Seventh Trip Starts - 2010 Revisited

13th June, 2010.... Well - as this (historical) blog has a wont to do, I've fast-forwarded to 2010...on the eve of our next adventure in Japan in 2011. We've all gotten that little bit older, and in the case of L-kun, that little bit bigger. This time around, T-chan and L-kun were heading off to Japan early - and I'd be catching up a few weeks later. The great thing about children getting older is that they are so much easier to travel with (why do I suspect I will come to regret those words). This is L-kun's third trip, so he's getting to be an old hand at international travel. I was 26 before I went on my first plane. How the world has changed.

Still. It's difficult to see them off. Even L-kun was a little sad. He did however know where the plane was going to take him. Japan. That made the sadness of leaving Daddy behind all the more palatable. 

Of course - it's not all sadness and goodbyes. There's many things to keep you occupied. L-kun decided that it might be a good idea to learn the basics of flying (just in case). You can never be too prepared after all.

Of course, it doesn't matter how prepared you are, a lad's gotta sleep, and store up all that energy for the trip home.

After all, he knows that when he gets to Sapporo, magic can happen. For example time is different there - and he can have his 3rd birthday all over again. What a magical land.

L-kun's second 3rd birthday celebration on arrival into Japan.

We're definitely lucky in that we don't have extremely long flights (about 9 hours from Sydney to Tokyo) and almost no time change when going back to Japan from Adelaide. Still, when you're getting around airports with a little boy plus transferring flights it can be very exhausting. Actually, there's surprisingly little to do in Narita Airport (around the arrivals section) at 7 am in the morning, and we have to kill time for 3+ hours to wait for the flight to Sapporo. But at least Sapporo means home for T-chan, and that is always a source of energy and motivation.

So - as our latest trip is about to start, I welcome you all aboard the Japanese Ties Airlines... for your safety we ask you to stow your luggage in the areas provided, and sit back and enjoy the ride. This may be a slow start however as we're still in the process of getting ready for our next trip.

Sixth Trip... 2009 here we go again

1st April, 2009 - Well... the last trip sort of ended abruptly (post-wise)... I had left Japan previously on the 25th May, 2008 (with T-chan and L-kun departing in July... lucky %$#@). In the intervening months of 2008 - 2009, well, lots of stuff happened... but this blog isn't about what happens in our "normal" life. To be honest, our lives more or less get focussed around our trips back to Japan. For me it's usually 2-4 weeks a year, but for T-chan (and now L-kun) it's typically 2+ months a year. We're either in Japan, preparing to go to Japan, dreaming of Japan, or getting over a trip from Japan. The last part is particularly important for my wife who always suffers long periods of home-sickness coming back from Sapporo to Adelaide. Unfortunately there's no easy solutions for homesickness... it's a malady that can really affect your life...

So here we are... or should I say... were. April 2009. Actually this was sort of at the point where things were looking a little grim globally...and sometimes you need to look on the bright side of life. For us, that's going to our second home. We're very lucky that we can afford to do it... and for that I'm eternally thankful. Another thing I'm very, VERY happy with is the fact that we have Qantas Club membership which entitles us to use the Qantas lounge all over the world (and an extra 10kg of luggage capacity). This really does help out a little when you're stuck in an airport - free food... free drinks (how can anyone pass up a serve-yourself bar?)... and comfortable chairs, toilets and showers - plus lots of computers hooked up to that wonderful thing called the inter-web. Ah.... enough of the free plug for Qantas and their heaven-sent lounges. PS... can also use the Sakura Club with JAL... which whilst very small in Narita at least has massage chairs!

No matter how much you rest up in a Qantas Club, there's few ways of travelling in economy class comfortably... and one of the attractions about flying when a child is less than 2 is that they fly at about 25% of the cost of a full ticket. Seems like a great idea?... Well... there's a catch. They don't get a seat. Instead they sit/lay on your lap.  Hmmm... L-kun's getting quite big now (and heavy). It's about a 9.5 hour flight from Sydney to Tokyo as well... not sounding so good now. Yet - this is our last chance to get a slightly cheaper seat and was one of the reasons for the trip's timing.

