planes, train, automobile... and a boat!

It starts with a boat ride 7am which goes round and round the oil field in Brunei before they let me off. Aliman, the driver of this particular company whom I’m working for (so far…) picked me up and sent me everywhere but the airport. I had to get the silly green ID card done otherwise the Brunei police is going to put me in jail for 2 years or fine me $5000. hoho… I thought my stint with a green IC is over when I left navy, gosh… here I go again. Anyway I was jeep around later by Siti (company cleaner?) to the staff house to wait again so that Aliman can zip back to fetch the company van to send me to the airport, which is 2 hours from KB town.

Flight back to Singapore is but typical, bad food and bad service. But I’ve no complain this time as this manner of transit I get to go home for a quick Bak Kut Teh. Oh yummy! Thanks mum! My bro picked me up and I drove my long neglected car for the last time this year… boo hooo… and it’s rush rush after dinner to terminal 3 bound for Tokyo.

It’s my first flight with A380 and damn, ultimate disappointment. The in-flight entertainment system broke and nobody could watch movie or play games. They gave us silly SIA baggage tag as apology gifts… but I’m still mad… this plane is brand new! Anyway, I resorted to boozing and drown my guts with gallons of wine. The fatigue of constant commuting maybe… or the dehydration perhaps… KNOCKED ME OUT! I got sick and thought I was going to throw up, got up from the seat heading for the toilet and I blacked out, hahaha… boy, scary as hell… I knew I was dropping and I could do nothing about it. Luckily I did not smash my new glasses. Fortunately the screaming babies woke me up… and kept me up the whole night. Sheesh… I feel so old that night.

Lands about 7am in Tokyo, Narita… went on to the domestic airport to catch yet another flight into Sapporo. And while waiting, surf the net and found out on MSN that Rai, my high school buddy was in Narita at the same time… we could have meet and had coffee before I take off. But anyway, the flight didn’t take off till 11:30am and a 1.5 hours journey. It was cloudy and grey when I land in Sapporo, and I took in one cool breathe of Hokkaido as I set my foot on this soil, telling myself this is fresh, this is my imagination come true, this is my dream living… ruthless!!!

The airport information told me that a cabbie ride to my apartment would cost 15,000yen (about US$140) which I would gladly pay as I was absolutely smashed and need a bed badly. But only to find out it would take twice as long then to take a train, a minimum 1.5hours again… so I took the 30mins train instead, and a 5mins taxi to my new apartment. By now, I’d traveled a total 32 hours.