Table of Contents
After a delay of over three years thanks to first the Green Shnolz (see Book IV ~ Prologue ~ Of Chains and Chances) and then the dead loss with Elgen (see Book V ~ Chapter 14 ~ Broken Promises), this year finally marks the year when I get to go to Japan (again) with my best friend Robert. I was in charge of planning this, and I did all the preparation that I could, and yet, this should end up starting out as...
The Technical Trouble Trip
9-Sep-2023
Since this is a back-to-back vacation with my time at the Eurofurence this year, I only get a little over a day to spend with my cats at home and get everything ready, hoping they'll not shred the place too badly while I'm away.
With this being a two-week trip, I naturally need to bring quite some stuff. Not as much as for my really long journeys, but still enough to easily fill up most of my two backpacks and thus put me in my characteristic travel harness once again.
As usual, the first part of my trip consists of taking the bus to Moosach...
...at which point I already wonder if I should consider it a bad omen that the in-bus info display is out of order and only displays some semi-cryptic console output that requires at least [Computers 3] to understand.
Fortunately, whatever in the name of Dragon that is, it does not stop the bus from arriving at Moosach, at which point I transfer to the S1 headed for the airport.
Inside, I realize that today seems to be a bad day for info displays, as the S-Bahn display, too, is broken. Oh well, at least the error message is more appealing this time around.
However, I should soon learn that the technical trouble today is not limited to info displays as I run into a ticket inspection, in which my DeTiCa ("Deutschland Ticket Card") turns out to be locked for whatever strange reason. In the end, I can prove the validity of my ticket by pulling up my bank statement and showing the inspector where the monthly price was debited, and I should at the next opportunity file a complaint to the company, to which I haven't received a response to the date when I'm writing this, and my DeTiCa is still locked.
Despite those bumps, I eventually arrive at the airport without any really major trouble, and subsequently wait for Robert who arrives a little after me. Hailing literally from the other side of Munich, he took the S8, which is the other S-Bahn line running to the airport, and also the original one before the S1 was outfitted with an airport branch as well.
Next up is the typical check-in drama, this time with Robert as an audience and partner, which makes the whole circus a bit more bearable. As usual, they have troubles with my name, despite it being written in my passport, the counter clerk needs to get her boss, I have to run through all the extra documents that I brought, including a ticket from my last Singapore Airlines flight, and in the end said ticket ends up accidentally getting shredded. Oh well, it was from that dreadful Philippines trip anyway. One less thing to remind me of that.
In the end, however, I still manage to get my boarding passes with my actual name on top, and... something akin to my old name written below. I say "akin" because it's my last name, my mother's maiden name, and my first name, which is really, really interesting since my mother's maiden name is not printed anywhere in my passport. Also, all of my old middle names are completely omitted. Oh well, as long as it works...
After that, we're going through security, which has a fancy boarding pass checking system with gates for scanning boarding passes, many of which actually work, occasionally even on first try.
Since we're still fashionably early, we spend some time walking around the other side, looking for a place to grab some lunch. Well, that one's on me, really, since Robert already had a very plentiful breakfast.
As we do, we come across a food vending machine, which - like so many other things today - is out of order...
...just like the next water fountain that we come across. Fortunately, the integrated tap is still working, so I can get a bit of a drink there.
Normally, I have my favorite Italian restaurant here, at which I like to get a Pizza before flights. However, today I can't seem to find it (turns out it's only after the passport control), and so I settle for something called "Surf & Turf" at a restaurant by the name of 4 Urbs. In retrospective, I would much rather have enjoyed the pizza, however.
Following lunch, we proceed through aforementioned passport control, walking past a shoe cleaning machine, which is only notable because it also decided to join the ranks of machines that are currently out of order. I sure hope this weirdly persistent pattern does not extend to the plane that we are soon to board.
Said plane is an Airbus A350-900, and it is already a good sign that it is right there at the gate and waiting for boarding preparations to complete.
Boarding soon commences, and I am thankfully able to board without any further complications caused by the weird way in which they wrote my old name on the boarding pass.
Nothing left but getting comfortable in our cramped seats at the back of the plane...
...and then it's departure time, with the plane embarking on what should
be...
A Rough Ride
9-Sep-2023 - 10-Sep-2023
Flight Duration: 11h 30min
Approximate Distance: 10,600km
Average Speed: 920km/h
For the first time since the Green Shnolz started, I get to fly without a mask again, which makes the trip somewhat more comfortable. Also, having managed to reserve seats near the back of the plane, I have a clear view to the outside, so I can look forward to getting some nice aerial shots along the way... once we're in the air, anyway.
The weather couldn't be more ideal for takeoff. We have a sunny sky that is free of all but a few clouds, as well as low humidity making for a fantastic clear view of the landscape as we take off. It's a slight shame that the plane takes off towards the east, meaning that my window faces north, because otherwise I bet we could have seen all the way to the Alps. But even as it is, we get a number of great views, such as the run of the Isar, clearly discernible through the band of lush greenery surrounding it, the great chimney of the Biomasseheizkraftwerk Zolling ("Biomass Heat and Power Station Tolling") on the far side of the Isar, the Isarkanal and the lakes left behind by a number of gravel quarries, and beyond that a diverse landscape of irregular fields, forests and villages. Among others, we fly over the town of Taufkirchen ("Baptism Churches"), and once or twice I can even see the sparkle of a solar panel below. Now windmills, though. This is Bavaria after all.
(Click here to view the video if the website fails to load it)
Not even 15 minutes into our flight, we already cross the Inn near Kirchdorf, which you might remember from the bus trip on the staff outing to Passau (see Book V ~ Chapter 17 ~ Passau Pedestrianism). This is also where we cross the national border, and enter Austrian airspace until further notice.
There, we very narrowly graze the easternmost outskirts of the Alps near Neunkirchen ("Nine Churches")...
...with our next major landmark being Lake Balaton in Hungary, across which my trip to the Philippines already led me. This time, I am looking out into the other direction, which admittedly is not quite as spectacular.
Moving over Hungary and into Romania, the landscape below starts to change. Unlike the vivid mix of fields and forests that dominated Germany and Austria, these countries mostly have sprawling fields that look rather dry, with little to no forests in between. Often, the only swathes of green can be found near the rivers.
There are exceptions, of course, such as the forested hills and mountains of Transylvania. Flying over that area, I take note of Lacul Gura Apelor, a reservoir lake of gaping like a scar between the nearby forested mountains. The dam itself is noteworthy for being the tallest dam in all of Romania.
Roughly around that time, Robert is served his meal. Since he's a pescetarian, I ordered the vegetarian menu for him, which apparently is being served before the regular menu.
Meanwhile, all the rest of us get for now is a bag of dried peas and noodles, which I suppose is to serve as a less allergy-prone alternative to peanuts.
While waiting for my own food, the plane flies across the reservoir lake chain of the Olt river...
...followed soon thereafter by the Donau, which we cross near the city of Ruse. Incidentally, that also marks our transition into Bulgarian airspace.
From there, it doesn't take long until we reach the shore of the Black Sea near Byala...
...and after that, it's all blue for a while.
Well, actually, it's not all that long. Our route today only grazes the very southeastern corner of the black sea, and only a little over 300km later, we already make landfall again near Akçakoca, placing us in Turkish airspace for now.
And it is only after all of this that I finally get some food too, roughly 800km and 1 hour after Robert got his. Oh well, I suppose I did have lunch at the airport earlier, so I guess it's alright. As is the food, because naturally I go for the more interesting non-chicken variant again, which leaves me with some quite delicious Sambal Fish Rice.
Below us, the land grows progressively more barren as we pass over the arid regions of central Turkey. Well, central-ish. Actually, we're only a little over 100km away from the shore of the black sea, but still, the land below looks plenty dry.
