Quite a few things happened in the past few days. Nothing life threatening, but a bit odd, to say the least.
Below, a photo of the tax-free area of Schiphol on Christmas Day:
This picture was taken at 18:15 in the evening. Due to the holidays, the area was just about empty, save for some shop staff and a bunch of people heading for Japan.
The feeling I got seeing this is best described as eerie; like we're in a post apocalyptic world or something.
As a result, our plane was spacious and nearly empty as well:
I was in seat 58 A, but B and C were also available. ;)
Despite the fact that I managed to get a few hours sleep during the flight, I was still tired as hell and I wasn't the only one. We had a quick bite to eat at Narita and headed for the plane to Osaka, where I spent the majority of the flight asleep.
Today we first paid for our accomodations; the guy who let us in last night wasn't allowed to accept the payment. Which is rather understandable; the amount due was well over a million yen.
This is what that looks like:
A little scary to carry around. By the way, I found a small security flaw in the building's access system which I reported to the apartment building's staff; let's hope they do something about it.
After a quick breakfast, we went for a stroll around the block, made a few pictures at Osaka Castle and since a few of my co-travelers wanted to shop for lenses, we headed for Yodobashi Camera in the Umeda shopping quarter.
Checking the prices here, I was a bit disappointed; the one lens I wanted in addition to the two I already have, seems to be a few hundred euro more expensive compared to prices back home, so I'm skipping on that one for now. On the other hand; accessories are quite cheap: a solar hood for my 17-85 lens is something around 28 euro back home, compared to 2500 yen over here (around 15 euro).
One of the shots I made of Osaka Castle:
I'm really enjoying my new camera. :)
When we returned to the apartment, we decided to get some extra money at the post office. Another scary thing: the girl behind the counter recognised me! She must have seen thousands of people since March, both native and foreign, and she immediately recognised me as that guy from Holland. Go figure.
As for tonight, I didn't plan anything; tomorrow morning, I'm going to Kagoshima for a dip in Furusato onsen, which means I have to turn in early.
Cheers, K.