-high!
The next day was another day in Greater Osaka. We visited the famous Kaiyukan aquarium. The theme of this aquraium is 'The ring of fire', because it shows the species from all around the Pacific Ocean. A great watertank filled with 5,4 million liters of water and their famous residents: 2 Whale Sharks and 2 Manta Rays.
Later that day we visited another tower: the Umeda Towers. Another new height has been reached: 173 m.
The view was again....amazing....pictures were taken from the floating garden between the both towers.
Later that evening we also took a break at Namba parks before getting dinner. A park that has risen on the roof of the shopping mall in Namba. More pics are coming up!

Further impressions of these days.








Sea Otter and Manta Ray






Whale Shark and Japanese Spider crab







Nemo's and Umeda Tower







Umeda Tower at distance and Namba Parks

Two weeks in Japan (part 1)

It's been quite a while since my last post. So here's a new post about my last vacation to the land of the rising sun and the origin of Otaku....Japan. Having been in Hong Kong earlier this year (May), I thought it would be a nice extension to explore the Farther East. We started the journey with a flight from Amsterdam to Osaka in the Kansai Region. Many people will think about Tokyo first, but the Kansai Region is also interesting, because of the well-known cities as Kobe (Kobe-beef and unfortunately also the 1995 earthquake) and the former capital of Japan, Kyoto, which has far more history than the nowadays Tokyo metropolis. The first flight towards Osaka Kansai International Airport was a comfortable one with a KLM Boeing 777-200ER. Although having flown for many times in widebodies like 747-400, it was actually my first flight in a triple seven.
We were staying at a hotel in Nipponbashi nearby the busy district Namba. We discovered that it was located in the middle of Den Den Town, a shopping area for electronic equipment, games, anime and a heaven for Otaku which is comparable with Akihabara in Tokyo.
Our first activity was visiting the Tsutenkaku tower in Naniwa ward. It gives a great view on the southern (minami) section of Osaka. It wouldn't be the last tower we are going to visit.
We also visited the Osaka Zoo for the time being till we could check in at 15:00 later that day.
The next day we went to the famous Osaka Castle. It provides a great view.
Unfortunately the world famous Himeji Castle, one of the few original surviving castles in Japan from the 17th century, was under renovation at this time which will last till 2015! The southern districts, known as Minami has the Shitennoji-temple. The narrow streets has the well-known electricity- and telecommunicationpoles and cables. Well, that's for now. More reports are comin' up soon!

Are you going on a vacation this summer?




Great view from the Tsutenkaku Tower

A rollercoaster in the middle of the city! Only possible in Japan!

All pictures taken with Sony-Alpha A-300 + 16-80 mm Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar.