Monday, June 16, 2008

RIMB Japan Trip: Day 7

Well, this would be the day we left Japan and returned home to Singapore. But of course, breakfast and last minute packing was in order.

The table in our room
The rather messy desk in our room

The desk in said
The desk again

The desk in said
The last of the many photos I took from our window. The room we got was actually next to the original room we got.

4073
4073 right next to 4072

Hankyu's corridor
The hotel room corridor

We packed up everything and left the hotel to board the Chuki buses for the last time. The buses rolled out, and headed for the floating aircraft carrier that is Kansai.

Chuki Bus!
Chuki bus

Random House
A random house

To Itami and Kansai
Signs pointing us to the airport

ANA
ANA signage

Roads
Random city view of Osaka

Trees and roads
Trees lined this particular highway

Trees and roads
Spaceballs?

After a long drive, in which Paul slept, the rest of the bus gambled and I soaked in my last views of Osaka and Japan, we made it to the long bridge leading to RJBB/KIX/Kansai

The bridge leading to the aircraft carrier
The long bridge

Over the bridge
We crossed over the bridge for obvious reasons

RJBB
On approach into RJBB

RJBB
Dear friends of Jinjun and I

ANA
Beginning to see too much of ANA

The buses pulled up outside the terminal's departure area, and we proceeded to check in and try to sort out our seating plan. Eventually I got 52A, a nice seat just behind the port wing. We then proceeded to immigration and entered the terminal. There's not much to elaborate on for now, I left the rest of the pack and proceeded to do some spotting with Bertrand and a bit on my own.

Looks like JFK
The edge of the terminal building reminiscent of KJFK's T4 which I would visit in 2009

Why isn't the green banner red or yellow?
Why can't the green be yellow or red... I wouldn't even mind blue

Inside Kansai

Checking in took quite a while

Chaos
Instruments ready to be loaded up

Departures
A screen showing the flight departures for the day

JAL MD-90
A Japan Airlines MD-90 hanging around

Kansai's Interior
A view of the aerofoil-shaped terminal building that makes Kansai famous (other than the fact that it's floating)

Esplanade in Japan
This is an interesting advertisement

KAL 747-400
Korean Air aka Pepsi Air 747-400 joins the fun

JAL 767-300
Another JAL 767, they have loads of these it seems. This one is a 767-300ER

Skytrain
Joyriding the skytrain

9V-SRP
Our aircraft, 9V-SRP, a 777-212ER

KLM 777-200ER
The nose of a KLM 777-200ER bound for Schiphol

Vietnam Airlines 777-200ER
Her slightly darker Vietnamese cousin

Gate signs
Gate signage

KLM 777-200ER
The front end of the KLM again.

After a while, it was time to board. I proceeded to rendezvous with the rest of the band at gate 41, where SQ617 would depart from. Today our aircraft was 9V-SRP, a 777-212ER in a 2 class config, similar to 9V-SRL, which brought us here. Gate 41 was also the same gate, so I guess SQ uses 41 all the time? We took some photos and noted that a Japanese school group would be flying with us before boarding was called, and I stepped off Japanese soil and (legally) back home into Singapore.

Me, Bertrand, a 777 and a 747
Bertrand and I in front of a 777. Spot the not-so-hidden 747

Eye of the storm
Shuotian and I staring down each others' lenses.

After the aircraft had boarded, the doors were closed and armed and the safety video was played. The aircraft was pushed back out of gate 41 and the twin Rolls Royce Trent 892s were started up. One thing I had been looking forward to seeing was the traditional send off given by Japanese ground crew, and I was not disappointed. They first waved to the pilot and the passengers before saluting and bowing, then turning to bow to each other. Professional, no?

Winging it
The wingview from my seat

Sayonara...
Ground crew sending us off.

We taxiied around to RWY 6R and made ready for takeoff. As the plane rolled down the runway and soared into the sky, I felt a pang of longingness to remain in Japan with my friends there, wishing to remain longer and savour the experience, but all good things must end. The plane did a turn, following one of the SIDs that would point it south, and I got a good view of Kansai airport as it did so,

Familiar tail
One of the tails from our welcoming party also featured here

Ground at RJBB
Just before takeoff at RJBB

Aircraft carrier
A view of the newer runway

View of RJBB
Aircraft carrier

Blue seas
The rich blue ocean around Kansai.

The flight was decent by SQ standards, nothing too outstanding but nothing to complain about, excellent food and comfort but slightly lacking IFE, and all I watched was Top Gear. Lunch was a triple grilled meat selection which was excellent, and the presence of my favourite food on SQ, the soba, made it even better. The green tea ice cream was interesting too, although it's a taste I don't like all that much.

Paul and TLL
Paul looking cute

Mr Oura!
Mr Oura!

$600 000's worth
Peanuts, get your peanuts here! Only $600 000 a peanut!

Food, glorious food.
Superb food on Singapore Airlines, as usual

All too soon the plane began its decent into WSSS's RWY 20C, and I found out that we would sadly be arriving at Terminal 2. Not that I don't like Terminal 2, but arriving in Terminal 3 would have been much more fun. The landing was smooth and uneventful. We flew over Tekong Disneyland, then over Changi Beach, a route I had seen many times. Although at this point, I felt the usual sense of being back at home that I enjoy, this time there was a hint of sadness to it too.

Coastlines
A random coastline near Singapore

Coastal shores of our favourite island
North shore of Tekong

You can almost see my coy line
The happiest place on earth!

Disneyland Tekong
Disneyland Tekong

Over the mainland
Flying over Singapore itself

Finals
Short finals

Rollout
Rolled out

9V-SWP
9V-SWP

Jet Airways A330-300
Jet Airways NC A330

Singapore Girl
You're a great way to fly

Taxiing into F33
T2

A380 ready!
But no A380s come here anymore...

A380 ready!
Taxiing into F33.

Upon arrival, we all cleared customs and collected our baggage. Outside the arrivals, we found that we had an unexpected welcome party consisting of Kirk and to my surprise, my batch. We moved stuff over to the bus park outside T2, and took some photos before loading up and headed back to RI.

Belt 38 and chaos
Baggage claim

Paul and T2
Paul in T2

Batch and Oura
My batch and Mr Oura

Batch and crashers
The last photo we took on the trip, my batch and some crashers.

We headed down the PIE back home to the RI band room. After moving stuff up, we closed off the trip with not one, but two band cheers. I also expressed my thanks to Mrs Tan and Mr Jee, and would have done so to Mr Oura if I had managed to find him. I popped by RJ for some food, running into Calvin and Lynette, before heading home.

I will post more detailed reflections on the trip later, but overall, I really enjoyed myself and learnt a lot. I wish I will have more chances to go for such things with my batchmates and my juniors, though unless they all join NUS, that's not likely, sadly. Flying, band, Japan and my friends have always been major loves of my life, and this trip had them all, what more could I ask for?

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