Japan

I haven’t used Blogger for several years but thought to bring it back to chronicle my trip to Japan.  Before blogging about this adventure, I should perhaps present a backstory and introduce the cast of characters.

I know very little about Japan and its culture.  I can think of a number of places I like to visit before Japan.  In early May, Dennis asked if I’d be interested in going for a visit this June sometime.  

A friend of ours, Ben and his son Sam were planning a trip in June.  Ben is employed at a multi-national corporation which shall remain nameless, where he and his family lived in Kobe Japan for 3 and a half years.  He needed to make a return visit on business.  Dennis, Jack (and Jack is friends with Sam) and I were invited to “tag” along.  I thought this might be a great opportunity to go as we’d have a tour guide of sorts to help us get around. 

Over the years, there are those that always raved about Japan.  So, the five of us are set to visit the Land of the Rising Sun.  We made our arrangements to leave on June 3.  Everyone was to leave out of Chicago and connect in San Francisco to Japan.  Since I’m in Colorado, I was going to meet everyone else in San Francisco, and then all five of us would fly straight to Osaka from there.

Three weeks before the flight, Dennis encounters a bulging or herniated disc.  So the trip was now in jeopardy for the three of us.  While his back improved, Dennis still had pain in sitting down.  Still determined to go, he and Jack amended their arrangements up to business class.  That way Dennis could lay flat on the way out.  Meanwhile, I wasn’t that determined to spend the four-digit expense to move to business class.  But since my original seat was between Dennis & Jack, I opted to relocate next to the rest room in an aisle seat.

June 3 arrived and it was time to go!

All dates and times are Japan time/date.