DAY 1 - KANSAI/UMEDA SKY BUILDING
The flight from Dallas to Osaka was long, arduous and tested every ounce of our willpower. Not that we were unprepared for it. Back in Dallas, after a relatively easy check-in and security check, we parked ourselves at the Cool River Cafe - for brunch and some cocktails. The waiter did'nt even bat an eyelid when I asked for mine extra strong, guess he's used to travelers fortifying themselves before the big trip!
In the flight, that spanned nothing short of fourteen hours, we saw a couple of movies, heard a bunch of songs on our ipod (what did people do before ipods??), took numerous walks in the aisle, and even opened up a bar tab with the stewardess. In the end, we were elated when the pilot touched down at the Kansai International airport.
When one lands in Japan, one expects something spectacular to happen. After all, this is the land of Lexus motorcars, Honda motorbikes, almost-human robots and lest I forget - SONY Playstation. Sad to say, there were no such vibes. It would be many days before we figured out what makes Japan Inc. tick the way it does. The one Japanese attribute that hit us like a ton of bricks was the politeness that was showered upon us by so many people, right from the start. I am so used to being harassed world-wide by immigration officials, these jerks take special pride in pissing me off. Not the Japanese immigration officers though, they are a kind and gentle bunch. They courteously and graciously welcomed us into their home.
On getting out of the airport, we proceeded to the Japan Railway office to get our Railway Pass validated. The girl at the counter could not stop giggling at our questions, and one would have thought we were the first foreigners she ever laid eyes on! She was extremely kind and answered all our queries with her limited English knowledge. We christened her "Giggly girl". Soon, we made our way to Osaka, which was about a 30 minute journey from the airport.
Osaka Central was daunting to say the least. There were hundreds of people running around like they had something to do - and this was on a Sunday evening! There were so many exits,and a plethora of shops and kiosks. Some wrong exits later, we managed to find exit 33, the stairs from which led us directly to our hotel, the magnificent Dai-Ichi hotel. After checking in, we made it to our room (with a view), and plopped on our beds knowing fully well that lying down for more than five minutes would find us sleeping the evening (and by extension) the night away. Not wanting to fall into deep slumber, we freshened up and proceeded to find our way to the Umeda Sky Building. On the way out of our room, I noticed a beer vending machine - a first for me. I made a mental note to make a point of it in my travelogue, and here it is!
There are quite a few ways one can spend an evening in Osaka, but all we had was that - one evening. To make the best of it, we chose to visit the Umeda Sky building, which is almost 200 metres tall and has a floating "observatory" near the top. The Sky building is neither an architectural marvel nor is it any wonder of the world, but it is grand, imposing and very much a visual delight. To save the remaining reserves of our energy, we took a cab to the Sky building, and were whisked to one of the upper floors, by a super-fast evelator. Here you can buy merchandise, take in a movie or eat at the restaurant. At this point, if you are really adventurous, you can take an escalator to the floating garden observatory. This is no ordinary escalator - as you can see in one of the pictures. The escalator connects one side of the building to the floating observatory. All around this escalator is thin air, that's it! Riding this contraption is not for the weak hearted! Hanging out at the observatory is pure bliss; you get to walk around and see Osaka at her panoramic finest. You also get to see many young Japanese lovebirds (the human kind) in action, but then again - the toppermost part of the Sky building evokes such strong emotions.
As it was getting late, we decided to get back to Dai-Ichi, and explore some culinary options. The girl at the desk thought we would be delighted that there was an Indian Restaurant (Ashoka) situated in their basement two floors below. For some reason, she was a bit perplexed when we informed her that we would like to let loose our epicurean desires. She relented, and directed us to Bali - an Indonesian restaurant located in the hotel itself. The place reminded us of Indonesia (although neither of us have been there!). Okay, let me reiterate, it reminded us of what we "thought" Indonesia outght to look like and feel like. Unfortunately, their Chef had no desire to even look at vegetables, let alone cook them. We felt a bit disappointed that we had to dine at Papamilano, an Italian trattoria. Going all the way to Japan and eating Italian? Little did we know that Italian cuisine in Japan tastes so GOOD. They say that when you travel, the food always tastes better. Having said that, the Risotto and the Spaghetti we had for dinner that night would trounce anything Italian this side of the Pacific.
