Saturday, August 31, 2013

Air Asia

My first experience with an international low cost carrier was in 2009. I flew from South Florida to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Let me sum it up by saying it was not a good experience. That was my first and last flight with Spirit Airlines. So back in June when I booked our flights from South Korea to Sydney, Australia with Air Asia (AA), I had some reservations. But as usual, a great sale will get me, all the time. I had some issues booking our flights on AA's website, and had to call the 24 hour customer service line in Australia to help with the booking. The customer service agent stated that the problem was with using a US issued American Express card. The agent was able to process the booking for us over the phone. I choose to book the return flights on Expedia's website and still couldn't use a US issued American Express card. We ended up booking with our Korean Mastercard. Lesson learned; US issued Amex cards cannot be used to book AA flights on Expedia or AA's website. Now on to the flight. My experience with the low cost carrier was lovely, but there are some things about AA that you need to know. First, they charge for every extra perk. I opted not to pay for an inflight meal, but was expecting at least a drink and snacks for free, but passengers have to pay for such items. Luckily, I did have snacks in my bags, but once we got on the plane, I noticed signs that said food brought onto the plane could not be consumed on board. I get the rule in theory, but I didn't see it being enforced. Plenty of people were consuming food that they brought on the plane without being hassled. AA also does not provide inflight blankets. They could be purchased or rented, but not borrowed. If you get cold easily like I do, then you should bring something to keep you warm during the flight. On my second flight segment from Kuala Lumpor to Sydney, I requested to buy a blanket before the flight took off. However, I was not provided with one as I was informed that they had sold out of blankets. They offered to rent me one, but I am not big on renting anything so I declined the offer. Lets just say it was a cold flight, and a mistake never to be made again. I am fine with AA's "a la carte" way of doing business. It allows me to only pay for services that I need!
Happy Travels

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Sumo Wrestling in Tokyo!!!/Welcome Back

Wrestlers entering the ring before the matches. I'm attempting to make a comeback after my two year hiatus. Let’s hope I can keep this up. I recently traveled to Tokyo, Japan. I have lived in Asia now for about three years, but never had the desire to visit Tokyo or Japan for that matter. However, I am growing tired of paying (ridiculous!) visa fees, so I am looking into visa free destinations. And that is where Japan came in. A few weeks ago, I had the notion to look up packages for Osaka. I found a few flight and hotel packages that were reasonable, but for some reason, I just couldn't bring myself to book one. Then one night something said "check into packages for Tokyo." And boy was I surprised when I found the packages were $132 USD less per person. Needless to say I booked my Tokyo trip that SAME night! I truly enjoyed my Tokyo getaway and hope to visit the area again in the near future. In this post I am going to focus on the Sumo Wrestling experience I had while I was in Tokyo. From my understanding, sumo wrestling takes place in Japan only six times a year, three times in Tokyo, once in Osaka, Fukuoka, and Nagoya. If going to a bout is your main reason to visit, please make sure to book your vacation during a period the matches take place. I found out after, I booked the package that I would arrive during a match period. YEAH!!! So of course, I knew this was something I had to do on this trip. Prices for tickets range from 2,100 yen to about 11,300 yen. That equals to about $21 USD for the cheapest tickets which are also known as the general admission tickets. Tickets for other seat selections are sold in advance, online and at various locations around Japan, but the general admission tickets can only be bought the day of at the stadium box office. I was told to get to the box office early (8 am) to buy my ticket and then return at 4 pm for the matches. I didn't quite make it by 8 am, more like 10ish, but still managed to grab two general admission tickets. At the box office, I got the low down of how the tickets work. Basically, there are matches from 8 am until 6 pm. The better wrestlers are later in the day, hence why I was told to return at 4 pm. I was informed that I could leave and enter the stadium for matches on the day the tickets were purchased for. I think that makes the price even sweeter. I was not purchasing tickets for a two hour event, but rather a whole day's worth of events. We went inside to check out the stadium, and were heading to our area, but quickly noticed the stadium was more or less empty. We sat in the "box seats", which are more expensive seats as their closer to the ring and watched about 30-45 minutes of wrestling. We left to meet up with a friend, with plans on returning around 4 pm. Upon our return we had correctly assumed that the stadium would be filled with onlookers. We took our seats in the general admission area, and were glad to have had both the up close/empty stadium vs. far back/packed stadium experience. You could only imagine the atmosphere in the filled stadium. The matches were short, and not as drawn out as the preliminary exercises that take place between the two wrestlers before each match. It was definitely a highlight of my trip to Tokyo! A few pointers if you attend a match in Tokyo: 1. Check out the Museum Exhibition Room. It is free and explains the deep history of this sport. 2. Rent a radio at the stadium and tune in to the English language commentary of each match. The rental fee is about $1 USD, but you must place a refundable $20 USD deposit. In a few days, I will be going to Osaka. I'll be sure to blog about that trip as well. The preliminaries before the match. The empty stadium. Front row seats are allow one to get up close and personal with the wrestlers. Happy Travels!!!