2017年7月14日金曜日 - 
Lawry: A visit from a friend
A few days ago, I got an email from a
friend of mine in Australia. I had not heard from him for many years, and I was a little
surprised to hear from him. He wrote in his email “I'm coming to Osaka! See you
in two days!” He had been able to get a cheap Jetstar ticket, and had made an impulse
decision to come to Japan. He was going to stay two nights in Osaka
city, then move on to Kyoto for three nights. This was amazing. I was looking
forward to seeing him.
I
knew him very well thirty years ago, from my time living in Sydney. But I had
not seen him for thirty years. A lot of things were going through my head: Had he
changed? Did he still have a full head of hair? (I don't). Had he gotten fat?
(I have).
I
met him at Kansai airport. We started talking about all sorts of things, how
our lives had changed and what we had done over the last thirty years. We both
like the outdoors, so the kinds of adventure experiences we have both had over
the years were, of course, a major part of our conversation.
He hadn't decided where to go in Osaka
city. So he asked me for my recommendations. This was an interesting question.
Even though I have lived in Osaka for quite a few years, I have never acted as
a tour advisor. I thought for a while… Then I realized how there are so many
things that are worth
seeing in the Osaka area. I decided on two places to recommend.
Firstly,
Ura-Namba. I live near Namba, and I felt that some of the side streets around Ura-Namba give a
really unique, traditionally Japanese impression to visitors. The second place
I recommended was, of course, Osaka Castle. This is a must-see for all tourists
coming to the Osaka area.
Fortunately,
we also had time to get to the Shinsaibashi Dotonbori area, which is kind of
fun too, though very crowded. I was just a little disappointed that the
building that was used for the 'Black Rain' movie (made in the 1980's and
starring Michael Douglas), had disappeared. I loved that movie so much.
All in all, we had a great couple of days. And I think he was particularly
impressed with the food in Osaka.
I
am yet to find out exactly what he did in Kyoto for his three nights there,
though I suspect he visited as many of the bars he could fit into his schedule.
heard
from：
～から連絡をもらう
had
made an impulse decision： 衝動的に決めた
going
through my head： 頭をよぎる
a
full head of hair： ふさふさの髪
worth
seeing：
見る価値がある
side
streets： 横道
all
in all：
概して
particularly： 特に
fit
into：
組み込む