Chad's excellent Christmas vacation 2022

[chadbag]

We're gearing up to leave Wednesday morning from Itami -- Haneda, Haneda -- DFW, and DFW -- SLC.  So this is a placeholder for the pics and commentary I'll be putting up when we get back.

 

 

[chadbag]

We got back home to Utah yesterday after a 40 hour day (literally 40 hours is how long Jan 4 lasted for us).  I'll start posting stuff about our trip as I get caught up with everything and have the time.

 

[chadbag]

As many of you know, my wife is from Japan and we go to Japan approximately every two years.  With Covid we skipped a trip so the last time we went was in late July to mid August 2019.   While recently we have mostly gone over the Christmas/New Years holiday, as the kids have school off, work holidays (so have to have less vacation time), etc. in 2019 we mixed it up with a summer visit, which we hadn't done in a while.  This time we were back to our normal Holiday trip.

 

I purchased the flight tickets back last Spring of 2022.  I actually used my Chase Ultimate rewards points as I had been saving them up for several years and so had enough!   Originally we were supposed to fly SLC -- LAX -- KIX and return ITM -- HND -- DFW -- SLC.  This was American Airlines ticketed, with everything except the domestic US flights being codeshare on JAL.  Around June or July last summer I saw that the SLC -- LAX flight had been canceled -- not that the airline or Chase had notified me of the change.   The issue was that there were no more flights on AA from SLC in the mornings to LAX.  Everything had been canceled and they no longer had a morning service.  In talking with the Chase person we decided to wait until we got closer to the December departure date as I was sure lots more schedule changes were possible.  There were another 5-6 months.  Around the end of October or early November I decided to go clean up our reservation and force the issue of the SLC -- LAX segment.  When I logged in I was shocked to see that the LAX -- KIX segment was no more.  Our reservation only showed the return trip.  Again, neither the airline or Chase had notified me of the schedule change.

 

I called Chase and at first they couldn't find me a replacement departure trip but I was able to find a bunch on the AA website and Chase was able to rebook me for one of the departures I found.  Of course at no cost since it was based on the airline schedule changes and cancellations.  So we ended up going the same way we came back but in reverse.  We went SLC -- DFW -- HND -- ITM.   We had to leave a couple hours earlier in the morning but also didn't have huge layover waits and got to HND mid afternoon and ITM early evening and ITM was closer and easier to get to my sster in law's in Kobe than KIX anyway, so it wasn't so bad.

 

The trip was pretty uneventful.  We were the only plane that landed at that time in Haneda so we cruised through the various official things ("quarantine", immigration, customs) and were in the arrival hall after like 45 minutes.  I had filled out the Visit Japan Website (VJW) stuff but had messed it up for my family members so they had to fil out an old school manual paper arrivals form -- due to slow internet service trying to bring up my QR code from the VJW I had started to full it out as well when it all of a sudden popped up.  No real delay there and we cruised through.  I had done 1 custom form pre-fill out online for everyone in our group and so we got shunted to a different line after using the kiosk so they could scan everyones passport.  That added like 2 minutes.   

 

Anyway, in the Haneda arrival hall we were not quite sure what to do with our luggage so that it got to Itami with us.  In the US, after clearing customs, there are usually belts to drop off your bags so they get put back on the plane.  Not in Japan.  We followed signs for "domestic transfer" or something like that but it seemed to lead to a long line to do a check-in, which didn't seem right.  The wife asked a JAL worked and he saw what flight we were on and he told us to just take our luggage and take the shuttle bus to Terminal 1, where the flight departs from and where there would be a place to drop off the luggage.  So we did that.  When we got there it was not clear where to drop it off but the wife found someone and asked and they told us to go to the other hall (N vs S or vice versa) and there would be some window.  I misunderstood the details so I ended up at the wrong window but the wife and kids found the right one and had to call me to keep going another 50m or whatever it was.  Finally we got to the window, waited in line, showed our boarding passes and gave them the luggage, and went to the security line.  

