Cairns, Australia to Narita, Japan
I got up early to change my Airport shuttle pick-up time from 7:15am to 9:15am, because my dive gear bag is going to be picked up at the Hostel instead of at the airport as I thought it would be. I had to wait for reception to open in order to use the Internet to print out the forms for my baggage shipping. I filled out the forms and tried to fax them into their Australia office. I first attempt didn’t work, because the girl working reception didn’t know how to work the fax machine and didn’t dial nine first before the number. The next attempt the fax machine on the other end was not on. The third attempt was successful, kind of, the first three pages went through, but the last page the most important didn’t. The fax machine ran out of toner and could not print the copy of my passport, which they need in order for the bag to leave Australia. I called their office again and they gave me another fax number and I faxed it again. This time the other fax machine was also out of toner. I could tell the guy working didn’t know what he was doing and was filling in part time for the regular person in the office. He said when the full time person returned the following day they would be able to replace the toner and print the last page. I decided to also leave a copy with my bag in case, they screwed that up as well. The company is a U.S. company called XSbaggage.com and seemed very professional when I worked with them, but I think they still have some work to do in their new offices in Australia. I just got all the paper work sorted as my airport shuttle arrived to take me to the airport and yes it took almost two hours to print, fill out, and fax them the paper work. It was a bit of a headache, but I was relieved to have it all taken care of. They were going to pick up my bag from reception with 24 hours and e-mail the delivery details. My wonderful brother will be picking it up for me at the airport, I thank him, and really do appreciate it. After I checked in at the airport they booked me a room at the Hotel Nikko Narita, which is the hotel they use for most of their transit passengers. The flight to Japan was about eight hours and I gained an hour with the time change. The airport was well orgainized and I was through customs in under thirty minutes. I didn’t have to get my checked luggage, since it was checked through to Beijing. One thing that is different about Japan is that lots of people were wearing Scars masks or medical mask not only the general public, but also workers. I hopped on the free shuttle bus to the hotel and checked in. It was a single room with a double bed, but everything in the room seem smaller, the doors and counters were lower, it seemed very compacted. Rich, Harrison, and JJ would probably feel Will Farrell in the movie Elf if they were to visit Japan. I went across the street to a convience store called Sunkus and grabbed some dinner and it was 526 yen which is about $5 USD. They had vending machines in the hotel that sold beer for a 1,000 yen, which is kind of strange to see beer in a vending machine. I watched the only television channel that was in English for a while and then went to bed.
Rich, Harrison, and JJ would probably feel Will Farrell in the movie Elf if they were to visit Japan.
