Osaka Marathon 2018- Travelling to Osaka and REPC (23rd & 24th November)

This is the second consecutive year I'm doing the Osaka Marathon and this is the only marathon I'm doing for the whole year. I managed to get a slot through balloting this time round, so unlike last year when I bought a race package, I was able to source for a better and more centralised hotel once I submitted my registration to go through balloting.

Xmas trees are up in Changi Airport!

This is the year which I did the least number of races, other than the gourmet (half) marathon I did in June, I only took part in one fun run (Star Wars Run) , one longer distance race (Straits Time Run) and one half marathon (CSC Run By the Bay). I'm undertrained as usual so I guess my only target is to meet the cut off time. Last year I only managed to blog about pre-trip segment before I flew off to Osaka, so I hope I'll finish the blog this time round.

A search on Skyscanner a month ago showed that Vietnam Airlines is no longer the cheapest full service airlines to fly to Japan, so I'm flying on Garuda this time. This is my first flight on Garuda and transiting in Jakarta, it cost about $730 when I booked just a month ago, so the price was not too bad and was the cheapest.

Different Changi Wifi router (bigger and more powerful)

The flight was at 8.20pm, I had a lot of time on hand as its already holidays but I procrastinated in packing and only started packing around 5pm. I got a little stressed but I could only blame it on myself for the last minute dashing around. We managed to step out of the house by 6.20pm, hopped on Grab and arrived at the airport in good time. I collected the wifi router from Changi Recommends and said my goodbyes to P.

I was feeling quite tired as I didnt get the chance to have a good nap earlier (went for a short seminar, met the girls for lunch before I headed home) so I spent a good part of the flight sleeping. I downloaded some movies on Netflix and there were also in-flight entertainment but I didnt finish any single movie or even the shorter TV shows. The flight to Jakarta was not as comfortable but I was glad it was just a short trip of 1.5hour, there was a delay on the turnaround flight so we only flew off at 9.20pm, one full hour later. The transit time at Jakarta was very short due to this delay and it was time to board the plane for Osaka by the time I arrived at the transit terminal. The food and seat on this leg to Osaka was much better (I was seated next to a Japanese guy instead of between two Indonesian guys like the previous leg, I blamed myself for not checking in early and I also forgot to ask for aisle seats when I checked in at the counter) and I slept most of the journey there.

It was 8am (Japan time) when I arrived. Honestly, I preferred Nagoya to Osaka after my previous trip here last year. The transport system here is too complicating even though I'm used to taking trains around Japan, there are many subways and metro lines inter-weaving with the JR so I took some time to figure out how to get to my hotel in Namba. There were quite a few choices available which made things more complicating for me. I ended up on Nankai Airport Line and I was glad that I could use the Suica apps on my phone to pay for my transport around here (discovered during my Tokyo trip this year). I thought I had to get as close to the hotel as possible before I push my luggage all the way there, so I wanted to change to a JR train (the JR station in Namba being nearer to my hotel), but I could not find the JR line after alighting at the stop indicated on Google maps. So after one big round and feeling rather tired, I hopped back onto a train heading to Namba. It was already close to 11am, the trip on Nankai Rail took 1 hour and I spent half an hour just looking for the JR while dragging my luggage up and down, I was getting flustered as I was already at the expo collecting my racepack by this time last year.

I took awhile to get out of the station at Namba as it is really huge and finally found myself navigating my way to my hotel (Hotel Kanade) which I will be spending two nights. It is always the most difficult navigating to the hotel the first time, but I was glad things got better from there. I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived at the hotel and the lady at the counter told me that my room is ready for check in. This had never happened before when I'm in Japan as the Japanese are rather strict about check in time, I was just expecting to drop my luggage at the concierge and head to the race expo but now being able to rest in the room for a short while was really a bonus. I'll post the review of the hotel at the end of this post so that we can stay focus about the journey to REPC...

Posters at Namba station

After checking in, I allowed myself less than an hour of rest and I headed out to collect my race pack at the race expo when it was noon. By this time, my stomach was already growling as my previous meal was 4am in the morning on the plane. I walked around the Namba train station and saw all my favourite Japanese cuisine! I decided to just give myself a break and have lunch before heading over to the Intex Osaka. From my previous experience, the place is rather far and there's no food or snacks to buy along the way. There is a food fest kind of thing at the race expo, but that will be after all the race related booth and race pack collection. When I went to collect race pack at 11am last year, there was a really long queue and time was spent waiting.

