Airports, queues and navigation

Wow I'd forgotten how bloated flying makes me. Don't know if it's the airline food or just the high altitude that gives me gas. Who knows. Suffice to say that I'm doing the decent thing and holding any gas in. Don't really want to offend the Japanese before I get there. Too much info? More than likely. But as my friend, Cheryl tells me, 'sharing is caring'.

So there I was. Seven hours into my twelve hour flight. I watched Wreck it Ralph and had a kip. Mouth firmly shut, I hasten to add (well I hope!). The flight wasn't too bad. Went a lot quicker than I expected. And even made a friend. Her name was Win and she's originally from Hong Kong, lived in Cardiff but is studying in Japan. Lucky!

Anyway I'm going to jump ahead. Once I landed, I felt like an English(wo)man in Japan. Doesn't have the same ring as Sting's song (only then legal alien bit) but hopefully you get the idea. I did have a freak out as win asked me about visas. Now I know that I checked and checked before I booked, but for a split second I started wondering if I needed a visa and whether I'd get thrown out of the country as soon as I got there. Luckily all was well. I could remain in Japan for a Max of 90 days without a visa. I wish!

Anyways, I am already quite impressed with myself. I actually asked for directions. In Japanese!! I asked where the post office was so that I could pick up my pocket WiFi device. Then I moved onto getting my rental mobile. And I've sampled my first authentic Japanese meal.

Navigating a foreign airport is never easy, especially if you have a 22kg suitcase with you. I don't travel light. Lol! After I picked up my items I went to the Virgin Atlantic desk to see if I could get an earlier flight. Unfortunately the flight I was booked on was the earliest. But seriously that was a stroke of luck. It took me about an hour to exchange my rail pass voucher for the rail pass. The queue was long! And I was so annoyed because this Italian family pushed in front of me. It was so blatant as well. And 3 against 1. Rofl. Don't like those odds.

I'm jumping ahead again as I wondered around the airport like a hobo for a few hours before getting my flight to Osaka.

When I arrived at my hotel, I was bloody knackered. Having waited 7 hours at Narita airport (Tokyo) for my connecting flight to Osaka. Then the bus to Namba the the underground to Awaza. My friend Sayaka was nice enough to meet me at Namba and show me how to get to my hotel. Really didn't pick my hotel very well. So I'd have an early night and then I decided that I was going to explore Namba.