Thursday 28th March 2024

 Thursday 28^th March

SHE SAID:

We had 4 ½ hour waiting in Singapore for our connection to Haneda Airport in Tokyo. Thankfully, this was a slightly roomier aeroplane with better food & entertainment. I watched 2 movies: Napoleon & Barbie!

We arrived on time, & Julian & Kiyoka met us in the arrivals hall once we cleared immigration & quarantine. I was surprised to hear we had another 2-hour coach trip to their local train station, where Kiyoka, who had zoomed back to the house on the trains, was waiting to meet us with her dad’s car! It turned out that there were mega delays on the road & the coach actually took 3 hours. By the time we crashed after a lovely dinner that Kiyoka prepared for us, I think the 3 of us were well & truly knackered.

Singapore Airport T2

Japanese "guitar" Shamisen

HE SAID:

We only managed a bit of snatched sleep on our way to Singapore. The Scoot budget airline seats are not made for getting shut-eye. It was a bit dull at Changi Airport while we changed terminals and waited for our next flight on to Tokyo. Due to it being the middle of the night there was no bustle, lots of emptiness, closed shops, and even the transfer shuttle between terminals was not operating.

Boarding our Singapore Airlines flight we could feel a sense of being on a much better service, and we enjoyed the food and movies. I managed to watch Napoleon and Hunger Games: Snakes and Songbirds.

Meeting up with Julian and Kiyoka was good, and we chatted for about 30 minutes before Kiyoka caught the three trains home to get her dad's car to meet us at the bus station, even though we were an hour late, with a lot of the extra time spent stopped or crawling along in a very long tunnel. We have no idea what caused the hold up. 

There was more chat, dinner, and even a brief traditional Japanese song from Kiyoka, before we collapsed in our beds.