Jan 29, 2012

Hello from Kobe

It's been a long day(s)(?). I'm tired, but energized by the completely different environment Japan has offered me. I flew from NY to Seattle and then on to Osaka over the last day and a half. The 12 hour leg from Seattle to Osaka was actually awesome! Flying business class is such a luxury. I am NOT looking forward to flying coach on the way back to the states. The seats in business class lay flat so you can get completely comfortable!

It's 10:00pm as I write this and I'm pretty exhausted but I wanted to throw up a few photos from my journey. I have to say that the food I ate on the way to Osaka was some of the best food I've had in a long time. Maybe that doesn't say much about my current diet... But, here's what I mean: For an appetizer I was served rosemary duck breast and couscous salad with fruit and nuts, as well as a bowl of pumpkin bisque! Following that was the main course; seared beef tenderloin with demi-glace sauce, wasabi mashed potatoes and sugar snap peas. Dessert was a cheese plate, Belgian chocolate cheese cake and a vanilla ice cream sundae! After eating all of that, I took a melatonin pill and slept for about 9 hours. I woke just in time for breakfast and had a bowl of granola with fruit, toast, OJ and a decent cup of coffee.

De-boarding the plane at Kansai Airport in Osaka was interesting. I just followed everyone to the tram and into a ridiculously long line to go through customs. I stood in line for an hour and a half just waiting to have my passport stamped. That was worse than the actual flight... Where's my Belgian chocolate cheese cake?

My coworkers and the Customer arrived on a different plane a few minutes after I landed and we waved to each other (and made the gun to the head signal) as we made our way through the long line like a herd of turtles. Once we all made it through customs, we regrouped and caught a bus to our hotel. The bus ride took about an hour. It was about 6:00pm and the sun had set so I didn't get to see much of the landscape, but I am looking forward to seeing a lot tomorrow. We all went out to dinner and found a Japanese-style Chinese restaurant in the heart of Chinatown. One of my Japanese coworkers ordered a variety of items for us and I chowed down on shrimp, beef, pork, noodles and spring rolls. Delicious! I'm really anxious to get some authentic sushi in my stomach though.






1 comment:

rocketsciencesense said...

See you in 5 days! Thanks for the update.