Today came with some sadness as I found myself packing my bags in the hotel room realizing the fairy tale was over and it was back to Melbourne to drive trucks again.
This was my last day in Japan, I managed a sleep in as we had not made any big plans other than a trip to a couple more tackle stores to stock up on some more gear and a visit to the the "Ring of Fire" Osaka Aquarium. Myself and Geki were again picked up by Kotaro and we made our way to the office to get some formalities out of the way and to say goodbye to a few people, then a couple of hours north to Osaka.
We arrived at the Aquarium that has a massive shopping centre attatched so we did a bit of window shopping, it was about 1200 so it was decided that a curry lunch was in order, Japanese style curry was nice, not too mild and not to hot and to make it better it had a piece of deep fried tonkatsu pork on top.
It was at this stage that I realised that after the late night previous I had forgotten to charge my camera battery as I passed out on top of the bed watching some weird game show on TV. I had one bar left on the display so I was very conservative with the camera saving it all for the aquarium.
We finished up the feed and made our way into the aquarium, much bigger than the one we have at home in Melbourne, and the squid display had me dumb founded especially when I was able to observe squid spawning in captivity something that has not been well documented in the past. Up close and personal with a Whale Shark, GT's and all sorts was great.
Like all good things the aquarium had come to an end and we had a few hours to kill before my plane was due to leave so we made our way to an outlet store like DFO but bigger, was a laugh for me as no matter what store we went into nothing would fit me, even a belt was not available in my size. Was a good joke at every store we went to.
Time to fly and with my camera well and truly flat we made our way to Kansai International Airport, first of all I checked in and dropped my bags off, the Geki did the same, still with some time to go some last minute souvenir shopping then a farewell to Geki Chan who boarded his domestic flight. I had one last coffee with Kotaro and then it was good bye to this wonderful place.
11 hours later I was in the Gold Coast and then another 4 hours later I was back in Melbourne in the arms of my wonderful patient wife.
What a massive trip, in case I have not made it clear the good folks in Japan treated me like a king during my stay, thanks is far too small gesture for the efforts and kindness shown to me by every one. I have never met a more respectful and giving group of people. I am going back in February for the Osaka International Tackle Show and am counting down the days. I am going to miss a lot about the people and experiences I had in Japan but I am also glad to be home.
So a massive thanks goes out to the good people who cared for me during my stay in Japan, I can not explain the distance that people went for me, forever grateful and forever in dept for this experience
