Osaka 4/11/08 - 7/11/08

The 3.30am wake up call was hard work but we were both excited about the Japan trip so we didn't mind too much and the train ride into Sydney airport was uneventful. There could have been a whole host of interesting things happening but due to our 'lack of sleep' induced coma we can't remember anything other than it getting gradually lighter and us getting gradually more awake.It was 6am by the time we got to the airport and first encountered the fun and friendliness otherwise known as the Jet Star check in crew.

The flights were cheap, it was the bargain cost of the flights that persuaded us to go to Japan in the first place, but what we didn't realise is that the savings Jet star had make in order to offer the flights at this price, we now realised had been taken from the customer service training budget. The flight went via the Gold Coast, which in itself wasn't a problem, but the complications arose from the fact that the Gold Coast section was a domestic flight and the Japan section was an international flight. We were checking in to a domestic flight but through the international check in desks and I had a few questions about how it worked.

I wasn't sure if we needed to re-claim any baggage and re-check in or if it went straight through, so I politely asked this question at the desk, at which point we were told that during the Gold Coast stop we would be 'in transit'. Now, we have done a fair bit of travelling by now but neither of us were exactly sure what this meant so we asked again for more clarification. At this point we were once again told we would be 'in transit' only this time with a slightly annoyed tone to the check in girl's voice. After repeating this last step another couple of times only with slightly more annoyance on both sides, we gave up and decided to see what happened when we got there. Apparently the Jet Star training manual states:

·If the customer does not understand international flight rule terminology repeat the word many times with a slight increase in pitch and volume until customer leaves without any knowledge of the meaning of the phrase.

We were also made aware that we had made an error when booking the flights and only booked one set of meals and entertainment. We had only paid for one set so we couldn't complain too much, but we were advised that we couldn't change that at the check in desk and we would have to go to the 'customer service' desk.After making sure that her nails were fully dry and there was no way the pink nail varnish could be damaged by us interrupting, the young lady looked up and proceeded to tell us that that it was our fault and there was nothing they could do. Once again thanks for all your help Jet Star.

So, it appears we got what we paid for. A cheap no frills flight with half the meals we thought we had bought and a time shared entertainment system. Not to mention the hour 'in transit' where we sat in a shed like terminal building at the Gold Coast with no information on when we would be leaving again until we were all herded back down the steel covered walkway to queue for another 30 minutes and re -boarding.

We arrived at Osaka at about 8pm that evening and job number one was to exchange our Japan Rail Pass vouchers that we bought a few weeks for the real thing. This was done with, unknown to us at that point, the normal Japanese efficiency and before we knew it we had the shiny rail passes in hand and reserved seats on the train from the airport to Tenoji. Unfortunately for me (and indifferent to Jemma), neither the train from the airport Tenoji or on to Shim Imamaya was a bullet train so we had to wait for that excitement later.We had made it to the New Chuo hotel about 5 minutes later and checked in to the friendly, clean but extremely basic guest house and went straight to sleep.

On first sighting Osaka looked to be relatively modern city with mostly tower blocks and concrete. Not ugly as such but, certainly in Shim Imamaya, not the prettiest place we had been to. After touch of sleep recovery therapy (otherwise known as a lie in) we headed off to find some breakfast and found the 100yen shop around the corner. This was our first experience of the phenomenon that is Japanese customer service. I must remind you at this point that we were in the 100yen shop, (if you hadn't worked it out it's the Japanese equivalent of the £1 shop back home. Yes they are international) so not somewhere where you would expect this level of service. As we entered the shop there was a chorus of the phrase 'irishimasse'as everyone working in the shop welcomed us in. If anyone of the numerous shop assistants made eye contact or passed us in an aisle they would again greet us with 'irishimasse',and on purchasing our economy croissant and milkshake breakfast they would had us our change with a smile and what seemed like a short story (of which we obviously understood nothing of) before waving and smiling some more as we actually leave. For this level of service we spent approximately 400yen.Throughout our time in Japan we came to realise that this was not an exceptional occurrence but the norm and that, as we had discovered, it was nothing to do with how wealthy or famous you are. We got the same level of service in everywhere from 7/11's to expensive shops and restaurants.