 

At the security line they have a boarding pass barcode scanner.  Our boarding passes wouldn't scan.  They were rejected.  Someone from JAL came and took our passes and went to look up our situation, after asking a few questions.  We explained we had already given up our luggage successfully.  She came back with  new boarding passes and explained that due to being close to the gate closing time the passes had been canceled.  The luggage check people were supposed to mark that we were there to avoid the cancellation (a re checkin if you will) but had forgotten to do that.  She gave us new passes and we were able to go through the security gate and get to the boarding gate.  They were boarding though it was not yet last call.  We rode an A321 from SLC to DFW IIRC, and a 787-9 from DFW to HND, and an A350 from HND to ITM.  The short 1 hour flight was soon over and we were at ITM.  I had never been to ITM, and only once before, by myself, at HND, so the day was full of firsts for us.  We found a vending machine and got drinks, used the bathroom, and then found our luggage and the way out to the Osaka Monorail, and a couple Hankyu trains, and then the Kobe Subway.  So we had over an hour until we were "home" after landing at ITM but it was faster than landing at KIX...

 

(My previous solo time at HND was on a previous trip to Japan, where I flew from KIX to Taiwan Taipei (new airport) and then back again from the Taipei old airport to Haneda, where I met up with the family who had taken the Shinkansen to Tokyo while I was in Taiwan visiting some friends I had met at the Apple WWDC conference a few years prior).

 

Here are a few pictures from the start of our trip (first few days).  Please excuse the randomness of the pics.  I sometimes just take pics of whatever I find interesting or strange or funny or wonderful or beautiful.

 

I try and get train pics.  But we did less actual rail oriented activities -- with a wife (who has no interest) and 2 older kids (almost 15 and almost 20) the interest in riding special train or going to train museums etc is less than it was when the kids were younger.  Future trips will allow me time to do more model shop hopping (though I did do some), museum visiting, and special train riding.

 

At the DFW airport I saw this sign at the JAL gate where we boarded the flight to Haneda.  I found it very "Japanese" looking.

 

 

Even though we had JR Passes we took Hankyu often for local trips from Kobe to various places for shopping or to attend church etc as it was more convenient.  From my SisIL house to Osaka-Umeda, JR was a better choice and faster, but for stops in between often Hankyu was the better choice.  And we also started and ended with the Kobe City Railway Seishin Chuo line so here are some representative images for those trips we took many of.

 

 

I like to try new and different things. I like "crunchy Cheetos" type snacks and found this bag at a convenience store soon after we arrived and had to buy it. These are BLT Burger flavored chips.  They were actually pretty good tasting, though I am not sure they tasted like a BLT burger.

 

 

We hit up Costco Kobe (which is like 1 mile from SisIL house as the crow flies and less than 2 miles by car though at least 10 min due to traffic) in the first couple days.  Mainly so the SisIL could get stuff for while we were there and we wanted to get a few things ourselves for whle we were there (snacks etc).  One of the things my son was sad about on our last trip in 2019 was not going back to Costco, as he had wanted to try the Costco Food Court Cheeseburger.  Not something Costco offers in the US.  So he and I tried it.  It was not bad though once tried, I don't need it again.  The patty was thick and large but overall it was just a cheeseburger.  Not bad, not terrific.  You can see that the Costco Food Court offers a lot more than in the US with the menu (and it wrapped around the far side and had 2 more items there).

 

 

One of the things the SisIL got was meat so we could do a Yaki Niku night.  Very delicious.  She also had some non COstco Japanese beef (some sort of Wagyu type) in addition to the beef tongue and US sourced beef from Costco.  It was delicious and I was the guy who ran the table top grill.

