Japan 2018: To Osaka!

As is usual the first few days of our visits to Japan, Charlie & I were up for a few hours in the middle of the night, because our bodies think it's the middle of the afternoon. And so it was last night, from 3:30-ish to 5:00-ish. I keep expecting that the tiredness I feel earlier in the day than usual will make sure that I sleep through the night, but body habits are hard to break. We did manage to sleep-in this morning until about 8:00, which was good timing to prepare for the next leg of our trip- to Osaka!

We did the hotel buffet, which allowed me to have a Japanese-style breakfast of rice, miso soup, & fish. Charlie had an omelette and pastries & we were both happy :) We were also able to do a brief FaceTime with Brendan before he went to bed. Then we checked with the front desk to have them call a taxi for us, with enough time to get to Tokyo Station & buy ekiben (station lunch box) before our Shinkansen left at 11:53. We checked-out and boarded the taxi at 10:30. It was raining pretty steadily in Tokyo, and we thought the traffic was pretty light for a Saturday morning. Little did we know, as I happily hit pokestops along the way at red lights in the back of the taxi, what we were in for at the station...

You see, it's a holiday weekend in Japan (conveniently, they have at least one 3-day weekend a month in Japan), which is why our friends are available to meet us for a fun weekend in Osaka. The photo above was the scene outside the largest bento kiosk in Tokyo Station. The scene inside was worse. I went in alone while Charlie watched the luggage & I'm not sure all of me came back out, but I did have lunch with me when I emerged.

We found our platform & the Nozomi (very fast bullet train) was waiting when we got there a few minutes early. We settled into our seats, with our luggage in the narrow space at the back of the car reserved for larger baggage. I am so looking forward to shedding some weight (aka presents for our friends) when we get to Osaka! The train took off on time (of course) and we were on our way!

The friends we plan to meet in Osaka are two families.  Momo and I became friends nearly 10 years ago when she & her husband, Hiroshi, were living in Rochester while Hiroshi was earning his PhD in Electrical Engineering at the University of Rochester. Momo came to Rochester about a year after he'd started his degree, and spoke little English when she arrived. She met our Japanese teacher at the time, Shizuka, through the local Japanese community and Shizuka introduced us at a time when I'd only been studying Japanese for 4 years or so, & spoke little more Japanese than Momo spoke English :) We got together every week for "knitting club" but it was really knitting & cooking club, because she (and Shizuka, too, before she went to grad school) taught me Japanese home-style cooking and I taught her to knit, and pretty quickly we became more & more fluent in each others' language, and good friends, too. It was pretty tough for me when Hiroshi finished his degree and got a job in Japan, and we had to say goodbye. We skyped quite often, & saw each-other when we'd go back to Japan every 2 years. While visiting Japan, Momo introduced us to her childhood friend Hiroko & Hiroko's husband Daisuke, and we'd get together and do fun stuff during our visits. Momo & Hiroshi had their first baby, Aoi-chan 6 1/2 years ago & Hiroko had their son, Nozomu-kun, a little over 5 years ago. Mai-chan followed Aoi-chan 2 1/2 years ago, and this is how we ended-up with grandchild-like entities in Japan :) It makes the visits so much fun, because now when we visit Japan, we choose a fun location on a 3-day weekend, rent an Air B'nB house, and all meet there to do stuff together. Three years ago it was Kyoto and 1 1/2 years ago it was Nikko. This year we decided to go to the Universal Studios theme park in Osaka, and that's what we'll do tomorrow!

Happily, not only did the 2 1/2 hour shinkansen journey go very smoothly, but Charlie & I decided to follow the instructions from the Air B'nB lady (rather than take a taxi) to take the subway to the house (requiring one line change, with all our luggage!) & it went very well. (woot!) We arrived at the house about 10 minutes after Momo, Hiroshi, Hiroko (Daisuke is busy with work this weekend), and the kids arrived.

I mentioned to Momo this evening  how I'm always amazed by how quickly we form a loose family unit every time we meet, even after 1 1/2 or 2 years in between visits. For the kids, it seems as though they never forget us (we only skype regularly with Momo and her family) and they are perfectly comfortable with Charlie & me from the moment we see each other. We'd all only been at the house for about 1 1/2 hours and we were ready to head out and find some dinner. There's a cool street in Osaka called Doutonbori where there are so many places to eat & so many lights and people, it's supposed to feel like Times Square, so Momo & Hiroko found the train route on their idevices & we were off on an adventure. I had made amigurumi for the kids, a Spiderman for Nozomu-kun, Rillakuma for Aoi-chan, & Korilllakuma for Mai-chan, and they decided to take them along, too. I think the kids pretty much ran everywhere, so those amigurumi got a good workout! Here are some photos of this train trip and along Doutonbori:

The last photo is near the okonomiyaki restaurant where we decided to have dinner . The katakana at the left of the board says "Mayo Beam!" and makes it look as though the chef at the top (Aoi-chan's face) is subduing the okonomiyaki pancake as well as Nozomu-kun :) Hiroko is helping Mai-chan get in on the fun.

Momo said that Osaka okonomiyaki is a regional specialty, so we got settled into the restaurant around the teppan hot plate (the kids were amazing about staying away from it, in spite of the wriggling). Deliciousness ensued:

After filling our tummies with all sorts of okonomiyaki (potato and cheese, seafood, octopus, and also some pork yakisoba, which is fried pork & noodles & veggies) we walked to the Ebisuhashi, which has the biggest, most Times-Square-ish lit-up signs, encountering a dragon on the way.

Hiroko took this last photo & sent it to me :) 

Then, back to the train station, where the dad-types took the kids home & the mom-types shopped for breakfast food at the nearby supermarket (I love Japanese supermarkets!). When we got home, the kids were still zooming around, but clearly close to dropping in their tracks, so into the bathtub & jammies, & asleep within a very short time. The plan is to leave for Universal Studios, which is just a half-hour train ride away, by 10:00 am & go for an early lunch at one of the character restaurants that cater to kids before the lines get too long. We'll probably skip the Harry Potter park as too scary for 6-and-unders, but there's a Sesame Street area, a Snoopy area, Curious George & Hello Kitty, too. So I think we'll find lots to do there! O tanoshimi ni!! (Looking forward to it :)