Japan Stereotype Number 1 - everyone is friendly and polite... True!

On to stereotype number two. Everything in Japan is flashy lights, fast, busy and reliant on technology. It would be difficult to decide this one purely from Osaka but we did come to a few conclusions. Our first experience of the bright and flashy lights certainly took this idea to the extreme: the street is known as Dotombori and is the entertainment capital of Osaka.

With our Japan Rail Pass we could travel on the railways for free (well, we had already paid for it so it felt free), so we tried to stick on the Osaka Loop Line which, as you may have guessed, looped around the city. In true Japanese style the loop line trains were reliable, clean, rarely too busy and always on time.

The first view of the Dotombori Arcade was the wall of neon advertising signs. This was not just one or two of them. This was like Piccadilly Circus' big brother on speed. It must have been 30 metres tall with constant digital and neon signs all changing colours and pictures at different times. Impressive is an understatement. This welcome was followed by a long street crammed with shops, restaurants, bars, Internet cafes (you could sleep in), Pachinko (strange Japanese Pinball gambling machine arcades).We wandered up and down through the bustling crowds, of mainly Japanese business men, spotting everything from puffer fish restaurants to shops that sold plastic display food (quite a respected art in Japan), and many things in between. We did sneak a look into a small bar that just had the bar and four seats and nothing else. It looked really cosy but we came to the conclusion that anywhere that just has a closed door covered by a curtain with one Japanese symbol on that we couldn't understand, perhaps wasn't that open to tourists. We managed a couple of hours of exploring before we hit sensory overload and headed home. We checked off the flashy lights and busy side of Japan well and truly.

The Technology side would be covered in Tokyo but we did experience a certain side of the Japanese electronic way of thinking back at the guest house. Not that I really want to discuss toilet habits in the blog and also bearing in mind that I do understand that it is an un written fact of life that women take longer in the toilet than men, I was still beginning to worry when Jemma had been gone some time. Just when I was setting up the search party in she comes looking both excited and pleased with herself. She then proceeded to explain how the toilet was fitted with an number of electronic extras including a seat warmer, a recording of a flushing sound to cover up unwanted noises and all sorts of buttons that created sprays and jets to all the required (and some not required) areas. She was so excited that she promptly disappeared with the camera to capture this moment in digital eternity. After so much fuss I decided to try this electronic marvel out myself. Although I was not convinced by the heated seat and the flushing noises, I must admit that there were some buttons there (with instructions only in Japanese) that did create some rather unexpected results. Japanese Technology... Check (sort of).

The final Japanese stereotype for me was the culture and architecture. Osaka is not known for either particularly, mainly because the Americans bombed it to the ground in World War 2, so apart from Osaka Castle or Osaka Jo as it is known; the culture would have to wait. Not that the castle doesn't show the previous culture,It is a beautifulfive level white tower castle with contrasting black tiles on each roof and gold details on the gables, but we couldn't really get past the fact that it was a concrete replica built in the 1960's. We enjoyed the walk round and watched locals partake in a couple of what seemed to be popular modern traditions best described as eating random meat on a stick and dress up your small dog in really silly clothes.So, stereotype number three - Japanese Culture and architecture was still to be confirmed.

Although we didn't really see the traditional side of things, we did start to notice some of the more modern culture of Japan around the city. To any Japanese reading this I don't mean to offend, but the best description I can think of is 'quirky'. Aside from the dog dressing and stick meat fascination I have to at least mention the following other favourites.:

·Dressing up as Manga cartoon characters

·Groups dancing in public areas

·Small box type cars

·Vending machines on every corner selling hot and cold drinks

·School girl uniforms

Osaka was a great introduction to the beautiful, weird and wacky ways of Japan. Now, on to exploring the rest.