Tokyo Day 0-The Road Less Travelled

I went there with another lady officer from KKLW. As all MAS’ and JAL’s direct flight to Tokyo were fully booked, we got there via Vietnam Airlines (VA) instead. I had no qualms upon using different airlines; in fact I look forward to observe their uniforms and the unique hospitality that they offer.

The only drawback was that we couldn’t get the direct flight, so we had to transit in Hanoi for 5 hours…uhh. Well, at least that was stated in my flight itinerary and boarding pass. The fact was we actually had to go to Ho Chin Minh City first, BEFORE went to Hanoi. Nobody told us that, even the girl at the counter, we just figured it out as we got onboard. I blamed my bad Geography for this, and also lack of information from the check-in counter!

My misfortune with the airline staff went on as we got to Ho Chin Minh, (I forgot the name of the airport). As our vessel number was the same as the one bound for Hanoi, so it was only natural for us to think that it was going to be a short stop, perhaps we didn’t have to go out at all, just like Kota Kinabalu-Labuan-Kuala Lumpur route. However, we HAD to go out of the airplane and as we entered the airport, there was this guy holding a little piece of paper saying “Transit to Hanoi”. I walked up to him and said that I’m going for Hanoi. But he just nodded and nothing. So we walked on till the dead end. Where were we supposed to go?

We walked at the transfer counter, to seek for assistance. There were a couple of passengers there and the staff just ignore our presence. I felt irritated already, until I saw this lady in uniform and approached her. It happened that the guy that we met earlier supposed to give us this ‘Transit’ sticker to be stick onto the chest. And we also had to go through the Immigration, got our luggage and were transferred to the Domestic Airport by a mini bus. It was a nuisance really since we were not being notified earlier about such arrangement.

I slept almost all the way to Hanoi. It was a long day, and by the time we got to Hanoi, I was already exhausted. After performing the jama’ for Maghrib-Isya’ prayer at a quiet space in front of an abandoned lift, I sat at the cold-hard seat and dozed off almost all the time despite trying very hard to work on the paper. I blame it on lethargy =)

But the drama didn’t end there. As it was nearly the time for boarding, we found that we literally trapped at the airport. We had check-in at KL, by then we didn’t know the gate number yet and by the time we got there it was still early and none of the information being displayed on the screen. Therefore, we headed to the waiting area and sat there. It was only half an hour to our boarding time that we found that the waiting area was not provided with the display screen. So how could they notify the passengers should there have changing of gate etc?

Anyway, we went round and around, luckily the international departure hall was quite small. It was almost 10 minutes to the boarding time but we still hadn’t found the gate yet. We asked around, but to no avail. The person at the gate either gave you the wrong information (we got: This is the gate. Same flight for Osaka and Tokyo) or did not response at all (we got: I’m busy at the moment. Go back to your seat). Thank God, the last person that we asked gave the correct info – the flight bound to Tokyo and Seoul shared the same gate, boarding time for Seoul at 11.30 pm, whilst ours was at 11.40 pm…fuh.. Finally, we were on our way to our final destination (of the day!)…….

Tokyo Day 0 - The Right Stuff

Konnichiwa! =) I just came back from Tokyo last Thursday. Had been there for a week and came back the evening before Idul Adha.

Even if I do travel quite a lot, I still loathe packing. It is a long and tiring process, starting with doing a check list first. No matter where I go, near or far, for business or leisure, I will always start my packing by jotting down every stuff that I will bring along. My list will be as detail as what to wear on day one till the last. And by ‘what to wear’ it means the complete match of the shirt/work attire -pants/skirt-hijab-undergarment-set of brooches.

Owh yes, I’m never a light traveler. I will not taking any chance, thus I will bring every little thing that’s important for me- my own toiletries (complete with my own shower foam and loofah), stationery and of course my 3 in 1 – Rich Nescafe to get me going (this item is actually rank first in my check list!).

Even during DPA, I still rigidly adhere to my checklist that during the Army Training module as I was pulling my trolley bag to the camp, I heard one of the instructors said to us (or was it only to me?) “Kamu ni bawa peti ais sekali ke?”

Of course now that I’m married, I have tried to tone down a bit this habit of mine as I don’t want MH to see me as Cik Kepoh, but my ‘cover-up’ did not last for long =p. For this Tokyo trip I prepared my check list quite late; hence I only managed to start packing early in the morning whilst I was scheduled to head off to KLIA at 11 a.m. MH must be surprised to see how I ‘expertly’ lay all my clothes (BTW I had a must-bring and KIV clothes-just in case) and lots of other stuff that it occupied the whole living hall. And did I forget to mention that by packing it also include me trying some of the clothes on, especially if it was not the usual combo. I’m not sure with you guys, but I do feel better and lots more confident if I wear the ‘right’ attire. In fact, one of the first thing I notice upon meeting new people is what the wear - it says a lot about a person. It's not the matter of the price nor the brands that the person wears, but how he/she put it together, it shows that the person do care to look good for the meeting etc. Sloppy dress is a big no-no for me.

Okay, perhaps I should stop blabbing on my packing and focus in my trip instead =) I was so lucky that MH managed to took time off from work and sent me to the airport. Despite the limited time, we went to The Mall first to get a few things done (yes I procrastinate!). Then we dropped by at Rumah Kajang (my parents in law’s) since we had not meet them for about 2 weeks. Finally we arrived to KLIA just in time…sob sob sob..That was the hardest part. I used to think that I would not be that emotionally attached to anyone, I prefer my own company. But things are different with MH. Therefore, it was always difficult for me to say good-bye with MH-everytime. So, this was our first time being away from each other, sangat sedih…Anyway, we said our goodbyes-quick one to prevent me from crying and off I go!

Life after that...

Alhamdulillah, MH (previously known as ML) and I are now married! It has been 12 days since we first entered the new phase of our life and I’m still trying to get used to be referred to as Puan =)

I don’t intend to spill on the details of the wedding in this entry as I haven’t got my wedding pics yet. Tak surprise lah kan =) But some of the pics taken by family and friends who attended the wedding (thanks guys for coming!) are already in the Facebook. I seriously hope the pics will turn out well as I’m not the photogenic type, unlike MH who can effortlessly strikes a pose even with the phone camera! As for me even if I gave my brightest smile, somehow it in the pics it will turn out either muka sedih or mata kuyu huhuhuu. That’s why I prefer candid photos, it’s more natural.

Undeniably other than the addressing-thing there are a lot of other things that we need to get used to. There are still lot about him that I need to learn and understand especially since we decided to get married not too long after our relationship became serious. You see, even if ML and I had known each other for almost a year, it was only in last March that we became serious, followed with the ‘meet-the-parents’ session, then merisik in which our parents straight away fixed the date for the wedding. And it all happened so fast and sometimes I myself did not believe that I'm now married with him =)

Anyways, it’s only been 3 days that MH and I are actually living the real live as husband and wife. We had a back-to-back wedding receptions for both sides on the 3rd and 4th October and had gone straight for the honeymoon after the wedding. And I guess we’d been to Bali a little too long. We just came back last weekend and so now we are back to reality. Wish us well!