Nine and half hours later... Narita airport. Now - if I have already whinged about Narita, please ignore the following. Narita airport is one of the worst airports in the world. Without a doubt. Not necessarily the airport itself (which is just getting a little old now)... but everything else about it. Firstly - it's in the middle of nowhere (and a long train ride/bus ride to the city). Secondly, even though it's in the middle of nowhere it has a curfew which means you get a string of flights queuing mid-air to land at 6am. Then, when you do finally land it's a long, looooong taxi back to the terminal. Seriously it can take 20+ minutes to drive (the scenic route) to the terminal. Once you get into the airport however - things change for the better. If you're lucky to get in at the beginning of that long line of planes, then it's a very quick airport to get through immigration and customs. If you're unlucky with the queue... then things are still ok if you are lucky enough to be married to a Japanese citizen. Thank you T-chan. The other downside is that the main domestic airport is Haneda airport... which is PAINFUL to get to from Narita.... basically it's through Tokyo (80km / 1+ hours by Limousine Bus).

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About 3-4 years ago we discovered that there was a domestic flight from Tokyo to Sapporo that departed from Narita airport itself (about 4 hours after we arrived). This was a god-send, and we've used it ever since. Still - as I've said. NINE AND A HALF HOURS in economy class will leave anyone (except perhaps a two year old) looking like they've just slept on the street. Also to be fair... the very worst airport in the world (IMO) is Sydney International Airport - for one very good reason. Getting through customs can take over an hour when it's very congested (almost always when we return through there). It's like the only planning is the "Law of the Jungle"... and people just make it up as they go along. Also, we're more worried these days about making reality shows about border security than we are about improving access into the country and making it a pleasant experience for everyone. This is why when we can we catch an international flight (e.g. QF81 from the US which flies only on tuesdays as of early 2010) from Sydney to Adelaide which allows us to clear customs in Adelaide where it takes all of 2 mins. Rant completed.

The flight to Sapporo from Narita takes only 1.5 hours, and is relatively pain-free. Actually, you get great views of the Japanese alps on the way, and it's worth getting a window seat. The good thing also is that we've got a great welcoming committee to greet us at Chitose airport when we touch down. Hmmm... L-kun doesn't look too sure in this photo (it's been 9 months since he's seen ojiichan and obaachan).

To continue the theme of strange airport locations... Chitose Airport is (as I've posted before) also in the middle of nowhere (see below). It takes about 40 mins by express train to get into Sapporo. Thankfully, having a car makes life a lot easier. (Hmmm... this almost sounded like a rant...)

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One of our family traditions is having a lunch of home-made onigiri (rice balls) on our way home from New Chitose Airport at one of the convenience stops along the highway. Ok... these onigiri are for L-kun... but all of them are made with the same love-spice inside.

This trip coincided (sort of) with T-chan's birthday as well. Ok we were a day or two or three late, but of course there was a birthday cake waiting when we got home. To be fair, T-chan's parents also made it a co-birthday cake (even though my birthday wasn't until another 3-4 weeks).

The one thing you have to say about Japan, is they know how to do decoration. I know that for some, the cakes are very light flavoured, but both T-chan and I agree that this is a bonus. It means that the flavours are not over-bearing or too mixed up - but rather clean and refreshing. Cakes in Australia really do tend to be too sweet (and it's hard to finish a whole slice of anything without finding it too rich). Or have my taste-buds been converted to Japanese tastes?

Well - it's a long time ago now (but looking at the date, it's rapidly approaching birthday time again)...

Happy Birthday T-chan!  ?:-) 

PS - we've just bought our tickets for our eigth trip to Japan... getting excited already, but I know that there's no way I'm going to catch up to the present day the way things are going. Doushiyou? What to do?

A Father-To-Be Arrives in Japan

8th October, 2006 - It was an uneventful flight on the way to Japan... unlike previous trips, we had planned to come and go from the Kansai International Airport (or more commonly referred to as KIX). This was quite different from Narita airport and I have to say that my first impression was that it was much better. Even though it was October however, the air outside was quite hot and humid. The entire airport is built upon re-claimed land in the middle of the bay, and it's a strange feeling to see this flat expanse of concrete island surrounded by water.

The flight over to Sapporo, a little longer now from KIX, was a nervous time for me. How do you greet your now pregnant wife at the airport?...What do you say? "Well done" just didn't quite seem to cut it. In the end there was only one thing to do - a giant-sized hug... and a proud "I love you". This was the first time for me to see my wife as a mum-to-be... it was just a little weird to think that there was a little life growing inside of her... of course, by this stage you couldn't really tell.

I still haven't quite got used to the Japanese reserve for showing affection in public... even under these circumstances T-chan didn't feel comfortable about getting too affectionate in public... and especially in front of her parents.

As you can see from below - I looked pretty chuffed and happy with myself. It was a huge relief to be back "home" with T-chan at long last. There was definitely a few things that would need to change in our lives. That's one of the unavoidable things about parenting - but they were going to be (excuse the pun) baby steps.

