Back home in AUS.....(for about a week now ^^;;)
BELATED HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!
I was gonna update last Friday when we arrived back home however, I got too lazy and ended up postponing updating this journal. Didn't help that we came home to temperatures of high 30's-40's which made it even harder to stay in front of the laptop to do some updating as this darn HP notebook is a dud and cannot operate at high temperatures. Also the heat made me extremely lazy as well^^;;;
Anyway I was counting on Chisun hotel's laptop lending service so that I could update this journal with our trip and also to contact people I was meeting over there, however we found out that the hotel had scrapped the service thus I couldn't have regular internet access whilst I was in Japan. My apologies to kurorokoon (by the way belated happy b-day!) & xaevyn for the inconvenience and for not keeping in touch with you properly. I sent two "TEXT" msgs to your ketai xaevyn (one before we had to meet up and the second one just after the Gundam event ended) as I found out from my mobile service provider that Docomo can accept 'text' messages, however I'm not sure if you did receive them or not^^; Anyways I should have emailed you on the New Year after the Gundam event to thank you for the tickets (WE ENJOYED THE EVENT IMMENSELY! THANK YOU!!!) and also to apologize for failing on finding you at the event... I just couldn't remember your seat number. *tsk I should have just called you.....(but then my phone bill is already over the roof =_=;;)
Anyways, unlike my last Japan trip, this time I was more "trigger happy" and took a lot of photos, especially those of Takayama/Shirakawago's snow fields & mountains and also of the ryokan we stayed in at Gero. I'll be posting up a couple of photos and will be updating this journal with what happened during the trip. For now, I'll just start with my ramblings about my flights.
Jan 7th 2010 - Flight back home
During our transit at Changi our plane got delayed more than half an hour due to some six stupid people checking in their baggage but then not turning up for the flight >_> Flight was uneventful, except that the Airbus A380-800 was once again full to the brink and there were so many kids in the flight x_X Even on the my second ride (it seems that the Melbourne-Singapore flights are mostly on the Airbus A380-800) I still say that the hype about the new Airbus A380 is overrated. The seat ergonomics is crap, the 2nd floor is EXTREMELY turbulent (I got sick the first time I rode it to Singapore and according to the flight attendant this is the case for the Airbus A380 -_-;), the windows are too thick, can't see that well through it, and having to share a plane with 450 passengers is an extreme pain. It takes longer to embark and disembark and the plane and it is very crowded. The only redeeming point of the aircraft is the entertainment system with a 12 inch (I think that was the size) wide-screen monitor and the programs available on it. Otherwise I prefer the old Boeing 777~700's, it's quieter, better seats, especially for your back and also the landing is softer.
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, next update, I'll hopefully post up some pictures from the trip and summary of the trip ^_^
On another note, I came home last week expecting that my fluffy 8-year-old pup Mika was gonna be jumping with joy when we got home, however I find out that my parent's had LOANED! OUR dog to the kids who were looking after her. (As they went on their trip to Tasmania for those 4 days two weeks ago, they had to leave the dog with the family friend who had taken care of Mika last time we all went to the Philippines). I thought they were joking at first, but they really did loan our dog for an extra week so that the kids could have a trial run of having to take care of the dog by themselves so that their parents can make a decision whether to buy a pet or not.
Somehow I have managed to survive this week without my pup, however it has been extremely hard as I am used to having her in the house all the time. I pet and play with her so much that she is my stress relief. Anyway she should be home by tonight and I should finally be able to present my pup her X'mas gift. A new cute little harness and a little down jacket with hood for her winter walks. Bought them at Namba Parks thus they were very expensive, however, I just couldn't be bothered anymore to scrounge Osaka for cheaper places to buy doggie clothes^^; The painful corn on my foot (due to too much power walking whilst shopping around Osaka >_>) was already telling me that I was almost at my limit thus I couldn't press on. Anyway it was my last day in Japan when I remembered to buy the doggie clothes^^;;
Okay till next update. For now, sleep so that I can relax my muscles before tomorrow, as I am back at work in the high care ward. Although it's tough on the body, I get my exercise working in high care plus I don't get as much of the oldies having falls over there. Just this afternoon when I was serving dinner, I nearly freaked out as one of my residents fell backwards when he stood up from his chair. Miraculously when we assessed him he was fine and reported no injuries or pain...*phew~*
Anyways take care everyone! Will try to catch up with the flist and reply to emails!
