Ohio Gozaimas Japan - Land of the Rising Sun :D

I was very excited when I accepted a swap for Osaka. My husband, Lionel was not so much after the tsunami and the nuclear disaster. He also told me that the airport was actually on an artificial island. It took a little bit of cajoling that Osaka was far from the disaster site, and that I would stay indoors if those were the instructions on arrival for him to relax. Just before the flight I remembered being told in training college that regular cellular services are unavailable in Japan and Korea. Was time for Lionel to cajole me coz I freaked out (I am a blackberry addict!). Lionel sent me saying it will be alright, I just need to relax and go enjoy the flight and I could call him first thing as I land back. In briefing I was that its super expensive to call from there but for a while now 3G phones are operable in Japan. That didn't help me. I figured the crew lounge would be available to so I could chat with Lionel in between my adventures and could buy a calling card and use public phones. Messaging Lio on the sly from the lav and back galley till i had to strap in for take off, I finally said goodbye and was airborne. This was going to be an adventure and I i lifted my mood thinking of returning and telling Lio all about it.

I've never been to Japan before. I've heard so much from crew as to how nice the flight and pax are. And how true it turned out to be. With the exception of a slightly cuckoo purser who was to the T-by the books and gave us minimum legal rest, the flight was one of the best ever. As a known fact, the Japanese are very polite and hospitable folk, very culturally sensitive. It was amazing to see most of the crew make an extra effort on this flight to make pax feel at home. As they understand very little to no English, we were sharing notes on a few words in Japanese with some help from the Japanese crew. It was odd to see so many Portuguese-speaking, Japanese-looking people who were coming from Brazil. Turns out parts of Brazil and Spain were favorite destinations to migrate to a few decades ago. Need to dig up the history on that. The flight was bumpy almost all the way as we flew over the Himalayas and got a magnificent view of the K2 peak. My first taste of authentic Japanese cuisine apart from sushi (that I've had twice in my life) was wheat noodle salad, fried chicken with rice and vegetables with a sauce and sweet-sour dip from the pax menu. Fair to say it was very edible but not all the crew liked it. And the flight passed with a very easy service, few call bells, a very friendly cockpit crew and just one slightly drunk old man whose wife got worried seeing him sick.

Off the flight, we took a shuttle train to arrivals at Kasai International Airport. We were each given an orange paper which served as our crew permit/visa and warned not to lose it as we must return it when we depart unless we wanted to pay a fine and be stuck at the airport. A few fingerprints and a photo later, we headed to the bus waiting for us outside. The air was so fresh and crisp. My lungs couldn't handle the pure oxygen I think as I couldn't even take a proper deep breath. We hopped onto the bus and rode on a long connecting bridge from this artificial island to the real islands of Japan. The sun was setting and reflected a golden hue off the seawater. At some point, I passed out and woke up every now and then realizing my mouth was wide open, thankfully the drool hadn't dropped yet. Lol! 

As many of us were in Osaka for the first time, we planned to head out site-seeing to Kyoto the next morning. A bunch was doing dinner a little later at this place the f/o (learn-first officer!!) highly recommended and with much convincing and temptation I said I'd meet them at the given hour in the lobby to head out together. The room had old-fashioned sliding windows with sheer sheets and a solid wooden panel, a comfortable bed, and a foyer stocked with Japanese green tea and tiny porcelain cups without handles. The combination of fatigue, laziness, and indecisiveness got the better of me. I actually threw chits saying "GO" or "NO GO" and ended up staying back. 

I called Marlene, one of the SFS (senior flight stewardess) from the flight and asked if I could pop into her room for a bit. We chatted about random stuff, intense discussions about fanatics and about life in general. She's Indian, brought up in Dubai and her husband lives in Muscat. We sort of had a connection knowing how hard it is to live away from your spouse. Soon we headed to the nearby drug store where she wanted to buy some stuff. I was in splits of laughter when Marlene did the V-sign which all Asians are famous for when posing for any and all pictures. I struck a pose holding up my hands as well. We ended up spending over an hour at the store going through all the aisles, trying to figure out what some of the stuff was looking at the picture descriptions coz not everything was printed in English. They sell some pretty cool stuff there like detox patches for the sole of your feet which work while you sleep, all imaginable hair products in various fragrances, a whole section for oils and balms, another one for tummy ailment cures, The works! The attendants loudly shouted out to one another in Japanese or to beckon customers while they worked checking people out and arranging the shelves which was rather weird and annoying to both of us (must be normal in Japan!). Eventually, we couldn't take all the shouting anymore and it was closing time so billed and walked back to the hotel stopping to pose on a locally made bike. Being exhausted we called it a night and split. I ran off to the business center for a quick chat with Lionel updating him on the plans and promising to come to chat either before heading out or after returning back to the hotel the next day.

