The Value of Time

So it is now about 47 hours since we actually left home to begin our Japan trip. We only checked into our hotel about an hour and a half ago. Japan time is 5:03 pm, Friday, June 23. Usually it takes about 24 hours door-to-door, but this time we've done something different. Instead of heading to familiar grounds, such as to my mother-in-law's in Sakaiminato or to see friends in Akita, we've begun our stay in Hiroshima. To save some money on the trip, we decided to take an overnight bus from Osaka. That's where the value of time comes in. We've had a lot of it to kill.

The flight from the U.S. was pretty uneventful, Chicago weather delayed our leaving Boston by about 30-40 minutes and there was no delay in Chicago. We arrived at the Kansai International Airport around 3:00 pm, but our bus to Hiroshima wasn't set to leave until 11:30 pm from the OCAT in Namba. Getting through customs and baggage was a breeze and we were able to send our bags ahead and catch the OCAT bus right around 4:00. By 5:40 we were at OCAT with 6 hours to kill. We spent a while looking around Maruzen bookstore then decided to find some food.

The food venture could have been easy, but we had nothing but time so we headed to the Namba Walk, an underground passage of several city blocks in length with shops of all kind, including a number of eateries that only made us hungrier. We were tempted by curry shops, udon/soba shops and ramen shops, but decided to press on to find the famous river where Hanshin Tigers fans are knows to get a little crazy during playoff season, either by jumping in the river or by unceremoniously sending the nearest Colonel Sanders statue into the drink. When we found our way to the surface, the rain, not to mention our fatigue and hunger, kept us from pursuing any sightseeing. We did decide to kill about 20 minutes looking at cell phones, digital audio players, and the like at Bic Camera, though. Then we headed back underground and back to OCAT where we ended up eating Teuchi (handmade) Udon.

When we finished, it was still 8:00, so we browsed the bookstore for another hour, till it closed at 9:00. Two and a half hours to go! Thank goodness for podcasts! I had the foresight to load up a few on my Shuffle before the trip, so I was able to pass the time listening to a couple of Leo Laporte's shows. K stayed busy with his DS and F worked on Sudoku puzzles. At 11:00 we took our bags out of the locker where we had stowed them while traipsing around the Namba Walk, and moved closer to our bus' departure gate. Tick-tock, tick-tock. 11:30 and our bus finally arrived and we departed.

Japanese long-distance buses remind me of grounded airplanes. The seats recline like airline business class seats, but are decidedly narrower side-to-side. I am usually able to sleep, but it comes in bursts of 1-2 hours at a time. They are more comfortable than coach class on the airlines, and a lot quieter, but they still are not a bed, and my age is creeping up on me, because I think I want to travel by night bus less and less now! Get thee to a hotel! So, after three or four fits of sleep, we arrived in Hiroshima around 6:30 am. We are all travel-weary, but persevering. We sit on a bench just inside the bus terminal and make a light breakfast of three croissants we purchased at Logan Airport before leaving Boston. Next, we get to play "Which way do we go, George?" as we try to figure out where we are and how to get to the hotel. We know we can't check in until 3:00 pm, but we can at least dump our carry-ons. At last we decide to hop on a streetcar and discover that we are only three stops away, so in short order we are in the lobby of the Comfort Hotel.

Still ahead is spending another eight hours before we can finally drop onto a bed. That, for now, will have to wait till the next posting.