Whilst I was in Adelaide, we'd been speaking on Messenger and also over the phone... at least once per day. I knew pretty well what was happening in terms of T-chan's pregnancy, including T-chan's loss of taste and smell (this was a recurring thing all throughout her pregnancy) as well as her inability to feel satisfied whilst eating. A bad combination. As for myself, I was having to try and give up smoking... Japan was however the WRONG country to try and go cold-turkey in... Smoking is just so easy, fun and cheap.Yet I'd packed a carton of nicorette gums and tried my best. Being happy and content with the world is one good way of reducing.

That and the fact that my wife had given up smoking 100% immediately on finding out she was pregnant. Women are strong, but mothers are even stronger.

Fourth Trip To Japan... The Biggest Surprise!

13th September, 2006 - It's that time again... it's been a while since we came back from Japan (Feb 2005), so we've planned a big trip. T-chan has gone back early to spend her quality time with her family. I'd planned to spend about 4 weeks in Japan, two in Sapporo and about another two with T-chan around Kyoto. This was going to be a big trip for us... and to be honest I'd spent the previous 2-3 months planning on what to see in Kyoto! I'm a self-confessed history-holic.

Ah - it was going to be hard to be away from T-chan for 3 weeks; but I was really looking forward to this trip. Strangely however, this trip was not easy for T-chan. She often has problems with headaches, but the flight over was bad. She had chosen the option of a day flight and a complimentary overnight stay in Kansai International Airport (through JAL). Flying is rarely the fun part of travelling.

About one week after T-chan had arrived, I awoke to get a strange email. T-chan wanted to me to call her urgently, as she had been to the hospital during the night - it was about 7:30 am Adelaide time... not a great start to the day.

T-chan started off by telling me that she'd had a huge migraine in the early morning and had her parents take her to the hospital (around 3am) as she'd been so sick. There they'd prescribed some medicine... but had to do a quick check... when T-chan (and her parents) had found out that she was pregnant! We were going to have a child! Whilst we'd been planning a family, this was not quite to schedule... but life is funny that way.

I was in shock... learning that I was going to be a father, over an international phone line... so many emotions, and yet the thing that I felt most was the intolerable distance between myself and T-chan. How was I feeling? Mixed emotions. The world had suddenly become a lot more complicated a place.  Even though we'd been planning for some time (fastidiously recording dates etc), now that it was here - it was bizarre. I was also very excited - but it's also something that didn't quite feel real.

Within a couple of days, T-chan had gone to the obstetrics clinic to confirm the hospital test.  I have to say that I was also amazed at the ease with which T-chan could access the medical services. In Australia, obstetrics services are difficult to arrange, and expensive (in the private health world). In Japan, it's just a matter of turning up at the clinic just about. Still - happy to have had travel insurance, as T-chan was no longer covered in Japan.

Whilst I was still in Adelaide, T-chan had gone to the clinic for an ultrasound...

At about seven weeks, this was amazing to see life starting out so small - and yet, so definite. The small dark oval shape is the very start of the the life of our son. You can't imagine how far away Japan felt at this point.

The other thing that had started to happen - and this was definitely not according to our plan... T-chan had lost her taste. Huh? Seriously - she couldn't taste anything anymore. Unfortunately the last meal that she'd been able to taste was a so-so family restaurant meal... NO! of all the tasty food that could have been her last memory... why did it have to be so ordinary! We'd never heard of this happening, and it wasn't something that T-chan was liking. At all. This was definitely a challenging trip for her - but it was also the start of the biggest, and best trip. Parenthood.

Those were the three longest weeks of my life... and my ties to Japan just became a whole lot more real.

Day 0 - Adelaide/Sydney (Australia)

30th January, 2003 - It's early in the morning. The only flight we could get was an early one... even though our flight wouldn't leave till about 9 something from Sydney airport. That meant a day in Sydney... but we could handle that (did I mention it was over 37 deg Celsius in Sydney)? In Adelaide however... it's raining. Cats and dogs.


The flight over to Sydney showed the more realistic face of Australia during a January/February period.

We hadn't been to Sydney together before... and we had about 8 hours to kill so we jumped into a shuttle bus and headed into the city.

Ok - it wasn't a quality Sydney holiday (especially the sweating part) - but it was fun, and it wore us out for the flight over.

Finally the moment had come... we were officially on our way... and we couldn't be more excited about it. How the hell am I gonna get to sleep on the plane?

Hmmm... apparently the whole day-trip in Sydney definitely had the effect of wearing us out... as suitably demonstrated by myself... just over 9 hours to go before we hit Narita airport....

...Ok... no academy award in the mail.