Leaving On A Jet Plane

I think it’s finally hit me. Phil-San is in Japan!

So much to tell, and I’m not sure how to do I best. Chronologically is the best bet. I’ll start at the very beginning. I hear it's a very good place to start.

I left beautiful sunny Bournemouth on a slightly cold day and Mum waved me off at the coach station (and again just before the Wessex Way) and before anyone could say “Car” I was asleep, waking up just before Heathrow. We were told to be there before 4pm and the best coach arrived at 2:15. Check-out wasn’t until 3 so after a short wait, I had my window seat sorted, my luggage approved (it was just under the limit, pheww), and I was in Duty Free, for a four hour wait.

I got some food, listened to iPhil and bought a bunch of magazines for the plane, ranging from Heat to NewsWeek. See, I can be intellectual too.*

The plane was huge. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures. The last time I heard about people plane-spotting wasn’t the most encouraging of stories. Needless to say, the plane was huge. The rows were seven seats across, and there was some decent leg-room. I checked my little “table clip thing”, which didn’t break. Take-off would have been fine if not for one of the overhead storage compartments opening mid-runway. Some people really freaked out over that, but nothing fell out, so it wasn’t really worth mentioning. Only I did, and now you know.

The service was pretty fantastic. Non-stop drinks (fizzy, soft, beer, wine) and cool Japanese crackers. The meals were amazing: Sushi for dinner! Breakfast was a little more random: a vegetable lasagne and potato wedges. The films were OK, although I didn’t watch a whole one. Actually, I didn’t do much. I’m not quite sure what I did for twelve hours, but it passed fairly fast.

I slept for about three hours from midnight onwards, when they turned the lights off and shut all the windows. It was bizarre though because we were flying into day, so by 3am British time, it was light over Russia. Fantastically, the sky was cloudless. I wish I had pictures of the Russian mountains; so uninhabitable yet so enticing.

We flew over the Sea of Japan and then over Japan itself, near enough longitudinally. It is such a narrow country compared to its length. But they say size isn’t important, it’s what you do with it that counts. And so far, I like what I’ve seen.

*To this moment, I have only read Heat.