Day Nine: Osaka

We're all packed and ready to go, but we have time to walk to a great breakfast spot before we have to head to the airport. We pay for "unlimited bread" and really take advantage of it - a waitress keeps coming around with a basket full of freshly baked goodies, which we eat with coffee. After eating, we pick up our bags and head to the airport.

To get to Kansai International Airport, we first have to ride to Umeda Station, where we're supposed to catch another train to Kansai. At the first station, Jonathan realizes he doesn't have his plane ticket! It's a panicked moment, but we decide that Matt should ride back to his apartment to look for it. Jonathan and I stay at the station and wait, but when Matt returns, he doesn't have the ticket - it's completely lost. We decide to just go to the airport to see what we can do, but by the time we arrive, our flight has left. Here's where the frustration begins (but don't worry, there's a happy ending!). We talk to JAL, and they can't help us since the flight was booked through American Airlines. We try to call American Airlines (who only has an office in Tokyo), but they are closed. We have an 800 number for American Airlines in the US, but it's impossible to dial a US 800 number from Japan! So, we decide to stay at the hotel attached to the airport and see what happens in the morning.

We get a good rate on the hotel, which is a first class place. We are helped to the room by an adorable girl employee, who is all smiles - she carries our heavy bags, lets us into the room, and shows us how to turn on the lights and the air conditioner. Jonathan and I are so impressed that we try to tip her, but she just laughs and says, "No tipping in Japan!"

In crazy travel situations like this one, I always crave a hamburger, so Jonathan and I find one of the hotel restaurants and have great burgers and beer (and they should be good, for fifty bucks!). After dinner, we fall asleep, wondering how we'll get home tomorrow.