Hokkaido Tour Day 1 - 17/01/2008

Day 1, 17/01
Narita - Haneda - Chitose - Sapporo


Heh, who would have thought I would fall sick on the day I was leaving for Japan... Already felt weird the night before in the MRT after my make-up 日本語授業(Japanese lesson..)... When I woke up the next day, I felt terrible.. It felt as if I've gotten the flu bug...

Thank God I took leave the day to prepare for the trip. So went to the Doc. Luckily my throat wasn't very inflamed. Was given pills for runny nose and sore throat, some fever pills (in case I did get fever at Japan), lozenges to suck and vitamin C pills to bite on.

And yup, I only packed my luggage the very day I was flying... HEhe.. So I was feeling very tired and kinda groggy (maybe from the runny nose med) when I reached the airport.. XB wasn't feeling very well either... =='''

J.C. was our tour guide (with Madeline tagging along as "pseudo" tour guide). And wowzers, we had a bunch of really punctual folks as our tour group mates. Most of them (including me!) arrived at the airport much earlier than the meeting time. Our tour group wasn't really big.. 20 people, including J.C and Madeline. Which was good. Fewer people = less hassle.

Watched a bit of Rush Hour 3 (in Japanese.. LOL) and Lilo and Stitch (Disney Channel.. hahahha) in the plane... Tried to get some sleep but managed to sleep for less than a couple of hours... I think.. I thought I was feeling groggy before stepping into the plane?! Guess the effect wore off...

I was feeling kind of lousy when I reached Narita Airport.. And my left ear was still aching from the descending plane.. More accurately, it felt as if there's water trapped in my ear... arghh... And to think that I've another domestic flight to take to Hokkaido... ==''' (you can see the tired look on my face in the Chitose airport picture.. Gasp.. I must have looked hideous for that "photo shoot" at the customs.. In case you don't know, foreigners have to get their fingerprints and head shot taken when getting their passports stamped by the customs officers.. Don't worry, the process is very fast.. Just remember to smile at the screen... Which I didn't coz I was clueless as to where to look...)

Woke up fully temporarily when we stepped out
of the airport. Well.. Who wouldn't when greeted with the wintry cold air. And it seemed to have snowed slightly earlier.. Fresh snow can be seen resting on top of the parked vehicles and on the bushes. Totally different in how it looked as compared to the previous time I came here (last spring).

We took a bus ride to Haneda airport for our domestic flight to Chitose Airport. Haneda airport has a shopping mall within it. Was kinda tickled to see them selling flattened-heart-shaped banana cake called Tokyo Banana... And something interesting.. A plate of 4 halfed-sandwiches (or was it 2??) can be sold at almost the same price as a plate of curry rice.. O.O Anyway, I was in a frenzy when I saw a bookstore... Bought my 1st stuff in Japan.. Lala manga book... HAHHAHAA... I just couldn't resist the temptation of the Ouran Host club... *fan girl mode*

And I will never forget the pronunciation for 搭乗券.. toujyouken... ==.. Oh well.. A slight situation I'd met.. Didn't know toujyouken = boarding pass.. The Kanji words, 搭乗券, never crossed my mind in such a short time... HAHAHHA.. Oh.. A side note for tourists who want to take domestic flights in Japan. It's ok to bring in bottled drinks..

Anyway, my brain finally gave in and got into a slumber once seated comfortably in the airplane.. Of course, I took a photo of what I guessed was Fuji-san (later confirmed by J.C. on the last day of the tour..) before going into zzz-land.

..To be continued..