Locations: Pacific Ocean; Shanghai; Osaka
My flight departed from San Francisco at noon on Tuesday (9/24). I've flown across the Pacific before, but that fact didn't make the 13-hour flight to Shanghai any more comfortable. Through a bank rewards program, my family landed me cheap tickets to Osaka by way of Shanghai, operated by China Eastern Airlines. I had my doubts about the airline at first, but overall everything was pretty standard as far as airplanes go. The turbulence was incessant on the way over, but that was just due to weather conditions.
As we approached Shanghai, I was able to get a glimpse of the surrounding landscape. The sky, while being blue just minutes before over the sea, was notably grayer and browner. The area before Shanghai seemed to be mostly rural, although still densely settled. Most homes each had their own small rectangular plot of farmland and access to a canal. There was also a huge amount of construction going on; new roads and freeways being laid out, dirt roads being gradually paved, and clusters of new buildings being built. Seems like China's definitely working hard on developing just about every square kilometer of settled land it possesses.
Transferring at Pudong Airport in Shanghai was a bit of a hassle. I was directed at a counter specifically for transfers, and from there I was led towards a series of narrow corridors and back doors, until finally after about 10 minutes I emerged into the departures hall.
I finally landed in Kansai Airport in Osaka at 10pm. Since I crossed the international date line, it was Wednesday (9/25). The customs line was enormous, since most of the travelers seemed to be visitors from China, so by the time I got to the bus stop I had missed the last direct bus to Hotarugaike Station, where I was supposed to meet people from my lab. Instead, I took a bus to Umeda Station in downtown Osaka.
Kansai Airport is about an hour away from downtown Osaka, and it's located, like many modern airports, on a piece of reclaimed land on the bay shore. Most of the bus ride to downtown was along the shore, which was primarily industrial, as appropriate for a large port city. The last 20 minutes, however, were entirely on a series of elevated roadways through downtown Osaka. Traveling through narrow urban corridors nearly five stories above street level, the bus took at least a half dozen exits onto other similarly elevated roads before we finally descended. More than once, the roadway literally tunneled through a building! It was definitely an interesting experience weaving through a high-rise jungle far above street level.
After getting off the bus, I easily met up with people from my lab, and we took the train to Ishibashi Station near campus. Even at midnight, there was little room to sit on the train. When we finally arrived, we first stopped by the convenience store to stock me up on basic necessities and snacks. Afterwards, a short 10-minute walk placed us at the front door to my apartment. Having resisted sleep on the plane in order to adjust to Osaka time more quickly, I passed out just as soon as I parked my luggage in the corner of the room.
And thus, my adventure in Japan was ready to begin!
My flight departed from San Francisco at noon on Tuesday (9/24). I've flown across the Pacific before, but that fact didn't make the 13-hour flight to Shanghai any more comfortable. Through a bank rewards program, my family landed me cheap tickets to Osaka by way of Shanghai, operated by China Eastern Airlines. I had my doubts about the airline at first, but overall everything was pretty standard as far as airplanes go. The turbulence was incessant on the way over, but that was just due to weather conditions.
My last glimpse of North America for 3 months...
As we approached Shanghai, I was able to get a glimpse of the surrounding landscape. The sky, while being blue just minutes before over the sea, was notably grayer and browner. The area before Shanghai seemed to be mostly rural, although still densely settled. Most homes each had their own small rectangular plot of farmland and access to a canal. There was also a huge amount of construction going on; new roads and freeways being laid out, dirt roads being gradually paved, and clusters of new buildings being built. Seems like China's definitely working hard on developing just about every square kilometer of settled land it possesses.
Transferring at Pudong Airport in Shanghai was a bit of a hassle. I was directed at a counter specifically for transfers, and from there I was led towards a series of narrow corridors and back doors, until finally after about 10 minutes I emerged into the departures hall.
I finally landed in Kansai Airport in Osaka at 10pm. Since I crossed the international date line, it was Wednesday (9/25). The customs line was enormous, since most of the travelers seemed to be visitors from China, so by the time I got to the bus stop I had missed the last direct bus to Hotarugaike Station, where I was supposed to meet people from my lab. Instead, I took a bus to Umeda Station in downtown Osaka.
Kansai Airport is about an hour away from downtown Osaka, and it's located, like many modern airports, on a piece of reclaimed land on the bay shore. Most of the bus ride to downtown was along the shore, which was primarily industrial, as appropriate for a large port city. The last 20 minutes, however, were entirely on a series of elevated roadways through downtown Osaka. Traveling through narrow urban corridors nearly five stories above street level, the bus took at least a half dozen exits onto other similarly elevated roads before we finally descended. More than once, the roadway literally tunneled through a building! It was definitely an interesting experience weaving through a high-rise jungle far above street level.
After getting off the bus, I easily met up with people from my lab, and we took the train to Ishibashi Station near campus. Even at midnight, there was little room to sit on the train. When we finally arrived, we first stopped by the convenience store to stock me up on basic necessities and snacks. Afterwards, a short 10-minute walk placed us at the front door to my apartment. Having resisted sleep on the plane in order to adjust to Osaka time more quickly, I passed out just as soon as I parked my luggage in the corner of the room.
And thus, my adventure in Japan was ready to begin!
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