After a good night's sleep, I managed to wake up nice and early to meet Marlene and Vanessa in the lobby. Keshan showed up shortly. We decided to leave when Fabio and Denise who also wanted to come along didn't answer their room phones after a couple of tries. We got directions and a map each from the concierge and headed to the train station. It was a pleasantly cool day. Vanessa had been here a few days ago and led the way to Osaka station which was just a few minutes away. We kept smelling food where there wasn't any (McDonald's where a bank stood!), we all must have been very hungry. We unanimously decided to grab something to eat from the convenience store at the huge station. Like the previous night, we stood looking through all the items on offer from burgers to puffs and sausages in this circular puff, sushi, sandwiches and unrecognizable foods. The foodie I am, soon I had my hands full and decided it was all too much to eat so I returned a few things. We walked out with French toast with cream cheese, a bacon puff, a sausage twisty roll, burgers, drinks and nuts. Not finding a place to eat, we stood in a corner stuffing our faces without a care in the world. Happy with full stomachs we proceeded to buy tickets and shelled out quite a bit for a return journey. 

At the station I took over navigation, I like leading the way. Hehe. We just missed the train we were to board while we tried to figure if it was the right one. A grumpy European-looking man by the door wasn't much help as he chose to look away while we asked him bout the train from the platform. So we waited for the next one departing in a few minutes. We found seats and all plopped down for the long ride to Kyoto. Half chatting and half restless we finally reached Kyoto station. Marlene and Kesh ganged up against me the whole time and we were teasing each other like kids. By themself, they were both very nice to me, but together they turned out to be monsters which I found out all through the day. It was all good fun though. We found our way to the right exit with some help from a ticket refund desk lady. We pondered over a huge signboard regarding buses to the site-seeing spots and went to the bus ticketing office. Unable to decide if we should do a bus tour through the city, we asked the staff there. We figured a day pass on the route where we wanted to go was way cheaper than the bus tour so we qued up and were told we could buy the ticket on the bus. 

Our first stop was Kiyomizudera Temple atop a small hill where we were told we could buy gifts and souvenirs that we wanted. The bus driver was a stern-looking fellow, talking to pax on the PA system from a hands-free as they got in asking if it was the right bus to where they wanted to go. This shouting business seems to be quite rampant in the service industry here. We managed to get seats in the front and watched on as we drove through the streets till we finally reached our stop. Clueless about which way to go, we asked a shopkeeper lady and strangely she had no idea where this place was. Right about then a group of 3 kimono-clad ladies walked by. We asked them and they pointed us in the direction after consulting the same shopkeeper we spoke to! With not many options we headed that way and walked for a while and then decided to ask another guy how far we were. This man looked like a tourist just like us. He pointed us to the opposite direction and said he was going that way and he could show us. So we followed trusting he knew where he was going as unlike us he wasn't carrying a map. Turns out this guy was right and the way to the temple was very close to where we got off the bus. We thanked him and as he turned back we realized he came this far just to show us the way. So we set off walking on the very narrow sidewalk on the already very narrow road up the hill. Groups of kids in school uniforms with maps in hand swarmed the place and we thought they must be on an excursion. They found us fascinating and stopped to stare or say a shy hello in English before giggling off. There were many shops selling porcelain crockery, tiny glass animals and hello kitty effigies, hand-made fans, bags and jewelry. We stopped at a cafe for a drink break in the pleasant sun and chatted while I tried to hide in the shade at the table. Back on the road, we reached a point where vehicles were no longer allowed. I couldn't resist a green tea ice cream which was so refreshing. 