There, we also pass over a remarkable landform that is clearly discernible from this high up: The valley of the Kelkit Irmağı ("Wolf River"), which cuts an almost perfectly straight swathe over 150km long and over 1000m deep. A landscape saturated with history all the way into ancient times, when it was known as the Lycos river (also meaning "Wolf"). Once a major trade route leading from Armenia Minor to Bithynia, it is still of economic importance to this day as a national highway runs along its length.
That should be the last sight for today, as clouds swallow up the ground soon thereafter...
...and do not let up until we're well into the night, and past the first set of turbulence which occurs roughly around India, where the weather is apparently presently in upheaval.
Incidentally, here's the route we're flying today: Following Turkey, it takes us across Iran just south of the shore of the Caspian Sea, followed by Pakistan, while Afghanistan is neatly dodged (as is the Sindh region of Pakistan, for whatever reason). Following that, we cross over India and the Bay of Bengal, cross the Malay peninsula at the height of Thailand's southern appendix, and then fly a loop around most of the Malaysian part until we reach Singapore.
(Click here to view the video if the website fails to load it)
As usual, I try to get some shuteye in the night, as opposed to many other passengers that are clearly intent to set themselves up for jetlag syndrome.
Meanwhile, I try to doze as best as I can. Occasionally, I wake and glance out of the window, and coincidentally, one such time happens to be right at the Indian shore, as we embark onto the Bay of Bengal.
The next part of the flight should be particularly bumpy, as is always the case when flying over this particular stretch of ocean. As such, I wake up several times during the night, often saying a short prayer to Inari and whatever spirits watch over us before going back to nap. It is during one such time that I look out of the window to see a beautiful tropical crescent moon in the skies above.
Breakfast is bravely served even before we are entirely across the bumpy Bay of Bengal, and my brave choice nets me a serving of tasty Asian Prawn Noodles.
Dawn breaks soon thereafter, roughly around the time that we cross the Malay peninsula.
As it becomes progressively brighter outside shapes of land are starting to become distinguishable, such as Tioman Island off the coast of Malaysia.
Eventually, we make landfall near the Malaysian town of Sedili Kechil...
...and from that point onward, we're pretty much on landing approach to
Singapore Changi Airport. There's a lot of green as we cross over the last
bit of the Malay peninsula, which is eventually interrupted by the mighty
Lebam River, which is so wide that it could easily pass as a strait.
However, the actual straits only come thereafter, to the left and right of
Tekong Island, along the shores of which a massive land reclamation
project is currently in progress. Following that, we are already at the
airport.
(Click here to view the video if the website fails to load it)
And to briefly get back to aforementioned land reclamation project, since I've stopped by Singapore Changi Airport a few times by now (this is actually my fifth visit here already), I've seen the project gradually develop over time. Back when I travelled to New Zealand in 2016, for example, they were only in the process of constructing the outer dams (See Book I ~ Chapter 1 ~ To Singapore, and Beyond!), and now, not even seven years later, they have all but drained the whole area, connecting the two islands of Tekong Kechil and Tekong. Google currently still features a picture of what it looked like halfway through, by the way.
Anyway, in the meantime, the usual plane exit jam has begun, and since we're at the very back of the plane, it will be some time until we can get out.
Fortunately, with a layover of 7 hours, there's absolutely no reason for us to rush, and we even have ample time for some...
Singapore Sightseeing
10-Sep-2023
Now, going sightseeing in Singapore Changi airport is not hard. In fact, it is pretty much impossible to be here and not go sight seeing, because the first sight that anyone will be seeing is the airport itself, which is unlike any other airport I've ever seen in all of the world. For starters, the floors of almost the entire airport building are covered in carpet, right from the very jetbridge.
And beyond that, the terminals are open, lofty, friendly, with lots of plants and generally, making the whole place seem less like a piece of functional infrastructure, and more like one giant highbrow hotel.
Now, there's lots and lots to see on this airport alone, but since we're flying with Singapore Airlines, there's an additional perk on top of all that: The Free Singapore Tour! I already made use of that offer during my first visit in 2016, but since then they have expanded and now offer not one, but a total of four tours, and the demand is high! Luckily, I was able to register Robert and myself for the new Changi District tour in advance, so right now we only need to check in on that.
Having gotten our tour stickers (which effectively act as tickets)...
...we still have some time to look around. One very useful piece of infrastructure are the functional water fountains that are literally standing on every corner, and are even labeled in German. Unfortunately, the water quality is not quite as nice as back home, but at the very least I can use it to quench my thirst.
After that, I give Robert a guided tour of the various sights that Singapore Changi Airport has to offer, starting with the koi pond...
...as well as the butterfly garden.
Before long, however, it is already time to gather for our tour, which happens to be the Changi District tour. Considering that it's three hours long, this tour alone will already take a significant chunk out of our layover.
First, we have to get through immigration, which as you might imagine is again very interesting with my name and all. However, eventually I do manage to get cleared and get to go on the tour by means of a bus that I am quite certain was not anywhere near as colorful as this the last time around.
The initial bus ride itself is already quite nice. Not only do we get to see a lot of the city, which features enough greenery to be adequately called a garden, but also the English of the tour guides has improved significantly, so this time around I am actually able to follow her exposition. Most of what we pass by are tall blocks of apartments which in less densely settled areas would probably already pass as skyscrapers, but we also drive through an area of very expensive single-family and duplex houses.
(Click here to view the video if the website fails to load it)
On this tour, we should visit two different parts of the Changi district,
the two of them roughly 7km apart. First is the Tampines area, and second
is the Changi Beach Park. Altogether, our route takes us through roughly
5% of Singapore, which means that if you skip out on all of the details,
seeing all of Singapore would take roughly 60 hours, which is enough to
fill about a week.
Anyway, our first stop is the Tampines Central Park, which is actually not part of the Changi district anymore, but the next district over. This one is named after the Tempinis tree, which is a native latex tree. This area is dominated by towering, modern blocks of flats which despite their dimensions still manage to look bright, friendly and welcoming. Also, homely, as people hang out their laundry in specially designed alcoves at precarious heights.
As out tour guide shows us around the park, she tells us how above all, the neighborhoods are designed to create a sense of community. As such, all the houses have nearby parks with public areas where you can meet and mingle, playgrounds that are distinctive enough to serve as landmarks, and shady gazebos to take shelter in from the blazing tropical sun. Right now, by the way, the weather is more overcast and sometimes even a bit rainy. Still, I'm wearing plenty of sunscreen.
However, the park only serves to set the stage for our actual destination in this area: The Our Tampines Hub, which can only be described as the Big Ol' Granddaddy of all community centers. It features a pool on the top floor, and that is only the beginning.
On the inside, it features a food court, a public area for watching TV on a big screen, with color-coded chairs so people can easily communicate where they'll be sitting if they want to meet up...
...as well as a service hub where you can literally take care of everything. One thing that our tour guide particularly stresses is the Housing & Development Board, a government agency centered on the principle that everyone should own their own apartments, and not just rent them. The basic idea is that people will take better care of their homes if they actually own them, and since it's a government run agency, they actually give their clients fair and affordable payment plans.
Next, there's a sports stadium that also doubles as a festival ground. With space being such a limited resource here in Singapore, people have to get creative about how to make the most of each acre.
The top floor features a running track that runs around the whole upper walkway beneath a roof that is covered with solar panels...
...next to the Eco-Community Garden, where kids can learn about nature right in the heart of what might be the most urban place on earth. Among other things, I find some tiny aubergines growing in here.
Then, there's rooftop grilling stations...
...as well as public water fountains on every floor.
After that short excursion into what a city of the 21st century should look like, we get back into the bus and move one stop further to the Changi Beach Park, where first out tour guide treats us to some typical singaporean snacks from a local food market.
We also pass by another food court where cultural diversity and respect is practiced in such a way that the collectors for empty food trays are divided by trays from Halal and non-Halal stalls.
The finale of this guided tour is a walk through Changi Point Coastal Walk, a green seaside park with bridges and boardwalks...
...at the end of which we arrive at the shore, looking out across the strait into the very direction that our flight came from a few hours prior. To the right, the green trees of Tekong Island - where the huge land reclamation project is in progress - can be seen.
After that, it's back to the airport by bus. We pass by some very expensive looking beach houses (some of which were also visible on my video from the landing approach in Singapore on the way to the Philippines (see Book V ~ Chapter 8 ~ Philippine Prospect), an then back to the airport via the intra-city highway.
(Click here to view the video if the website fails to load it)
However, though the return to the airport marks the end of our guided tour of Singapore, it is not the end of our sightseeing here by a long shot, for the tour guide highly recommends all of us to check out the Jewel, and drops us off right outside of it.
Now, what is the Jewel? Put plainly, it is a gorgeous gemstone of a mall sitting squat in the centre of Singapore Changi airport, yet is not a part of it. As such, we can access it only now, that we have gone through immigration and before we go back through passport control. This is something I completely missed out on when last I was in Singapore, and as such I am more than happy to take the opportunity to do that now.
On the inside, the Jewel is divided into several parts. First, there's the outer ring, which consists of several floors - both up and down of stores, most of them quite highbrow. The typical shopping mall experience.
Less typical is the center, which could not be less typical for a mall: A circular waterfall majestically pours down in the middle of a tropical rainforest planted in concentric terraces that one can walk through. This is truly a spectacular sight to behold!
The bottom floor of the Jewel is home to the food republic, which as the name suggests is a food court with foods from all over the region. Robert has some trouble deciding on where to eat, but eventually we pick a Chinese place and I go with a bowl of Hong Kong Noodles. Robert was looking for something authentic Singaporean, but the problem is that Singapore is a melting pot of southeast Asian cultures, there's a lot of food that is either Chinese, Malay, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Filipino, Japanese, and so on, but there isn't really any typical Singaporean food. At least not in this food court there isn't!
The top floor meanwhile is home to all the ticketed attractions, such as the canopy park (a rope climbing park that is not for those who are afraid of heights), the mirror maze, and the hedge maze. The rates are around 10-15€ per person, but since we've already had enough trouble paying for food earlier (my credit cards didn't work, but fortunately Robert's did), and the airport has plenty of free attractions, we decide to skip out on these.
Also, up here there's a bar that has clearly misunderstood the concept of the happy hour.
After that, we return to Changi Airport by means of the underground connection between the Jewel and there, and proceed to explore the parts of the airport that we didn't see before. In fact, since the largest part of terminal 2 was undergoing extensive renovations the last time I was here (which actually was only a little over a year ago), there's still new stuff to discover even for me on my fifth visit here.
One thing that may or may not have been here the last times around - but which I did definitely not take notice of before - is the water lily garden. Located in Terminal 1, it was either added retroactively, or I did simply miss it during my previous visits. Either way, it is a nice little idyll filled with ponds and all sorts of aquatic plants flourishing within them.
Unfortunately, we do not have the time to actually check out the refurbished Terminal 2 today. With the Changi District Tour taking the better part of our layover, and our subsequent exploration of the Jewel, I only have time to briefly show Robert the Cactus Garden, which is also located in Terminal 1...
...and then it's time to take the Sky Train to Terminal 3, from where our next flight is scheduled to depart shortly.
We arrive at the gate shortly before it opens, and for a brief moment I fantasize about how could it would be if those gates would be actual gates that you could step through and that would take you to your destination instantly. No more sitting in cramped flights, stupid security checks or waiting for baggage. Just ZAP, and you're there! Now wouldn't that be great?
The real world is not that awesome, however, and after getting through the obligatory security screening, we end up sitting in the waiting lounge for quite some time while it gets progressively more rainy outside. Also, the seeds for potential trouble emerge as our flight is delayed due to the plane having arrived late from its last flight and needing time to get everything in order again.
Eventually, the plane gets fully prepared, and we're allowed to board, leaving this most amazing airport behind...
...and taking our seats in the back of the modern Boeing 787 Dreamliner that is going to take us the rest of the way to Japan.
However, due to aforementioned delay (and potentially other technical difficulties), this should still be...
A Flight too Late
10-Sep-2023
Flight Duration: 6h 00min
Approximate Distance: 5,000km
Average Speed: 830km/h
Quite possibly related to the delay of the plane, this ride starts with more technical trouble. For starters, the screens in the seats appear to have some problem that puts them at... partial functionality. For one, the in-flight map app is not functioning properly.
Another thing that's not working is the obligatory flight safety video, so instead we get to enjoy the once common but nowadays very rare manual flight safety demonstration by the flight attendants.
And the weather, too, does not look like we'll have a very enjoyable start. With rain falling from this low hanging sky, we're bound to be inside the cloud layer in no time flat.
However, as the plane makes its way across the long maze of runways (which in this huge airport takes so long and involves so many turns that I eventually start wondering whether we've been put in a ground-based holding pattern) I unexpectedly spot a white heron standing on the grass near the runway, curiously eying the large white metal bird that rolls by.
Eventually, we manage to make it to the runway, and subsequently take off towards the south. As I feared we get into a layer of clouds within a minute after takeoff - seeing little but some ocean and a good number of ships before - but fortunately that one turns out to be only a very localized cluster, and after that we get a nice view of all of Singapore as the plane circles towards the northeast in a wide arc giving us a panoramic view of the city of lions in the distance before we finally get swallowed up by the cloud layer for good.
(Click here to view the video if the website fails to load it)
We eventually emerge from that, but naturally that means that for the next good while, there's nothing to see outside but a huge white mountains of clouds.
And even that just suffers a streak of blue as the modern screen tint shades - which the windows of this so-called "modern" plane feature in place of normal drawers - malfunction. Normally, you'd be able to set how opaque or transparent you want them to be via a button at the bottom, but that doesn't work, and the screen tint shades all throughout the plane simply end up being a consistent shade of blue. Well, not like there's much to see out there anyway except for clouds and the ocean.
In fact, we're literally flying above the ocean for the entire duration of our flight, often not within sight of land. First, we fly over the South Chinese Sea, passing between Taiwan and the Philippines, and then we follow the islands of Okinawa until Kyushu, at which point the pilot goes "Oops, almost would have gone across land", makes a sharp right turn and proceeds south of the coast of Shikoku until he can turn north into Oosaka bay, where our destination airport of KIX is located. KIX stands for Kansai International Airport XD, which is a mouthful, so I am just gonna call it KIX for short. Also, KIX is way cuter since it makes for a syntactically correct Phonex name.
Once again, this ride should be rather rough and shaky, passing across oceans and all, and it is at this point that I resolve not to take any more vacations that will require a plane journey unless I have someone to hold close when things get scary like this. Robert is sitting next to me, but he's not a very cuddly person. Anyway, during a slightly more calm leg, they serve dinner, which for me takes the form of fish with mashed potatoes, vegetables and Soba noodle soup. The latter is the first indication that we're slowly starting to arrive in Japan, though with all the turbulence ongoing eating it is a bit of an adventure.
As it gets late, I try to get a little shuteye once again, even while most of the plane as usual decides to focus on movies. At least that part of the in-flight entertainment system is still working. Could you imagine the riot if that were to malfunction too?
While dozing, I occasionally look up to track out flight by means of the progress bar, which is the only part of the navigation app that is still working. I am also keeping an eye on the time, which is starting to worry me. Originally, our flight was scheduled to arrive at KIX at 21:35, which, while already kinda late, would still be basically okay. However, with the delay that we suffered, it looks like we actually won't arrive before 22:00, which is kinda problematic since Japan - civilized as though it might be otherwise - has this thing where no trains are running after midnight(-ish). So that means that Robert and I are slowly running into the danger of missing the final train to Nara, considering that after landing we still have to go through immigration, luggage claim, customs and whatnot. So I am left praying twofold, first that we'll get to KIX safely, and then that we'll manage to get from KIX to Nara without becoming stranded somewhere along the way.
As nerve-wrecking as the flight itself was, the landing at KIX turns out to be spectacularly uninteresting. Coming in from the southwest late in a dark and rainy night on an airport that is built on reclaimed land in the middle of Osaka Bay, the only things that would theoretically be visible are the distant lights of Awaji-Shima (淡路島 "Thin Route Island") in the distance, and even those are so few and weak that they barely register. I did take a video of the landing, but in the end it just turned out to be six-and-a-half minutes of almost perfect darkness. So instead of a video, here's the heavily post-processed frame with the most things visible on it of the entire landing.
We don't get to see much of KIX itself once on the ground either, because a thick and heavy rain quickly pelts the windows to the point of total opacity.
In the end it is roughly the projected 22:00 that we arrive, which makes things from here on out... interesting. As usual, the next thing that happens is the plane exit jam, only this time Robert and I are in a bit more of a rush to get out. But since there's little we can do about that short of making ourselves very unpopular with hundreds of other passengers, we have to bide our time until we can finally disembark.
As such, our subsequent stay at KIX would be much less of a relaxed arrival and much more of a...
Race to the Railway
10-Sep-2023 - 11-Sep-2023
Eventually, we make it off the plane, and I lead the way in this strange and disappointingly simple airport, mostly following the crowd of mostly native-looking people who seem to know where to go, but also verifying our course with the signs that we pass by. Fortunately, most of those feature an English description along with helpful pictographs.
Turns out that just like Singapore Changi Airport, KIX also has an automated transit system, albeit one that looks far more dated, which is actually kinda embarrassing considering that KIX is not only 12 years younger than Singapore Changi Airport, but also 2 years younger than Munich Airport and 7 years younger than me. And yet, it looks like the oldest of the three, like it was built in the 80s or something.
After that, things get a bit cumbersome, however. For starters, in immigration we need to fill out a form that asks all sort of irrelevant information that no one is ever going to verify, such as the phone number of the place we'll be staying at (like we're only gonna stay at one place), which fortunately happened to have prepared as part of my "incredibly well-prepared" package of preparations that I prepared in advance. Remember kids: Be prepared!
Anyway, after that we manage to make our way to the luggage claim, where we are fortunately able to pick up our bags relatively quickly. Hooray for Japanese efficiency! Unfortunately, afterwards there's customs, which once again involves us having to fill out a form that effectively says we have nothing to declare, and yet we have to fill in the same information that we already put on the immigration forms, including the stay place phone number. Boo for duplication and pointless effort!
Having jumped through all these hoops, we finally arrive in the main hall of KIX. By now, all the processes have thinned out the crowd of people significantly, so there's no one we can follow and we have to look around to find out where the trains depart from.
Fortunately, my high perception helps me find a sign pointing towards the train station, and our route there should involve us turning around and taking an escalator to the upper floor, and then going across a bridge to the apparently neighboring station building. Since we're in a hurry I do not exactly take time to take in anything apart from the immediately necessary. The time by now is almost 23:00, which is when the final train with connections to Nara is going to depart.
Arriving at the station brings with it the next twin challenges. For starters, there's the question if the handy PasMo Cards that Robert and I have been keeping ever since our last visit to Japan 5 years ago will still allow us through the ticket gates, to which the answer is "Thankfully yes".
The second challenge is the split-second decision of which train to board, which is further complicated by the fact that the station apparently serves two different train companies which are behind different ticket gates, and we're already through the ticket gate and I know going back, while possible, is complicated, and that's not time we have. So, I use my best judgement to decide on which train to board, and thankfully that turns out to be correct. We are now literally on the last train that will get us a connection to Nara - and it's quite full at that.
