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| From Osaka 2010-04-23 |
We stayed in the Hyatt after some shrewd negotiations. I explained that I knew it was United’s business hotel in Osaka and that I was going with a friend on a pleasure trip in April. They countered, saying that if we would wait until later in the month, after the Cherry Blossoms, they could give us super-cheap rooms. So we did, and they did. It was not my type of hotel to say the very least: After hundreds of business trips to similar hotels, I always try to find something with a local flair to it, not some concrete jungle with elevator music playing everywhere. Blecccch. Also had lots of weird-looking gringos walking around. Blecccch. The location was somewhat out of the way, down by the harbor with the port and ships and all that stuff. Out of the way, but still cool. Not knowing anything about Japan and being responsible for my buddy meant that the Hyatt was a good bet. They had more knobs and switches in my bedroom than a Maserati, plus the place was quiet and the people were frighteningly efficient. At first I thought – wow, who are these people? Bowing and smiling and carrying on without the slightest provocation. We thought we’d died and come back as rock stars or something.
When we got away from the hotel, we realized that EVERYONE is like that in Japan: friendly, helpful, polite, and efficient. They are perfect. You could just give each and every one of them a big hug. They beat the crap out of the Swiss, Germans, and northern Europeans, who can’t be efficient without being curt, arrogant, and downright grumpy at times. Reminds me that they always have to brag about their customs: “Vell, in Deutschland, ve alvays pour our shnapps down our noses, ja.” Who cares? The Japanese just suck it up and hand you a fork with a big smile just in case you can't use chopsticks. They know we are uncivilized; they don’t need to rub it in. In fact, they even call us “gaijin”, which means “gringo” (any westerner with white skin), but actually translates as “savage”. Haha.
We arrived at the airport and found a cash machine that finally worked and a train to take us downtown since we decided to try the train right away instead of taking the hotel bus. Bad idea: The train was super slow and we finally jumped off to take a taxi to the hotel, which wasn’t so far away. The only problem was we couldn’t get out of the damned train station. Somehow I put my ticket in the machine that takes the tickets back and opens the door so you can get out without actually getting out. Finally, a station guard took sympathy after he saw us lap the place about five times and let us out!
We checked in to the Hyatt and went scouting around the nearby Port Town for something to eat. I loved it – gave me a bit of a vibe for the people. We found some really cool little neighborhood restaurants that were quite fun and provided our evening’s entertainment. It was either that or sit in the piano bar getting sloshed with a bunch of businessmen. So, we ate at one of those little places each night, then went back to the hotel, which worked out well since we covered a lot of miles each day.
The first day we discovered the hotel had a shuttle bus that would take us right downtown to the main Japan Railways Osaka Station, which was perfect, since we knew we wanted to check out nearby locations such as Kyoto, only 30 minutes away by train.
So, off we went, driven by a guy wearing white gloves and a spiffy uniform, who bowed about 5 times every time he saw us or a word was exchanged. He was perfect, and drove perfectly, spoke perfectly, and bowed perfectly.
The real fun started when we arrived at the train station and started wandering around. I’d never seen anything like it, swarms of people rushing in all directions. Thousands and thousands. The place is huge and built like a maze. We wandered around and around trying to figure it out but couldn’t: “Wait a minute, didn’t we see that old man sitting there 15 minutes ago? Haven’t we gone around in a circle?
The highlight was the bus-hailing guy, who also wore white gloves and was also perfect. He liked us so much he reached into his bag and gave us chocolates. I keep looking for him each time I come back, but he must have been promoted or something LOL.
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| From Osaka April 21, 010 |
In fact, we spent the bulk of the entire first DAY in that darned train station, such a mess it was. We never did really figure it out but we managed to accidentally find things later when we looked for them. Finally, we limped on to the bus completely exhausted and crawled back to our gringo hotel and safety.
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| From Osaka April 21, 010 |
Not sure what we did which day actually: I think we hung out in Osaka the second day, went to the Umeda Sky Building, wandered around, and lunched in a restaurant with 7 or 8 seats in total. Very cool. By and large the people are conformists - nearly every man wears the same bloody dark blue suit with white shirt and dark tie. The young people all dye their hair that brown-orange color, which actually looks nice. But, when it comes to restaurants, they are individuals, that’s for sure. I note with great delight that there is a noticeable absence of large chain restaurants that have ruined, together with chain hotels, drug stores, Sprawlmarts and such, what little culture we ever had in the USA. Not so in Japan, but more on this later.
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| From Osaka 2010-04-23 |
Then we went to Kyoto, where for me the market was the highlight of the first trip. Just a nice vibe to it, pleasant, a few coffee shops spaced out throughout the place, really nice. Of course, that market was HUGE. The main entrance and covered market street must be 4 or 500 yards long. Then, there are several arteries the same length or slightly shorter. You could easily blow the whole day wandering around the place. Kyoto is only about 30 minutes from Osaka on a fast regional train, so you could go every day if you want.
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| From Osaka and Kyoto 2010-04-24 |
One evening we went to a baseball game in the Kyocera Dome. I loved the cultural differences and the way they cheered and their concept of junk food and so on, but I didn’t think the game was that interesting or maybe we were both tired.
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| From Osaka and Kyoto 2010-04-24 |
We went back to Kyoto on more day, to visit the Kinkakuji Golden Temple, which was very impressive. The visitors were very respectful and the whole site was well preserved and spotless. Very cool and worth the trek to the outskirts of Kyoto.
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| From Kyoto 2010-04-28 |
The train station in Kyoto is a destination all on it’s own. Never seen anything like it, it’s an architectural wonder about 15 or 20 stories high with cool shapes and escalators and open spaces all over. Very impressive.
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| From Osaka and Kyoto 2010-04-24 |
So, those are the headlines on part one, a very cool and fun trip. My main objective in any part one is to get a vibe for who the people are and how they live, and decide if I would like to return. Obviously, the answer was yes!
Problem was I didn’t have the name of the hotel that I had discovered on a side street right near the Osaka Train Station, but, hilariously, Glenn had taken a photo of a garbage truck (that family is into garbage in a big way LOL) which had the name of the hotel I wanted, so I was all set for Part Deux.
The big deal with the hotel near the main Train Station was this: In every city, you have to have your favorite place to stay, your headquarters, where you feel comfy, in the right neighborhood with the right price and surroundings. As I said, for me, it must be local. When I say that I mean it must have local features and customs embedded in the hotel, so that you always know which country you’re in. The traveler’s worst nightmare is to wake up not knowing where he is because the megacorporations have succeeded in making everywhere look the same. As a lifelong business travel boy, I can honestly say I’ve woken up many times not being able to figure out where I was. Blecch.
Anyway, I had checked out this smallish hotel downtown and made a reservation with them. I basically wanted to do a replay of the first trip, meaning some Osaka and of course Kyoto, plus a bit of Kobe and some nightlife. I am far removed from my bar-hopping days, but I still was very curious to see what goes on after dark.
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