Off to Japan

Three weeks in Japan!  Takashi and I planned this trip so we could celebrate both our birthdays together, as we were both born in October.  Jada is always up for a new adventure and joined me for this terrific trip.  All the best photos were taken by Jada.

(To see all these posts, Click thru the "Newer Posts" at Bottom)

Our transport from PHX to HNL, the first leg, was
a Boeing 787, Dreamliner, one of the newest planes
in the Hawaiian fleet.

Using Murph's bounty of frequent flyer points, we
upgraded to first class for the very long flights
to Honolulu, Hawaii and Osaka, Japan.

Mai Tai's were served, preflight!

Jada liked that I wouldn't stain
my travel shirt, enroute.

Check out the overhead .  .  .
those little white dots on the ceiling
gave the appearance of stars overhead
when the lights were dimmed after dinner.

The "stars" as we dozed enroute to Honolulu.

In Honolulu we walked through this garden outside the
lounge where we spent our layover.

An Airbus 330 was our means of reaching Osaka.

We were fortunate to be seated together for both legs
as we traveled westbound.

We began adopting Japanese customs!

The Airbus didn't have a built-in screen so tablets 
and a mount were provided.

For convenience sake, we booked a room at the hotel
within the Kansai Airport at Osaka.  Very western.

The only restaurant still open was very accommodating
even though we were their last guests of the evening.
Our first Japanese meal in Japan!

The next morning .  .  .

Misunderstanding the train routes, I booked the
Shinkansen (Bullet Train) thinking it left directly
from Kansai Airport.  In fact, a half hour train ride
on a local "HARUKA, Hello Kitty" train was
necessary to reach our Shinkansen in Osaka Station,
meaning we would miss our train to Nagoya.
Fortunately, the English-speaking train station staff
at Kansai Station was able to sort things so we could
buy the required tickets on the local and they transferred
our Shinkansen tickets to a later train for Nagoya.
All worked out very well.

We were fascinated by the new-to-us and
huge variety of snacks, drinks and goodies
offered in the many vending machines at the train station.
As we noted throughout our three weeks, this was true
throughout urban and suburban Japan. 

Jada had been alerted to try the unique
Japanese meal, "Okonomiyaki."
This machine had a snack named for the dish.
Later in our trip we had an opportunity to try the real thing.

Many new-to-us flavors for popular US snack foods.

My favorite dispensed from
the vending machines!  Cold Beer!

Aboard the Shinkansen, we tracked speeds
well over 170 miles per hour!

At Nagoya Station we switched to a local train.
Upon our arrival at Kozoji station near Takashi's home,
we enjoyed seeing a "Donut Buffet!"