 

 

The son and I wanted to go into Osaka to look at some stuff (for later planning -- meaning purchases) so in the first couple days we headed out and went to Umeda.  We were hungry and it turns out there is a Taco Bell at Umeda (more over by the Hankyu station).   Being a Taco Bell fan (don't judge me) I had to try it.  It was not bad and reasonably priced for fast food.  Not as many different choices as the TB in the US but the food itself was good (for fast food TB) though they limited you to one sauce packet per entree you bought.  The soda machine was even "all you can drink" free refills, which is very uncommon in Japan.  (Costco Food Court, of course, Carl's Junior in Tokyo, at the Diver City food court on Odaiba also had it [we didn't eat at Carl's Junior but it was at the food court and had a big sign about free refills, and on a previous trip to Japan my other SisIL that lives in Yokohama took us to T.G.I.F. by the Tokyo Dome and they also had free refills).  We found another Taco Bell at "Aqua City" on Odaiba in Tokyo but didn't go as we would rather eat local food -- trying it once was enough, though the food was good enough.

 

My son also wanted to try Wendy's in Japan, which we had never done that I can remember.  It is called "Wendy's First Kitchen" due to a merger or buyout about a decade ago with a local chain called something like "First Kitchen".  The Wendy's Japan have a mix of American-style Wendy's items and local items they inherited from "First Kitchen".  We found one at a small mall in the Kobe area that the ladies wanted to visit so the son and I ate there. It was good.  I had a burger and the son had some sort of pasta and flavored "fried potatoes".   Don't need to go again.  Checked that one off the "try it once" list.

 

 

Anyway, after Taco Bell we went and looked up some stuff at Yodobashi  Umeda.  Don't think we bought anything yet -- just scouting.

 

 

Anyway, that is it for my random photos selection and enough for tonight.   I'll make more posts about places we visited and trains we rode later.

 

 

 

On this first trip to Umeda we saw this local Hankyu at a platform.  It was a Miffy collaboration livery and was kind of cool.  I think there were a few Miffy themed Hankyu trains and we later saw another one (or this one again) at a different station, though we never rode it.  It is the kind of thing I'd buy in N-scale if it existed and I had budget available.  I'm a sucker for special liveries.

 

Edited January 18, 2023 by chadbag

[disturbman]

12 hours ago, chadbag said:

It is the kind of thing I'd buy in N-scale if it existed and I had budget available.  I'm a sucker for special liveries.

They exist. There are three Hankyu x Miffi formations in operation, one for the Kobe line, the Takarazuka line, and the Kyoto line iirc. GM and Hankyu released all three a few months ago in limited quantities. They were sold at around 43k on Hankyu's online store and can now be found on YJA for a nice markup.

Edited January 18, 2023 by disturbman

[chadbag]

5 hours ago, disturbman said:

They exist. There are three Hankyu x Miffi formations in operation, one for the Kobe line, the Takarazuka line, and the Kyoto line iirc. GM and Hankyu released all three a few months ago in limited quantities. They were sold at around 43k on Hankyu's online story and can now be found on YJA for a nice markup.

 

Thanks.  Some day I'll take a look.  Right now the budget doesn't support inflated YJA prices.  I'll go check out what is available anyway.

[disturbman]

I already thought the original prices were a bit exaggerated, the inflated prices are hard to justify for a Japanese model.

[chadbag]

59 minutes ago, disturbman said:

I already thought the original prices were a bit exaggerated, the inflated prices are hard to justify for a Japanese model.

 

Yeah, special limited editions usually start high.  I remember when I was a kid -- Tomy did a Hankyu Pla-rail that was only available (at the time) at the Hankyu department store and it was a few hundred yen more than the normal Pla-rail trains at the same store.  We bought it anyway as at the time we were riding a lot of Hankyu and of course my son, then a small boy, wanted the trains he had ridden.

 

I guess the secret is to wait until folks who bought to try and make a buck but end up not selling it need to get rid of it to recoup some of their investment...  Doesn't always happen but I've seen a few models that after a year or two the price goes down to reasonable levels

[Sean]

Looks like a nice trip!  I used to live in Kobe and rode that Hankyu train to work.  Its a great city.