Peering into shops every now and then looking for magnets we finally reached the entrance to the temple. Our first glimpse was of the red top of one of the temples. Eating there was not allowed so everyone had to wait while I gobbled up the cold delight including the crispy stick they gave as a spoon. Merlene and Kesh got bratty on me again and started pulling my leg. Did I say swarm of kids on the road during the climb? This place could have been a school for the numbers here. Seems to me the Japanese ingrain their culture into kids with actual visits to historical places. All these kids carried around notepads and sketchbooks. A group came up to us asking us a few questions to practice their English while referring to a paper they carried, and then they wanted pictures taken with us-we were celebs! After walking around the whole place and taking loads of pictures, we came upon a board indicating that the Kiyomizu temple is a world heritage site. There was a small fee to enter one of the structures which opened up higher into the mountain. Except for me, the others weren't too keen on doing the tour inside as it looked uninteresting to them so we decided to head back down and to our next stop on the map. We took a different route while going down and judging by the massive crowd, this was the main way to the temple. There were even more shops here selling local artifacts, masks, kimonos and packaged sweets that all the kids were making a beeline for. We all bought some magnets and gifts and returned to the bus stop.

We were told we might get a glimpse of some Geisha's at the Yasaka shrine so we looked at the board indicating the bus route trying to figure out which bus we must take. A girl waiting there helped us see we were obviously clueless. It was a short ride this time and we managed to find our destination easily. We walked up the stairs, through an arch with pillars housing statues of Japanese musicians. This place mostly had stone structures in a maze of a yard. There was an area for washing up to one side. There were trees bearing flowers and one which had red leaves which were so appealing to the eye. We exchanged cameras once again taking each other's pictures as we walked around. I noticed this place also had a corner like the previous temple where people had written out wishes and prayers on tiny planks of wood and hung them on these stands with a red ribbon. There was also a metal stand with rods on which pieces of folded paper were tied in a knot with wishes written on them. A counter selling the wooden wish planks stood next to it and the ladies painted some Japanese inscriptions on sheets of paper. I tried to find out if I could have one printed but it was an impossible task to communicate with them. This place is almost deserted, I didn't have an option of getting help translating so I soon gave up on the idea. In the middle of the courtyard was a structure with hundreds of white lamps inscribed in black hanging from it. We guessed it was another wishing post. To one side was the temple with bells hanging in the front. People tugged at the long ropes attached to it and threw coins over the barricade which was a form of prayer as one could not enter the temple. 

We continued on our search for the Geisha's and wandered into a garden. Everyone was tired and decided it was time to head back, but I was inquisitive to see what was beyond this circular island where we had stopped. I ran off to take a look while the rest rested. I found there was a beautiful little lake with a bridge going over it towards the hill. There were a few benches on one side where people sat looking at the lake or feeding pigeons, and a man with a professional video camera filming the surroundings on the other side. I returned to my colleagues telling them they had to come along as it was a beautiful spot to take pictures. They agreed and off we went to be snap happy again. There were huge grouper fish and ducks, and also a turtle who thought my finger was food and came to snip it as I bend over the water trying to catch it. Soon it was time to head back so we could grab a bite and catch a small nap before the flight. I got a lovely shot of two umbrella-bearing kimono-clad women walking over the bridge and also bumping into 2 young girls who were probably being trained to be Geisha's, but not the Geisha's themselves. We were soon on a bus back to Kyoto station and the traffic made the journey tiring and long. Vanessa dozed off most of the way and we giggled watching her head bump along the ride. 

Back at the station, after asking the attendants we found the correct platform and boarded the train to Osaka station. Luckily we got the express service and made up for the time we lost in the traffic. On returning we went to the mall next to the hotel looking for Japanese tempura and dumplings. After a round of the food court, Kesh and Vanessa decided they would just call room service and headed back to the hotel. Marlene and I were on a mission. We went back to the signage where we had seen an advert for a place that served dumplings. The floor map was all in Japanese and we actually matched the alphabet to find out the restaurant. It was a she-she fu-fu-looking place and none of the servers spoke English. Pointing out what we wanted from the menu and using sign language we gave our order of 2 pieces each of shrimp tempura, pork and veggie dumplings and hoped it wouldn't be a blooper. When the food arrived it was all accompanied by different sauces and we dove right in. It all disappeared pretty fast. Not knowing how the tipping system worked we asked the cashier and he refused to accept a tip. We found out later it was considered rude to leave a tip in this part of the world. Reaching the hotel we split as Marlene wanted some more of the drug store shouting, lol. I headed to the business center for another brief chat with my love. I excitedly spilled the days' happenings to Lio and with much reluctance logged off to catch a short nap before the flight. The return sector was as uneventful as the one coming in. I was excited all over again as I was gonna fly off to Chennai after landing back in Dubai. This was indeed a de-stressing flight and I hope to fly back to the land of the rising sun soon. Till then Arigato!