Osaka, Tokyo

Leaving Sasebo was both sad and exciting at the same time. Sad to be leaving our family after a fantastic fun visit but exciting to be going to a new city in Japan and winding down our three week trip to Japan.

Saturday April 5th

After spending the morning at the Navy base for Friendship Day, Nicole and Dean took us to the local train station for our journey to Osaka. The train ride thru the country side was beautiful seeing all the little towns and old temples. Once we arrived in Fukuoka, we then boarded the bullet train for the ride over to Osaka. The Cherry trees were in full bloom all along the way and once again the bullet train experience was fantastic. Arrived in Osaka and checked into the Fairfield Marriott. Osaka is a major financial center of Japan, and it is recognized as one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities in Japan.

Sunday April 6th-Tuesday April 8th

Our sites were set on the famous Osaka Castle that was rebuilt in 1931 and is a must see when visiting this region. We walked around the castle and saw the beautiful gardens and moat from every angle. Glenna and I then went over to the main tourist area in the Dotombori district to walk along the canal, shops, restaurants and bars. We did book a canal ride that took us up one side on the canal and back the other, lots of tourist waving from the bridges. We met a fun couple from Australia when we stopped for a Chu-Hi drink along the canal walkway. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped for a lite dinner in Namba District at a small Italian Restaurant that turned out to be pretty darn good. In fact so good, we ate there the next night as well. The Pieno Italian Bar was small but drew good crowds with popular Pizza and Japanese items on the menu. The first night, they gave us the english menu with pizza, wine, and a couple of small plate items. The second night, we were sitting next to a Japanese couple and they had a very different menu. When I keep looking at the delicious Japanese dishes they were served the owner chef in the kitchen noticed my smile when admiring their food. We connected eyes and I nodded that I would like that dish for Glenna and I. Well, every time they brought over a new dish, the chef looked at me and once again I nodded and like magic, a plate appeared at our table. Of course we keep ordering more wine and we ended up having a fantastic culinary experience. When we paid the bill and started to walk out, the Chef came out and thanked us for dining at his restaurant and wanted to take a picture with us. As we strolled away, he said “hope to see you tomorrow”. After dinner, our last night in Osaka, we strolled the canal again to see all the lights and street activities of this bustling community. The next morning we enjoyed the hop on hop off tour around the city as they pointed out the popular places to visit and see the busy business district that makes Osaka the third largest city in Japan.

Tuesday morning we boarded the bullet train to Tokyo and saw the magnificent Mount Fuji (pictures below) from from our seats as we went speeding by at over 200 MPH. Arrived in Tokyo and navigated our way thru the train station, into a taxi and onto the hotel. We were in for a real treat staying our last night at the Hilton Tokyo Odaiba located on the waterfront with sweeping views over the harbor and city. We had completed all the tourist items on our list in Tokyo so we spent the last half day and evening on the hotel property. The pool and spa were over the top beautiful so that was a must do and a great way to relax. Happy hour cocktails and hors d’oeuvres in the executive lounge then back to the room for cards, Caymus, watching the ships float by and reminiscing about our three week trip to Japan. Wednesday morning we were treated to a fantastic brunch that had every food station you could imagine serving both American and Japanese cuisines. With full bellies, we pack up and headed to the airport for our journey back home. Uneventful flight home even though the food was not very good on the plane we still relaxed and got back to LAX on time. Took a shuttle over to our car, drove home with a stop at In-n-Out for the burgers we were craving and back to Temecula. Interesting fact about our flight: We left Japan at 5PM on Wednesday evening and arrived in LAX at 11 AM Wednesday morning. So, we arrived 6 hours before we left, HA HA>>>>

If Japan is on your bucket list, I would encourage you to move it up the list and go while the prices are good for the US Dollar. Such a beautiful, friendly, clean, culinary, historic place to visit.

Awesome trip, would love to do it all over again!!!!!!

Fun facts about Japan:

No talking in elevators or on the trains

No trash cans anywhere, you are responsible for disposing of your own trash

No eating while you walk thru the markets

No Jaywalking

All vehicles must back into their parking spaces, no pulling in forward

Bullet trains travel over 200 MPH