Day 16: Chasing Time
The departure time for my flight from Delhi to Hong Kong was at 11:15pm, and I arrived in Hong Kong at 6:30am. It sounded long but the actual duration was just a little less than 5 hours since we were chasing the clock. There was a 2 hours time difference between India and Hong Kong. I didn't really sleep much on the plane, the man next to me constantly elbowing me. Another touchy person, I have bumped into quite a few during the past few days. When we got to Hong Kong, the first thing I did was to go to a transfer counter and inquire if I needed to go through the customs, pack up my bags and re-check in. Technically, I was only transferring in Hong Kong. But I was taking different airlines, so I wasn't sure. I have not seen my bag since Kathmandu also. I didn't even know if it did get to Hong Kong or not. Anyway, Cathay counter staff said that they could transfer my bag, so great! She just checked me in right there, and I only needed to go through the security and back to the gate.
Meanwhile, while I was waiting for Bryan at the gate, I got a text from my sister asking me to check my email, there was news about my green card application. I did. Apparently, the first step (stage) of my green card application process has been approved. That was for the permanent employment certificate, probably the most important step. There will be two more steps to the process, but mostly are just waiting time for re-verification and the adjustment of status (quota based) which was based on one's country of origin. For someone from India or China, they might have to wait for a long time. At least the last we checked, Hong Kong was still separated from China for this kind of immigration process, so my waiting time should be much less. Hopefully, it is still the case. I really need to talk to the lawyer as soon as I get back to the states next week to find out more what's next. No doubt, this is the extra extra icing for the already wonderful vacation.
After running from terminal to terminal, I finally hunted down Bryan in the food court. Had some congee and dim sum for breakfast, then we headed to our gate. They just started boarding. I was totally exhausted. This was my third flight in the past 24 hours, and I had not slept much at all. So, I pretty much dozed right off after we took off. I had the window seat, and there were two men in suits sitting next to me, they were obviously tour guides. Bryan was sitting in front of me. I skipped the meal on plane, since I was still feeling full from the congee. In the 4.5 hours flight to Sapporo, I probably slept 3/4 of the way.
Arrived in Sapporo, it looked cold outside from our cabin windows, it was cloudy, around 0C and expecting light snow. I was mentally hoping (almost begging) my bag not to be lost, otherwise, I will be frozen to dead the next couple of days. A t-shirt and one jacket on me were all I had. Luckily, after Bryan found his luggage, not long after that, I saw my bag on the belt also. Passing the customs was a super easy process in Japan. And they did want to search my bag, the officer was super cute. He showed me a laminated paper with pictures of items that aren't allowed to bring into Japan, which apparently included a Playboy magazine, he asked if I had a copy of those. I laughed a little and said no. And then he asked if I had ever seen drug or have drug with me? I said No. Lastly, he just searched my body. Different from security from other country, he actually swiftly hit straight up between my legs to see if there were anything falling off. Though he was quite polite, it was not a bell, my friend. Go easy. I was kind of surprised by his motion.
Found Japan Railway office to exchange our train pass, but my voucher failed me. The travel agent who helped me order the pass had charged me the wrong price, they couldn't exchange the voucher with wrong price and I couldn't pay the difference there neither. At the end, I needed to buy a new train pass, and returned the one I had via the travel agent when I will go home. It was a small issue, and was resolved, so no big deal. We then looked for our airbnb apartment near Nakajima subway station (directions clearly specified by the host in an Evernote document). It was a cutesy apartment, with all the facility we needed. I did a load of laundry right away (another load after dinner), and took a shower. I was so dry and dirty after taking 3 flights on a row. We went out to dinner at the Ramen Alley near Susukino station, and then walked around Odori Park, where the annual Sapporo White Illumination was. We also went up to the Sapporo TV Tower for a high up view of the lights in the park and the two avenues on each side of the park. It was a beautiful night view of the city. Sapporo is very X'masy around this time of the year, everywhere are Christmas trees, decorations, reds and greens, they set against the white snows, it gave a warm at heart feeling even though you physically couldn't but felt quite cold.
Bryan was pretty excited about the snow, it's his first time. I understand. I still do when I see white out snow. It was beautiful to look at. But the frozen ice sheets, which were pretty much everywhere, is dangerous to walk on. It required double the effort trying not to fall. This Hokkaido trip will prepare me well for returning to the cold Boston for sure. Just a few more days away.
See the other photos from Day 16 here.