13:52- Faked out. Demo in English, French and Japanese subtitles. Not learning anything.
13:59- Engine 1 starts with a big puff of black smoke and a high pitched whine. Bad omen?
14:20- Yeah so we're still sitting on the tarmac. Pushed back and haven't moved since. I'm losing hope fast. But I am making good progress on finishing the book I've been reading since August.
14:22- The captain just informed us we need to go back to the gate to check a maintenance indicator. Great. Do you remember where we parked?
14:36- I think they just did a reboot of the plane. Confidence level = low.
14:53- So yeah, not going to complain about being restless in the terminal anymore. Spent 75 minutes in this plane so far and have a lap around the tarmac to show for it.
14:58- I'd say it's pretty optimism to be handing out Custom Declaration Cards at this point. Still at the gate, engines not running.
15:00- I'm going to go ahead and wait for the plane gets in the air before I fill out any forms.
15:04- Captain says everything ok. We just sat on the tarmac for over an hour. Everything is clearly not ok.
15:09- phone is going dark once again. Hopefully that spurs on this flight.
15:10- more black smoke out of the engine. Great. Let's do this!
15:12- How much black smoke is too much black smoke?
15:18- We're moving again. Movie time. Social Network. Go.
15:24- I'm wearing my Spaghettios shirt today and regretting it. Sun is shining in, lighting up my yellow shirt, which is reflecting in the screen, which makes it impossible to see the movie.
15:27- You can watch pretty much any new movie you want on the plane and and the guy beside me decided on Sex and the City 2.
15:33- So this plane actually flies. Neat.
17:34- Social Network was pretty good. Not earth shattering but I enjoyed it. It did motivate me to fill out my declaration forms, so it was good for that.
17:40- Still can't believe I'm flying to Japan right now. Or that I haven't stood up in 4 hours.
17:41- Random album that I have, but am listening to on the entertainment system is Ivory Tower by Chilly Gonzales.
17:42- Lights are out. Probably means i should try to sleep.
17:52- Will be flying over Alaska shortly.
17:53- It's so strange to be on a long haul flight and not be emotionally unstable. Almost seems crazy that that was just how I was when flying last year. Amazing how much I changed since last year and in the last 4 months since I've been back.
17:57- Angry Birds and Lebatard Show. See you in an hour.
20:10- Angry Birds Seasons, Flick Golf, Bejeweled, Tap Tap Revenge takes down an hour. Theres lots of apps for wasting time.
20:12- look at the time and it's still light out!!
20:24- Going in for another movie. This one is called Inside Job and is about the financial crisis. If you're wondering, I'm hoping it'll put me to sleep.
22:10- Date Line: International. I'm there.
22:11- With that today ends early and tomorrow is already mostly over.
22:15- Don't know why but im going to try to make the entire flight (delay included) without a bathroom break. This is a terrible idea.
16:04- Time change
16:04- It's officially a movie extravaganza. Watching the Town.
16:38- Two hours to go. My ass has been numb for too long.
17:20- My last terrible Air Canada meal is out of the way. Just need to deal with the aftertaste for the rest of the night.
17:21- Here's a little secret. I'm going to the mountains tomorrow and I have no idea how I'm getting there.
17:53- So yeah. Don't particularly know how to get to my hostel tonight either. And I don't have any Yen with me. The next 24 hours could be quite the adventure.
17:54- For those of you still keeping track. No bathroom break yet and still no standing. 11 hours and counting. 0% chance this is healthy.
17:57- I'm nervous about wandering through a strange city at night. Maybe cause its one of the biggest in the world.
18:21- it's snowing in Tokyo. Sigh.
18:22- Nap time.
18:30- fail. still can't sleep on planes.
18:31- the pressure of altitude has caused my injured foot to swell. Barely got my shoe back on.
18:40- I get to see Danny and Hayley tomorrow. Holy crap.
18:41- another development I forgot to mention, I'm not even spending 3 days in Edmonton when I get back. Running back to Saskatoon in two weeks.
18:52- That landing did a good job of waking me up.
18:58- Considering it's 3am in Edmonton I feel alright.
18:59- Did you know Narita is 33 miles from Tokyo?
19:05- Good news. Not snowing. Bad news. Pouring rain.
19:10- I assume japan is one big wifi network.
19:15- Moving feels very good but this hallway is nuts.
19;27 Dropping arigato like it's going out of style.
19:29- Two and a half hours to get my bag, clear customs and make it to my hostel before the door is locked at 10. Game on.
19:37- Bathroom relief!
19:40- In!!!!!!!
19:49- One ATM in the whole place. Ahhhh!!!
19:54- Lost. Confused. Tired. Stressed. Sweaty. Thus is awesome.
19:57- Found a train. We'll see how this goes.
20:12- Saw a guy fall asleep while standing on the train.
20:25- I keep listening for the drivers announcements even though I have no clue what he's saying.
20:30- Hour and a half before I end up on the streets. Go train go.
20:50- Most people at home think I'm weird because I have an iPod touch and an iPhone. In japan, I'm the poor kid.
21:00- One hour to go!!
21:09- Make or break connection here. Signage is not good. Can't find a system map. Just hoping at this point.
21:14- Six stations to go and a fifteen minute walk. Shit, this is going to be close.
21:16- Doing some serious self-reassurance at the moment. That's a pretty good indicator of uncertainty.
22:13- Well that got pretty dodgy there for a while. Directions started out great and ended poorly. Got lost 4 times but managed to make it into the hostel with 10 minutes to spare. Step one of the unknown journey is complete. Tomorrow I try to find my way to Hakuba. Glad that my day is over. I'm so tired that I'm not even going out to explore or take a shower to deal with my smell. Thanks for reading!
Ha! Love that you did the play-by-play again. Awesome read! and brought back memories of my first time landing in Narita. Hope you're having fun. Try the ramen!
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