Osaka and the retrieval of the Earth Cruiser. (Part one)

21/4/14

We are in our hotel in Osaka, on the port, right next to the aquarium.

The aquarium is awesome, with a 3 story tank. The huge aquarium even has a  whale shark -albeit a smallish one. We estimated it is about 3.5 meters long. The aquarium features cold water fish and animals, such as sea otter, penguins, dolphins, seals, giant spider crabs. It also has some tropical things such as capebara and sloths, and a monkey. We spent an interesting afternoon there whilst awaiting contact from the shipping agent.

The shipping agent email eventually came, informing us that the ship is arriving TOMORROW! 

But there is paper work to be done! We apparently needed to declare that we had "unaccompanied goods" when we came through customs at the airport! If not we may need to pay import duties and tax on everything that is not on the carnet! We have to make a "packing list" with EVERYTHING (including toilet paper) listed, along with its value! What a headache! We would like to have known about this before we left home! 

We did in fact ask customs at the airport whether we needed to declare any unaccompanied goods. We showed them a picture of the vehicle and they asked if we had a carnet. They then told us to tick "no" on that form.....

The shipping agent is going to explain the situation and try to get us out of trouble. 

We also have to have our carnet approved by the Japan Automobile Association. It is not clear whether this is to be done before or after the customs clearance is obtained. 

So the next few days will be spent dealing with beaurocracy - with the added language difficulties of being in Japan! Oh fabulous! 

22/4/14

We need to get the Automobile Association clearance of our carnet BEFORE the vehicle can be unpacked, but AFTER we have compulsory insurance. No -new information! We need to get the Automobile Association documents BEFORE we can get the insurance.

We spent an hour each way on multiple trains getting the documentation we need from the Automobile Association (JAF). We also got a request from the shipping agent to say how many clothes we had in the car (?) and to put a value on them. A value on pillows, sheets, mosquito coils..... 

And then we heard that they want everything unpacked into boxes. They will then tick everything off against our packing list. They say we should have declared unaccompanied goods at the airport, and they will not waive the requirement. Tax and duty will have to be paid on all unaccompanied goods! 

There was a bright moment in the day though.... We saw OUR SHIP come into part. She sailed right past our hotel window! Our car is in one of those red containers! 

23/4/14

Not much to do today, except fill out a few forms. So we went sight seeing in Osaka.

Dotombori Street... Notice the big puffer fish half way down the street -advertising a fugu (puffer fish) resturaunt.

And here they are awaiting their fate! 

Here is the window display of another eatery. That's nine kinds of raw seafood for about $50.

This octopus was advertising an octopus resturaunt. Steam comes out of his ears, his eyes flash and his tentacles move! 

This is an arcade nearby. It is LONG and crowed with people, even on a week day. It is lined with boutiques, department stores (Diamaru) etc. 

There are pinball arcades everywhere, and the sound of the balls dropping is deafening. I kid you not, my phone measured the roar at 90 decibels peaking at 100db. The staff in there must be deaf by now! 

That is just one of approximately 10 lanes in the room! 

And lastly, Osaka station -these photos don't do justice to the huge mass of humanity passing through here every minute. It is all marble, immaculately clean and remarkably quiet. It looks more like a foyer of the Hilton than a railway station. 

24/4/14

We are having a quiet day in the hotel today catching up on bills, planning the first phase of the car trip.  

Nice.