Kansai For Business and Pleasure - milkita

On the way to Nara

milkita — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The first weekend in Kansai, my new friends from the office decided to take me to Nara to see the huge temple there and let me play with aggressive deers. I love animals, so I thought any chance to have a one-on-one connection with another creature other than a human being would be refreshing. After all, humans are usually whiny... Animals just stand there in silence. Or when they're not silent, I have no clue what they're saying.

So off the three of us went to Nara, but not without getting lost first. You see, my friends from the office are also new in town. One of them is an intern as well and the other one was just assigned to Osaka around five months ago, so we were all pretty naive about the train system in Japan. And not to mention we were in a hurry and just followed random people like lunatics.

Inside the train

So we got on the wrong JR and took a long detour to Takada, which is a place in Japan that even the Japanese haven't heard of... At least the people in my office have no clue where Takada is. Finally figured it out. You know, maps really do help. I should read them more often.

Gaijin House

milkita — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The room

When I arrived in Osaka on November 3rd it was 7am and really freakin' cold. Amazingly, no one was awake that morning except for me (and it was a holiday in Japan), so I had a hard time finding breakfast near the apartment where I'm staying. Finally found a McDonald's that served breakfast about 10 minutes away. Thank goodness for American junk food.

The "dorm" as I call it is filled with expats who are all so good in Japanese, and that makes me feel a little bit jealous.

My room is a small studio with a little kitchenette and a really small bathroom. So far, the only complaint is the majorly uncomfortable futon the place provided for the room, but hey.... I'm just an intern. Beggars can't be choosers.

Bed with uncomfy futon

Kitchenette

Where I was before Osaka

milkita — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Before I went to Osaka, I was just another career woman having a blast in the modern, yet still very wild, Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. You see the photos? Modern and wild at the same time!

Fish at a market

Statue of David in Batik print

Found out from the company that I will be going to Osaka for three months, possibly more. I was a little worried at first, because I speak zero Japanese. Even though I have visited Japan before, it was always with my mother who speaks the language fluently, and I usually went to Tokyo. Osaka was totally foreign to me.

Now that I've been here for a month, I'm starting to feel a little bit more comfortable. At least most folks here are nice. I wouldn't want to be greeted with rudeness from strangers. Hospitality is totally important, and Japan is numero uno (or at least one of the very top) in that department.