omg, yesterday was a crazy day! woke up at 4:30am. showered, put on 3 layers of clothes, left azabu, walked 5 minutes down the hill in zero degrees temperature, then flagged down a cab. got in and asked “how much to haneda airport?” he said “8,500 yen.” i said “omg, drop me off at the nearest train station.” i’d rater freeze to death.
i get to shinagawa station at 5am. it was the first time i seen it so empty, and the first time i felt it so cold.
i wait for the train, jump on, and it only cost me 500 yen. i saved 8000 yen! yeah! i’m sure my grandpa is proud of me.
i arrive at haneda and watch the beautiful sun rise. i board the flight at 7:40am, going to arrive at kansai at 9am, then jump on the connecting flight at 11am. perfect schedule. the airplane gets to the runway, the engines rev up, i fall asleep.
i wake up 20 minutes later, look out the window, and felt something strange. we are still at tokyo???? omg! what happened? the airplane broke so we had to turn around. it was 8:40am and i’m still in tokyo? i call over the flight attendant, tell her “excuse me, my connecting flight is at 11am from osaka. i really have to make that flight because i have my papa waiting there for me. he’s actually waiting to pick me up at 9am and we were going to check in together. and if i’m not there, he will panic!” the plane gets fixed, we leave at 9am, i get moved up to the front to business class, arrive to osaka at 10:15. now i have to catch a bus over to the international terminal and check in.
i get off the plane and there is an ANA staff girl waiting for me. she says, “can you run?” i say, “yes i can.” so we start running through the airport. it’s already 10:25 and i’m telling myself, “there’s no way i’m making that flight.”
we ran full speed for 10 minutes and i couldn’t believe how fast that girl was running. i’m pretty sure she’s a marathon runner. i was getting tired and almost ready to quit. she kept on looking back while she was running and saying “daijoybu desu ka.” in my head i was saying “no, i’m not daijyobu.” haha.
if it wasn’t for my new suitcase i bought, there would be no way. and if i had checked baggage, there would be no way. this is the very reason why i travel only carry on and bought the best carry on suitcase in the world. it was rolling faster than me. it just paid for itself.
it was the first time ever that a low cost airlines waited for a passenger. Kimura-san told me the counter would close at 10:10am with no exceptions. i arrived at 10:45. i want to thank the ANA staff for doing the upmost professional job. once again, great service and great experience. i will learn from the japanese to provide even a better service when i work.
we get to Taiwan, rent a car, and start the 2 hour drive down south. speeding 140km through cars and bikes, going through red lights, i felt like a local. it was a great story yesterday and we were just laughing at it all. everything worked out perfectly as it always does.
in hawaii, we say “backseat driver.” Kimura-san with the map, i’m on the wheel. we made it to Waverider House at 5:30pm, had a drink, dinner, and a great sleep. heading on a 3 hour drive this morning to get our first surf session in. can’t wait!
