Sitting on the stool by a nondescript coffee stand in the arrival lobby at Narita Tokyo Airport, I had a first gulp of latte in Japan. While sipping at hot milky coffee, I admired the air of serenity and orderliness in which the airport was awash with.

On the contrary, the Heathrow, from where I started my 13 hours journey, was in a chaos. I was aghast at the sight of a long queue at the security gate. Even though it was more like an organised chaos, rather than a pandemonium, I was worried if I would have any time left for gift-hunting at the duty-free.
Apart from a long wait on the tarmac which followed by a rather bumpy take-off, the flight was mainly event less…

I must say the take-off was rather hairy. I was more than happy when I felt the plane eventually started trundling towards the runway. The initial crawling quickly changed to sprinting and once the sensation of the wheels hurtling down the tarmac disappeared, I was treated with a sharp jolt as the plane struggled to be airborne. I could see the wing tips appeared and disappeared in rapid succession through the windows, indicating the plane was rolling, and couldn’t help feeling nervous. So when the captain finally turned off seatbelt sign, the relief amongst the passengers including me was visibly palatable.

For my outbound journey, I ordered gluten-free meals and snack…

For lunch, I was given some chicken and carrot with loads of potato. I was fed on more potato, accompanied by baked bean and mushroom, at the breakfast before landing. I was not at all gluten-intolerant but was curious about what I would be given. And my curiosity splattered in my face this time! A gluten-free roll I ate was one of the worst I ever tasted. It was like chewing on a cardboard. I would never ever order their gluten-free flight diet again…

Anyway, I am in Japan in one piece, safe & sound. Nagano is very cold and we are expecting some snowfall later…

Still, being able to be with my mum is priceless and I am gonna enjoy it after a 2-year absence…

Kaori by Kaori Okumura