Stacy: Day 1 - No Subtitles!!
What. A. Day. It seems like my past two trips have "fun" stories occur while we're not even out of the US...
This trip to Japan is our dream trip. 6 people (3 married couples, each with at least 1 person in that couple being a friend of Nando and me from college). One couple of with us, now, and the second couple will join us 2/3 of the way through, for Tokyo.
It took 6 years of planning and 3 years of limbo, thanks to COVID-19. Our original trip was supposed to be during Sakura season (Cherry Blossom season, late March to mid April 2020). Literally 3 or 4 days before we were supposed to fly out in 2020, we made the call to cancel our trip because the World shut down due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Japan finally opened their borders in 2022, and lessened their COVID-19 entry restrictions in early Spring 2023.
So. Here we are, today!
Flight from San Antonio to San Francisco: Arrived at the airport at 5:30am. It was a normal flight until it wasn't. Halfway through, the puppy sitting in the chair in front of me (middle seat, third row from the back of the plane; not a service animal; not sure why it wasn't in a crate) pooped everywhere. I don't know why this dog didn't have a diaper, or at least a pee pad underneath it.
Nando tries not to judge people on their appearance, but this guy (owner) looked like a preppy douche (about 25 years old), and his traveling companion (his brother) looked like Slim Shady (neck tattoos, hoodie). The owner had a hat, that, after the poop incident, he shoved into the overhead compartment.
Looked exactly like this:
So, the doggie had an accident, and the owner doesn't plan at all for this on a 4 hour flight (2 hours in). Dog starts pooping, and he picks up the poor creature, holding it out in front of him, and walks quickly to the restrooms in the back (again, he was in the third row from the rear of the plane).
Then, I noticed that the gentleman across the isle from us (Nando was on the isle) was stiff, and seemed to be in shock. Now, this gentleman was a SHARPLY dressed man from Jamaica, and his female traveling companion matched. Designer slacks, sports choat; designer dress, designer handbag, and high heels. I mean, they were quite the classy couple.
I thought he was shocked by what had just happened, and that there was poop all along the floor. Nope! Only a little poop on the floor. He said to me, "It pooped on me." I blocked at him in disbelief, and then my eyes adjusted to the light, and I saw the diarrhea running all along the right sleeve of his black coat.
Mortified, I pulled out the antibacterial wipes I had on hand for wiping down tray tables, video screens, and arms of our chairs (I had 4 of them), and handed them to him, not sure what else I could do.
Still in shock, and not sure what to do, himself, he nodded to me, and then went to the flight attendant in the back. He explained the situation (upset, but not shouting), and then went into the other bathroom to clean himself up.
Both of them were in there for a long time. The flight attendants spoke to the dog owner about the complaint when he finally came out, and the dog wasn't allowed on the seat, anymore.
I held my day pack/personal item on my lap for the remainder of the trip, and had it resting on my waterproof shoes during landing. Nando and the guy next to me kinda did the same thing, and the flight attendants did not correct us to put our baggage under the chair better.
The dog owner apologized only after we had landed, and we were waiting for the doors to open.
All this before 10am!
Flight from San Francisco to Osaka, Japan: we knew a couple days before that it was delayed an hour. "Better an hour later than an hour before!" Especially when you have connecting flights at a large airport.
The thing to note here, is that our travel agent booked these flights months ago, and definitely marked "gluten free" for meals. Also when I checked in the day before, everything was great for the San Fran flight, but it essentially skipped over verifying things for the international flight. When we got our paper boarding passes at the SA airport (I'm so glad we did because the digital ones mentioned nothing), they said something to the effect of, "Seats: unknown," and "Gate: see attendant." I'm glad we had United text us info!!! We at least had the gate number as soon as we landed. But, after grabbing lunch, Nando decided to go to United. Com and noticed we needed to check in for this flight. He did so, with his info. (Didn't know about needing to verify GF meals, and it might not have even prompted him).
Mostly uneventful twelve-hour flight! This is the longest flight I have been on, to date. Nando was a row in front of me. I sat between two very nice people--an American man living and teaching in Japan (married to a Japanese), and a woman from Switzerland who was walking the Kumano Kodo for the third time! (Different route each time.). She and I had a lot of talk about because, after having walked the Camino, I now wish to become a "Dual Pilgrim" by walking the Kumano Kodo (possibly with my sister and mom).
