Mark's Trip Journal

Mark left for Japan very early yesterday.  I had a friend and her daughter visit a few hours later and spend the night.  It was a great distraction.  They left this morning and I have been trying to keep myself busy since.  I have realized a few things:  when you live by yourself, once you do the dishes, clean the house and wash every piece of laundry... things typically stay that way and the end of the to-do list arrives pretty quickly.  Mark is not messy by any means but I guess I am just really used to constantly picking up a stray water glass or shoes that were left by the door.  I miss tripping over shoes.

Anyway, sorry about being so melancholy.  I'm more or less just bored without him.  I plan on establishing a new routine over the next few days and that will help me adjust and feel productive.

On a much brighter note:  Mark is going to try to keep a daily journal of his trip.  I will guest post it here as soon as I get it so check back for updates!  Here is his recap of the first day turned beer review, natch :)  Enjoy!

Land of the Rising Sun: Boy is it Eager to Rise!

I'm pretty sure that sunlight began coming through my window at 4:30 this morning. I was able to ignore it for an hour or so. so I'm up now, may as well recap the past day of travel and arrival in Osaka.

...traveled all day, over 20 hours total travel time. I've got some hand-written things to add in later. things like the taproom in the Seattle airport, how terrible the first in-flight movie was, and a little about the flights (3). when I arrived at the Kansai airport, I stopped for the bathroom on the way to where ever the rest of the people from my flight were being toted- "security check and baggage claim" said all of the signs. when I came back out of the bathroom everyone was gone. I followed the sign and made it to the passport/security check. I recognized a few folks from the plane so I knew I had made it to the right place. Really there was only one place to make a mistake- taking the tram to the wrong location. made it through security check and on to customs. down a few more escalators to the baggage claim area. after walking the length and back without finding my flight, I got back to the first claim conveyor and saw my flight number! It then quickly flashed and disappeared. oops! no luggage left on the conveyor! a security guard called to me and directed me to a service desk where they had been holding my luggage. I guess for the purpose of keeping the claim conveyor clear... don't know, but I've never had the time of a normal bathroom break use enough time to completely miss baggage claim.

Josh and Morita- san were waiting at the pick-up area just beyond customs, at the bottom of more escalators. I exchanged some currency and then we took Morita's Mazda 3 (almost every time I travel I end up in one of these..) on a 45 minute ride down up(?) the interstate to Yao. Yao City is Northwest of the airport, and south of city center.



After checking in to the Yao Terminal Hotel (above) and dropping the bags off in the room, we went to dinner at a conveyor sushi restaurant. Great idea! we need these in the US. Here are some pictures.





I'll talk more about food and dining later.

So then, Morita- san dropped us off back at the hotel. I got to speak with Jessie on the phone :D which involves 14 digits total. Then Josh and I walked to the Ario mall, about two blocks away. Nothing particularly special about it- it's a mall like any mall, with the exception of everything being written in Japanese and all the people being Japanese. The big news, we found Guinness Draught in cans!



There was also Asahi Dry Black and we agreed that a taste comparison was in order. Strolled back to my hotel room to hang out for a bit, get the laptop set up and taste the two brews. I think what I've heard is true, the further you get from Dublin, the less fresh the Guinness tastes. I noticed, but it wasn't enough to bother me. the Asahi Dry Black was a decent dry stout in it's own right. No smooth, creaminess like the Guinness, but they can't all be I suppose. The flavor profile was quite similar to Guinness, pleasant, roasty malt flavor; yeasty on the nose; light-medium mouthfeel; clean, dry finish. Guinness of course was Guinness, no need to go on too much about it. Not as fresh tasting as normal, but otherwise typical.

It was a good day followed by a good night! I'll be catching the train in about an hour (7:50am) to arrive in Kokubu station then ride the company bus the rest of the way to catch our Japanese counterparts and their (key cards) to get into the office. Checking one or two machines in the morning (hopefully) then a plant tour in the afternoon. This should be an easy first day, though I'm eager to get into the swing.