Tokyo time!

Given that today is a public holiday in Seoul (it`s either Buddha`s Birthday or Children`s Day), we managed to go out for a few drinks last night without the threat of work looming the next day. Chris was officially on holiday, and his colleague Miguel (top bloke) also came along. Apparently it was a little more subdued than the average weekender, but I still got some idea of the `feel` of your average Seoul bar. Drinks are not too expensive, and bloody Miguel (damn Mexican) got me onto the $2 tequila shots which meant I eventually got to bed at about 5am and slept well.

Miguel, Me, Chris

That was, until Chris woke me this morning. Obviously trying to master my skill of leaving everything until the last minute, he had to head off to get something for his camera, then take some of his stuff to a friend`s for storage, then have lunch and head for his slow boat to China at 2.30pm. I was cleverly still in bed at about 1pm, and estimated a 4.30pm bus from Seoul should have had me at the airport on time for my 7pm flight. Knowing what I`m like, I decided to have another check of my ticket and was hardly surprised to discover my flight was actually 5.00pm. I was immediately in the shower and madly packing, and not long after I was saying my farewells to Miguel and Chris (at least until Germany that is) and on the bus.

Airport security at Incheon thought my headphones looked like a bomb so insisted on going through all my hand luggage - it was sort of amusing because I have 3 sets of them (all different styles) and when I looked at their screen it really did look dodgy. I was starving and eager to get rid of my last Korean coins, so I stopped in at Burger King and picked the meal that would get rid of the most change (Whopper with cheese meal). They had no cheese, so that screwed my plan and I ended up with a couple more coins. Luckily for them it was Aussie Beef and tasted just like Hungry Jack`s, plus every BK here gives you free soft drink refills - awesome.

I`d like to say my flight to Tokyo was uneventful, but it just so happens a gentleman a few seats in front of me became light-headed or something and started going a little bit pale. This prompted surrounding random passengers to rub his arms and legs, beat him on the back, and then eventually a hostess came out with a bottle of oxygen. It was quite a production and did sort of occupy me in the absence of any inflight entertainment. Not long after that, another passenger was asking for a needle and thread to fix his shirt?! And there I was thinking we were on a plane... not in a circus. The very last mention for the flight would have to be the Japanese hostess. Even though it was a Korean airline, because it was heading into Japan they had a token Japanese lass on board to translate all the inflight messages. The captain would give it in Korean and English, and then the cabin would fill with honey as the Japanese girl gave her translation - which was always roughly 5-10 times longer. When she finally came past my seat I happened to notice that she was drop-dead stunning gorgeous, and given that I had fallen in love I tried to get her name and number, but she brought me back a beer instead. Close enough.

As soon as the plane landed there was a commotion and a lot of rushing around - I was thinking "terrorists" or "fire", but then I took a moment to induce a Nam (aka Singapore) flashback. Aaah - they are all just rushing because they want to get to customs first. For some silly reason they let me into the country without a problem, and then I was through the arrival gate to the awaiting smiles of Shiho and Yoshi. The greetings were truncated though, as we had to dash for the train leaving in 3 mins. Once on board, we caught up (with Shiho as translator) and headed back to their place.