Day 1 and 2: Oct 15-16 E-ville to Osaka
Weather: E-ville - Intermittent clouds and cool, low 60s; Osaka is in low
70s in late afternoon, very pleasant after sun goes down
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| First sighting of Japan |
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| This could be Osaka |
Easy transition to
SFO: cab comes quickly, BART to airport, TSA PRE makes security a breeze and
we’re in the United lounge 2 hours early. In plenty of time to find out if the
airport is participating in earthquake preparedness day! Fortunately for us,
they aren’t doing anything in the airport while we are there that we can tell.
We’re in business
class: by juggling the dates a bit, THB was able to find upgrades for “only”
30,000 United miles each way per person. We thought those miles were going
unused!
Pictorial Pop Quiz: What is this?
In the KIX airport we
pick up our local Japan phone (number available upon request) and new luxury, a
portable wifi (password available upon request, then take the bus into Osaka
(KIX serves Osaka and Kyoto). We’re staying at the Ritz-Carlton, a short walk
from the second and last bus stop, a well-marked art walk.
Pics of phone: we'll try it out on day 3, and the wifi walker, which is working right now, and is terrific!!
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| The front door of the Ritz-Carlton |
Since we have the
time, we taxi to the Artcourt Gallery (exact same fare to and from hotel: Y1480,
around $12.50, tips are not given here in Japan, service is included in the
price) to see a two man show of ceramics. Jun Nishida, electrocuted a few years
ago when setting up a kiln, and Saturo Hoshino, whom we visited at his house/studio a few years ago on our last Japan trip (with E&J).
Nishida’s work is light
in color and “experimental” and looks more like excavations with ceramics found
in the middle (think “fossils”) and Hoshino’s are giant dark many-pieced
arrangements on the walls or large singular plinths (correct usage?).
Omikase at the sushi
restaurant on the 5th floor of the Ritz. The fish seems limited
(eel, sea bream, toro, shrimp all show up several ways), and some exotic extra
items (mushroom soup, chestnut tofu in a gelatinous broth, a martini glass of
rice ball, tomiko and slivers of fresh shrimp); we’re spoiled by the quality of
Mori Sushi in LA! Total with AMEX discount and sake and draft beers (one of the
great things about Japan is the draft beers at upscale spots), $260.
Pictorial Pop Quiz Answer: A THB pet-peeve! A
control to let in more or less light (i.e., an “electronic” control for the old
manual pulling up or down on the inset shade). And, it appears that the master
control overrides the individual control shown, as the control by my seat didn’t
work after about an hour or two into the flight. This is the way United gets all the shades
down on a day flight and thus puts all the people aboard to sleep, making it
really easy for the crew. And, people not near the windows don’t complain about
their lack of control of the outside light. Only the people at the windows who like natural light complain. Actually, probably only THB complains.
Book Review: The Man Who Couldn’t Stop OCD and the
True Story of a Life Lost in Thought, David Adam. It appears everyone is a
little OCD; if you have it beyond a few random obsessive thoughts, you’d know.
The author, a British science journalist (and a good one!), has the illness and
his version: thinking (from about age 19 on) that he’s going to get AIDS. The “solution”
for him: Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Zoloft, in his early 40s. A very
good summary of the history of diagnosis and treatments (amazingly, lobotomies
are still a solution). Recommended
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