I never thought I was going to be able to visit Japan by the end of 2011. Let's say that it was not in my plans to begin with. However, many things happened in my life in the last quarter of 2011. The result of this was me buying a plane ticket to Japan, spending three weeks visiting friends and beautiful places. Some of them I have not met them since I was 15 years old and another friend I have not met her since we were at the university.
I had had a very hard year so 3 weeks in Japan really sounded like a well deserved holiday to forget everything and come back fully charged (as it happened).
However, I was a bit scared since a year ago I decided to spend Christmas and New Year's Eve in Canada, but due to the snow storms over Europe the trip was not that great. This time I really wanted to avoid the same issue but luckily the German weather was great.
So I left Malta - in case you don't know Malta - it is an island located some 300 miles south of Sicily south. It's mainly a tourist place for most Europeans and lately (3 years) it has become a good destination for Asian students who want to study English and avoid their own people.
I left Malta on Saturday 18th December and with it I felt I was finally going to go to the dream land called Japan - 日本.
If you watch the video you can see how I recorded the last sunrise in Malta. Followed by landing on Frankfurt Airport, taking off from Frankfurt. I flew over the Russian Siberia, Mongolia and stopped for some 3.30 hrs in Beijing. I have to mention that when we were some 100 kms outside Beijing the land below us started to fade away due to pollution. This is toward the end of the video but if you look at it closely you can see how polluted Beijing is.
I'd like to add an special note about Beijing Airport. First, pray do not have to rush for your connecting flight. When you get off the plane you'll have to walk a long way (9'33'' in the video) until you get to customs. I was all excited about the airport architecture but I couldn't understand why people (mainly Chinese) were running until I got to customs. I reckon all international flights park on the same terminal so when you get to the end of that long corridor you'll have Migration counter and Customs. All foreigners, including me, went there and spent some 10 mins trying to figure out what we had to do with our passports. However, YOU DO NOT have to stop there if you know that you have an international connecting flight within the next 24 hours. Check the Beiijng Airport official site just in case.
Finally, the last part of the video is when I land in Osaka (I apologise for not deleting the dark bit). I wish I could have recorded a bit more from inside the KIX Kansai International airport aka Osaka Airport. But first I had to carry the luggage and bags; second, security was tough and I was quite knackered by the time I left the airport - 20:30 JPT.
I'd like to thank Airchina for the good quality they offered from Frankfurt to Beijing and Beijing to Osaka. Perhaps they could get a bit more organised at the counter in Frankfurt. However, it's important to mention that the flight was delayed 2 hours and they gave us a free dinner at a restaurant at the airport.
Especially, since I read many bad reviews about service, food, etc. Ok, it might not be Emirates but it is a good airline and if you'd ask me - was it cheaper? Yes it was. €717 compared to €1275 from Emirates. Nobody believed me but even if you want to book a flight to Asia today (20/02/2012) the prices are the same. Ok, the journey is a bit longer than flying with ANA or JAP but if you want to save some money for Japan I reckon it's worth the long journey - and you actually get to know the Beijing airport which is in terms of architecture a piece of art.
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