Vacationing in Japan - Part 1: getting there

The second leg of our journey

Before I even begin describing Japan, I have to talk about *getting* to Japan. We left home at 11:45AM on a Monday and arrived at Tokyo Airport at 3:30PM Tuesday, local time. It was a very long trip with a changeover in London. The flight to London was pretty commonplace, although the airport itself was the worst airport I’ve ever visited. The people working there don’t even have a passing acquaintance with courtesy. Obviously they’re very tough on security, but there’s no reason to be rude to people over it. Even the clerks working in the airport stores were unpleasant to interact with.

Our own controller!

As you might have already realized, I love flying. But Japanese Airlines makes flying an absolutely sublime experience. The seat in front of you has its own built foot rest (which can be taken away if you’re not a midget like me and want your feet on the ground) as well as your very own tv screen! Your armrest opens up and reveals…. A remote control! You can watch a multitude of movies (I managed to polish off The Last Mimzy, The Number 23, Police Academy, Batman, Zodiac, and sleep to You’ve Got Mail… and that was barely half of the movies they had), a few tv channels including a Disney channel, the option of viewing a camera set outside of the plane, a screen actively showing the airplane stats (height/speed/temperature, distance to/from destination etc) or you could even play a variety of video games because the remote control is also a game controller! There is also an extensive list of radio stations you can listen to, but I’m sorry to say there wasn’t really anything of any quality there – not unusual for airplanes. Luckily we had an Ipod as well as my mobile phone being stocked with mp3s.

The food served was a very nice Japanese meal, with a terrifying strawberry froth of a dessert that looked like the foam frogs beat up around their eggs, only pink. I have no idea what was in it but I couldn’t very well not eat it after Baroquew slurped his down and was making fun of me for being suspicious of mine.

The only problem I had with the flight was with my legs becoming swollen and uncomfortable. I hate making people move for me and jittering my legs around tends to annoy anyone sitting close to me. They actually played a special video showing you how to do the exercises recommended for getting blood flowing to all your limbs and prevent clots/bloating which was a little bit helpful. Baroquew also had the foresight to buy some inflatable neck pillows, which were of an immense help. If they hadn’t put a ban on liquids, it would have been very nice to have some sort of refreshing misting bottle as well.