📸 Breakfast in Osaka
Travel
✈️ We made it to Tokyo in one piece, after a predictably wonderful flight with JAL. Then a smooth transfer to Osaka and a superb night’s sleep. Just had breakfast in our hotel before going out for a wander.
It’s so nice to be back in Japan.
📸 Enjoying a meal in the BA First lounge before our flight to Tokyo. The holiday starts here! ✈️
✈️ All packed for tomorrow’s flight to Tokyo and then on to Osaka. So, so excited to be heading back to Japan. And looking forward to the luxury of Japan Airlines…
📸 Travel memories: 3rd November, 2022 - ✈️ en route to Tokyo Haneda with Japan Airlines.
🔗 I’m considering buying the new Apple Watch… once I get to Japan
📸 Travel memories: 2nd of November, 2016. I was enjoying myself in Odaiba, Tokyo.
🍑 Baring it all in Japan:
This could be a tiny decades-old bath in Kyoto, or a ‘super onsen’ in Tokyo. The experience is similar: long periods of time spent soaking in communal baths and letting my cares disappear and the aches on my muscles vanish.
Analogue Tokyo memories...
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
✈️ It’s eight years since my first visit to the Traveler’s Factory shop in Meguro, Tokyo. I geeked out on lovely notebooks and assorted stationery. Tucked away in a side street in Meguro, it was slightly tricky to track down at first. But the effort was well worth it. What I found was a …Gym is habit, repeat
Monday, October 28, 2024
A productive day, all in all. With my eyes firmly on the prize (our departure for Tokyo next week) I got the head down and tore through my task list in work this morning. I actually got so much done that I managed to leave the office early and get to the gym. I know, I was shocked too. It has been …Engage focus mode!
Monday, October 28, 2024
Another week rolls round. And this is my last full working week before I head to Japan, so there’s a lot to pack in. Including lining up some podcast content to go live while I’m away. I’d much rather not fiddle with podcasting while I’m trying to enjoy Osaka and Japan. And …📸 Three years ago today, I was avoiding the cold and dark of London with a last-minute trip to Sitges for some sunshine. I even got some time on my all-time favourite naturist beach. I would love a little sunshine and beach time today…
But with the judicious use of a gazillion Avios, tenacity with an incredibly unhelpful BA Customer Service Assistance ‘professional’ and an in-depth knowledge of airline timetables and customer rights, my partner was able to get us flights to Tokyo with Japan Airlines - going First Class.
📸 This day, eight years ago, I was wandering around Dotobori in Osaka. I think I ate my bodyweight in takoyaki and okonomiyaki that week. It’s such an incredible city and I can’t wait to get back there in just a couple of weeks.
✈️ Looking forward to this evening, when I’ll finally find out if my talented other half has definitely managed to get us off a crappy British Airways flight to Tokyo and onto an incredible First Class Japan Airlines flight to Tokyo.
Please keep your fingers and toes crossed for me.
✏️ The week that was, 14th to 20th October
Sunday, October 20, 2024
I’ve remembered to write up my weekly note, even if the week isn’t strictly speaking over. This week was mostly about travel, work and fun, with a big helping of delicious food. 👉🏻 Read on here🎥 I’m currently loving this video from JR, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Shinkansen. The most civilised and relaxing mode of public transport I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing.
👉🏻 Watch here
✈️ Only 19 days to go till I leave for Japan once again. So much to get done (work and life) between now and then, but that doesn’t matter. In less than three weeks, I’ll be sipping a beer in Osaka. 🍺🇯🇵
👾 Space invaders
These guys - and it’s always guys - are a nightmare. Taking up as much space as they can, everywhere they go. Speaking louder than everyone else. Ignoring the social cues all around them.
👉🏻 Read on…
✈️ Settling in to another bland hotel…
To put this in context, it’s a soulless chain hotel, one that I would usually avoid if the decision were mine. It has all the charisma of a very old hire car. And a standard of service that even Ryanair would look down on.
👉🏻 Read on…
📸 Last weekend: angles and textures in Trinity College Dublin.
⚠️ Another business trip where the client has chosen the hotel and it's one of my least favourite in Dublin.
Possibly all of Europe. I've had trouble every time I've stayed here. And once again, true to form, they couldn't find my booking at reception, and somehow attempted to make it my fault. After eventually finding it - after much sighing and tutting in my general direction - there was no apology. Or a welcome. Just a keycard dropped onto the counter in front of me.
As a workplace psychologist, I'm frequently amazed how people like this are selected into the so-called 'hospitality' industry.
✈️ A very hazy approach into Dublin this morning.
✈️ I’m flying back over to Dublin for work tomorrow morning.
I’ve just packed my bag, basically on autopilot, thanks to a checklist in Apple Notes. Why rely on my (awful) memory when I can just follow clear instructions left by past me?
And that backpack? The best I’ve bought in years. The Lite Travel Pack from Bellroy. Perfectly designed for clothes, toiletries, accessories and a laptop. Honestly? It’s short trip one-bag travel nirvana.
📸 Throwback to last weekend, in Dublin. Had to stop and take a pic of this impressive shutter outside ‘The Rag Trader’ on Drury Street.
🏡 Finally home! No thanks to British Airways and the inevitable almost hour-long delay to departure. And then no DLR at City Airport, so I had to deal with the awful and cramped ‘Rail Replacement Bus Service’. Anyway.
I’m now on the sofa, in my sweatpants, and easing into Sunday mode. It has felt like an incredibly long day.
✈️ Making my way to my flight (unfortunately, I’m flying BA)
✈️ I’m in the Aer Lingus lounge, waiting for my flight to London City. I would dearly love to close my eyes and snooze for a bit, but I’m just too scared I’ll fall into a deep sleep and completely miss my flight. Plan B: drink Diet Coke until I can hear colours and taste the future.
📸 Another shot from Trinity College Dublin. I took this just before the heavens opened and I got caught in the most incredible rain shower. Some things never change…
📸 Popped into my alma mater while in Dublin and enjoyed a wander around the campus. Lots of happy memories of my time there. But it blows my mind to realise I started my psychology degree thirty years ago!
