IKIGAI DAYS

Good morning! It’s been a few weeks since my last blog post! Life has been a bit busy lately, as I was busy preparing to go back to Japan for the next few months

Today, I’ll be flying with Qantas! It’s been a while since I flew with Qantas, as I usually fly with Jetstar as they tend to have a lot of cheap sales throughout the year

I decided to book a lounge before my flight as I’ve never stayed at one before and really always wanted to experience what it’s like. The only lounge that I could find that didn’t require any membership, was the Plaza Premium Lounge. This lounge is open to the public and anyone can book it, as long as they have a flight on the day

Salami, crackers and assortment of cheese 😋

The lounge was initially in a more quieter location situated on the second level of the airport, away from the hustle and bustle of the gates but they seem to have recently relocated. It’s situated on the ground floor, next to one of the boarding gates, which made the experience what I was not expecting from a lounge. The lounge was surprisingly busy, despite it being 830 am in the morning. I totally forgot to take a picture of the lounge, so you will have to make do with the only food pic I took!

The lounge is stocked with your usual stuff such as soft drink, tonic water, and alcohol beverages such as beer, free pour spirits and wine. They did have food such as sausage, boiled egg, bread, fruit, cheese and crackers but it did not honestly look appetising

The lounge costed around 50 dollars and that was with a 20% discount. Would I book the lounge again next time? Probably not, as it would have been better to just dine at one of the restaurants if I was paying that amount

Not sure what this white smudge is 😭

After staying at the lounge for less than an hour, it was about time to board my flight. Upon boarding and entering the plane, it felt like the seats were not clean as there was some weird white smudge on the seat and looks like the seat was worned out as well. Luckily it wasn’t my seat and super lucky that I had the whole row to myself.

Do you enjoy the window seat or the aisle? I like the aisle because it’s easier to access the toilet and I always feel bad for bothering the person next to me if I need to go to the toilet

The Qantas Spritz was super good!

The overall flight was really good. I was served a lot of food and snacks throughout the flight and the customer service was great! I had 2 drinks and that was enough for me haha. The Qantas Spritz was super good, give it a try if you ever fly internationally with Qantas

Finally landed!

After landing, you do the usual of heading through immigration, customs and collecting your baggage. A tip if you don’t like filling up the immigration and customs form on the flight, you can actually register your trip on the Visit Japan Website before your flight. You just need to get them to scan the QR code on your phone through immigration and customs. In an age where most of us have phones, it’s one less thing to carry!

I love this walkway and the feeling you get when you land in Japan

Which train do you catch? the NEX? or the Keisei Skyliner?

One thing I love about Japan is how clean the trains are and that it is always on time. I forgot to take a picture of the skyliner, as I’m so used to catching it whenever I’m in Japan 😭 but have a picture of what a normal train looks like in Japan

PIZZA-LA is one of my favourite pizza chains in Japan. What’s yours?

Once I landed, I ordered some pizza! Yes yes, I know… I should have eaten Japanese food since I’m in Japan 😂 Hey, sometimes you have a craving for Pizza and this was one of the days. I find that in countries like Korea and Japan, they have really interesting types of Pizza from sweet corn Pizza to sweet potato Pizza

Grocery shopping

I did some grocery shopping the day after landing in Japan. I heard that Japan issued a Mega Earthquake alert. Apparently, there was a big earthquake of a magnitude of 7.1 in Kyushu, just hours before I arrived in Japan

Don’t be like me and actually stock up properly if you live in Japan. I only got a few bottles of water and some canned food. On Amazon, you can actually find “Emergency Packs” thats stocked up with things that you need in times of an emergency. I had a look at getting one but there was such a long wait (5 weeks) which later became a 4 month wait. I’m guessing everyone started ordering them in case of a Mega Earthquake. At the time of writing this, they have withdrawn the alert and things seem to be fine for the time being

Check out the amount of alcohol they have, crazy haha

I love Japnaese supermarkets, there’s so many things to buy haha. You have bento boxes, to sashimi and sushi and lots of alcohol! I know in Australia, some supermarkets like Coles and Woolworths do stock like some alcohol but not to this level seen in Japan. What’s it like in your countries supermarkets? Do they have alcohol easily available to purchase at the supermarkets?

鳥貴族（Torikizoku) and 銀だこ(Gindako)

Everytime I’m back in Japan, I have to head to Torikizoku（鳥貴族), which is a chain restaurant that does cheap and affordable Yakitori (Grilled Chicken skewers)! Another place I also like is Gindako, which is also a chain store that specialises in Takoyaki (Octopus balls). Check them out if you are ever in Japan! Cheap and tastes good for what they are!

I’ll wrap up the post here! If you enjoyed this week in Japan and want to see more, please let me know! I’ll try and post an update of my day to day life weekly whilst I’m in Japan

Thank you again for reading!