After months of being inactive
Well people,
how are you?
Do you remember how I babbled about my vacation to Japan? Well, you might recall that on the 11th of March a 9,0 earthquake happened and a devastating tsunami hit Japan.
My friend and I were one hour away from the Narita airport when it happened. :/ Everything began splendidly, we had a window row to ourselves and we were in good spirits but then we suddenly began to circle and did not get any explanations.
Over the intercom they said something about the Narita airport being closed and that we would maybe land at Haneda airport or even the ones near Osaka. Well, after one hour of flying circles they said we would fly to Hakodate airport in Hokkaido.
Off we went. It was my first time in Hokkaido, the airport was tiny and there was still snow on the streets. The flight crew didn't have any info themselves, telephone lines were too buy and we sat in the plane for nearly five hours. We were hungry, tired and getting annoyed but still, it was peaceful. The crew hoped we would get to fly back to Narita but it was not menat to be, so they told us we would stay the night in Hokkaido. Yay? During the five hours I tried to call my parents (thank god for a mobile phone which has reception in Japan) but could not reach them. Went online saw that something terrible has happened, got in contact with a Japanese friend who was able to tell me more.
JAL organised busses and hotels and it took an hour to reach our hotel. Thankfully, we had a kind woman who translated for us since we could only speak a little Japanese and the staff at the airport no English. We raided a conbini on the way to the hotel, checked-in, got keys and a breakfast coupon.
Talked to my parents, it was the first time we heard bout the nuclear power plant being damaged and we were like WTF.
Only slept for 4 hours, got up, ate breakfast and waited for the bus to arrive. But I was finally able to eat slimy algae in miso soup it was awesome. :)
We were driven back, but the airport was full (busiest traffic day for them I assume) and we were supposed to start at 11:30 but I think we only landed at Narita around 14:30. Keep in mind the flight takes about an hour. :/
Spent some time in Narita trying to get a ticket back (Hahaha, one way ticket to Frankfurt = 5000 euro hahah no. We didn't get our flight tickets directly from JAL, it was cheaper from a ticket agency so we would have had to contact them but it was Saturday midnight in Germany, so no puedo). We talked with friends and parents and decided to get to Tokyo. Luckily, our hostel had our flight info so they could see we landed in Hokkaido and my parents had written them an email.
Normally it takes 45 minutes to reach Ueno via train but this times we travelled for over 2 hours. We were tired and hungry.
Arrived at the hostel around 20:00, checked-in and were exhausted. Bought stuff at conbibi, searched for restaurants, some were already closed, finally settled on Denny's. I ate sirloin steak. Yum!
Went to bed, earth quaked 4 times, finally could sleep like 7 hours. On that morning (It was Sunday, we arrived in Japan on Friday) we decided to look for other airlines, settled on British Airways since they offered a one-way ticket to Frankfurt via London for roughly 1200 euro but of course they rejected the credit card of my father. I get it, purchase was made from Japan, it was a huge amount but... GRRR
Luckily, dad had anothet card, booked us the flight from his PC back in Germany. Flight was on Monday, 06:45. So we decided to leave around 14:00 and arrive much too early in Haneda just to make sure we wouldn't miss the flight. We spent 3 hours in Asakusa, ate, took hilarious puris, then checked-out and fortunately, the ride to Haneda went smooth, no problems.
Haneda airport is really nice! Clean, bright, welcoming. We brought our luggage to the baggage storage, put our handluggage in coin lockers and went to explore. Nice shops and restaurants, weather was beautiful. Bought porn mags LOL and used the free shuttle bus to drive over to the domestic terminal. They had the edible playdough which was invented in Idstein for sale there! LOL
Then we ate delicious Yakiniku for dinner and then waiting began. To be truthful, the first 6 hours went by quickly after we arrived at Haneda but then we were confirmed to the seats near the BA check-in counter, unable to sleep. At least they had free wi-fi. And we saw dusk.
We checked-in around 4 am, passed security and I bought some stuff:
- Anna Sui two-tone blush
- Anna Sui eyelash curler
- Anna Sui Rock on perfume
We had to be driven to the plane and sat there for 2 hours since the plane had to be de-iced but the temperature of the water had to be exactly 50°C and blah stupid regulations.
We finally took-off. I watched Harry Potter 7 and the Lord of the Rings and couldn't sleep. :/ We landed in London, didn't know the gate and it was already 13:20 and boarding was supposed to begin at 13:25. We asked at the info counter, lady said go to Gate Blah but I dunno.
But it was the correct date, we got on the plane and after one hour arrived at Frankfurt. But noo, things did not end there, while we were waiting for our luggage to arrive someone informed us that the ground grew were on a strike. I was so close to strangling them.
But we got our luggage and finally went out to meet our families.
I hadn't slept for over 26 hours. It was the frist time in England, Haneda and Hokkaido. I NEVER WANT TO EXPERIENCE THAT AGAIN.
At least I bought Hello Kitty stuff and a Totoro keychain. :/
how are you?
