Tokyo here we come

Eventually …

But first: we had a lovely night out with the kids - Ali and Alex decided to try a nondescript-looking local pizzeria which turned out to be the ‘real-deal’: Italian, family-oriented, noisy (so: perfect for us). And the kids finished off with yummy icecream. 

Lovely sunrise. 

Arrive airport 7:30 am. About an hour to proceed through all formalities - after My Friend (MF) made some last-minute adjustments with take-on …

Checked in luggage 8.2 kg for me - yay! (4.6 kg in backpack). Lower no doubt after off-loading Dave’s birthday present for Ali. The small suitcase has already felt very free-ing - although I might be smelling … 

Am wearing most of my clothes but shedding stuff as it is warm here now: already 21 deg C at 9:30 am.

Two coffees at the airport: $A15 (!!). 

We while away the time updating apps and bills that are set for automatic payment as MF got a new credit card a week ago - hmmm: … we were alerted to this yesterday when my telecom provider sent a text to say the account was overdue (!!). Now that WOULD have been useful whilst travelling - not! Urgent call to them to re-instate my account ...

We board after a half hour delay. Then there is a further delay when the tractor that pushes the plane back breaks down - and gets stuck against the plane. 

Despite this (and once we get underway), the pilot advised the ETA would only be 30 mins late so we can’t complain. 

It’s a 10-hour flight. Really, it’s pretty much a straight line north - Melbourne to Tokyo. Time difference of 2 hours.

I watch the ‘Materialists’: I had not read any reviews. I know of Dakota Johnson (who, by the way, was excellent); I do not know any of the other actors - all excellent. A storyline that could have been mawkish is lifted to great heights by a great script. Very wise. Touching. Brought tears to my eyes. Good score. Really - just Amaaaazing. 

Then back to one of my books I have not finished: ‘Water, Wind and Wild Things’ by Hannah Kirschner. It’s about her crusade to learn the crafts from artisans whose skills are fast disappearing - underpinned by the harmony of the seasons and the land (a national identity fast becoming a myth) - shades of Alex Kerr!

I am thumbing (should I say ‘swiping’ my way through it and skipping some of it. Afterall, do I REALLY want to know how to make miso-cured eggs??? Or karaage chicken? Although I DO like her description: 

Firm and flavorful (sic) with sweetened soy and garlic, coated in a fox-colored (sic) crust of potato starch …

I finish the section on Water (which dealt a lot with the making of saké). I start the next section about Wood (first chapter:Wood and Whisky) as we cross Papua New Guinea.

I like the connection when the author drinks saké from a lacquerware (shikki) cup.

Another movie as 5 hours still to go. I look for something Japan-themed: ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’: a 2005 film (Spielberg was a producer) AND won three Academy Awards. Wow! Set in the period leading up to the American bombing of Japan and post. Sad. Very interesting.

The film and ‘Water, Wind and Wild Things’ both reference shadows as an aesthetic: and Hannah Kirschner - like Alex Kerr - both reference Tanizaki’s ‘In Praise of Shadows’ (still an unfinished read). In the film, the Chairman says the true feelings of a geish are about shadows and secrets: her true emotions are intentionally obscured by her elaborate, public facade.

We are beyond Vietnam now. heading north

One and a half hours out I start on the Wild Things section. I wonder what this could be about? Turns out to be about duck hunting (with nets), paper making (?!) and boar trapping. It doesn’t take long to read as I skip swathes of it as it makes for squeamish reading.

And so we arrive. 

The Qantas service has been excellent - even the food!