#it’s just how much brain works. this whole gif set i simulated in my head with the sequences and layer order and stuff.. idk how to explain

[a-gert-lush-holiday]

Travel day, and day 1

Our travel day started off well, but slowly started to descend into minor chaos. Lucy woke up around 11pm from an apt nightmare about missing our flight, and so the pair of us decided not to go back to sleep. This was partially so we would definitely be up in the morning, and partially so both of us might be tired enough to sleep on the flight. We tried the TV in our room, however this unfortunately didn’t work at all! We ended up chatting and playing random app games until 4:30, when we both got ready to head out for the day.

A taxi hailed by the front desk got us to Terminal 4, WHSmiths got me a lock for my suitcase - I had been unable to find mine before leaving home, and we finally got our cases checked in around 6:15.

Time for security, which I think is everyone’s least favourite part, but was definitely Lucy’s nemesis today! As well as being selected for the dreaded body scanner, her backpack was also selected for screening 😣 In contrast, I sailed right through for a change! (I seem to get all the random checks when travelling alone on planes - this is even more terrifying when you get pulled to the side whilst an officer speaks to you in German and all the German you know flies out your brain like whoosh). Security over, we had a browse of the shops and popped into Costa for a drink and a sit down until our gate was announced.

Bing! What’s that phone? Oh, delayed 45 minutes? I mean, that’s rough, but not the end of the world, our connection is still doable.

Just as if to prove me wrong, pretty much as soon as I said this another text arrived, putting the time back to 10am. This was...not so doable. At this point, Lucy is beginning to freak out that her nightmare is coming true, and quite honestly despite the brave face I was trying to put on to keep calm, so was I! Luckily no more texts were received, and we boarded the plane at 9:40 - which was definitely pushing it but hey if the plane took off at 10 we still had time before boarding opens!

*sigh*. I really should stop jinxing myself, because sod’s law took over and made us take off at 10:20. This meant that as we landed at 12:25 in Paris, we had 5 minutes before boarding opened, and it was looking increasingly unlikely that we were going to make it. We managed to jump off the plane at 12:40, and the pair of us literally sprinted as fast as our legs would carry us!

Charles de Gaulle unfortunately has another set of security when changing flights, and this is where all hope started to seem lost as Lucy got selected for bag screening again! We explained this to the officer and he very kindly did the fastest yet thorough bag check he could, and we continued our sprinting to the gate, allllllll the way down the end of the terminal! (Because of course it would be!)

Fortunately, the Japan gods seemed to be on our side, as check in had not yet closed! As we made our way onto the plane I received a notification that check in was closing ASAP, so we made it literally by the skin of our teeth.

Crisis averted and butts in seats, we finally were on our flight bound for Tokyo! Lucy settled in on the IFE with either Ant Man or Crazy Rich Asians - I initially debated whether to start watching Ralph Breaks The Internet, but figured I would start watching films after the dinner service. Instead, I settled in with the inflight map, whilst listening to Muse (Simulation Theory, in case anyone was wondering!)

Shortly afterwards, the hostesses came round with a wet towel, round of drinks, and some rosemary crackers. I initially wasn’t sure if I would like them, but they tasted a bit like focaccia bread in cracker form! They also went well with the apple juice I ordered, however after this light snack I was still hungry and dragged a Twix from my bag. After a play through of the album, I finally decided to start an episode of Family Guy when we were somewhere over Copenhagen, thinking food would be coming soon. This turned out to be a smart move, as the second the episode finished it was our turn to be served food!

Our choices today consisted of chicken in sauce, or Japanese style beef curry. I love Japanese curry, so decided to go for the beef, which did not disappoint! Yes, it’s airplane food. Yes, it will never be as good as the real thing served up in an actual restaurant. But for airplane food? The beef was tender and well seasoned, the sauce was delicious and easy on the tastebuds, and the rice wasn’t too soggy or too hard. Chase that down with Camembert and proper french butter on a roll, and a delicious lemon and poppy seed cake, and I was content.

However, I did leave the salad - I’m honestly not a great fan of vegetable salads, especially when smothered in mayo. Lucy has the same meal as me and tried the salad - she ended up leaving it as it was no bueno for her.

I kept an eye on the skymap whilst we ate; we were now flying over Helsinki! The flight seemed to be going really fast at this point, however there was still another 9 hours to go. I settled in and watched a documentary about airbus beluga planes, Lucy listened to some music, and then we both tried to have a nap. Emphasis on the ‘try’. After a lot of tossing and turning, a 30 minute food documentary break, and a change of album from Red Hot Chilli Pepper’s Greatest Hits to a Nirvana compilation, I managed to catch a disjointed 2/3 hours of sleep. Lucy was unable to sleep, and therefore watched another film before poking me awake around 2 hours before decent, taunting me that I missed the ice cream rounds xD

It was not long after I woke up that I began to notice a peculiar smell coming from the galley behind us - I figured this was breakfast, but it had a very strong smell of something that was making me feel ill. However, when food was brought round an hour before landing, breakfast tasted a lot better than it smelt!

This was a scrambled egg, vegetable and...some sort of starch medley - unfortunately I couldn’t read all of the French on the front. The smell I realised after tasting it was most likely soy; whilst I love soy sauce in many things, if I whiff the bottle directly? Nope. This went down with a roll, butter and strawberry jam, plus a nice creamier tasting french version of what I assume was actimel, and a madeline. There was also what I thought was a very fruity yoghurt as the front said ‘apple vanilla’ in French, but as it looked and tasted like baby food one tiny bite of this was enough for me.

