I'm in Osaka now.
The flight from Minneapolis was long. Too friggin' long. The leg
from MSP to ORD on United was fairly uneventful. Had to take a
train to get from the domestic to the international terminal at ORD
to check in with Japan Airlines. Surprise! They upgraded me from
Economy to Premium Economy. Woohoo! Nonetheless, a 13-hour flight
is still a long flight regardless of seat comfort, and I wasn't
really looking forward to another one hour flight to ITM after
arrving at NRT.
The flight got into ITM a little past 6 p.m. Took the airport
limousine bus to Shinosaka Station and hoofed it to the hotel. Got
my room, then headed out to get some really good ramen noodles at a
joint called Hanamichi, which is supposedly one of Osaka's most
famous noodle houses. It was a little on the expensive side, but
well worth it, in my humble opinion. There is no shortage of
eateries around the station and hotel, as I found out when I took a
walk around the area after dinner.
I'm setting aside tomorrow to (hopefully) recover a bit from jet
lag. I'm hoping to head into the Namba district of Osaka to catch
the Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoshitsu movie, and then perhaps
bum around the Shinsaibashi area for the rest of the day. Then the
heavy travelling begins in earnest on Saturday, when I head up to
Tokyo for the weekend to attend the Tokyo Anime Fair 2010 in Odaiba
plus do a little sightseeing on the side while I'm there (aka make
a mad dash for Akihabara).
Pictures to follow when I've had a chance to resize and upload
them.
Edited to add: images.
Out JAL 777 somewhere over Canada. As you can plainly see,
Canada comprises a whole lot of... nothing! 
My inaugural bowl of ramen noodles, which was eaten at...
...this supposedly famous noodle shop called Hamamichi.
