24 hours in Osaka and now on our way to Bangkok.

WOW!!  first class lounge in SF was amazing...smoked salmon, shrimp wraps, sliced rare beef, sushi, and on and on.  We kept telling ourselves that there was going to be a lot more food on the plane, but the food was changed and replenished every 30 minutes and just kept getting better and better.  I can see the vacation photos now...brown hair fades to blond and add an extra 10 lbs...as the United purser said, " some people begin their trip as a passenger and end as cargo!!"

Pods not conducive to sharing a shoulder!

First class 'pods' were very comfy and cozy.  I will have to get new 1st class glasses, tho, because the screen is not at quite the right distance for the ones I have.  It's always something!!

We walked out of the terminal in Osaka and across a bridge to the spotless train station, where we boarded our rap;t (that's how it is spelled) express with reserved seats for the 40 minute ride into town.

Our hotel was low key and well located for the favorite activity of Osakans...SHOPPING!!  Not sure I have ever seen more opportunities to shop, including the underground floors below the train station and huge shopping complexes above ground.

Pachinko madness

Add to that a plethora of Pachinko Halls with flashing lights, pedestrian streets with endless sushi counter restaurants, bicycles, neon lights and herds of people...only saw one other westerner!...and you have Osaka. We walked into one of the Pachinko halls and immediately grabbed our ears to protect them from the incessant roar of the machines...think thousands of metal balls rattling around in a conservative estimate of 1000 machines and voila! an audiologist's dream of future patients!!

Loved the classic Japanese quirky style of layering puffy skirts over tights with rhinestones on the cuffs, pointy toed high heels in crazy prints with lacy socks.  I told Larry that it worked because they are all size petite! There are more and more with dyed hair that seems to work better than in the old days when it was just not quite right for their skin coloring.  And speaking of coloring, it is hard to not stare at the porcelain complexions of the women...stunningly beautiful faces.

Now I don't mean to be indelicate here, but a review of a visit to Japan would not be complete without mentioning the toilet seats!  I am a convert to the warm toilet seats with all the buttons that activate 'bidet or spray'. Then there was the button that had a musical note on it and while i expected music, it replicated the sound of a flushing toilet to mask any other noise...and sounded not unlike the Pachinko hall!!

Don't recall seeing John Wayne with that tie!!

It was 90 degrees when we arrived.

Another feast for the eyes was the food hall in the Takashiyama Department Store.  As far as one could see and gorgeous prepared food, with a focus on Italian goodies for the Italian Food Fest!!  We encountered the $55 cantaloupe and picture perfect bunch of grapes, exactly like the one we saw in Kyoto a few years ago.


We lunched on a noodle goodie with squid and pork and what sounds weird, but was quite tasty, cole slaw mixed in egg and probably thick cream, put on a griddle in a huge mound,  pressed flat, fried, then flipped to brown on the other side before folding over and sprinkling dried shaved smoked salmon on top.

Back to the airport via train and passed the hotel that wins for the best name:  WHITE CHAPEL CHRISTMAS HOTEL complete with an enormous Santa Claus on the roof!!

Dotonbori Shopping Area

31 Flavors : 1;  Starbucks:  lost count!

   

Arrived at the airport with time to spare and got to observe the opening of the Thai Airways ticket counter.  The 10 female employees gathered in a circle to look over the day's paperwork and then lined up in front of the counter, bowed and welcomed the waiting passengers with the classic Japanese bow of respect.  Very nice.  We are now in the Thai Airways Business Lounge, which is not SFO First, but hopefully the food on the plane will be thai and I can continue working on my 'travelers' ten'!!

A grand kids fix, new chrome book and one last repack...

Grands are great and Erin and Justin arrived after dinner, baths and stories, so we had special time with the boys all to ourselves...when they are perfect!  Today we did the school drop offs...Carter is literally able to direct us from one side of San Francisco to the other!  Friday is a special morning assembly in the courtyard at Carter's school .  All the men teachers wear their guayavaras or Mexican Wedding Shirts, lively Mexican music is playing as the students grades K-5 stream in with their classmates and teacher.  The greetings and responses are in Spanish first and eventually in English.  A special treat was a visit from two La Luche Libra wrestlers, picture latex face masks and 12 inch wide belts.  They were treated like rock stars, and a reminder was announced to much applause that a fund raiser with more wrestlers would be happening on Sunday.  The Marshall School song was sung both in Spanish and English, awards were given to the students of the month and a myriad other recognition reasons, including one girl who was recognized for being talkative..."in a good way", clarified the principal!  I never had a teacher who thought my being talkative was a good thing!!  The ambiance at the school is wonderful and Carter rattles away in Spanish with his new friends.

Last minute purchases for the trip:  Larry a new backpack with so many pockets, it will be fun to watch him, like me, try to remember where he put everything!!  My little old travel 'puter has the slowest processer in the world, so it was time to upgrade.  I checked out the Google Nexus 7, sort of between an iPad and a phone, consulted with our in house tech expert, Justin, who recommended a Google Chrome Book because "it's all about the user interface", thank you very much, and I like a real keyboard, so here I am.

Tomorrow morning we take off with first stop Osaka, Japan for 24 hours.  Will try to actually put in a photo from there.  Adios!