Shortly after this, we began the decent, landing cards were completed, and we landed safely at Narita airport. At this point I began to have an ‘oh my god, is this actually real?’ moment, and felt quite emotional. I have wanted to visit Japan since I was 14, and never truly thought I would ever get to make it happen. It still doesn’t quite feel real at the minute! My mind was constantly narrating as we exited the plane such gems as ‘oh my god, I’m standing on a Japanese escalator!’ (Which, in hindsight, I am so glad I did not say out loud!).

On to immigration! Here I have another tip: you’re going to need a black or blue pen, and pick up an immigration card from the desk by the queue. Sit in one of the seats and fill it out. Do not pass go, do not collect £200.

Yes, the card you filled out on the plane...was not the whole story. You need to fill out an immigration card also alongside the customs landing card, which you are not told about on the plane, nor is it particularly well signposted until you get to the end of the queue and the official at the line directing you to a attended booth for fingerprints and photographs takes a look at your documents and tells you you need one to proceed.

Which is fine, but then please don’t be like me and fill the form out in red pen, because you will get kicked out the queue yet again to fill it out on a dark colour. No where is it stated that red pen is the work of the devil, but these things happen so off I went to do as the man said. Ah, Japanese bureaucracy at it’s finest!

It was around this point I turned my phone on and connected to the free WiFi, and my heart immediately sank. You see, I had one more fear that I did not tell Lucy about, knowing that it was most likely going to happen due to the short connection and not wanting her to worry, and I had just had it confirmed.

‘Your baggage items will not be delivered upon arrival. They are still in transport. Please visit the baggage desk for further information’. At this point, given the baggage situation, the third time round I jumped in the line I felt so dejected, like ‘please, dear lord, let this be it!’.

This time round the gentleman waved me through, I passed through immigration, met up with Lucy (who was fortunate enough to have filled the form out in blue pen the first time round after our queue kicking), and together waited in a queue with a lot of people from the same flight.

This was also where I experienced Japanese bureaucracy and efficiency at it’s finest - the desk staff were working so hard to explain the situation, advising how to fill in yet another form to confirm the loss of the baggage and open claims for everyone, and were then escorting people to Customs so they could be processed (as obviously we were no longer accompanied by baggage, the lost baggage forms had to be processed so Customs can check the baggage after its arrival). We were also advised that we would get the equivalent of $100 a person that would be refunded for the purchase of essentials upon providing receipts - assuming the delay is only as long as the day they stated, this is actually a better deal than our travel insurance!

Finally, finally we were free on Japanese soil - and all we wanted to do was get to the hotel and de stress. Not to be, as check in was not until much later in the day, and we now needed to purchase a change of clothes.

At this point, I decided to get out a bit of extra cash at a 7-11 atm, praying the whole time my card would not get blocked, and internally cheering when I was presented with a wad of cash. My second stop was to grab my newly purchased Passmo (a bit like an Oyster card, but it can be used across Japan, and not just London), and complete a childhood dream - paying for a drink at a vending machine with your train pass.

Okay, yes, that sounds really lame nowadays when we have contactless payments and you can use your phone to buy pretty much anything. However, back in college before this technology really even existed as more than a concept in the west, I saw a video on YouTube of a guy paying for his drink using his IC card, and this basically cemented the idea that ‘Japan is this cool place that thinks outside the box why do we not have this man I wanna go there’. And now I have. So I did xD

Peach coca cola in hand (10/10 would buy again, the Diet Coke version at home is far inferior), we jumped on the Sky Access train (half the price of the Skyliner, with only a couple more stops, plus you don’t need a reserved ticket) to the Skytree and its shopping mall to pick up some clothes, and other bits like a hairbrush or face wipes. I ended up going in Uniqlo, and in there I saw the cutest Moomin shirt :D So of course I brought it! I also grabbed a pair of shorts, a shirt, and some clean underwear to change into, and then after browsing a bit more we hit up a Combini for lunch as the food hall in the Solamachi was packed.

I chose a onigiri with chilli oil filling (it had a sort of umami taste, with sesame I think?) and Lucy had a cheeseburger. But that’s okay, because she got to enjoy that they will put it in the microwave for you! We also both picked out a pastry each, for which I went for a choco-coronet and Lucy went for a croissant which ended up having a delicious sugar crust on top!

At this point we still had time to kill, so it was time for a browse around outside in the fresh air. Cherry blossoms were still in bloom, albeit barely, so we took a moment to admire these before moving swiftly onwards, and finding a gacha shop.

For the uninitiated, a gacha shop is full of gachapon machines (gachapon being tiny capsules filled with toys, like what’s in a kinder egg but not encased in chocolate), all selling different collectible sets. From this with the meagre change I currently had, I ended up with a Hogwarts hufflepuff badge, a tiny Iron Man, and a Sylveon keychain. All fairly decent pulls.

Another wander, a jump on the subway one more stop, and we were checking into our hotel. More on the hotel hopefully later, but I can confirm it is very very nice :)

For today, that is where I will have to stop, as Lucy has been sleeping pretty much since (a full 24+ hours without sleep will wreak havoc on you, yikes), and I have been pottering around trying out things like the indoor slippers, and heated toilet seats (11/10, need one for home so I don’t freeze my arse off when attending the ladies room).