welcome to japan!

Edinburgh to Paris and Paris to Osaka. That last flight was over 11 hours, heading up over Germany, Estonia, Siberia and then down through China and Korea to Japan. Over frozen seas and rivers, lit by a big moon, while I tried unsuccessfully to sleep. Watched a bit of tv and read my book, ate airplane food (and being Air France, that wasn't too bad).
On arrival in Osaka at 9.30 (9 hours ahead of UK time) we joined the queue for 'foreigners' and had our picture taken and fingers printed. Into Arrivals, expecting to see Sarah waiting.... but she wasn't there. I changed some currency (this was a lengthy process involving form filling, and a lot of bowing. They wouldn't accept any Scottish banknotes. Still no Sarah. Idly looked for a wifi network and there was an email... here bus was late so could we go to Osaka Umeda Station?
I won't bore you with the details, reader, but this was also a lengthy process. We were dog tired, in a strange country and we lost wifi once we left the airport so had no way of contacting Sarah. However, your resourceful blipper obtained a rail pass and caught a train to Osaka (50km from the airport). Over 3 hours since we landed and still she was nowhere to be seen... Finally, I found her outside a shopping centre, with the sign she had made to hold up at the airport. That was one joyful reunion.!
Since then, we've had lunch, caught another train to Kyoto, and walked what seemed like miles to our hostel. Then Sarah thought we might like to go sightseeing.. :-)
I think I chose a better option. We went to an onsen (traditional hot bath). Luke refused to come because he was too modest. The baths are single-sex and no clothes are allowed. You start with a seated shower and then progress to various hot pools and a sauna. The first pool I tried turned out to have pulsed electric shocks.. the others were a lot nicer. And hour of that and I felt recovered from the long flight.
Our hostel has traditional rooms with tatami mats and futons. I know that I shall sleep really well tonight!