I was gonna update last Friday when we arrived back home however, I got too lazy and ended up postponing updating this journal. Didn't help that we came home to temperatures of high 30's-40's which made it even harder to stay in front of the laptop to do some updating as this darn HP notebook is a dud and cannot operate at high temperatures. Also the heat made me extremely lazy as well^^;;;
Anyway I was counting on Chisun hotel's laptop lending service so that I could update this journal with our trip and also to contact people I was meeting over there, however we found out that the hotel had scrapped the service thus I couldn't have regular internet access whilst I was in Japan. My apologies to kurorokoon (by the way belated happy b-day!) & xaevyn for the inconvenience and for not keeping in touch with you properly. I sent two "TEXT" msgs to your ketai xaevyn (one before we had to meet up and the second one just after the Gundam event ended) as I found out from my mobile service provider that Docomo can accept 'text' messages, however I'm not sure if you did receive them or not^^; Anyways I should have emailed you on the New Year after the Gundam event to thank you for the tickets (WE ENJOYED THE EVENT IMMENSELY! THANK YOU!!!) and also to apologize for failing on finding you at the event... I just couldn't remember your seat number. *tsk I should have just called you.....(but then my phone bill is already over the roof =_=;;)
Anyways, unlike my last Japan trip, this time I was more "trigger happy" and took a lot of photos, especially those of Takayama/Shirakawago's snow fields & mountains and also of the ryokan we stayed in at Gero. I'll be posting up a couple of photos and will be updating this journal with what happened during the trip. For now, I'll just start with my ramblings about my flights.
Jan 7th 2010 - Flight back home
During our transit at Changi our plane got delayed more than half an hour due to some six stupid people checking in their baggage but then not turning up for the flight >_> Flight was uneventful, except that the Airbus A380-800 was once again full to the brink and there were so many kids in the flight x_X Even on the my second ride (it seems that the Melbourne-Singapore flights are mostly on the Airbus A380-800) I still say that the hype about the new Airbus A380 is overrated. The seat ergonomics is crap, the 2nd floor is EXTREMELY turbulent (I got sick the first time I rode it to Singapore and according to the flight attendant this is the case for the Airbus A380 -_-;), the windows are too thick, can't see that well through it, and having to share a plane with 450 passengers is an extreme pain. It takes longer to embark and disembark and the plane and it is very crowded. The only redeeming point of the aircraft is the entertainment system with a 12 inch (I think that was the size) wide-screen monitor and the programs available on it. Otherwise I prefer the old Boeing 777~700's, it's quieter, better seats, especially for your back and also the landing is softer.
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, next update, I'll hopefully post up some pictures from the trip and summary of the trip ^_^
On another note, I came home last week expecting that my fluffy 8-year-old pup Mika was gonna be jumping with joy when we got home, however I find out that my parent's had LOANED! OUR dog to the kids who were looking after her. (As they went on their trip to Tasmania for those 4 days two weeks ago, they had to leave the dog with the family friend who had taken care of Mika last time we all went to the Philippines). I thought they were joking at first, but they really did loan our dog for an extra week so that the kids could have a trial run of having to take care of the dog by themselves so that their parents can make a decision whether to buy a pet or not.
Somehow I have managed to survive this week without my pup, however it has been extremely hard as I am used to having her in the house all the time. I pet and play with her so much that she is my stress relief. Anyway she should be home by tonight and I should finally be able to present my pup her X'mas gift. A new cute little harness and a little down jacket with hood for her winter walks. Bought them at Namba Parks thus they were very expensive, however, I just couldn't be bothered anymore to scrounge Osaka for cheaper places to buy doggie clothes^^; The painful corn on my foot (due to too much power walking whilst shopping around Osaka >_>) was already telling me that I was almost at my limit thus I couldn't press on. Anyway it was my last day in Japan when I remembered to buy the doggie clothes^^;;
Okay till next update. For now, sleep so that I can relax my muscles before tomorrow, as I am back at work in the high care ward. Although it's tough on the body, I get my exercise working in high care plus I don't get as much of the oldies having falls over there. Just this afternoon when I was serving dinner, I nearly freaked out as one of my residents fell backwards when he stood up from his chair. Miraculously when we assessed him he was fine and reported no injuries or pain...*phew~*
Anyways take care everyone! Will try to catch up with the flist and reply to emails!