I liked what I saw on display outside

Tempura set at this shop caught my eye

Yummy tempura with rice and udon

It was already lunch time and customers were filling up the shops, so after walking one round I stopped at this shop. I guess their specialty was soba but I was already smacking my lips when I saw the tempura set on display outside. They did not have an English menu so the wait staff told me to take a picture of what I'll like from the display window and I showed it to her. The tempura did not disappoint, it was really good and I did not expect that there will be rice beneath the tempura (I forgot that in Japan it can be normal to have two different kinds of carbs in a set) but the rice tasted really good with the tempura sauce. Mmm.. I almost forgot how good authentic Japanese food is. I was happy with the meal as it only cost 880Y and that's just slightly over $10SGD.

The large banner at its usual position, many took pics in front of this

Almost the same last year

I cant really remember how I went to Intex Osaka last year, but I guess with the very complicating yet efficient subway and metro lines, I went to Cosmo Square under the recommendation of the race package coordinator and it was a long walk from there. This time round, I checked out my trusty Google map and took the new tram to Nakafuto Station which is nearer. Since I took all the pics last year and didnt blog about it, I'll post some of the 2017 pictures here just for fun and for comparison.

The same rainbow pathway that greeted us

I didnt have the mood or energy to queue up for this so...

The very big race pack collection area divided according to charity

Long queue for foreign runners

The huge crowd last year so I guess things had improved?

It seemed like there were really a lot of foreigners taking part in this race, so the queues for locals were very short but there was a long queue for us. I remember vividly that the queue started outside this building last year so either things had improved or coming at a later time is a better idea.

A plastic bag was provided and tables were there for us to pack

Roughly two weeks before the race, we received an email providing the participants guide and online declaration etc. There was a voucher to print after the declaration was done so that we can collect our race pack at the race expo. I was lucky to be in a queue moving faster than the next and I think approximately 20min later, the English/ Chinese speaking personnel verified my passport with the voucher and I received my bib. This was the only area queueing was needed and the next line was the race tee. I packed my stuff and then moved out to the sponsors area to look at the merchandise.

Limited edition merchandise 

Different Mizuno limited edition tshirts

I guess all those who could not run a sub 4 are all beginners 

The Mizuno merchandise area was the most crowded and honestly I thought the shoe and Tshirt designs were not too bad although I still prefer Nike stuff. I thought of looking or buying some stuff but my very tired mind and body just wanted to get out from there as fast as I could, on top of that there were also long queues at the payment counters.

The metro design is cute

After the main sponsors area, we moved out of the hall to another hall where the other random vendors have their booths. I felt the fatigue set in from the red eye flight so I wanted to move out from this hall as fast as I could. Right in front of the entrance was this tori gate thing where runners could queue and go through some ceremony for good luck and blessings for the race. There was even a (for real?) priest reading out names and blessing the runners. I thought the concept was interesting and since I've done it last year, I thought I'll like to do it again for good luck.

The makeshift shrine for runners

Priest doing his rituals

This year even the omikuji was introduced

All of us could pick our fortune and carry the charm with us on race day

I guess everyone will get a positive blessing fortune

I'm not sure if anyone picked a bad fortune paper from the tray but I was glad to see mine as 大吉, I think I really needed that for the race. The guy behind me was sniggering and I peeped at his paper and he had gotten 大大吉 so I guess there were really some variations among the pile. They even provided a small cute clear plastic cover for us to put the charm. After the priest blessed us by reading out our names and some stuff (I could tell he was reading my name but not sure what came after that), we could write our wishes on these wooden wishing boards like what they have in shrines. I thought it was so interesting to bring in this Japanese culture into the race so I went through with it even though I was so tired. It just took a short while anyway.

My ema wishes for 2018

I took this picture in 2017, which explained the ema tablets. Now reading it closely, the "add comma" part is so funny...

