OOOOsaka!

Tuesday April 19, 2011

So after what I guestimated as about 21 hours of transit through 4 different countries of (Bangladesh, Malaysia, China and Japan), I have finally made it to my last stop on this Australiasian adventure to the land of the rising sun....
I had a little hiccup on the trip with my 1.50am flight out of Kuala Lumpur to Shanghai being delayed 90 minutes which made my layover in China a tight one to get on the plane to Japan...but fortunately it turned out just fine! The Bangladesh time being 2 hours behind Malaysias defintely helped staying up and then i was lucky enough to get a whole row to spread out on the plane too.

I have now immediately noticed how looking Asian has made people automatically think I speak the language whether it be Chinese or Japanese! I got greeted at the airport by my old tennis friend from Australia who has lived here for 11 years now after marrying a Japanese woman and having a daughtter here. It has been over 11 years since we have seen each other and I am so grateful to have a local guide and place to stay right off the bat here in Japan.

The first thing I did was head to the toilets because as some of you may know, the Japanese are known for their incredible cleanlinesee, hygiene and technology in teh bathrooms. And, such was the case and what a hugggggeeee change this was to Bangladesh...it was nearly no touching of anything in the bathrooms! We very easily got the train to their apartment about 30 minutese away. His HAPA duaghter is so adorable with the Aussie fair skin and Asian features...hearing her speak Japanese is sooo cool!

I notice that Japanese people, especially women, are sooooo stylish and trendy and hip! Just gorgeous! The children are dressed so cute too since some of his wifes friends happen to be on the same train home with their little ones! The extremes in temperature are felt here too...its sooo cold out tonight so ive gone from about 90 to 10 degrees Farenheit or 40 to 5 in a day!

I took a nice shower and headed for a 2 hour well needed nap. I just got back from the local supermarket which was so much fun to explore...the sushi selections, fish, cakes, teas, coffees.....aaaa I love it! Prices...average western world...so a big big change from my past SE asian counhtries...we will head out to dinner tonight when Adam gets home from work. Exploring Oskaa city tomorrow is planned. Sayonara for now!

PS. sorry about the typing errors as I am on a Japanese keyboard!