So Here We Are

Lindsey and I left Ballarat late on Thursday afternoon and made our way to the flat.  We had pizza for an early dinner and then trundled out to the airport where we made our way through immigration and security to catch our plane to Hong Kong.  The only excitement was when the automatic luggage machine wouldn't read our luggage tags. We pondered how we would manage without spare clothes for three weeks. Then a helpful lady turned up and forced the machine reader to accept our bags.

We had an entirely uneventful flight to Hong Kong.  In fact, I don't really remember much about it.  The flight left slightly after midnight on Friday morning which is well after my bedtime.  I went to sleep almost immediately and slept most of the way, until they woke us up for arrival in Hong Kong.

We had a three hour lay over in Hong Kong.  I have been to Hong Kong airport before but it was many years ago.  I don't remember it being as big as it is now.  It's probably not quite as big as Singapore but it is a very large airport.  We had a merry time wandering around it.  We grabbed breakfast burgers at Burger King (well, we are on holiday) and coffee/tea at Starbucks (not my coffee shop of choice but the other alternatives offered instant coffee/tea with condensed milk.  These offerings did not appeal!! We looked in the shops.  It must be a nightmare going around with children.  There is shop after shop after shop offering toys, lollies, shiny things, colourful things.  I can imagine children wanting EVERYTHING (there are boring, sensible shops too, but we didn't look at them).

Then onto Nagoya. We were supposed to be flying Premium Economy but our plane had been changed so there wasn't that option.  Instead they put us in the bulkhead of Economy.  Even better. We had so much legroom. We were first to be offered drinks, food, snacks.  And because there were very few people in Business Class we were amongst the first off.

It took a little under 30 minutes from leaving the plane to get to the railway station. In that time we went through Immigration, collected our bags, went through customs, got some money from the ATM and bought train tickets.  I don't think I have ever made it from the plane to my onward transport in such a little time, even when flying domestically

We took the train to Nagoya and then changed to another train to get to Austin's station, past Gifu.  He was there to meet us and took us to their place.  They moved earlier in the year to a new flat.  It's on the same road as the previous one but is slightly bigger, closer to the station and, most importantly, in the catchment area for the primary school that Tatsuki will be starting in April.

Tatsuki had a swimming lesson, which Kaori took him to. Austin, Lindsey and I hit Liquor Mountain and the supermarket for urgent supplies. Then we all went to the Coco Diner for tea.

Lindsey and I slept very well last night. And now we are primed, ready and waiting for our Japanese adventure.  The only issue is that we had all intended to go to Nagoya tomorrow evening and to stay over for a night of feasting. Monday is a public holiday so no one needs to go to work. Alas, the school sports day which was scheduled for today has been called off because of potential rain and has been rescheduled for Monday. Tatsuki's nursery school is in Gifu, which is a bit of a hike from Nagoya.  Looks like Lindsey and I will have to go feasting on our own.

At the Coco Diner: