Well reader, it’s that time once again – the annual trip to
Japan. I suspect this may be a little more than annual. With the recent (last
minute) New Year trip it’s sometimes twice a year (I’m really not going to be
able to do this for much longer!).
As with previous trips, this was booked almost a year ago.
It’s sometimes said that you should start planning your next holiday as soon as
you get back from your last one, so this is no exception. There are some
reunions that I'm looking forward to this trip: Yoshi (the teaching assistant
from University in one of my previous years of study), Masami (one of the
Japanese students from the University and a member of the study group), Graham
(who we met in Nikko) and several of Kyle’s friends in Japan. The trip is
under way, so here’s how the day has been going on:
The day started off in Manchester Airport. Okay, that’s not
quite true. The day started off at home but I think I’ll skip over the details
of waking up and getting washed and dressed. Believe me, a detailed description
of what I'm like in the morning (both appearance and temperament) is something
nobody should have to read.
Anyway, back to Manchester. The first stop on my epic
journey was Helsinki. I’d travelled a few different routes by this trip and found
that travelling via Helsinki was a particularly convenient option. It’s no
surprise that in their advertising Finnair promote themselves as Europe’s
“Gateway to Asia”. There isn't much more I can say about Manchester. The queues
at Departures were much longer than last time (flying on Boxing Day has its
advantages!) but the queue moved pretty quickly so this wasn't a problem.
Seasoned traveller that I am, going through security was a pretty quick
process. This left me with over an hour and a half before boarding so it was
time to grab a cup of tea and start some writing.
The journey to Helsinki was pretty uneventful. The only
noteworthy thing about that leg was that we saw the bags being unloaded before
we exited the plane at Helsinki – a few of us laughed when the “bagsmashers”
(baggage handlers) lived up to their name. It became a little less amusing when
I recognised on of my bags being casually tossed around.
Upon my arrival to Helsinki, however, I was disappointed to
find that the restaurant that I went to last year had been replaced with a
Burger King. That, I did not consider to be an improvement. As luck would have
it, a new place had popped up nearby (at least I think it was new, I don’t
remember seeing it last year) called “Two Tigers”. Sushi and noodles were their
speciality so I thought it worth a try. Besides, when in Rome… Or on the way to
Rome? Anyway, after a bowl of Korean style ramen (the Korean twist being the
addition of kimchi) it was almost time for boarding (layover was only 2 hours
this time – Helsinki is great for fast transfers).
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For the flight to Tokyo I had received a few pleasant
surprises. When making arrangements with Finnair to bring a second suitcase, I
threw caution to the wind and payed the extra €50 for an “Economy Comfort”
seat. This offered an extra ~5” of legroom, I remembered from last year that
the legroom wasn't fantastic so an upgrade would be useful. The seat I selected
was a bulkhead seat so I wouldn't have a reclining seat in front of me, the
trade off being that my bag would have to be stowed in the overhead locker for
take off and landing. It turned out that the bulkhead seats in Economy Comfort
have an insane amount of legroom – even my toes won’t reach the bulkhead!
(downside is that I needed to take off my seatbelt to get to the storage pouch
– a small price to pay). Furthermore, the extras included a small amenity kit
and some noise cancelling headphones in place of the regular kind. The
headphones seemed to be good quality and were of an over ear design that
completely covers the ears. While not 100% effective (I’m not sure if any are),
they blocked out enough background noise. I never used the in flight
entertainment system during the flight (had a laptop full of anime and a power
socket) but found myself using the headphones to block out noise when resting.
Alas, my ability to sleep in an economy class seat is limited at best but this
was a pretty comfortable journey.
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| Now that's what I call legroom! |
After arriving in Tokyo, it was time for the holiday to begin!
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