Do you remember how I babbled about my vacation to Japan? Well, you might recall that on the 11th of March a 9,0 earthquake happened and a devastating tsunami hit Japan.
My friend and I were one hour away from the Narita airport when it happened. :/ Everything began splendidly, we had a window row to ourselves and we were in good spirits but then we suddenly began to circle and did not get any explanations.
Over the intercom they said something about the Narita airport being closed and that we would maybe land at Haneda airport or even the ones near Osaka. Well, after one hour of flying circles they said we would fly to Hakodate airport in Hokkaido.
Off we went. It was my first time in Hokkaido, the airport was tiny and there was still snow on the streets. The flight crew didn't have any info themselves, telephone lines were too buy and we sat in the plane for nearly five hours. We were hungry, tired and getting annoyed but still, it was peaceful. The crew hoped we would get to fly back to Narita but it was not menat to be, so they told us we would stay the night in Hokkaido. Yay? During the five hours I tried to call my parents (thank god for a mobile phone which has reception in Japan) but could not reach them. Went online saw that something terrible has happened, got in contact with a Japanese friend who was able to tell me more.
JAL organised busses and hotels and it took an hour to reach our hotel. Thankfully, we had a kind woman who translated for us since we could only speak a little Japanese and the staff at the airport no English. We raided a conbini on the way to the hotel, checked-in, got keys and a breakfast coupon.
Talked to my parents, it was the first time we heard bout the nuclear power plant being damaged and we were like WTF.
Only slept for 4 hours, got up, ate breakfast and waited for the bus to arrive. But I was finally able to eat slimy algae in miso soup it was awesome. :)
We were driven back, but the airport was full (busiest traffic day for them I assume) and we were supposed to start at 11:30 but I think we only landed at Narita around 14:30. Keep in mind the flight takes about an hour. :/
Spent some time in Narita trying to get a ticket back (Hahaha, one way ticket to Frankfurt = 5000 euro hahah no. We didn't get our flight tickets directly from JAL, it was cheaper from a ticket agency so we would have had to contact them but it was Saturday midnight in Germany, so no puedo). We talked with friends and parents and decided to get to Tokyo. Luckily, our hostel had our flight info so they could see we landed in Hokkaido and my parents had written them an email.
Normally it takes 45 minutes to reach Ueno via train but this times we travelled for over 2 hours. We were tired and hungry.
Arrived at the hostel around 20:00, checked-in and were exhausted. Bought stuff at conbibi, searched for restaurants, some were already closed, finally settled on Denny's. I ate sirloin steak. Yum!
Went to bed, earth quaked 4 times, finally could sleep like 7 hours. On that morning (It was Sunday, we arrived in Japan on Friday) we decided to look for other airlines, settled on British Airways since they offered a one-way ticket to Frankfurt via London for roughly 1200 euro but of course they rejected the credit card of my father. I get it, purchase was made from Japan, it was a huge amount but... GRRR
Luckily, dad had anothet card, booked us the flight from his PC back in Germany. Flight was on Monday, 06:45. So we decided to leave around 14:00 and arrive much too early in Haneda just to make sure we wouldn't miss the flight. We spent 3 hours in Asakusa, ate, took hilarious puris, then checked-out and fortunately, the ride to Haneda went smooth, no problems.
Haneda airport is really nice! Clean, bright, welcoming. We brought our luggage to the baggage storage, put our handluggage in coin lockers and went to explore. Nice shops and restaurants, weather was beautiful. Bought porn mags LOL and used the free shuttle bus to drive over to the domestic terminal. They had the edible playdough which was invented in Idstein for sale there! LOL
Then we ate delicious Yakiniku for dinner and then waiting began. To be truthful, the first 6 hours went by quickly after we arrived at Haneda but then we were confirmed to the seats near the BA check-in counter, unable to sleep. At least they had free wi-fi. And we saw dusk.
We checked-in around 4 am, passed security and I bought some stuff:
- Anna Sui two-tone blush
- Anna Sui eyelash curler
- Anna Sui Rock on perfume
We had to be driven to the plane and sat there for 2 hours since the plane had to be de-iced but the temperature of the water had to be exactly 50°C and blah stupid regulations.
We finally took-off. I watched Harry Potter 7 and the Lord of the Rings and couldn't sleep. :/ We landed in London, didn't know the gate and it was already 13:20 and boarding was supposed to begin at 13:25. We asked at the info counter, lady said go to Gate Blah but I dunno.
But it was the correct date, we got on the plane and after one hour arrived at Frankfurt. But noo, things did not end there, while we were waiting for our luggage to arrive someone informed us that the ground grew were on a strike. I was so close to strangling them.
But we got our luggage and finally went out to meet our families.
I hadn't slept for over 26 hours. It was the frist time in England, Haneda and Hokkaido. I NEVER WANT TO EXPERIENCE THAT AGAIN.
At least I bought Hello Kitty stuff and a Totoro keychain. :/