So – this is the first real blog entry I promised you! It was about time ne?
Well, after knowing my lovely girlfriend for more than 7 months, it was about time that we would meet face to face. So I prepared to visit "my kotori" (nickname for my wife) in Japan back in February 2014. Maybe not the best time to travel to Japan, but more on this later…
So I had packed my stuffs and all the omiyage (gifts) were purchased. My neighbors brought me to the airport and since I am always way too early – I had time to eat a little snack and stuffs. Since you absolutely Need to eat before boarding a 12 hours flight, right? As you never know...
Now, you need to know that I am quite a frequent traveler – my job requires me to travel a lot the last 20 years so I had one of those prestigious golden cards etc. And still I was way to early at the airport? Well, I was maybe a bit nervous (dokidoki as the Japanese say) no?
So, as the flight was announced to start boarding, I was the first at the gate. It was an Airbus A380 so you get the idea ne? The first of – what? Over 500? Yes! I routinely waved my ticket over the scanner and a red blinking light showed up… WTF? The “Lady-at-the-counter” raised her right eyebrow and said: There is a little problem Sir. Could you please wait aside – I will take care of it immediately.
That’s NOT what you want to hear when you travel to your love for the first time. To Japan…
So I stepped aside and let everybody go in first. Now, it’s not that someone could take my seat away right? Still – we all know that flights get overbooked at times.
Finally the Mrs. Eybrow came to me and said: Here is your boarding card Sir. Have a nice flight. I looked at the boarding card and saw: Business Class!! What! I got upgraded! And you call this a little “problem”? Wow!
Well, I won’t bother you with the next 12 hours of flight to Osaka. Let’s just say this: I had a flat bed and instead of sleeping on it I was watching one movie after the other as I was just too dokidoki to sleep. Yes, what a waste ^^.
I arrived in the later afternoon and finally met “her”! It was amazing but also strangely funny – since we both knew a lot of each other due to many chats and skype sessions. But “the live thing” is still different! And because we are now in Japan, I could of course not kiss my kotori in public ne!
Since she lived in the south (Kyushu) I had booked a hotel in Osaka for two nights before we would travel together down to the family.
We spent the first evening having dinner at the hotel New Otani. It’s facing the Osaka Castle (see today's title pic).
After a night without not-so-much-sleep we went downtown. It was surprisingly cold… Well, it was February so who would have imagined ne? But I thought because it’s located at the seaside it might be… well – forget it.
We had some shopping to do (e.g. get that Wii U for kids and some shoes etc. etc.) After a long day at the department stores (man – Japan truly has the BEST toys ;-) we went to dinner to a nearby Izakaya.
An Izakaya is basically your “around the corner” restaurant where you can eat some simple but yummy food, drink one or too many beers and don’t need to care that much about being “well mannered”. In an Izakaya it’s often a bit loud, people smoke and generally having a good time. Maybe a “Pub” is what comes closest in order to describe the atmosphere?
Like at all (most?) restaurants you pay at the exit. It was a small Izakaya and the “Boss” was herself at the cash register. So we paid and confirmed upon being asked that everything was perfect and that we had a good time. Which was true.
Then we went out and the door closed behind us. After maybe 10 meters, the door opened again and the owner of the Izakaya went behind us, bowing deeply several times and thanking for being here etc.
I was like: Wow! In my country – when you leave the restaurant and say goodbye, you can be happy if someone says “bye-bye” to you… I still see her in front of my eyes. I however have to say that this was quite an exception; I did not experience this again. But it was nevertheless an impressive experience.
The next day we took the flight to Kagoshima in order to meet her family. I will tell you about this in my next entry.
But once thing I would like to share with you: When our plane was doing the push back from the gate in order to take off, the whole ground crew (baggage and fuel guys etc.) were standing there and bowed to the plane… Some were waving. And many of the passengers were waving back!
I know of course that it’s a “routine ceremony” – sure. You will see this on many occasions. But wouldn’t it be nice if the “West” could have a little bit of this “attention to detail”?
Next week we will find out how the first meeting with her family went on. Follow me when we visit the famous “Kirishima Shrine”. And the Udo Shrine (not related to “Udo Lindenberg – the German Singer ^^). And much more! Stay tuned!
Yours
M.