Franco and I left my house at 9.15pm, and my parents drove us to Changi International Airport, Terminal 3. Baggage check-in was fast and convenient, since we already did online check in 48 hours before.
My heartfelt thanks to the people who sent us off. To my dearest family: Dad, Mom and Brother (Sorry I couldn't upload the pics because the pics are in my father's cam!). To my ESP classmates: Muzhi and Shawn. Last but not least, to my Gangst8rs 姐妹 and their bfs. Ya thanks for the pen Gangst8rs, I will treasure it!! A lot!!
Saturday, 20 March 2010
Contrary to what I expected, there were no supper or light meals for us for the first hour of the flight, although we were informed that we may approach the crew members for some snacks if we were feeling hungry. I was more tired than hungry, so I chose to put on my eye mask and fell asleep.
When I was choosing the seats online two months ago for this flight, I thought sitting near the disembarking exit would be a good choice, since we can get in and get out fast. Turns out I wasn’t really wrong, but overall the choice was a REALLY BAD ONE. That was because the front rows are usually reserved for passengers with infants, and there were quite a lot of those on our flight. To sum it up briefly, I was just plain “lucky” enough to get front row seats to a “wailing musical” for nearly 4 hours in the plane. For the whole journey I was just hovering between “sleep” and “awake” modes. But then again, you gain something when you lose something (Law of Equivalent Exchange). As we were flying about 300km east off the northern part of Taiwan (Singapore time 4.40am), I saw something spectacular.
SUNRISE!
Our breakfast soon followed…
Japanese styled breakfast. Notice the salmon in the main bowl.
Walking to the skytrain
We took the skytrain to the main arrival hall. The whole immigration procedure (including queuing time) took about 45 minutes. Yes and when our passports were being stamped by the immigration officers, we were required to put our two index fingers at two fingerprint reading spots and smile dumbly into a camera. *Snap*! Youkoso. Welcome to Japan.
After collecting our baggage, we made a beeline for the bus limousine ticketing counter to get tickets to Hotarugaike station, about 50km away. The fare was ￥1900, about S$29. Rather reasonable considering the distance. But to my dismay, due to some “dunno what Saturday congestion” on the roads, we were forced to get off at Osaka Airport Monorail Station and we had to take the monorail to Hotarugaike station ourselves instead. Fortunately it was only one station away. 
Waiting for the bus...
The roads were rather congested.. Dunno what's so happening on a Saturday.
On the famous Osaka monorail. The longest monorail line in the world.
Tatsumi Koji was waiting for us at the ticket gates. He still looked pretty much the same when I last saw him, just that he was wearing a mask. He explained that Japan has many ‘fine particles’ in the air during this season, such as flower pollen and fine sand blown from China’s desert, and he was allergic to them. Initially I thought he was the odd one out, but then I noticed a few others also donned masks. Looks like hay fever is something not to be joked about after all. After helping us load our luggage into his car, Koji drove us to our apartment.
The landlady (oya-san) of our apartment was a kind and friendly woman who appeared to be in her late fifties. After a round of formal introductions, we got to know her as Usunami Aki-san (薄波秋 さん). Not hard to remember, since I can relate her surname to “Uzumaki Naruto” (渦巻ナルト) =).W
Koji then brought us to the Senri-Chuo (千里中央) area, a local neighbourhood center for a lunch treat. We went to a Japanese restaurant and enjoyed our first authentic Japanese meal!
Our first dinner in Japan was also a memorable experience. Our landlady went to the trouble of getting us some rice and rice cooker, side dishes and fruits and absolutely refused to accept any money for them. She even helped us wash the dishes for our first time use. Once again, I wondered whether it was my extraordinary good karma gathered from my past lives that I managed to meet kindred spirits on an alien, faraway land.
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