I would say, “Mata Itsuka Ne” (See You Someday Again) rather
than “Sayonara” (Goodbye) to Japan, because...
Our Japan trip was really nice. We had been there for 12
days; visited, Ozaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Tokyo and Sapporo of Honshu and
Hokkaido islands of Japan. Learnt so many new things, understood the difference
between Buddhist temple and Shinto shrine, rode a bus which could travel in
land and water, visited Hiroshima, enjoyed many trips in Bullet trains, visited
snow-covered places and volcano mountains, experienced the gondola, visited cookies, sake and glass
manufacturing companies, had many cruise trips, enjoyed a thrilled journey in
under sea tunnel, visited many palaces, had seen sakura trees and most
importantly tried many different Japanese traditional dishes. Altogether, the
12 days were fully packed with new, wonderful experiences which I can treasure
for a long time.
 |
Runway and Sea Views from Excel Hotel
Tokyu Room,
Haneda Airport (Domestic T2), Tokyo, Japan.
May 6, 2014
|
Japan is a beautiful country with rich oriental history and
traditions. Japan is a country prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes,
volcanoes and the famous tsunamis. I was marvelling their confidence in having Disneysea
and Disneyland at the east seashore area of Tokyo, as the east coast is often
affected by tsunamis. May be the ‘bay’ structure of this particular area acts
as a natural defence against tsunamis? I don’t know.
I love Japanese. Their hospitality towards the foreigners
was well received. I appreciate a lot of factors that impressed me, for
example, the people working in shops would great us with a bright smile which
encouraged me to smile as well. I loved their discipline; some might wonder
what I speak off. I was inspired with the people with regards to the amount of
hard work they put into doing their jobs. I remember that on the several visits
to shopping malls or stores, the workers there ran here and there just to
convince and service the request of a customer. Well, one of the problems in Japan
was the lack of garbage bins on the streets (this was what I noticed), so we
had to carry the wastes until we found one; but still there was no garbage lying
around. This speaks volumes of the discipline they had according to my father. I will miss Japan was what I thought
when our small query boarded the plane!
Our flight SQ 631 (Airbus A330-300) was bound for Singapore.
The departure was set at 9.20 AM. Luckily, our hotel was located within the airport,
but, we were relaxed? Forgive me; I do not remember, in fact, I think we were
more stressed, apparently because of me. Let me recount the proceedings, the
first day when we came to Japan, my mother took my passport and IC card from
me, mumbling about me of losing them. But I disagreed, so I refused to give them
to her. But humans have their limits, right? So with her continued murmurings I
gave up with obvious irritation. On the account of re-entering Singapore my IC
was really important, so it was to be expected. However on the last day of the
tour, I conveniently forgot that I gave the IC to my mother. In fact, I had
forgotten about the IC until we vacated the room. So outside the hotel but
within the domestic terminal 2 of the Haneda airport, I told her that I thought
my IC might be in my red purse which was stuffed into the suitcase, this for
some reason annoyed her. And as things went on, my parents both got stressed
and started lecturing to me about something which I did not listen to properly
because I was distracted. In the end, the IC was not in the purse and I told my
mother to check her passport purse and guess what, we found it along with her
IC. Wonderful ending isn’t?
So now that I'm done with my ranting and back to my actual
point of writing, our destination within the airport was the International
terminal which stood separate from the domestic ones. To get there we went by a
free shuttle bus. The bus stop number was 8 and by the time we got there the
bus was already there. After we got on, I was relieved and hoping that things
would be much more relaxed from then on.
 |
Haneda Airport (International Terminal),
Tokyo, Japan. May 6, 2014
|
The international terminal was not magnificent or grand like
Singapore Changi, but it served its purpose and was easy to navigate; so we had
no problem finding our way. Surprisingly the security check was lenient and
conducted before the baggage check- in, which in my terms was favourable.
 |
Haneda Airport (International Terminal),
Tokyo, Japan. May 6, 2014
|
After the appropriate procedures had been completed, my
parents started to roam the shops hoping to buy something good for their friends
and colleagues. Again, for who knows the nth time, I got frustrated.
After all what I wanted to do was to sit down and read something. But in the
end, the frustration was not required because the treats we bought for
ourselves was worth it; this was realized after having a taste of said treat, a
banana shaped sponge cake enveloping banana cream and red bean cake. Having
bought sweets, my parents went for hunting other items while I waited. By then
my patience was running thin and I just wanted to find our gate and settle
myself; so after informing my parents, I went to Gate 19 which had been
assigned for Singapore airlines.
 |
Flight SQ 631 (Airbus
A330-300) at Haneda
Airport
(International Terminal), Tokyo, Japan.
May 6, 2014
|
Settling down on one of the seats, I quickly got to work, by
which I mean, finding network connection so that I could read something on the
internet. That plan was cacelled after I couldn’t connect (annoyed me to no
end) and instead I started playing games. A few minutes later my parents appeared
and not much time after that we were called to board.
 |
Flight SQ 631 (Airbus
A330-300) at Haneda
Airport
(International Terminal), Tokyo, Japan.
May 6, 2014
|
 |
Lunch at Flight SQ 631 (Airbus A330-300)
en route to Singapore
(from Tokyo, Japan).
May 6, 2014
|
My assigned seat was 51 A which was towards the end not that
I had any problem with that except that the wing was close and prevented me
from taking pictures comfortably later on. As I said on the first day I did not
get bored for the entirety of the flight time as I was enjoying some good movies that I found interesting. This
return flight was mostly uneventful except when the pilot announced that Mt. Fuji
would be visible in a few minutes. By the time, I had already switched on my
mobile in flight mode to take pictures. And was it worth it, the view offered
after all was breathtaking though the visibility was low, Mt. Fuji was stunning
to look at. I took pictures though not all of them had been good as some were
obstructed by the wing. Here is one of the said pictures.
 |
Aerial View of Mount Fuji from Flight SQ 631 (Airbus A330-300)
en route to Singapore (from Tokyo, Japan).
May 6, 2014
|
.jpg) |
Aerial View of Mount Fuji from Flight SQ 631 (Airbus A330-300)
en route to Singapore (from Tokyo, Japan).
May 6, 2014
|
As far as a tourist is concerned, apart from the tour
attractions, he would consider safety, transportation, accommodation, and food
as the main factors to choose a country to travel. If I am given an opportunity
and option to choose a country to visit, without any second thought, I would choose
Japan!
So,
Mata Itsuka ne Japan..!
.jpg)