Coincidentally I wrote the same thing last year

I moved on quickly to the charity booths where they had sorted runners according to the charity they pledged for. For both years, I pledged for the preservation of natural resources as this is the closest to my heart so I'm in the aqua team. I found my name on the board and took a picture.

Found my name! 

Picture taken in 2017, the official race merchandise

Huge gourmet market which I didnt have the energy to visit at all (2017 picture)

After this part, there were many many more booths selling race related products and merchandise but I really couldn't wait to go back to my room and get some rest, so I moved through the area really quickly. The whole hall was quite crowded and I think there were a few rows of booths which we had to walk through before we can finally get out of the the place. Last year I still went to the gourmet market to get some food but this time round I just headed straight for the door. I was dozing off in totally unglam pose on the new tram and metro during my journey back to the hotel but I was so glad that I managed to nap for an hour or two before I was recharged and I headed out for dinner at 6pm.

Our favourite restaurant in Hokkaido

Can remember what exactly this shop sell, I think this is where people get their souvenirs

Gyoza is a specialty of Osaka

There were lots of shop selling takoyaki, another Osaka specialty

More takoyaki shops

This part of the city area is the Dontobori and its super crowded and popular, there were many tourists walking on this stretch looking for a dinner place. I'm super happy to be staying so near to this area so that dinner is easily accessible. One interesting feature of the shops and businesses are the big colourful and 3D signboards, I think its pretty iconic of this area. I already took pictures last year, but can't help doing it all over again.

My favourite Ichiran ramen

Behind those rows of shops is a stretch of river canal running parallel to Dontobori street and there are restaurants lined up along that stretch too, its pretty much like Singapore River as there are also river cruise for the tourists. My pre-marathon meal is the same as what I had last year, this time round I'm really craving for Ichiran and felt that the carbo loading from the ramen will be really satisfying. The queue tonight was not that bad as compared to last year, so I decided to just stand in line since I was kind of well-rested after the nap. I was able to join the queue in front of the shop quite fast and after 20min or less, I was already at the booth.

I had Ichiran at another shop last year. There was a long line in front of this riverside outlet and there was also a long line along the river then, it was pretty crazy so I walked away, I was pleasantly surprised to find another outlet in the main building just 50m away and there was no queue there. It was strange that one outlet had long queues while the other one had no queue, the noodles tasted the same to me though.

There are always long queues at the two takoyaki shops nearer to the bridge

I was able to move upstairs and get to the vending machine soon

Area behind the booth for us to hang our jacket and put the bags

The individual booth concept is great for solo traveler like me

My set meal ramen (with added nori and blended tea)

I'm not a foodie and my tastebud is not that discerning, but I must say the tonkatsu broth of ramen in Japan is way better than those I've tried in SG, its so rich and so tasty (there were only exceptionally few occasions when I didnt have really good ones), the texture of the noodles are really great too. Somehow I'll crave for Ichiran or ramen when I'm in Japan, especially in cold weather. For a rather 'fast food' kind of concept, the cost of this meal came up quite high and it was my most expensive meal in Japan for this trip. I selected the ramen with 5 toppings without thinking much about it and I added a tea and my favorite nori to it, so the total cost was about $20+ SGD. It was not that costly but I'm just rather prudent when it come to meal since I dont really live to eat. I was kind of amused when the tea came as it was just a bottled blended tea, I also noticed that the partitions of the booth could be folded in someway if there are groups of customers sitting together.

Glico running man outside one souvenir shop

The actual running man, the icon of Osaka

After the meal, I was fulling really full so I walked around the bridge area for a while to get the food down. This Glico running man is somehow the icon of Osaka so many tourists stopped to take a picture and there were even people striking the same pose (or try to). During the marathon, part of the route went under the bridge and we ran underneath this signboard with the 'running man'.

This being my 6th overseas marathon, I got lazy and just went to bed around 10pm without really packing for the race. I didnt even bother to do the flat lay photo nowadays lolx. I just felt quite tired and wanted to sleep early so that I'm full of energy for the race, although lack of sleep had never affected my race performance before. I decided to wake up at 5-5.15am and just get myself ready from then.

