Scott & Jo's Japanese Adventures: We're off in 13 days!

I looked at my calendar today and couldn't believe it! In less than two weeks, we'll be half way to our final destination (well, our destination for at least a year)!
We're going to be leaving from the Toronto airport on September 20 and after an excruciatingly long flight, we'll arrive in Osaka on September 21 at approximately 6:30 pm. And you think that the over-tired, jet-lagged travellers can relax after the flight? Nope. We will have to navigate our way through the labyrinth of colourful train lines to meet our housing agent, which is about 30 minutes away from the airport. I'll have to admit, I'm a little nervous, but I think it will be an adventure nonetheless!
The good news is, we found out that we'll be living right in Osaka, which is the second largest city in Japan. For those of you who aren't familiar with the geography of Japan, Osaka is located on the island of Honshu (the biggest island) in the southern region. And yes, this means it's going to be hot and humid in the summers (averaging about 30 degrees from June to August) and cooler, but still humid in the winters (averaging about 3 degrees from November to March). It doesn't help that we have to wear full suits to work everyday, but I think our bodies will adapt...eventually!
Because Osaka is so big, it's broken down into wards (called "ku" in Japanese). There are 24 wards in the city and we're going to be living in Abeno-ku. From the sounds of it, Abeno is a nice area and is located just a short walking distance to many major attractions. We're going to be steps away from several temples and shrines and many beautiful gardens. For more information, you can check out: http://www.city.osaka.jp/abeno/english/facility/facility.html.
In other exciting news, we also have a place to live! We picked our apartment over email (yes, that's right...we were presented with several pictures and had to choose one). Although it may sound a little sketchy, we are both fairly confident that our living arrangements will suit our new lifestyle in Japan. As you may be aware, living arrangements in Japan are tight. Our place is a 1LDK, which means it has one bedroom, a living area, dining area, and kitchen. Here are some pics of the new pad!