Because we were so excited about our summer trip we woke up a bit earlier than usual, at 4:15 am, and started prepping the house for the two weeks that it would sit empty in the summer heat. We’ve got a comprehensive checklist worked out by now, so we knocked out the tasks quickly. We rolled out with our suitcase into the humidity and headed to the train station, already sweating even before sunrise. Taking the first train out of Okubo, when we arrived at the bus line in Sannomiya it was surprisingly crowded. We elected to take the second bus, avoiding having to sit in the extra capacity center seats that are both uncomfortable and solitary.
The result of our early start was that we arrived more than three hours before our departure. Usually the departure check-in lanes are posted on the board about three hours before the flight, but for some reason there was a delay in posting our flight on Singapore Airlines. For a short time there was a little tinge of fear that we had arrived at the airport on the wrong day – or that I had misread an email or something. But in the end we found our way to the check in line, and thanks to our online check in we could skip much of the waiting.
Our first leg was a 6 1/2 hour flight to Singapore – piece of cake. We slept a bit on the flight, and the video system was a newer model and filled with interesting movies and music to keep us occupied. Upon arrival at Singapore’s Changi Airport we had a fair amount of time (7 hours!) to kill before the next leg of the journey, so we set about exploring. The airport had recently completed a new expansion, called “Jewel”, but unfortunately it was located outside security, so we’d have to officially enter the country, and then leave the country and go through security all over again if we wanted to visit. We figured we’d save Jewel for the return trip. Instead we focused on a search for the salted egg steamed buns that I am so addicted to. Just after entering the transfer area we saw a restaurant with a big electronic sign that flashed a sexy picture of a salted egg bun breaking open, and so we went right over and sat down at the table. Upon consultation with our server, we discovered that they no longer serve the salted egg buns and we’d have to find something else on the menu. Rather than waste a chance, we left the table and moved on.
We are picky about food, so it took a while to survey the food choices of nearly the entire airport. We stopped for a cold beer at a “sports bar” located in one of the terminals, and had an IPA made by a craft brewery in Singapore. It was easy drinking (although expensive) and it gave us the energy to keep up the food search. While we were drinking our beers at the bar a customer came in and after reviewing her options on the draft beers she ordered the same thing we were drinking, although she said, “I’ll have an E-pa”. It took me a second to realize that she was pronouncing the “I” as an “E”, but the server didn’t even flinch and served it up to her right away. It would be hard for me to resist the education opportunity here but the server was a real professional. Kuniko and I were joking about “E-pas” during the rest of the trip.
Finally we discovered a restaurant that served mini-sized salted egg buns, and so we ate those with some Hong Kong-style noodles. We washed them down with another beer at a brew-pub. Kuniko had a Singapore Sling, mixed up by a cool lesbian bartender/DJ who was very friendly and intently focused on choosing the next song to play in the bar.
Back on an airplane, and this time for a long haul. The flight from Singapore to Amsterdam was 13 hours or so, and I was eager to get some shut-eye. We had a cabin attendant that was really pro-active about customer service, and we heard her say to another passenger that it was her first flight. True or not, she made sure to wake me up every time she walked past with a hot towel, food, drink, extra blankets, whatever. Let me sleep!
Because it was a long flight I couldn’t sleep through all of it, but thanks to the great video system we kept ourselves entertained. I was in a middle seat between Kuniko at the window and a fairly aggressive old guy who was made extra effort to dominate the armrest between us. He also had the “old guy smell” which wasn’t pleasant but I hated to think what I smelled like after the distance that we’d come from Japan.
Finally, we arrived at Amsterdam airport. But even after all that travel, we still had one more flight to catch. We waited for about four hours in the airport to catch our KLM flight to Dublin. Since our next flight was on a different airline we had to claim our suitcase, and then bring it back in through security. The KLM area at Amsterdam airport had an interesting self-check baggage system, where you had to wait in line to use an automatic machine. The machine apparently broke down quite a bit – about half the windows were shut down with notices saying it was out of order, so it took a long time to get rid of our bag again. But these kinds of situations are exactly why we left a four hour window for this stopover – tight connections mean more stress and risk. We had a premium tuna sandwich and some red wine, did some shopping for souvenirs (they had lots of cheese available at the airport shops – that was a good sign), and then caught our flight to Dublin.
After a 13 hour flight a 2 hour flight feels like a blink of the eye. I watched from the window as we flew over English and came in on approach in Dublin, Ireland – our final stop for the day. The immigration line was very short, but there were surprisingly many questions: “Where did you come from?” “Where are you going from here?” “How many days in each country?” “Why are you traveling to Ireland?” Usually there are hardly any questions at all so it was kind of refreshing to experience.
We picked up our suitcase and went outside to catch a big double decker bus into town. Just as we got on the bus it started to sprinkle, but the rain stopped soon after, and by the time we got off near the Busaras Station 30 minutes later, there was a clear sky above us. We checked into the Beresford Hotel right across from the bus station, and went up to our room. What followed was one of the best showers I’ve ever taken. Hard to believe that we had been traveling for more than 24 hours!
Off we went to see about dinner. It was late afternoon when we arrived in Dublin, so we went to Madigan’s Pub, a place I found recommended on the web which wasn’t far from the hotel. We ordered a couple of Guinness beers, and I had a bacon and cabbage plate, which was a very heavy but delicious meal. Kuniko went with the somewhat lighter salmon sampler plate. It felt good to be relaxing in a pub – the interior was very traditional with wood paneling, a copper gilded bar, and (strangely) 80’s American pop music on the music system. People came and went outside to smoke, and the group in the back of the pub was lively. We sat in a booth up front, drinking our beers and feeling exhausted.
After our meal we decided to walk around a tiny bit and get a feel for the sightseeing that we might do later on. We did get in a little walk, but quickly our energy levels faded so we went back to the hotel and went to bed around 4:30 pm. It was great to lie down in a fully horizontal position. We didn’t stir for about 13 hours – it was one hell of a travel day.
