Seeking evolution and serendipity (my favourite word). I set on a new adventure to Japan for two weeks. Hoping to be enchanted, surprised and amazed. Hoping to eat, dance, laugh and think, and above all, hoping to evolve.
To save some cash, I booked a flight to Milan before hopping on a plane to Tokyo, but let’s be real, any excuse to be in Italy is a good one. I stayed at a hotel near the airport and rested up on Friday night, then headed to the airport on Saturday morning feeling like this whole adventure was happening way too fast. As I walked through Milan Airport, I couldn’t help but notice all the fair ladies around me. I thought to myself, “Have I already made it to paradise?” Alas, it was time to board my flight with AirChina.
I fly with AirChina. Let me talk to you about my stereotypes, well no. A non-remarkable 11 hours flight with one exception: the staff announced a few things including that the airplane is a public space and we will be monitored by audio and video. I look around me and notice two security men with Walkie-Talkies stuck to their chests. This was new! What exactly happened in the past so that AirChina hired security staff on their planes? Luckily my next seat was empty and the seat after was occupied by a friendly Chinese businessman on his way home to Shanghai after visiting an exhibition in Milano. He seemed surprised that I was surprised that there is a security guard in the airplane alley!
I spent the few hours watching Chinese movies, which to my surprise were funny, exciting and emotional that I almost cried (yeah, didn’t really cry since 2015). I suggest you to watch the movie called “Moon Man” which is worth the two hours of your precious time.
So, I will write about my trip and share with you what i learn and what i feel. I had a lot of suggestions from Kate, Virgil’s nice Japanese lady, and I am excited about the upcoming adventures. I have also had a couple of contacts before the trip that I will try to connect with.
This trip I am accompanied by a small book: “The Meditations”, by Marcus Aurelius! And since these days I am interested in artificial intelligence and poetry, I will try to involve AI in this trip. Let’s see what will happen. I will use ChatGPT for some experiments and also some iPhone apps that use AI for rendering photos!
Have you been to Japan before? Send me your top to-do suggestion, your favourite place and your favourite dish.
The second leg of the flight will be from Shanghai to Tokyo and I shall arrive on Sunday afternoon.
The transit in Shanghai was not logical! I discovered that I had to pass the customs and then collect my checked in luggage then pass the customs again! For that reason, they give travelers from certain countries a 24 hours visa. The customs control was one of the slowest I have ever witnessed, i grew a full beard waiting in the line, , thankfully I had a few hours buffer. During my time in the airport I needed assistance with the Wi-Fi login, a good coffee and the departure hall. I approached the information desk where two young ladies dressed in red and with their FPP2 mask promptly stood up to greet me with shaking their right hand, exactly like the cat you see in Chinese restaurants 😀
They were very helpful and answered my questions with a monotonous response then greeted me with the hand shake again. I left wondering whether artificial intelligence has already taken over!
I went to grab some food and ended up eating some mystery meat – let’s just say I didn’t ask too many questions. Another couple of hours on the second flight to arrive in Tokyo airport. Here I smiled widely and felt the excitement!
Clean, efficient, friendly and polite. In the waiting line for the customs they had mobile machines to collect your biometric data while you are waiting in line. I passed smoothly and collected my checked in luggage from the belt, where all luggage’s were ordered in an impeccably paralleled manner on their side, probably to reduce the space required on the belt, thus reducing the number of rotations I assume. I remembered one of my favourite quotes “there is always a better way to do anything, and we should always aspire to find it”.
I already knew that Japan had a lot to offer. So I went to the toilette 😀
In the men’s cabins, and apologies for the graphics, there was a child seat, so you can do your business while your child is completely seated besides you. Need not to worry about the smell, since the integrated famous pidet will “deodorise” the cabin, and eventually send a stream of water to clean your rear and consequently your heart. You can control the water pressure and volume as well.
I left the airport with the train towards my hotel. I booked three nights in the “book hotel” which is a hotel full of books. Other than that I had not planed anything and I await the gifts of the universe!