Japan Edukaizen Trip 2017: Arrival at Tokyo

The flight was uneventful and uninteresting apart from this intriguing tissue paper made of recycled material infused with green tea leaves:

It certainly smelled of green tea leaves!

We weren’t seated together so there was no opportunity for conversation. Muhaimin was seated right behind me which was a good thing I suppose as he did not have a pen to fill in the disembarkation card, and so had to borrow mine. Towards the end of the flight, Kak Shaz came to where we were seated to tell us that we needed to pretend to be family, because Muhaimin was only 17 years old and was travelling alone without a legal guardian. That could have potentially lead to excessive questioning at the immigration and customs desks. So I said to Muhaimin, “Kita kena berlakon jadi sepupu kot. Nak kata adik-beradik macam tak logik. Dah la muka lain sangat, family name pun lain. Kalau sepupu logik la juga.” He agreed innocently.

We arrived at Haneda international Airport at about 10 pm. On my way out of the aircraft with Muhaimin, I saw an ANA ground staff pointing to a sign with three names, one of which was Dr MAZA’s. Kak Yanti, one of the organizers from Young Khalifah, soon came out of the aircraft and saw the sign too. We waited for Dr MAZA but there was no sign of him. He had already gone forward apparently as he was one of the earliest to disembark, a priority given to business class passengers. He must’ve missed the sign. So we went forward and saw him at the baggage carousel. It turned out that his checked in luggage was left behind at KLIA! While the ground staff spoke to Dr MAZA about his luggage, the rest of us waited for ours, amused and sympathetic at the same time about what had happened. The carousel became emptier as people collected their bags. Mak tok had checked in two bags and one had already arrived. We continued to wait for a while more when another ground staff approached mak tok to ask for her luggage reference number on the boarding card. Lo and behold, her luggage didn’t make it either! How unlucky that two people from our group had to suffer this misfortune. The ground staff were of course very apologetic and both mak tok and Dr MAZA were paid a sum of money as compensation on the spot. They told us the bags would only arrive the next night on the same flight, by which time we would be in Shizuoka. And since it’s such a late flight, the bags would only be delivered to the inn we would be staying at, the morning after that. So Dr MAZA had to make do with whatever clothes he had on him (and some extra clothes he later bought) for 2 days. Luckily for mak tok, she carried some clothes in her other bag. Most of mak tok’s medicines were in the luggage which did not arrive, but luckily again she had some in her carry luggage. Kak Yanti asked mak tok if she was on insulin for her diabetes. Thankfully, she said she wasn’t, and just took pills which she had in her carry luggage. What I found admirable was Dr MAZA and mak tok’s reaction to the whole situation. They were mildly frustrated but did not lament the problem. They showed a calm acceptance and patience, which was a wise way to react because it was a genuine mistake which the ground staff were very sorry about. Bursting out in anger at them would’ve been unfair anyway since it wasn’t directly their fault. That said, if my luggage got left behind, I would’ve freaked and been terribly upset. Like what would I wear for the next two days?? But they were pretty chilled about it, alhamdulillah.

While waiting for the issue to be settled, kak Shaz told us to go and wait outside at the arrival hall first. Muhaimin and I went out first. The customs person asked if we were family and I just said yes without further elaboration. She requested to check Muhaimin’s bag as it was wrapped in plastic. She opened the bag, checked the inner sides of the bag (that’s how they smuggle drugs usually I suppose), and let us go.

It was at the arrival hall where I finally had the time to properly meet with Afiq, Mr Auslan and family and Encik Rozali. After some waiting, when everyone was out, we made our way to the bust stop and waited for our bus to the hotel. Luckily all of us managed to get onto a single bus. The journey to the hotel, Toyoko Inn, was about 30 minutes or so. We arrived at the hotel, which was a complex of two buldings, tired and sleepy. Kak Shaz informed us that the eastern breakfast would be in the first building, while the western breakfast would be in the second building where most of us were going to stay the night. She told us to be ready by 6.30am the next day as we had a long bus journey to Shizuoka for our official visit to a few institutes of education in the prefecture. Muhaimin and I shared a room. It was a really small but cozy room. Realizing that guests might have difficulty moving about with limited space to put their huge bags, there was a suggestion card on the bed telling us that there was space under the beds which we could use to put our bags, which was quite helpful.

Muhaimin and I took our wudhu, prayed Maghrib and Isha’ together and went to sleep, as it was already 12.30 am by that time. I told him to set his alarm for 5.30 so we could have enough time to get dressed and have breakfast in the morning, and off we went to bed.