Quicky: the airplane has just landed. 🙂 I’m back and the coming days I will be doing “post processing”, possibly sorting and posting pictures.
I think, this will be all for now.
Quicky: to adjust the seats on a Cathay Pacific airplane, you press and hold the button in your armrest. While pressed you can slide the seat forward while the back tilts back.
Also, you can bend both extremities of your headrest. This way you can try and sleep (or at least maybe rest), because your head doesn’t roll to the side.
Quicky: watching the airplane take off and land, on the external camera view, is just so cool!
Also, descending through the clouds by night is also very pretty to see. 🙂
Quicky: I think I already mentioned, but to be sure… On the airplane to Ōsaka I watched the movie Edge of Tomorrow with Tom Cruise. I loved that!
Right now, I’m watching Guardians of the Galaxy. Yum!
Review: excellent!
Quicky: it’s raining a lot at Narita. And the captain just informed us that it is very busy today. Take off will be slow this time.
Quicky: this airplane has an outside camera which you can use. That is so ridiculously awesome!
Quicky: the trip to Hong Kong will take about 4,5 hours I just heard.
But to the point: I think now I know why people had been standing in line at the gate for so long. The ridiculous amounts of luggage people will bring on the plane! They were maybe making sure that they could store their things in the overhead compartment..
Just wow. Apart from the delay, now we’re already late for departure.
Also, I’m not at the plane I saw land earlier. 😛
Quicky: it’s not even close to boarding time, but Asian folks must really like standing in a queue in front of the gate.
I don’t get it. People have a reserved seat, the plane does not depart with people still at the gate, why do you have to be the first one on board and stand in line now, while you can sit and wait for the gate to open?
Quicky: so I’m at the airport, waiting. Luggage has been checked in, passport and boarding pass have been checked. My flight leaves in about an hour and a half, bound for Hong Kong.
I’ve been told that, although my airplane leaves about half and hour late, I will be in time in Hong Kong. Yes, the connecting flight leaves about two and a half hour after the planned arrival, which should leave plenty of time to make up for this delay.
I’m not sure yet at what gate I will have to be in Hong Kong, but I’ll look that up over there. Information is readily available and pretty clear, I’ve noticed on my way here.
Quicky: when you take the Narita Express bus to the airport from Kasai eki (station), you will be taken straight to the airport, which is very convenient. It costs ¥1550.
At the airport however, be prepared to know at which terminal you need to be. Cathay Pacific was at terminal 2, the first of two stops the bus will make.
When arriving, a security check for your passport will be made. This is the time for you to ask the inspector at what terminal you need to be, if you don’t know. Be prepared for the fact that the inspector may not speak English.
Quicky: while at the observation deck, I just saw a Cathay Pacific plane dock at gate 85. It may be the one that will bring me to Hong Kong in 3 hours.
Quicky: now at Narita International Airport. My flight has been delayed for 25 minutes, already… Departure is now in 200 minutes.
Quicky: in the city and alongside of the express way in the city, not much green can be found. But here halfway til Narita, things are much greener and less concrety.
Also, here it is obvious again that most hill sides and sound barriers, so to say, are concrete enforced. It shows, but I suppose that’s only practical.
Note: as you may have surmised, I have not experienced any earthquakes during my stay.
Quicky: one aspect of Japan can be described as rusty. Many things of iron or similar metals or alloys maybe, have lots of rust stains. Bridges, buildings, etc.
Not very nice to look at. I suppose that’s one thing the Japanese save on.
Let me reiterate that the Japanese use stewards everywhere, for which a budget has to be available, I imagine.
Quicky: so, this bus driver likes driving on the middle lane a lot. Then you get overtaken on both the right and the left. I wonder if things usually work like this…
Sunday 9th November
This morning I packed my belongings, had brunch and chatted a bit with Junko-san. As things turned out I was just on time to leave and catch the Narita airport express bus, so I left in a bit of a hurry. That was a bit unfortunate, but on the bright side I will have a good trip to the airport, without transfers and will have time to spare on departure.
On my way to the airport.
Quicky: on my way home, an ambulance came by. It’s just amazing to see how (IMHO) overly careful they cross a fully cleared intersection… Too slowly, just too slowly…
Quicky: on my last subway ride of the day, something went wrong. Just after the train departed, it stopped again. Something was announced but I could lot make heads or tails of it.
As the doors opened again, nobody moved, so I figure I do the same. 😛 After a short while, we resumed the ride.
Yes, this was probably quite exceptional. At least in regard to all subway and train rides I had made during my stay in Japan.
Quicky: I am here.
That is all, because that is cool.
Saturday 8th November – last day, kinda
To be fair, tomorrow, Sunday, will be my last day in Japan. I will depart for Narita airport and my flight will take off around 18h local time. Around midnight, local time, I will depart from Hong Kong and around 6:30h, again local time, I will arrive in Schiphol.
What my last day will look like, I don’t yet know. At some point I will have to “hand in” my pocket WiFi, which means I will have no more Internet connection on the go. But I suspect WiFi will be available at the airports.
But we’ll get to that tomorrow.
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Friday 7th November
I’m a bit late with the update, but that’s because last night I spent talking with Junko-san and her husband, almost until it was time to check in for the airplane. That is, reserve seats on the airplanes that take me to Hong Kong and Schiphol…
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Quicky: to make sure you do not wait forever on a waiter (who does the waiting on you), you simply call out “sumimasen”, loudly if need be.
Quicky: as you European folk are unused to, ground floor is called 1F, etc. First floor below that is called B1, etc.
Quicky: the Toyota Aygo does not really exist in Japan. On the other hand, there exist almost countless of models in Japan, that do not exist elsewhere.
- IQ
- Spade
- Ractis
- Ist
- Corolla Axio
- bB
- Camry
- Sai
- Allion
- Premio
And the list goes on…
Many models do not carry the Toyota logo on the front…
Quicky: if you ever get the chance to visit Don Quijote (Donki for short), do so. One of such shops is very close to Suehirocho subway station. (between it and Akihabara eki, station actually).
There are arcades, Pachinko & Slot, a maid café (with a waiting line), a whole floor and more dedicated to AKB48, lots of Love Live stuff and everything else you do or do not need.
There’s even a small selection of sex toys for him and even her. I think customs might give me a hard time if I were to bring any of that with me. xD
Quicky: I have spotted almost no homeless people in Japan, I think. But maybe once or twice have I seen some unfortunates here in Tōkyō.
Quicky: so the Japanese girl band AKB48 is pretty popular as well, it seems. They even have their own cafe near Akihabara eki (station).
AKB of course means Akihabara… For different places in the country there are like girl bands with similarly devised names.
Marketing machines are raking in the moneys.
Quicky: if I’m not mistaken, at November 15th an awesome Japanese splatter movie will come out. I have to see that. Somehow…
[edit]
Follow up: it’s As The Gods Will (Kamisama no Iu Toori, 神さまの言うとおり)
Quicky: Subway lines, or rather trains, are a power source for subway stations? (I read this on an advertisement)
Whuh?
Quicky: I may have mentioned this before, but the virtual girl band Love Live is pretty popular, I’d reckon. Lots of merchandise is to be found. If I would like J-Pop, then I’d probably buy some of that music. But I don’t, alas. 😛
(seriously, it sounds omoshiroi, interesting, but at the same time like Alvin and the Chipmunks)