How did you go at the baseball, champion?
It was an awesome afternoon. It even kept Little Miss Klawdy entertained for three hours. Not an easy task that one.
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Yeah itās good fun. Had the same effect on my niece too.
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For those travelling to Europe in the coming months, without being too alarmist their jet fuel stocks are not in great shape and are probably the most affected by the conflict.
Only about 6 weeks of jet fuel remains with not much arriving in the immediate future. European airlines are trimming schedules already and of note Of note airlines are putting forward that cancellations due to fuel shortages wonāt be eligible for compensation, could be a difficult summer for last minute cancellations.
Was meant to be headed for the Stans at the end of the month, alas with the only viable transit being via Dubai thatās no longer happening. 9/6 hour layovers there with the current situation and government advice absolutely not worth the risk. Emirates and G Adventures both fantastic with refunds fortunately.
Now headed to the NZ South Island instead, not as exotic but should be enjoyable (and safe!) all the same
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Yikes! Last year I cashed in a decade of FF points to book rotw flights for Mrs AT and I. The Euro leg is going through LHR, Milan and Madrid in June.
Fkg Trump.
3 weeks in Japan done and dusted.
What an incredible place. It is everything I love. Trains are frequent and to schedule. Public toilets are impeccably clean and the Japanese people themselves are polite, friendly and loved to take the ā ā ā ā out of my attempts at their language. I was belly laughing with restaurant staff, tour guides and taxi drivers. If tourist fatigue is a thing, and I can understand why, as it is bonkers busy, I rarely saw it. Only once did I get a flat out āNO!ā when entering a restaurant. And even then I got a āsorryā as I turned and left.
I canāt wait to return.
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Great work! Did you have a favourite place or experience?
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Thereās a reason Mrs Azza and I go back frequently and itās not just the proximity and cheap flights. Or Jez, even if he is a pretty cool fella.
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Definitely NOT the Fast And Furious tour. 
Itās really hard to pick a couple of things as we had so fun, but Iāll try.
Tokyo:
Loved the baseball, Ghibli Museum and the very touristy Takeshita St and Tsukiji Market. Also, staying right beside Ueno Station for transport convenience, plus a million restaurants. Also the day trip to see Rainman at Kamakura was excellent.
Didnāt love Shibuya Crossing and Hachiko statue. I do like the story of the dog, but people lining up for an hour, just for a pic with it? No thanks.
Hakone:
Loved the town and the Hakone loop. The photos of Fuji donāt do it justice. Such an amazing sight when you first see it. Also our Ryokan was great. The 4 kaiseki meals were challenging for all of us, but the kids especially.
Kyoto:
The hike into the hills around Kibune was fun, although the guide rolled her ankle at the top and we thought weād need to get her rescued. But she battled on bravely. We spent about 3.5hrs at Teamlab Biovortex. Lots of entertainment. Kinkakuji and Adashino Nenbutsuji were awesome. Arashiyama and Fushimi Anari were just ridiculously packed.
Hiroshima:
Full day bus trip tour of the peace memorial and Miyajima island. Worth it just for the information and ease of getting around.
Osaka:
USJ was brilliant. We did splurge on a 5hr VIP which took us to the front of every queue, and we could feel the hate as we were led through the crowds, but oh well. We hit the wall for the last day or 2 but filled our time with the Castle and Round 1 Stadium (which was busy and half the stuff was broken). Biggest negative was burning @mrjez. Next time!
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I shouldnāt laugh, but this cracked me up.
Sounds like an awesome trip. Iāll be here next time!
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Itās so hard to describe the whole feeling with Mt Fuji. Itās almost alive and somehow you know itās someone you need to pay the highest respect to.
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We decided after Anzac Day that football has ended for the year and on the weekend leave for a month in Bali.
Mrs Fox will her spiritual things and I will meditate by the pools on why my football team is shitee.
7 nights in Lovina on Bali north coast, 7 nights in Munduk in the Mountain Forest and 14 nights in Candidasa on the East coast.
I will post photos of dolphins, waterfalls, monkeys and Bintang. I will try not to read BBlitz.
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We leave for Bali end of the month but only spending 8 days there this time with 3 days in Jakarta on the way over.
We were meant to be going to the World Cup in the US followed by some time in the ME but have canned all that now. Still undecided what to do after Bali as we have cut holidays back to a month off only but tossing up between a fortnight in Hong Kong, Macau and Guangzhou, a fortnight in Vietnam or 8 days in the Maldives with a few days in Mumbai or Chennai on the way home.
Iāve got back into coaching local footy but with the long weekend plus our bye round Iāll only miss a couple of games
Iām thinking that if you take the time to post some pics, youāll probably browse through Blitz as well 
Have a good time though 
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Except for airfares everything is incredibly cheap. Have not stayed in Lovina before but friends tell us it is a good place with lots to do and no drunks from Perth everywhere.
Have driven through mountains before never explored much. Munduk looks interesting and Mrs Fox will be doing a Tai Chi thingy and reckon I might get on a motorcycle and see the sites.
Again friends have been in the area and say it is how Bali was when we were much younger. One reckons it will become the new Ubud and they is destroyed by development and Russians.
Hotel is on Luxury Escapes and photos look great, though it is just $34 a night including breakfast, so I am a bit suss.
It does look like a lovely spot. We havenāt stayed at Lovina but driven through it on the way to Java and commented on how quiet and beautiful it was. Iām sick and tired of the same old spots in Bali but unfortunately we are usually in a group so we all stay together.
We had a large stockpile of Avios and there was good award availability on MEL to Jakarta so we booked that. Unfortunately itās Qantas but oh well. Havenāt booked flights home yet
We are flying Garuda, flight on Saturday leaves early so should be sitting by the pool not long after lunchtime in Lovina, though Saturday is the worst day for traffic anywhere in Bali.
Much better than sitting at Marvel watching Brisbane win by a century.
We much prefer Garuda but no award availability for the dates we wanted and we wanted to burn some Avios. Also wanted to spend some time in Jakarta beforehand. We donāt usually like the Qantas meals so Iāll make sure to fill up in the First lounge beforehand 
Heading there in 3 weeks
3 Nights Nusa Dua - Never stayed there before
6 Nights Penestanan (20 min walk to Ubud Palace)
2 Nights Seminyak for sunset beach beers
Will watch the Tiges vs Essendon game in a bar but miss the eagles game as I will be on the flight home on Dumpstar. Probs wont miss much..
Also Nov/Dec Wet season Trip
3 Nights Sideman
4 Nights Amed
3 Nights Sanur (but that may change)
I keep telling Mrs Thommo I want to go back to the 1985-88 period when Bali was somewhat impacted by tourism but not overrun with instas, Beach Clubs, tatt parlours, etc.
Bali belly was common but fun!!!
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