At long last,we could hit the sack knowing fully well we had done good. With what little we had seen of Japan, her people and the sights, we were confident that the next week would be thrilling, and mind-opening.
In the flight, that spanned nothing short of fourteen hours, we saw a couple of movies, heard a bunch of songs on our ipod (what did people do before ipods??), took numerous walks in the aisle, and even opened up a bar tab with the stewardess. In the end, we were elated when the pilot touched down at the Kansai International airport.
When one lands in Japan, one expects something spectacular to happen. After all, this is the land of Lexus motorcars, Honda motorbikes, almost-human robots and lest I forget - SONY Playstation. Sad to say, there were no such vibes. It would be many days before we figured out what makes Japan Inc. tick the way it does. The one Japanese attribute that hit us like a ton of bricks was the politeness that was showered upon us by so many people, right from the start. I am so used to being harassed world-wide by immigration officials, these jerks take special pride in pissing me off. Not the Japanese immigration officers though, they are a kind and gentle bunch. They courteously and graciously welcomed us into their home.
On getting out of the airport, we proceeded to the Japan Railway office to get our Railway Pass validated. The girl at the counter could not stop giggling at our questions, and one would have thought we were the first foreigners she ever laid eyes on! She was extremely kind and answered all our queries with her limited English knowledge. We christened her "Giggly girl". Soon, we made our way to Osaka, which was about a 30 minute journey from the airport.
Osaka Central was daunting to say the least. There were hundreds of people running around like they had something to do - and this was on a Sunday evening! There were so many exits,and a plethora of shops and kiosks. Some wrong exits later, we managed to find exit 33, the stairs from which led us directly to our hotel, the magnificent Dai-Ichi hotel. After checking in, we made it to our room (with a view), and plopped on our beds knowing fully well that lying down for more than five minutes would find us sleeping the evening (and by extension) the night away. Not wanting to fall into deep slumber, we freshened up and proceeded to find our way to the Umeda Sky Building. On the way out of our room, I noticed a beer vending machine - a first for me. I made a mental note to make a point of it in my travelogue, and here it is!
There are quite a few ways one can spend an evening in Osaka, but all we had was that - one evening. To make the best of it, we chose to visit the Umeda Sky building, which is almost 200 metres tall and has a floating "observatory" near the top. The Sky building is neither an architectural marvel nor is it any wonder of the world, but it is grand, imposing and very much a visual delight. To save the remaining reserves of our energy, we took a cab to the Sky building, and were whisked to one of the upper floors, by a super-fast evelator. Here you can buy merchandise, take in a movie or eat at the restaurant. At this point, if you are really adventurous, you can take an escalator to the floating garden observatory. This is no ordinary escalator - as you can see in one of the pictures. The escalator connects one side of the building to the floating observatory. All around this escalator is thin air, that's it! Riding this contraption is not for the weak hearted! Hanging out at the observatory is pure bliss; you get to walk around and see Osaka at her panoramic finest. You also get to see many young Japanese lovebirds (the human kind) in action, but then again - the toppermost part of the Sky building evokes such strong emotions.
As it was getting late, we decided to get back to Dai-Ichi, and explore some culinary options. The girl at the desk thought we would be delighted that there was an Indian Restaurant (Ashoka) situated in their basement two floors below. For some reason, she was a bit perplexed when we informed her that we would like to let loose our epicurean desires. She relented, and directed us to Bali - an Indonesian restaurant located in the hotel itself. The place reminded us of Indonesia (although neither of us have been there!). Okay, let me reiterate, it reminded us of what we "thought" Indonesia outght to look like and feel like. Unfortunately, their Chef had no desire to even look at vegetables, let alone cook them. We felt a bit disappointed that we had to dine at Papamilano, an Italian trattoria. Going all the way to Japan and eating Italian? Little did we know that Italian cuisine in Japan tastes so GOOD. They say that when you travel, the food always tastes better. Having said that, the Risotto and the Spaghetti we had for dinner that night would trounce anything Italian this side of the Pacific.
At long last,we could hit the sack knowing fully well we had done good. With what little we had seen of Japan, her people and the sights, we were confident that the next week would be thrilling, and mind-opening.
posted by ACV | 5:50 PM
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