So, for now we are aboard the Kansai Kuukou Line Kankuu-Rapid for Kyoubashi (or as it says on the displays, the 関西空港線関空速京橋行き, good luck deciphering that when you're in a hurry, which incidentally roughly translates to: "Gateway West Airport Line KIX Express for Capital Bridge"), which we will take until Shin-Imamiya (新今宮 "New Now Shrine"). There, we will transfer onto the much more pronounceable Yamatoji Line (大和路線 "Great Harmony Path Line"), which will then take us the rest of the way to Nara.
On account of it being almost midnight by now, there's little to be seen
outside the windows apart from the lights of buildings zooming us by. And
since pretty much the entire coastline of the Osaka bay is densely
settled, there's actually a lot of those. In fact, we could have walked
all the way from KIX to Osaka (which admittedly would have taken us about
two days, but hey...) and we wouldn't have had to cross a single field all
that while, that's how densely settled the Osaka metropolitan area is.
Once in Shin-Imamiya, we have to transfer to aforementioned Yamatoji Line. Fortunately, we have ample time for that, and by now I feel like I'm on familiar turf again, so I easily manage to get us to the correct platform.
There, the last trains of the day are already up on the display, with ours being the second to arrive. It is by now almost tomorrow, and with us being here on our last platform waiting for our last train that we are sure to catch for now, I finally feel like I am able to relax a little.
Also, something that I've definitely missed are the copious and often cute floor guides that tell you where the doors are and where to queue. The deer-pictographs also make it easy to understand for people who can't read Japanese. Then again, the Japanese text does not exactly add much to that, saying only the name of the train which is already clearly communicated by the green color and symbol, as well as "please wait in a 2-people-line".
The train that eventually arrives turns out to be of equally green color, though whether this is a general design choice or just because we happened to catch the Kyoto Tea Country Train should remain a mystery to me.
This one is not quite as full, and also features horizontal seats with
that one feature that always blows the minds of every tourist who sees it
for the first time: You can switch the direction in which the seats are
facing by flipping over the backrest! This is made possible due to the
seat cushion and armrest being perfectly symmetrical while the backrest is
mounted on a rail in the armrest and the wall that allow its orientation
to be switched easily and by anyone. On top of that, green Tea Country
banners decorate the inside of the train in a consistent and
coordinated manner.
The ride from Shin-Imamiya to Nara first takes us out of the Osaka metropolitan area, and then through a narrow stretch of mountains separating the Osaka coastal plains from the Nara basin, through which the last part of our ride continues. That area is not quite as densely settled, which means we regularly pass through fields. Not that we should actually see much of that on account of it being past midnight by now. The most contrast we get is the lights of towns and cities, and the absence of them whenever we pass through a field.
By the time we arrive in Nara, it's already 0:45 on Monday. Unlike us,
the train terminates here and won't move another inch until sunrise. The
two of us, meanwhile, still have a bit to go until we reach the Ryokan
where we'll stay.
On the plus side, it's a straight path from the station, only about 1km away, and Japan is the sort of country were I feel perfectly safe being out late at night, even if there's no one else around. On the minus side, however, it's raining, we've still got all our luggage to carry, and it feels like it's been one long day.
However, we do manage to make it to our Ryokan, and thankfully, part of my "Incredibly Well Prepared"-suite included writing the Ryokan in advance and informing them that we'll be checking in late, so they have someone waiting for us, and we are able to check in without any complications.
And so, after a stressful and adventurous journey, Robert and I finally arrive in our cozy little Ryokan room, were we are happy to carefully set our backpacks down on the tatami mat floor, and finally get a bit of rest after this long journey. From start to finish, we've been on the road for approximately 34 hours now.
But all is well that ends well. We've made it to Japan, and I already eagerly look forward to all the amazing things we are going to be doing starting tomorrow... or actually, later today. Our trip through Japan should take us through a total of four areas, the first of which covers Nara and Kyoto. I'll write about that one shortly, so look forward to the next chapter of the Travelling Fox Blog!