It was generally a nice flight, but long and boring. I had only 1.5-2 hours of sleep the night before we left, and you really don't get much "sleep" on airplanes. I'm not sure I actually lost consciousness at any point.
But. When it came to my meals, I was up Shit Creek. To and from Porto, Portugal, I was good about asking if they had my gluten free meals on board. This time, I asked as soon as I crossed the threshold of the plane, and (as I expected her to), she instructed me to ask someone at the rear of them plane, in the galley.
This plane was much larger than the one from Porto. This had the seats on the left and right, and 5 in the middle. Porto surprised us because the plane was the same size as any you take from San Antonio to either coast (2 rows of 3 seats).
Finding our seats and overhead bin space was a tad stressful, so once I found my seat, I promptly forgot to ask about my meals until we were taxiing to the runway. "I'm sure it'll be fine " I said as I knocked on my head ("wood").
When it was meal time, a flight attendant with a special meal was walking between Nando's ow and the row behind me, but was overlooking me. I thought perhaps something had been confused since Nando checked us in for this flight.
Long story short, she was amazing, and did everything in her power to ensure I had something to eat. I was NOT marked as needing a special meal, and she said I needed to let them know no less than 48 hours before the flight. So, I don't know what happened, but I'll try to remember to call United 2 days before we leave...
So, I believe she gave me her meals! Our, at the very least, they were "galley" meals. Nice, ceramic dishes, actual silverware.
This was my dinner (vegetarian--which most GF airplane food is so it can cover multiple allergens). I'm glad I can eat dairy without any problems! 😂 It was quite yummy!
They kept giving me bananas. I received 3 total; took one to our hotel, and gave one to Nando. I ate lots of fruit (snack and breakfast).
We landed, and arrived in Osaka without incident! The sun was just setting, and it was overcast and about 62 degrees when we landed.
Then the "fun" began! Getting through immigration and customs was easy and quick because I filled out the Visit Japan website weeks ago, and saved our QR codes to our phones. Anytime who didn't do the website had to fill out forms on the plane. Getting our bag was easy, but a bit stressful because the area was cramped, very small, with lots of people around, and there were 2 flights on our belt.
Next up: find the Japan Rail office and see if the line is short or long. Everyone always complains (in my Travel Japan FB group) about the lines there. It was maybe 45 minutes for us, and I'm glad we exchanged our vouchers just to get out of the way, and get it off of my mind.
We paid several hundred dollars, each, for 7-day passes. We can use them on almost any JR line without paying anything extra (including some Shinkansen/bullet trains, which are very expensive tickets). They will be used during Phase 1b--when we leave Kyoto in about 9-ish days, and we'll be hotel swapping every 2 days.
Now, to get to it hotel! I wanted to take the Airport Limousine Bus (non-stop to a station near our hotel) because I did not want to worry about our luggage on trains and navigating train systems, in general, having not slept in 24 hours. But, we had trouble finding where to buy the tickets. And, then, it was too late for the stop we needed, which would have put us at a 7 minute walk from our hotel.
And, I was mistaken about the first stop of the bus. I thought it was only a little longer of a walk than the 7 minute one... But it was 30 minutes! Oops. Well, we each had our 1600JPY ($13?) tickets, and an hour to wait for this bus. We'd just take a cab to our hotel. It was still better taking the Limo Bus because they got us to Osaka--a 50 minute bus ride. Hassle free!
But, my worst fear has materialized: Kanji on the roads!!! While this photo isn't of Kanji, it gets the point across: I have no idea what it says, and important info is usually put on roads...
So we made it to our hotel! In Japan, the tech driver opens the doors for you, puts your luggage in, and tipping is no existent here.
$17-ish taxi to greet there, but with it for to my mistake... Busy roads! Reminded me to NYC during non-rush hour. EVERYONE else was out walking!
He took us past a street that had all of the trees lit up in pastel pinks, purples, and blues. Then, it became obvious it was the street or hotel was on! I believe it's this way for Christmas/fall/winter, and it's not normally lit up. I remember seeing an article about it, but didn't read out because I assumed "we're too busy, and won't make it there."
Then, we slept! Such glorious sleep! But, San Antonio's 3pm is Japan's 5am... And that's what time I woke up. So, I wrote this blog. 😎. Off to start out day!
Start tuned for our adventures.
