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Published: December 26th 2007
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Tokyo Sunset
This is while we were waiting for our flight to Manila My Journey to the Philippines: Day One
12/14/07
Start: Spokane Washington
Dad arrived last night. We are both excited and a bit nervous. Sondra Hildreth (a girl from church) was a sweetheart and gave us a ride to the airport at 5:30 AM. I like using my passport, it makes me feel important. We are now on the plane to Portland, Oregon waiting on the runway for the engine to warm up. No joke.
I snowed last night in Spokane. It will be an interesting change in weather by the end of the day. We are flying thus: Spokane to Portland to Tokyo, Japan, to Manilla Philippines. there are two layovers about three hours long. Dad says the flight from Portland to Japan is only about ten hours long. Which is a relief I thought it would be 14. Dad also told me once he got patted down at an airport and he told the security gaurd "Thank you, I wasn't expecting a free massage." What a wacko.
I'm now on one of those big planes that I previously didn't believe existed out of the movies. The kind that have four seats in the middle row and sets of
Immigration, people people everywhere!
You will never feel crowded more anywhere else two on the sides. They are playing cheesy jazz while we wait to take off. There are two boys sitting near me talking and I can't focus on reading my book. There are TV's in the seat backs. I'm interested to see what we will be playing and if we will have to pay for it. It sure would make the flight go a lot faster. Every seat gets a little pillow, blanket and headphones. I wonder what the meal will be like? Durring our layover I mostly slept. I tried to listen to the Christmas box CDs Brooke gave me. Oh here we go!
I am still on the airplane to Japan. It hasnt been as bad as I imagined. Each seat seat has it's own TV and there is a good selection of movies, music, and games you can play for free. I ended up moving seats because the sound on my set wasn't working properly. I am now in an exit row right next to the bathroom with lots of leg space. It is really amusing watching people on this flight. I get to watch all the people who get up to wait for the bathroom.
My first bidet
If you ever get the chance I recommend it! There is a bit of space there so people like to use it to stretch. There is one asian man who wears yellow and green colored crocks who is fun to watch. He does a whole routine of stretches.
We have about an hour and ten minutes left. I have watched four movies so far- The Invisible, The Bourne Iltimatum, Stardust, and Bee Season. They all actually were pretty good except Bee Season. It is very strange. Something about reaching nirvana and winning the spelling bee. Very strange. They passed out lunch earlier, which the lady said was corned beef and then wasn't. The salad and the fruit were the best part. They seem to be handing out breakfast although it is about 2:30-3 in the afternoon. I'm not sure why. Oh well.
Japan- We've finally made it. The long flight is over. It actually went really fast. Okay maybe not really fast, but a lot faster then expected. My first impression of Japan is that other than the people looking different and signs in another language we could be anywhere. The airport is fun. They require you to pay for everything in yen. It is distressing my very American father. He wanted to find some water and tried to make me ask information for him. I made him do it and he did just fine. We found a drinking fountain soon after that. I saw my first bidet today. I was scared and used a normal toilet but then I knew I would regret it so I used the bidet. It has the bidet option and the shower option. All I could tell was the shower option produced more of a splash. There is also a button that provides a flushing sound. I'm not really sure what for. They need a button that provides a stiff breeze to dry you off. I was amused and left moist. I could see how they would really come in handy if you had a messy poop.
I've decided the Japanese are a funny but beautiful people. Japan isnt as scary as I thought. I'm surprized how many things are in english. It makes me feel obligated to learn more languages and more about history and culture. We have a couple hours here then about a 3 hour flight to Manila.
Wow, okay it was a four hour flight and the airplane was one of those HUGE double decker planes. There was about a billion people getting on and getting off so it took a long time. I was so tired of sitting, my body hurt and I was so tired. I was able to sleep most of the way though which made me happy. They served dinner but I didn't eat any it smelled gross. When we finally got off the plane we followed the crowd to immigration. OH MY! There was about 17 lanes and a huge group of people shoving their way through. We were supposed to be in lines but we werent really. People kept cutting. When I was getting off the plane an old woman was oh so subtly pushing me forward. Phill says that is how filippinos are. They don't have personal space issues. It took about an hour and a half to finally make it through. We got a bit confused when trying to find Phil but soon found him. They had been waiting for two hours and were worried. Phill , Chona, Chona's mom and a friend from church with a van, came to pick us up. There was lots of people everywhere.
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