Journey to Japan

We stayed at a hotel near the airport the night before our flight so we could use Papa P's truck to bring our luggage and so we could take the hotel shuttle to the airport. I made a reservation on the shuttle for 7:35am. I told him we had a lot of luggage (we each were allowed three checked bags up to 70lbs, plus carry ons). When I told him that, he brushed me off and I let it drop. 

When the shuttle got there, there were so many other people who were there with us. There was going to be no way we could fit on with so many people and their luggage. The shuttle driver called for back up and we had to wait a few minutes. 

We got on the shuttle, filling up the entire back of the van. He asked what airline we were flying out of. We told him and he promised to drop us off right there. He then told us we had to stop at another hotel to pick up more people! Say what?!

We got to the next hotel and they were all trying to take their luggage to the back. He told them it was all full. He then had them all pile in (there were five more people) and then he stacked the luggage just on the inside of the door. It was sooooooo squishy! I apologized and told them we were moving to Japan. They were very kind about it and I thanked them for being understanding when they were dropped off at the main terminal. The driver then drove us right to our airline as promised. 

Papa P gave him a big tip and we went to rent carts for our luggage. We then checked in all our bags (what a relief!) We were told we had to transfer our own bags for our next flight. Interesting...

We had business class seats, which included access to their lounge. It was soooooooo nice! 

Lots of food and drink options.

Yummy! 😋 

View from the lounge.

There was even a shower in the lounge! That would be very convenient for business people. 

We finally got onboard. 

We each had our own cubicle and the seat could lie flat to sleep. G is super tall, so I'm sure he really appreciated that!

😘

The leg room!

We each had our own TV with entertainment.

Appetizers at dinner.

Dinner.

A pear dessert. It was very good and not too sweet. 

The remote for the entertainment. You could also view the map of the route and order food. 

I liked checking on our route progress. 

I order cheese and ice cream. 

We made it to Narita (Tokyo) after more than 12 hours on the plane. I slept a bit, but not nearly as much as I would have liked. 

We had to download the MySos app to expedite the processing for Covid-19 vaccinations and fill out their questionnaire about exposure the past two weeks and how we had been feeling. We had to show the comfirmatiom screen that showed we had completed it and it had been reviewed. 

C had started to feel a bit sick on the plane, like nauseous/air sick. We made it through the health check and found our bags-- then had to take them through customs, but before we could do that, C got sick in a nearby trash can. He felt better afterward and we continued on. Thankfully carts were available at no cost, so we each got a cart full of bags and only had to make one trip. 

We had to go out of the secure area to check our bags with the airline. We were told the flight was full, so they checked our carry on sized suitcases for free. G's laptop almost got checked in his small suitcase, but Papa P ran back and was able to get it back, just in time. 

We had to go through security again! We had to do a temperature check before entering the area where you take out all your electronics. Thank goodness it wasn't busy because we have a million electronics to take out! 

We found the Sakura lounge. It wasn't like the one in Texas. No food available at all, just a few drinks, but you could see where there was once food available. In the lounge, we met up with the other family that was also moving to Japan. We had met them once in Texas at a local park. They have four kids, a couple of them not too far off in age from our two.

We were in the area for domestic flights in Japan and there was NO FOOD. So, Papa P and the other dad decided to go out of the airport to buy McDonald's. He picked up a large pack of chicken nuggets to share. The BBQ sauce was the same as home, the middle sauce was a spicy curry (G doesn't like sauce, but he liked this one!), and the bottom one was a mustard sauce, just as it said. 

In order to board the flight, we had to take an "airport limousine" aka a bus, to the actual plane. 

Our flight was at sunset. It was only 40 minutes once we got off the ground. 

Do you see the mountain above the clouds? Papa P thought it was probably Mount Fuji. 

We finally made it to Nagoya. Papa P had arranged for an XL taxi to bring us to our hotel. No way we could have fit in a regular taxi! 

We are at a hotel for our first three nights in Japan. Papa P had to make two trips to get all our luggage upstairs with the cart and us carrying our carry on bags. 

With just about 24 hours of travel in total, including our transit to the airport, WE FINALLY MADE IT TO NAGOYA, JAPAN, our new home for the next two to three years!!!! 

Hotel in Texas

I don't have a lot of pictures for this, but I do have a few. 

We loaded up our truck and ran out of room. We called an Uber XL to get the rest of our bags and to take the boys and me to the hotel. 

