My trip to Japan was long and exhausting, but it left me with nothing but interesting thoughts
I left Istanbul at 2 AM on April 6 and landed in Tokyo at 8 PM. It turned out to be the longest flight of my life. Even though I had previously flown to Thailand for a similar amount of time, this one felt endless—like I had been on the plane for twenty hours. I’m not sure why, but time just wouldn’t move. To make things worse, I couldn’t even distract myself with movies or onboard entertainment because my screen barely worked. Eventually, it completely gave up and froze on a black screen. Luckily, the passenger next to me was watching a documentary about wild animals and some world news, so I ended up half-watching along with him. In that sense, I guess I was lucky—I still got some kind of in-flight entertainment.
Another strange and interesting thing about the flight was the sense of time. I took off at 2 AM, and when I landed, it was dark again. It felt like I had completely skipped daytime. If I hadn’t opened the window shade, I could have spent the entire flight in artificial night. Speaking of that, the window shade itself was surprisingly confusing—it was one of those modern dimmable ones, and I had no idea how to use it at first. I only figured it out after noticing a bright window nearby. Otherwise, I might have just assumed it was nighttime the whole way.
The landing itself was smooth and almost unnoticeable. I didn’t feel much at all—only the slight movement as we taxied toward the airport building. But once inside, I was met with chaos I hadn’t expected. The airport was packed with passengers, and it became clear that I would be spending much more time there than planned. My idea of quickly getting out and heading straight to my hostel fell apart. On top of that, I had some minor issues with my cash declaration. I had already stated in my online entry form that I was carrying more than 1,000,000 yen in US dollars and euros, so it wasn’t a surprise—but still, I hadn’t expected it to actually be checked. In my previous trips, I had never had to deal with that at customs.
Getting to my hostel wasn’t easy either. I quickly realized that I couldn’t rely on my card—almost everywhere required cash. I still don’t fully understand why cash is so dominant, but I had no choice. I exchanged a 100-dollar bill at the first exchange office I found and received about 15,500 yen. On my past trips, I almost never used cash, always preferring to pay by card, so this was a new adjustment for me. After buying a train ticket, I spent about two hours getting to my hostel. I had to make two transfers—first at Aoto Station, then again before arriving at Oshiage Station—after which I walked to my accommodation. By the time I finally got to my room, I was completely drained. I didn’t think about anything—I just went straight to bed, exhausted, and fell asleep almost instantly.
My trip to Japan was long and challenging, but it brought me only interesting thoughts.
I left Istanbul at 2 AM on April 6 and landed at 8 PM in Tokyo. It was the longest flight of my life; by the time I had already flown to Thailand, where the flight time was the same, I felt like I was on the board for twenty hours. I've no idea what's gone on, but the time wasn't fast. Even though during the flight I couldn't watch movies or other available entertainment on board, my screen worked extremely badly. At the finish I just lost my screen in front of me and looked at a frozen black screen. Fortunately, my neighbor, who was seated near me, watched a documentary movie about wild animals and some world news. So I was that lucky man who watched during the flight about wild animals.
Another interesting and important thing that happened during my flight was about my flight time. Because when I took off, the time was 2 AM, and when I landed, the time also was dark. If I didn't open my modern plane illuminator shade, I could spend the daytime during my flight. I also want to give some attention to that modern illuminator, because it was so tricky and I didn't understand how I needed to use it. To be honest, I figured it out after I saw a bright light from another illuminator. If I didn't see it, I could think that it was still the night.
The landing was smooth and pleasant. I didn't feel anything except while we drove to the airport building. But at the airport I met that chaos that I didn't meet. It was crowded with passengers, and I realized that I needed to spend extra hours here. My plan to quickly leave the airport and go to my hostel room was broken. I also had some issues with my cash declaration, but I already knew, and it wasn't new for me. Because I wrote on my online entry visit information that I brought some US dollars and euros, and it was more than 1 000,000 yen. I didn't think that they would check me here; before, I never declared my cash at airport customs.
My trip to my hostel room wasn't smooth. I couldn't pay with my card, and everywhere asked about cash. I don't know why they love cash, but I exchanged my one hundred dollar banknote at the first exchange office. As a result, I got approximately 15500 yen. Before, during my previous trips, I never used cash; I always tried to pay with my cards. After I bought a train ticket, I drove around two hours to my hostel room. I did two transfers: first at Aoto station, and second, I arrived at Osshiagg Station, then walked to my accommodations. When I entered my room, I just went to bed without any worries because I was so tired, and I just wanted to sleep.