Feb. 28, 2013
We arrived on time at 4:25 pm the next day at Kansai airport in Osaka, Japan. Kansai is one of Japan's newer airports which are built on artificial islands of reclaimed Sea.
Across the international date line and arrival in Osaka, Japan.
After collecting our luggage and exchanging some currency into Japanese Yen, we boarded the airport train headed to the station in the heart of Osaka. When we arrived we took a cab to the City Plaza Hotel to check in.
The Japanese Doll Festival, known as Girl's Day, is held on March 4th every years, so we saw wonderful displays in all of the hotels.
We dumped our luggage in our rooms and converged in the lobby where we met Luca Torre who is Lucio's wine importer in Japan, as well as a few associates of Luca's. Now it was time for a quick cab ride and a short walk through a business area of Osaka to arrive at Touka, our restaurant for dinner.
Gotta just love Japanese signage!
One of our dishes was made with grilled meat and soba noodles, which had the famous Japanese katsuobushi (dried tuna) shaved over it. The steam from the hot meat and noodles made the katsuobushi come to life and dance.
Lucio's 60th birthday was in 9 days, so there were a few impromptu gifts and birthday toasts during dinner.
Dinner was delicious! On the walk back to the cab, it was evident everywhere just how much the Japanese love fish.
After a long flight and nice dinner, it was time to turn in for the night, as we had much to see in the morning.
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