Philip was behind us, so I called him to see if I could check us in and get our hotel room. He said he owed me a dress. I was so confused! He went on to explain one of my bags had flown off of his truck and one of my dresses didn't make it. I almost flipped out. I was imagining my big suitcase with some irreplaceable letters from my grandparents who have passed strewn all over the freeway. He clarified it was only my garmet bag. 

I also found rocks and dirt inside my bag. This was the biggest rock. 

I decided to keep the dress because it now gives off a zombie 🧟‍♀️ vibe. I will do some more alterations to make it into a costume!

We stayed up late trying to consolidate things and we left some things in the trash in the hotel as well. The boys were super chatty and stayed up way too late as well. We were all excited and nervous about the journey to Japan ahead. 

Last Preparations

Lots of things have happened since the last post.

I said goodbye to my car of five years. Papa P's cousin is going to buy it from us. This was a drama in itself. We couldn't find the title, even though we paid it off in 2019. We got it figured out, though.

Dragons were spotted at our storage unit! They're here to protect andvserve for the next 2+ years.

I had several coworkers come by to say goodbye in the last week. It was nice to see them, but I should have taken pictures with them! I also sent them home with food and paper goods we weren't going to use. 

Our last dinner in our Texas home.

Some of the stuff I found...lol

The boys eating on our last day at home. 

We had lots of food and other items we weren't going to use, so I found a food pantry to donate to.

We spent our last night in Texas in a hotel so we could just get a shuttle to the airport. More on that later. 

Goodbye for now, Kitty Boys!

Tomorrow we are being officially packed up for our air and sea shipments, so we took Ralph and Diamond to their new home for the next couple of months. Thanks, friend, for being willing to take them for us!

We forgot some things,  including the litter boxes. So we went back home and came back with them. Diamond was still in the carrier.

Ralph was having a hissy fit, literally hissing. He was NOT happy with us. 

Hopefully the kitty boys will adjust soon. C,  our sentimental child, seemed fine (we are planning to move them to be with us), but at dinner he was looking really sad and started to cry when we asked him what was wrong. Change is hard, for everyone. I keep wanting to call the cats (not that they would come, but I do it anyway), and I thought I saw Diamond for a second in the office, where he liked to spend time while Papa P is working. It should all be worth it in the end, though. 

Japanese Consulate Adventure

We were originally supposed to fly to Japan on July 31, but the paperwork for our visas was delayed. The paperwork finally arrived last Monday evening. Papa P went to work to make all the necessary copies of documents and print our visa applications. I left Tuesday around 5:45 in the morning to drive approximately four hours, or 269 miles (433 kilometers) to the Japanese Consulate to turn in the necessary paperwork to get our visas to live in Japan. 

My grandmother made this sheep for me when I was little and my boys dubbed it "great grandma sheep." She sheep came along for the ride. 

Along the route I stopped at Buc-ee's for a quick gas up and bathroom break. 

I got to the Consulate just before 10AM. They had been open for less than half an hour, but there was already a line outside the office. There was one person working on passports and one working on visas. 

I had to leave the Consulate twice to print paperwork PapaP had signed. One was just so I could submit his paperwork (I didn't know I didn't automatically have power of attorney for MY HUSBAND.) The other was to have him to sign a disclaimer to have them send our visas back to us, rather than us pick them up (both of these documents I had to fill out for both my boys... seriously, they had me sign power of attorney of MY OWN CHILDREN TO MYSELF).

This picture of great grandma sheep and me was after my two treks to print the signed documents at a printing/copy/shipping store. I went up six flights of stairs (two each time, three trips up total) to get to the elevator to go to the 30th floor. Thank goodness I didn't have to take the stairs!

The elevators to get to the 30th floor were high tech. You select the floor on a touch screen (this time I was going to the ground floor).

Each elevator was named a different letter. After you select the floor you want, it would show you the letter and point you in the right direction of the elevator you would take. 

I walked a quarter mile (.8 km) back to my car and climbed seven more sets of stairs to reach my car in the garage on the seventh story. It had a great view!

I was glistening (AKA sweaty) by the end of the of all of it! I returned home right away and arrived home at about 5:30PM, almost 12 hours after I left home. 

Our visas are set to arrive at our home somewhere between August 3 and August 5. We are scheduled to fly out August 5, so we may have to reschedule our flight. Fingers crossed we don't have to do that! Almost there!