28 October 2023
Maxing out
Flying to Tokyo on a Boeing 737 Max
A rare third update. This level of multiple updates only happens on my journey to my destination. Although this 3rd update is a bit different and will be a mix of future, present and past tenses and chronologically all over the place. Right now I am typing this bit, while sitting on the plane. Still about 2 hours to go. The flight has been a pleasant surprise. It is only about half full and I have an entire block of 3 seats to myself. There are a lot of Japanese people onboard, which is also surprising. The remaining guests are almost entirely weeaboos with their pink hair and cat ear headphones. They have enough room to form some sort of club house in the middle of the plane and compare pokemons. I really think people that did not know each other before the flight are playing some kind of card game across about 4 rows. Finally, there is also one old grumpy white guy, typing on his laptop.
The 737 max is quiet like a dreamliner, I guess it has new style engines, and some plastic bits to make it lighter so that it can make the journey from Australia to Japan. So far the seats seem good, about 5 hours in. I bought cheese and crackers and an orange juice, food on the plane is actually cheaper than food in the airport, by a considerable margin. So that is enough for now, but there will be a bit more procedural ramblings below this line... once I land, get to my hotel, and type a bit more.
Now as promised, the final bit.
I am in my hotel. Exiting Haneda airport was smooth enough, I had the 2 x QR codes you need these days so I could bypass queues. It took a while for the plane to find a parking spot, it was a really long but welcome walk to immigration, and then all the bags took a while to come. Once outside the controlled area, the ATM is right there and the monorail is about 50 metres away. Somehow I got an express so that was great.
This ends this long day of typing stuff.
Here is a photo of the sunset I took out the window of the plane. This is also an unusual activity for me. You see, on long flights on big twin aisle jets, I prefer an aisle seat in the middle block of 3 or 4 seats. But since this is a tiny plane with only one aisle up the middle, there is no middle block. I normally do not take my laptop out on flights either, but since I have a whole block of 3 seats to myself, there is room for my elbows, and I can also press my camera against the window for a sunset view. Soak it in.
Time for a monorail. As seen in Ogdenville.
Proof that I went on the monorail. I do not look as dried up and wrinkled as usual due to it being a day time flight with lots of room to sit.
Now prepare yourselves for peak excitement, here is my hotel room. It is Sotetsu Fresa Kanda. I have not stayed at a Fresa Inn before, I normally seem to prefer the Nazi imperial Apa chain, but when I booked my accommodation a year ago, Sotetsu was the only cheap chain available. The room seems identical to Apa except there are no free books declaring that the owner wants to cut my head off.
A toilet. Bed time!