Lost in transition

Let me bore you with the unnecessary details of our flight's itinerary before I kick start this entry.

Fri 01 SEP DEP Singapore (terminal 1) 0600 Hrs
ARR Tokyo Narita (terminal 1) 1415 Hrs

Fri 01 SEP DEP Tokyo Narita (terminal 1) 1555 Hrs
ARR Detroit Metro (E.M. Macnamara terminal) 1425

Fri 01 SEP DEP Detroit Metro (E.M. Macnamara terminal) 1750
ARR London Ontario 1830

As you can see from above, the flight from Singapore to London Ontario takes more than 24 hours. A casual mention by the way, 6 am on the 1st of September Singapore time would be 6 pm in the evening in Canada on the 31st October. Without giving much thoughts to jet lag or flight comfort, we boarded the plane with eagerness.

Any thoughts of taking a long slumber on the plane vanished immediately when we were settled on our seats. It would be a gross understatement to say that the seats were uncomfortable. Clearly the seats were designed without any concept of ergonomic in mind, and we had to pretty much seat upright all the time with a predictably minimum leg space of an economy class seat (so unless exhaustion is overwhelming enough, it is quite impossible to fall asleep).

For faithful readers who expect pictures of hot air stewardess, be thankful I did not upload any to spare you unwanted misery. Northwest Airlines (as with almost every American Airlines), has a crew of aging flight stewardess. Even their flight stewards fall under the category of uncle. Aged crews aside, the service they provide do leave much to be desired. I will not dwell on the details for now, but let's just say the glass of water Jiahao asked for never came. No good service award here.

After nearly 7 hours of flying, we arrived at Tokyo's Narita airport. Another wave of disappointment hits us: any myths that every Japanese woman look like Norika Fujiwara or Ayumi Hamasaki, and Japanese man that bear resemblance to Takuya Kimura were effectively dispelled when we arrived at the airport. Much to our horror, the airport staffs are mostly 'obasans' and 'ojisans'. I could vaguely feel the omelette I had on the plane churning in my stomach and threaten to make its way up my throat. Jiahao was in 'hyper' active mode, taking pictures after pictures, shopping at the duty free with amazing energy level. While me and Allan collapsed on to the nearest chair we could find while waiting to be boarded, Jiahao bought us some strawberry flavoured Mochi (Japanese gluttonous balls, aka Muah Chee). Not-so-good looking Japanese people at the airport was compensated by the delicious snack.


Narita international aiport, Tokyo.


Transistion in progress.


Me, "Go toilet first can?"


Custom officer (in Japanese), "Stare what stare?!"


Darlie's ambassadors.


Souvenirs probably made in China to rip tourists off in Japan.


Jiahao, "Take picture, take picture!"


Manage to spot any difference? Neither could we.


Mochi mochi!

Boarded the plane to Detroit after waiting for 1 hour. To my relieve, the staffs are much friendlier this time, but they still fall under the categories of 'auntie' and 'uncle'. The number of hours we spent on the plane this time was more than 12 hours. Exhaustion overpowered the 3 of us, we took short naps of about 2 hours periodically, only to be awaken during meal time or the need to answer the call of nature. I think we have already crossed a dozen time zones by now, and beginning to feel the effects of jet lag with each passing minute.

Finally arriving at Detroit, me and Allan were already half dead from lack of sleep. Jiahao still has abundant energy surging from within, again, pictures after pictures were taken and almost every gift shop at Detroit's airport was probed. As expected, security measures at the airport were tight. Armed custom officers (they all have bellies that probably look like melons wrapped under their uniforms) probably cannot pass any physical tests thrown at them, but they do look imposing with their semi automatic handguns tugged in their holster. The security checks were tediously slow and unbearably thorough, but I could safely say, this is necessary to prevent half crazed lunatics from hijacking airplanes.

Boarded the less than impressive propeller driven plane bound for London, and within half an hour, we were at London's airport. I have to admit that an uneasy fear that something untoward could happen to the plane was constantly pricking me. Propeller driven! How 'cool' is that! It reminded me of the Dakota C47 cargo plane I saw in 'Band of Brothers', and of course I was 'thrilled' to fly in one. The landing of that plane is less than smooth of course, not to mention that the passengers have to be evenly distributed on both column of seats on the plane, lest the plane may swerve out of control when it lands (now then you tell me, I would had rather walked to London).

At long last, after surviving the plane ride, we have arrived at London airport. Compared to Detroit, Singapore and Narita, the airport at London was modest both in size and scale. The first gust of cold but otherwise refreshing air hit us immediately as we step out of the airport. For once, after so many weeks of preparation, I can see hardwork paying off and dreams coming true.

*pictures will be added shortly*