Hotel Kanade Osaka Namba

I took awhile to get out of the station at Namba as it is really huge and finally found myself navigating my way to my hotel (Hotel Kanade) which I will be spending two nights. It is always the most difficult navigating to the hotel the first time, but I was glad things got better from there. I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived at the hotel and the lady at the counter told me that my room is ready for check in. This had never happened before when I'm in Japan as the Japanese are rather strict about check in time, I was just expecting to drop my luggage at the concierge and head to the race expo but now being able to rest in the room for a short while was really a bonus.

Small double room of 11m square but still spacious for me

Pros: Location, Location, Location

After staying here for a few days, I honestly feel that the location is really good, especially compared to my hotel last year. It was just a 10min walk away from the busy Namba area when I had to go out for my meals and the subway/metro entrances are right at the doorstep. It was also much more convenient taking the metro to Osaka castle as compared to walking there last year. I stayed near castle last year as it was part of the race package, I could walk to start point on race day but personally I would not choose to stay there if i book the hotel on my own. It was terrible when every single day I had to walk 30min or take the train to Namba area. On race day last year, the tour bus dropped me off at Namba, I dragged my tired body back to the hotel and then I had to head back to Namba after a good shower for dinner. And of course, I went back the same way for the second time after dinner.

The area next to the bed, window could not open

Washing and bathing area, many complained that it is too small

Many people commented about the good location, but they were also affected by the small size of the bathroom and the room itself. As I was staying alone in a room with a double bed, this was a non-issue for me. i was able to leave my luggage opened on the floor at the foot of the bed. The bathroom seemed a bit small to me, it was okay for me as I am quite short but I guess someone bigger will have problems turning around.

Some reviews also mentioned about the windows, there was a small window in my room on the second floor but the window as almost non-existent so I did not try opening it. I guess the size of the room and window with no view is quite common in land scarce Japan, so I'm not too bothered by it.

When I was checking into the room, the staff informed me to paste the magnetic "Clean Up Room" sign on the door if I want the room to be cleaned. Therefore, this service is not automatic and i'm not sure if its part of their green efforts or something, but from the reviews some guests missed out on this information and didnt have their rooms cleaned for days.

Outside the hotel

Outside the hotel 

Cons: The onsen and security issues

I always make sure that I look for a hotel with onsen whenever I'm doing a marathon, it helps with recovery in a way and of course I'm also a big big fan of onsen. However, I was surprised when nothing was mentioned about the onsen when I checked in. I browsed through all the pieces of paper about the hotel in the room and nothing was mentioned. This was certainly odd. I logged onto the Agoda site to check again and there were people who mentioned about the onsen on the 6th floor and its a pay per use service (500Y). I dont mind paying for the bath if it means there will be exclusivity. However, due to the lack of information, I decided to find out more by taking the lift up to the 6th floor. In the lift, it was indicated that the onsen is on the 6th floor of the building I was staying, but the whole floor was not it up when I went up and there was nobody at the counter. After collecting the race pack, I went up again before going back to my room but it was still dark and there was still nobody around. I called the front desk to check the timing and she mentioned that onsen is only opened at 5pm. After dinner, I decided to head up for a soak. To my surprise, there were lights along the corridor but the counter was still empty. There was a signage saying that I have to head down to the front desk to make payment and reservation before I can use the open air bath. I explored further and there were lockers and some doors leading to the bathing area but there was absolutely nobody, so I was not sure if anyone would notice if I just slipped in. Anyway, the whole place being so empty was also a bit spooky so I decided to give up on the idea of soaking. I was not staying at the main building, so in order to make payment I have to put on layer of clothes and make my way down to the next building before I can finally bathe. And I wonder why this information was not provided by the lady at the front desk when I asked.

I guess I was also affected by the reviews as some reviewers mentioned about the lack of security in the new building I was staying. There was nobody manning the front desk, it was clearly stated at the entrance of the hotel and I guess anyone can just slip in, head up to the room and the onsen area. I'm not sure if I'll notice it if I didnt read the reviews, but I still feel generally safe as the hotel is facing the main road and everywhere looked bright and chirpy. In conclusion, the hotel was not too bad and I was really happy about the location but honestly there is no lack of hotels at Namba area so I'm not sure if I'll stay at the same hotel if I'm back at Osaka again.