Japan was always a destination that we visited frequently pre-Covid. When it closed its border in 2020, we wondered when we’d be able to visit our favorite country in the world again. As the world slowly reopened in 2021, and then 2022, we kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting for news of Japan’s reopening. By early Fall of 2022, there would be hints of their reopening here and there, but Japan remained close to most foreigners.
As it turned out, Japan would be one of the very last countries to fully reopen, but as soon as I caught wind of their formal reopening in October 2022, I wasted no time in booking tickets for us right away.
To enter Japan when it first reopened, negative COVID tests were still required and there were more pre-trip paperwork to be completed ahead of time. The extra work did not bother me one bit. I would’ve taken 10 COVID tests if I had to, just to be able to visit Japan again!
Japan is not just my favorite country. It is our entire family’s favorite country! So off we went, with plans to meet my parents in Osaka, who would be flying over from Hong Kong. Little did they know that we had planned a fun surprise for them…
My uncle James, who love traveling with us, decided to secretly fly into Osaka to join our trip. I love plotting surprises, so I told my parents that due to our different arrival times into Osaka, I would arrange a driver to pick them up and to take them to our hotel. In actuality, we arrived just a couple hours earlier than them, and used the limited resource that we had in terms of costume selections to dress James up as a “driver.”
Left: initial attempt // Right: final attempt
The problem was, this is how drivers are dressed to pick passengers up in Japan….
In any case, we had to make do with what we had, and I didn’t think my parents would know the proper driver attire for the Japanese anyway! While waiting, Bridge gave James a crash course on the few Japanese phrases he should say to them to greet them, which was hilarious, because James is just super goofy. Finally, when we saw that my parents’ flight had arrived, we had James stand by the arrival gate, holding an Ipad with my mom’s name on it, while Bridge and I hid behind a column to film.
After a bit of a wait, my parents finally came out, and we watched as they scanned around to look for their driver. I’m not sure why, but it took them awhile to spot their name on the Ipad, even though James was RIGHT in front of them. I saw James direct them towards the exit, and they followed with their suitcases. Once they exited, James turned towards them and began showing them the series of slide I had prepared on the Ipad, which was suppose to end with “Surprise!”
My parents paid no attention to the Ipad. My mom was too busy trying to text me to ask if the driver was legit, since his attire looked so weird, lol. Finally, James lost his patience and ripped off his mask and sunglasses. When he did that, my mom actually was frightened for a moment, thinking he was going to attack them and took a few steps back before she recognized it was her own brother in disguise! 😂
We spent the first few days in Osaka, indulging in all kinds of amazing Japanese food. Because we were amongst the first tourists to return, there were hardly any crowds at all, which was such a luxury because major cities in Japan like Osaka are usually super packed with tourists all year round.
We visited the Umeda Sky Building, which boasted the world’s highest escalator that takes you to the top of the building, rewarding you with a beautiful view of Osaka’s cityscape from high up. I especially loved the all white vibes on one of the floors which made for very nice pictures. 😁
Strolling around Dotonbori was a must, as was eating the Osaka-famous okonomiyaki and takoyaki. Kuromon Ichiba Market was full of delicious sushi and seafood just as I had remembered it to be, and it was especially fun to take my seafood-lovin’ uncle James through all the stalls there. We had a few unsuccessful attempts at the claw machines and had an absolute blast at the Purikura (Japanese photobooths) shops, where we laughed so hard at our filtered selves we almost peed our pants!
We stayed at the Zentis hotel, which was a really cute and aesthetic boutique hotel conveniently located near the Osaka train station. One of our funniest memories from our Osaka trip was the night when my mom made us all wear the hotel-provided white pajamas for a group photo in our room and Bridge made the comment that we were like a bunch of bowling pins, lol!
This was my dad’s first trip to Japan. He has always resisted traveling there due to traumatic childhood memories of the war, so we are really grateful he finally decided to step foot into the country that his kids and grandkids love so much. While he didn’t admit to loving it, I think the constant smile on his face and his genuine curiosity and excitement with all the things to see there says it all…..
