Arrived in Osaka

[kevin_standlee]

No time right now to write about our day today -- briefly, a side trip to the Kyushu Railway History Museum, as mentioned yesterday, which was lots of fun -- as we've just in the last half hour arrived at the Hotel Granvia Osaka, which is attached to the Osaka Central railway station. However, these big stations are warrens with many entrances, and if you don't know which entrance is which, you may not know how to get to where you want to go. We didn't do enough advance reading to know which entrance to use, and ended up wrong-side and had to wander around a bit before getting here.

People keep warning us of undersized hotel rooms. This one is probably the smallest we've had so far. Lisa already is unhappily comparing this one to the one in Hakata.

I expect that once we've recovered ourselves from traveling, we'll steel ourselves to go back out into the heat -- this room seems to allow you to set the thermostat below 25 C and actually mean it -- and get something for dinner and a few other supplies.

A friend Lisa made at Nippon 2007 invited us to her home in the Osaka area this weekend, but we are so heavily booked up with things to do each day that we'd have to drop something Lisa really wants to do, and so we've had to send our regrets.

Like many people on expensive vacations, we've loaded up the schedule with lots of time-consuming days each day of the trip, lest we somehow "waste time." But it does make for an exhausting schedule. Is it any wonder I fall asleep on the trains?

Oh, and the typhoon seems to be blowing out to the north of Japan, and things seem pretty normal -- so far as I can tell -- here in Osaka, so I guess we'll be okay.

Comments

[galtine1.livejournal.com]

We're across the street in the Hilton right now .. 2318.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Amazing! We're a bit tired after a day in the sun and traveling, and were about to go out and get a bit to bring back to the room. If you want us to stop by or have us do anything together, call my mobile phone: 080-3091-6687.

[galtine1.livejournal.com]

Hmm, wonder if my phone's setting are wonky as I got a Japanese voicemail or error message. my cell# is 09017923393.

Or we can come over...or you can come over...we have tonnes of room.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Sorry about that -- we went out for a wander around the area, and you probably called while we were walking by one of the noise machines pachinko palaces. I assume the Japanese message was voice mail for me -- I don't recall ever recording a voicemail greeting for the rental phone.

We'll be around tomorrow -- our plan is to go to ExpoLand to ride the human-powered monorail among other things.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Oh, and Lisa, trying to get a bath in the small bucket tiny bathtub here -- the tub in her travel trailer is larger -- called out to me while I was posting that last reply, asking if you were going to be around tomorrow evening and might want to find dinner together.

[galtine1.livejournal.com]

We'll be around for dinner...going to Hanshin Racetrack to get some Horseracing Research(tm), leaving around 8am via JR. Last race should be about 3:30, and it's about 30 minutes back.

FYI: Naomi/Pat/Gracie are checked in as well and will also be checking in with us to try and get time on our schedule. Not sure of the rest of their schedule, but we head out on Sunday to our timeshare near Nagoya with a late afternoon check-in, so may do breakfast with them on Sunday.

[galtine1.livejournal.com]

Let's plan on 6pm at the big clock/hourglass just oustide the Granvia, and then we can pick one of the bazillion places in the Daimasun Store. Levels 14 and 16 are all restaurants (16 is casual/cheaper), as well as little cafes tucked in on several of the other floors...and you probably found the market on B1 and B2...lots of sweets!!!!

Now, off to breakfast with P,N, & G

[querldox.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, the typhoon went quickly through Tokyo and by midday today (Friday) the sun was actually out). It was possible to sleep through it with no problems.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

That does ease my mind. Thank you!