Morning at the capsule hotel
I woke up to a big alarm. A small capsule hotel at Narita Airport called '9h'.
I woke up at 7. I thought check-in for the flight would be fine from around 8, but I ended up getting really sleepy and before I knew it it was 7:30.
I was really sleepy. Yesterday I arrived at Narita Airport just after midnight. I drank a lot of wine and my whole body ached. So after taking a shower I was able to fall asleep immediately.
It's been a long time since I've slept this comfortably.
But the alarm was so huge I was really worried I might have woken the person next to me. It was insanely loud, and the only door was a low partition at the foot, so of course the sound would carry, I thought.
But that wasn't really the case.
Actually, what surprised me was that the moment I got out of the capsule, most people were already gone. Too early. How early. At 7:30 in the morning, most people were already gone. I guess everyone leaves early.
I took a shower and put on the clothes, underwear, and socks I washed last night.
The socks and underwear felt about 30% damp, not completely dry, but whatever.
Then my clothes. This was bad. They still felt about 50% wet. Even wearing them felt like wearing swimwear.
I had hung them in a locker, but the locker was sealed. No wonder they were hard to evaporate.
Oh well, can't be helped. I put on the wet clothes and left the hotel.
Narita Airport, a last-minute battle
Apparently departures are at Terminal 1, but I was at Terminal 2. I thought I could get there quickly, but apparently I had to take a shuttle bus.
I panicked, wondering if I had enough time.
I'm kind of a wing-it person. It always ends up like that, but isn't there romance in deliberately not knowing? Or so I tell myself.
I took the bus and arrived at Terminal 1. The plane I'm taking this time is Scoot, a low-cost airline from Singapore. I can't believe I'll be flying for seven hours on this.
There were long lines at the check-in counters. At one point, an attendant was checking the weight of carry-on luggage, and I thought this was totally bad because my bag was right at the 10 kg limit.
On top of that, out of fear, I shoved all the heavy stuff—liquids, the power bank, my Kindle—into my jacket pockets for weighing.
Result: 9.6 kg.
Barely safe.
When I got my ticket, an airport staff member asked me, "Your final destination is Greece, right?" I said, "No, it's not."
Then they said, "Do you have a ticket to a third country? There is a chance it will be requested when you go, so be careful."
I was really surprised. Come to think of it, I had bought a ticket to Tbilisi, but I hadn't bought a ticket from Tbilisi to another country. That's bad.
But Georgia allows stays up to one year, so it's probably okay. I was a little worried though.
I checked in safely and carried my heavy almost-10-kg bag to the gate. I bought water nearby. There are quite a lot of foreigners in Japan. Many were returning to Singapore. With restrictions eased, many people are entering Japan.
Seven hours on a budget airline, a silent flight with the person next to me
I wanted to line up early, so I stood at the very front. My seat was 41A.
After finally boarding and walking down the aisle, it turned out to be the very back.
But there was a big space on the left; the window and seat were separated so I could stretch my legs. Perfect.
It was a two-seat row and I was curious who would sit next to me.
I couldn't tell if he was Japanese or Malaysian, but an Asian man sat down. He was alone too. We didn't say a word as we took off.
It was extremely awkward.
The awkward part was our elbows hitting the armrest. While sleeping I leaned on the other person's arm and was pushed, so I changed my sleeping position feeling sorry.
This was the first time I was able to sleep on a plane. I had never been able to before, so realizing I could now was really surprising.
Seven hours. I don't know if it was long or short.
But I was utterly exhausted. Especially my head. It was all unfamiliar—the adventure of going abroad alone, being considerate of the person next to me. All that mental stuff.
Because it's a low-cost carrier, there's no meal service, drinks are paid, and the seats are probably narrower than usual. Seven hours is a bit rough.
But somehow I managed to sleep and arrived in decent shape. Marina Bay Sands was visible to the left of the window.
Finally, Singapore. I'm super excited and at the same time, 'about time.'
Changi Airport, baptized by 29 degrees
Going on an adventure alone is more tiring than anxiety. I wonder why.
Anyway, I arrived.
The moment I entered Changi Airport: hot. 29 degrees. I was wearing long sleeves and a Burberry trench coat. The trench coat looked tired from the trip too—wrinkled.
Well, can't be helped. This is the flavor of travel, isn't it?
I looked for a place to sit and decided to wait there for 10 hours. Ten hours. I wrote this diary and sent voice messages to friends.
Departure at 2:50 in the morning.
That's a bit too much.
