Trains, onsen....more trains, more onsen! Might have taken some flights too...

[rbjhan]

And thus concludes our tour of 36+3 ladies and gentlemen.

The best use of my 6180 Yen no doubt
So instead of letting auto gates at JR Hakata Station eat the ticket, I asked the staff to stamp it out.


Friendship with Saphir Odoriko & Kawasemi Yamasemi ended...this is my new all-time favourite

 

[trendwhore]

Interior of 36+3 is amazing

 

[rbjhan]

Interior of 36+3 is amazing

Isn't it just?!
I was totally blown away.

 

[rbjhan]

Well all good things come to an end...time for my return journey.

Fukuoka airport is very close to city centre. I suspect the domestic terminal is busier than international...

As far as I saw there were flights to Hong Kong, Taipei, South Korea and Thailand.

EVA Air J pax get Lounge Fukuoka. Not busy, I suspect something to do with them don't accept Priority Pass...


Food offerings were pretty basic, like most Japanese lounges I'm afraid...


Shocked to see flat white on the menu!


Telephone booth...if only we have that.....thinking how many people I saw talking on speakers in Melbourne...yeah not happening...

 

[rbjhan]

EVA Air 787

There are obviously direct flights from cough to HKG, I decided to go via Taipei because, well they were the lowest price J and I've never taken EVA Air before!

It's called Royal Laurel Class, whatever that means...
Cabin was sleek, and attractive. Not sure how old the aircraft was but felt fresh.





Seats were similar to QF.


Even though it's a short flight, slippers were provided. And they were comfy!

 

[rbjhan]

Menu




I went straight for the beef noodle soup, no hesitation!
And it was delicious!!!


Dessert not so much


Coffee was also a no.


But all is forgiven! The beef noodle soup was probably the best I've had, any airline, any route, ever.

 

[rbjhan]

Taipei Taoyuan Airport


EVA Air has like 4 different lounges here? Not sure, anyways they checked my boarding pass and directed me to The Infinity.

More beef noodle soup


Sadly nowhere near as good...not surprised!
I remember in China Airline lounge the noodle soup were made to order....EVA needs to up their game here!


This one was very busy.


Next table this guy talked non stop for about 20 mins - not on speaker, but from his side of the conversation you'd think the world (or at least Taiwan) will stop if something happens to him....

Considering TPE is their main hub, I think the lounge was quite disappointing.
Oh and got a bus gate for Hong Kong flight...bah.

 

[rbjhan]

TPE - HKG was a very short flight.
J cabin was mostly empty.


And everything was served on one tray.


No beef noodle soup

Overall it's a very solid product, excellent service, delicious food. Don't know about amenities and bedding for long haul but I would love to try. Only problem is EVA doesn't fly to Melbourne
Sigh, we are like the 2nd class or something...

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

Lounge Fukuoka does get busy when SIA leave from there in morning. Was a bit of a zoo. Also around 10am many flights to HK/South Korea/Singapore and Vietnam leave and the terminal is (for a brief couple of hours) far busier than the domestic one!

Looks like an amazing trip! So many amazing trains and Onsens!

 

[rbjhan]

Lounge Fukuoka does get busy when SIA leave from there in morning. Was a bit of a zoo. Also around 10am many flights to HK/South Korea/Singapore and Vietnam leave and the terminal is (for a brief couple of hours) far busier than the domestic one!

Looks like an amazing trip! So many amazing trains and Onsens!

I was there at 10am though?
Could be lucky and missed them by minutes!

 

[rbjhan]

Overnight in HK, didn't want to go all the way to the city, plus I have an Accor StayPlus to use
Booked The Silveri.

Shuttle bus was at bay 11-14 according to their website.
That was a Novotel one though...driver said mine will there in 15 mins.


Bus arrived bang on time and the ride took about 10-15 mins.
Car entrance was at B1, took the lift up to lobby at level 9.


Got one level upgrade to a sea view room.


Bed was very comfy.
After two weeks of Japanese super hard mattress and strange pillows I needed this!
Unfortunately not a unique Japanese thing, sleeping on concrete seems to be the thing this part of the world...

 

[rbjhan]

View in the morning, plane spotting heaven!
Had good weather almost the whole trip, finally lost my luck...


The other side was the Ngong Ping cable car.
My acrophobia was bad...otherwise I'd gone to see the budda.

 

[rbjhan]

The Silveri is directly connected to CityGate Outlets.
I mean, DIRECT.
Apart from the B1 car entrance, the only way in and out was in the mall.
I was going to post a wide angle shot but realised you almost can't even see the entrance in that one.


They were doing a Smurf Xmas theme this year.


Eslite Bookstore, one of my favourite!


But the other shops were not doing anything for me...and Hong Kong prices were crazy and I thought Australia was expensive!

 

[rbjhan]

Went outside.

Yeah nah I can't live in one of those.
Urban sprawl is awful, I'm all for medium density living in cities (more like Europe) but this is crazy.

There's another mall connected to CityGate Outlets via this walkway.


Clientele here was mostly local residents though. There's even a market.

 

[rbjhan]

The nice check in lady gave me a 2pm check out. As I was back to my room packing, incoming message from Qantas.

I almost had a heart attack!

After some intense work on the app and browser for 10 mins, okay it was not too bad, flight was pushed back 4 hours and now departing at 11.35pm.
Why can't they just put that in the message?!
If someone does have a heart attack over a 20 min change or something, can they sue QF?

 

[rbjhan]

Okay now with more time to kill, I settled on a nice leisurely lunch at the restaurant next door.
This one.


Chicken soup was nice.


Dumplings were just so so...

 

[rbjhan]

Remembering I had a drink voucher, back to hotel
Bar was not opened early afternoon, so...can confirm it's proper coffee


One day before the pool closed!


The pool area was well hidden, not from those buildings though

 

[VPS]

That train carriage especially the floors were amazing

 

[rbjhan]

That train carriage especially the floors were amazing

I know right! think about the workmanship...

 

[VPS]

I know right! think about the workmanship...
View attachment 358045

It's making me change my mind about wanting to go to Japan because I love trains - actually I do want to go to Japan but having a fish allergy I think it's a bit too hard especially as I travel alone