airport to airport : October 30 2024

October 2024 · 3 min read · Narita

japan

at early dawn, at 5am we started the long awaited journey.
5am is awfully early, but the plane departs at 9am, not much leeway time indeed.
and the worse, it was still raining when we left.

narita airport terminal 1 was not desserted at all when we arrived.
passengers were already flocking eagerly awaiting for their counters.
ours told us that plane got delayed for 20 minutes.

after the immigration counters, we were finally outside the country technically.
the airport boasts a handful of beautiful pieces of art splattered at each wall.
since it was pretty early, most of the shops were still closed.

but the airport also boasts lots of free spaces.
with a sense of openness, wide halls and tables were found in every corner.
narita terminal 1 never looked this wide to me, i guess i was at a different part of airport the last time i used the place last december of last year.

i was patiently waiting for a friend to finish his transaction at the airport, with so many shops there are unlimited things to do.
this plane was just patiently waiting for me to take a picture of it as well.
wet grounds were clearly visible, i was a bit scared of how turbulent the skies might be.
gladly, it was tamer than expected.

south korea

after around 2 and a half hours of flying, we finally landed in the land of the morning calm.
"land of the morning calm" was something i remembered back in my primary education, used to describe korea.
if anyone knows why, hope you can share.

with a mandatory picture of anything which welcomes you to the country, this one of a kpop girl group was definitely something.
great promotion!
we are finally here, the moment of truth.

strolling inside incheon international airport was a sight.
there happened to be an exhibition for taekwondo in one of the open spaces, a great welcome indeed.
we were on to a great start!

i'm just glad to be at the company of dependable people, i would definitely get lost by now if i were alone.
having no knowledge of the language is a great part of the difficulty.
at this point, i felt like a child, one without any knowledge of how the world works.
it definitely brought me back to a time when i ran off inside a church when i was still a child, and then forgot where my parents were seated.
so lost and ready to cry but tried to remain calm.

this view of our home for the week felt reassuring.
this will be my comfort for the week, my home away from home.
it was in front of this statue of giant books, a hospital.
reassuring indeed!

and then came the trauma, this self paying machine did not gave me the change.
i felt so helpless and lost again.
luckily, my home owner for the week helped me call the store owner.
it seemed that it was not a "one time occurence" by the looks of it.

what mishaps and surprises await, i will just have to find out and live in the moment for a week.
welcome to south korea indeed!

as always, AMPING KANUNAY!