Today I open the last big door of my special Xmas calendar. Today it begins. Japan V starts. And here are the boundary conditions of this trip:
- The weather is not good and not bad. Tokyo and Oosaka are reporting clouds and 50°F. Kanazawa is reporting 32°F with the chance of rain or snow.
- In Shirakawa we have 8″ of snow. In Kusatsu Onsen is no snow. The snow that was there a few days ago is gone. Arghh. Looks like the winter is already over. No winter holiday. And why I have bought all this winter clothes?
- The Yen is down to $1,17. YES. This reduces the cost for this holiday by 10%. Thid covers the additional cost for the hotels above the limit.
Just before the taxi arrives, it is getting hectic. I have to put my bike into the house and take out the garbage. Power is offline except for the heating, alle windows closed. The door is closed. Forgot my glasses. Open the door. Lights on. Then the holiday starts with a short taxi ride. The bus is leavong at 5:50am. It is dark. Surprisingly there is a passanger waiting at every single bus stop. On my last ride the first guest entered at Barsbüttel. The holiday before that there was a small group in Bad Oldesloe.
I arrive the airport at 7:20am; right on time. Now I have 2 hours for check in and the security check. Easy. The Slate causes a special check of my luaggage. To much „organic material“. I would say to much plastic. At 7:40am I arrive at the airport lounge. I like this all inclusive. Fruits, Sherry and a nice whisky. A nice breakfast. Boarding at 9:25 and take off at 9:50. The seat size is economy all over. Lucky that the seat next to me is empty. One hour later I arrive at Schiphol (Amsterdam airport). First stop passport control, then McD. The last burger (a „1955er“) for three weeks. I want to stay away from western food as much as I can. At 12:15 I check in at the airport lounge 42. The design is a little bit older but the seats are comfy. Perfect before the 10 hours of economy starts.
Boarding at 2pm. I arrive late. There is a long queue anyway and my luaggage is already in the plane. They will wait. The next 10 hours are boring. I try to sleep. But I fail. I stayed awake the whole night. But this didn’t helps. All that is left is the on board cinema. Madagascar 3 in English and Japanese. The Dark Knight Rises. MIB III. The route is like always. The last 2 hours are towards south, passing Beijing and South Korea, and then east again. Another turn let us pass Chuubu and leads us to Kyuhsu. We are completing the 270 and approaching Kansai.