kikoku
I made it home in one piece. Although, my shoulders are killing me. damn laptop. At the moment, I'm using my desktop for the first time in over a year. It feels really weird. ^^; The keys are clickety.
Just before I was getting ready to leave my apartment for the last time, I went to throw out all the bags of trash I filled cleaning. That was all I had to do and then I was out of there. It took a few trips, but *of course* on the last trip to take the trash out, I forgot my keys in the apartment and locked myself out. XD I couldn't call anyone because I had just shut off my cell phone account. So I waited around in front of my apartment for like half an hour before somebody finally came out the front and I could get back in. I'm sooo stupid. So I rush to the airport only to find that my flight is delayed. -_-;; It wasn't Singapore Airlines' fault, though. Apparently, Narita had shut down a runway or something and our plane got redirected to Haneda. 3 hours later we finally took off. Oh well, at least I got a meal voucher at the airport and a phone card for free. I called my mom and then I ate overpriced curry and drank an Asahi to finally relax. The flight was under 9 hours, though. I don't know if the wind and weather were just in our favor or if Singapore just flies really fast, but that was the fastest flight between Tokyo and LA I've ever taken. I wish I could go upstairs in the plane and take a peak at 1st class. lol I wanna know if they really do get their own little rooms or whatever. Economy class is the same as usual but their food was pretty good! And the entertainment was awesome. You get your own little screen and there were over 90 channels of movies and things, most of them really recent. I just wanted to sit and watch all the movies but I was tired. And if you didn't want to watch movies it had games. Brain teasers and quiz games, but the best was Nintendo! It had a rom or something for Game Boy Advance. It didn't have that many games for it unless you like Pokemon. But I played Super Mario Bros. for the first time in way over a decade. XD The little remote control looked like a cross between the Wii controller and a regular remote control. Although, I think the controls aren't as intuitive as they could be and the delay after you press buttons was a bit long when switching screens. I was lucky and got an aissle seat, so I could stretch my legs out a bit. At LAX, customs took *forever*. But I guess, it's just because it's the holidays? When I came home to visit in June, it was really fast. Apparently, several flights came in all at the same time so the lines through customs were really long, and baggage was just chaos. My dad must have been excited and bought me a burger and fries from In 'N' Out in advance, but of course it was cold and soggy by the time I got out of the airport. ^^; My mom was like, I told him to buy it after but no. Other than that, my return home was uneventful.
I'm sad to be away from my friends in Tokyo, but I don't feel like I've "left" yet. I think when you live somewhere for an extended period of time, and not to just relax and do touristy things, but to work, go to school, commute and create an everyday life and get to know the mundane aspects of a place, that place will always feel a bit like home and become a part of you. So I relate to Tokyo differently now. It's part of a very short list of places that will still feel like home even if I'm just visiting. Each place is it's own universe, and whenever I go back to one of those places, I return right back to the myself of that place. One of the other places on that list is the San Francisco Bay Area, to which I'll be moving back next month. ^_^ Busy, busy.
Just before I was getting ready to leave my apartment for the last time, I went to throw out all the bags of trash I filled cleaning. That was all I had to do and then I was out of there. It took a few trips, but *of course* on the last trip to take the trash out, I forgot my keys in the apartment and locked myself out. XD I couldn't call anyone because I had just shut off my cell phone account. So I waited around in front of my apartment for like half an hour before somebody finally came out the front and I could get back in. I'm sooo stupid. So I rush to the airport only to find that my flight is delayed. -_-;; It wasn't Singapore Airlines' fault, though. Apparently, Narita had shut down a runway or something and our plane got redirected to Haneda. 3 hours later we finally took off. Oh well, at least I got a meal voucher at the airport and a phone card for free. I called my mom and then I ate overpriced curry and drank an Asahi to finally relax. The flight was under 9 hours, though. I don't know if the wind and weather were just in our favor or if Singapore just flies really fast, but that was the fastest flight between Tokyo and LA I've ever taken. I wish I could go upstairs in the plane and take a peak at 1st class. lol I wanna know if they really do get their own little rooms or whatever. Economy class is the same as usual but their food was pretty good! And the entertainment was awesome. You get your own little screen and there were over 90 channels of movies and things, most of them really recent. I just wanted to sit and watch all the movies but I was tired. And if you didn't want to watch movies it had games. Brain teasers and quiz games, but the best was Nintendo! It had a rom or something for Game Boy Advance. It didn't have that many games for it unless you like Pokemon. But I played Super Mario Bros. for the first time in way over a decade. XD The little remote control looked like a cross between the Wii controller and a regular remote control. Although, I think the controls aren't as intuitive as they could be and the delay after you press buttons was a bit long when switching screens. I was lucky and got an aissle seat, so I could stretch my legs out a bit. At LAX, customs took *forever*. But I guess, it's just because it's the holidays? When I came home to visit in June, it was really fast. Apparently, several flights came in all at the same time so the lines through customs were really long, and baggage was just chaos. My dad must have been excited and bought me a burger and fries from In 'N' Out in advance, but of course it was cold and soggy by the time I got out of the airport. ^^; My mom was like, I told him to buy it after but no. Other than that, my return home was uneventful.
I'm sad to be away from my friends in Tokyo, but I don't feel like I've "left" yet. I think when you live somewhere for an extended period of time, and not to just relax and do touristy things, but to work, go to school, commute and create an everyday life and get to know the mundane aspects of a place, that place will always feel a bit like home and become a part of you. So I relate to Tokyo differently now. It's part of a very short list of places that will still feel like home even if I'm just visiting. Each place is it's own universe, and whenever I go back to one of those places, I return right back to the myself of that place. One of the other places on that list is the San Francisco Bay Area, to which I'll be moving back next month. ^_^ Busy, busy.