Osaka!!!!!

August 28 2017 was the date we arrived in Japan. It's hard to believe that it's been over a month already.

We flew from Taipei on a Japanese no frills, super discount airline called Peach, in a cute pink plane. If they could charge for the air in the cabin, they would. But the flight was nice and uneventful, like all flights should be, and we arrived on time at terminal two of the Kansai International Airport. My wife and daughter, being Japanese passport holders, went through as citizens without having at stop at customs, while my son and I had to go through immigration and customs. We brought everything we needed and were able to clear customs in about 15 to 20 minutes and we were giving our residency cards, good for five years.

Because of the kids, I like to lag behind and I don't mind being the last in line. I'm not in a race to anywhere and I'm never in a hurry. I'm also the least competitive person you will ever encounter, so if I'm last, who cares? I enjoyed the view while all the hares, rushed through. That said, we got to the baggage claim area to find it completely empty of people and all our luggage neatly stacked and waiting for us.

We stacked all 11 pieces on three carts and off we went to terminal one, to inform a second customs office that we needed to declare everything we shipped from the US. We walked the entire length of terminal one looking for this office, up and down elevators in pretty darn hot and humid conditions. After about 30 minutes pushing all that luggage, we found the "office" which was really a kiosk, where Rie promptly filled the necessary forms and we are now in full compliance with Japanese immigration laws. 

From there it was just a matter of getting minivan taxi and heading to our 2nd airbnb of this trip. We ran into a minor problem at the taxi stand. We arrived on a Monday, and for some weird reason, mini van taxis don't work on Mondays. So we ended up hiring two taxis. The family loaded into one with 4 pieces of luggage in the trunk, while I rode in the other taxi with luggage filling every corner of this thing. The driver asked me where I was from and in true proud American fashion I told him "Puerto Rico". He reacted with surprise and said "Puerto Rico! Good, strong baseboru!" and that's as far as our talking went. The total ride for both taxis? $290.  Ouch. Taxis in Japan are not cheap.

The apartment has an great location, close to the center of town and with subway access right on the first floor of the building. But when we got to there, we couldn't figure out how to unlock the door! It took 5 tries and when we went to leave for dinner, we couldn't figure out how to open it from inside!

Dinner ended up being Subway. We were so tired, that the dream of an authentic Japanese dinner in the place where it was invented went out the window. American comfort food it is! Once back at the apartment, the kids went to bed and fell asleep right away. Our daughter has always been a terrible sleeper. She simply refuses to sleep and fights it with all her might. She's been dong this since she was two. Not tonight. Head touched pillow, girl was out. 

The next day, the insanity started. We had a 10 AM appointment with a real estate agent not too far from where we are staying. We had looked online at a super nice HUGE apartment for $700 a month and we wanted to see it. He thought there was no way it could be that cheap, so he got on the phone to try to get more info on it. I was expecting typical Japanese horror movie drama. You know, the place had been a torture chamber, or someone had died in it, but he found out it was cheap because the A/C was broken and the owner was not willing to fix it. His plan was to increase the price to $2000/month once the weather turned cooler. 

No thanks, let's look at other stuff. After a few hours getting our "wish list" like House Hunter International Edition and searching with him online, we came across a nice three bedroom unit for $850/month, including maintenance fees. We drove out 45 minutes to see it and we liked it, so back to the office we went to fill up the application. 

To make a long story short, a few days later, we were approved even though we had no income, were new in the country and I'm an ugly foreigner. Having a pretty wife that speaks the native language, helps a lot!

For the next day, fun was in the plans.