12062013 Traveling 6419km in a day (Kuala Lumpur – Tokyo/Narita/Haneda – Kumamoto – Nagasaki)

Figured that I should get a head start on writing what has happened so far up the point where I am waiting for the bus to bring me to the Kumamoto Port now. It is dreadfully hot here, around 30 degrees celcius, not very much unlike Malaysia.

So, after touching down in Narita early this morning from my late night flight out of Kuala Lumpur, I took a bus to Haneda, and realised that phone of mine has run out of battery. Had no choice but to look for some power outlet to charge it, but the staff at the information could only direct me to one meant for laptops. Tried charging it but it wouldn’t work. Luckily I had a USB cable, and sneakily attached it to those pay-per-use internet desktops, and it worked! So I spent a good hour just charging my phone in Haneda.

I then met up with 1 of our ex-relief staff, and another who was soon heading to our station to work with us. They were both based in Haneda, and we agreed to have a late breakfast/early brunch together. This was around 10am in the morning. My very first impression of the second staff who was coming to our station soon was that of a princess, because she had this air around her. But then again, I’ve come to realised that Haneda staffs are very different from Narita ones. For one, those from Haneda always seem to stare off into space when you speak to them, while Narita staffs are extremely jovial. Or maybe it’s only those I’ve met so far who are like this?

Thanks to my annoying wisdom tooth, it took me ages and great pains to finish my soba. After we finished our meal, they brought me to the hidden convenience store which is meant for staff only, and we went through the staff entrance to get to it. Well this was definitely something new because I am not familiar with my way around Haneda. Thanked them for the meal then went on to catch my flight out, but not without another struggle to charge my phone again. The power sockets in the departure area all didn’t seem to work, so I’m suspecting that my own adaptor or the charger had gone bust!

The flight out was on a B737-800, and it was quite empty, so I had 3 seats all to myself. Slept half of the way there, dozing on and off, and reached Kumamoto Aso Airport at 1.30pm, and it was hot!! Took the bus to the Kumamoto bus station, and got lost for a moment in Daiso. Finally managed to get a staff to point me in the right direction, to catch the bus to the ferry terminal for Shimabara. As the bus wouldn’t come for another good hour, it was also when I decided to start writing this entry for today. A group of old ladies came up, so I offered my seat to them. The next bus only comes along at 2.55pm, so I started chatting with them to help make the time pass quicker.

Finally after what seemed like forever, the bus came by, and took it to the Kumamoto port, only to find out that I’ve just missed the ferry! Had no choice but to wait for the next one. Also, the ticket counter only opens an hour before the departure time. So I spent around 30 minutes just waiting for the ticket counter to open up, then the next hour reading a book. A large group of elderly Japanese soon came by, and we all got onto the same ferry.

I must admit, it was rather fun watching the ferry docking in, and I didn’t realise that the lower berth had spaces for buses and cars until they drove out! Whoa! Headed for the observation deck, and claimed dibs on the first empty chair I saw. An elderly couple then sat down beside me, and had a short chat with them. They were part of the tour group which I had met just now, and they were from Niigata. The tour covers all of Kyushu, and they would be spending their last night at Mount Unzen, enjoying its hot spring. By now, it was already around 20 minutes since our departure from Kumamoto Port, so I headed in as I was sick of the wind by now. The ferry was packed on the second floor, so I headed to the lower level and found an empty seat.

Reached Shimabara port in about 10 minutes, and had to ask around for directions to the train station. There were absolutely no other passengers on the train, so the driver was super laid back, while the conductor was very friendly. Purchased my ticket to Shimabara station from him, and it was one of those old-fashioned ones where they would punch holes in it. He was very amused by my reaction to it, and told me that I could keep it as a momento if I wanted to by just informing the station master when I get off.

So when getting off at Shimabara station, did what the conductor advised me to, and the station master was even more amused by it, so he signed and even placed a chop on it for extra value. Asked for directions to the nearest convenience store, since it was already 5.40pm by now, and I had nothing to eat since that soba in the morning, and I was starving. Plus, all of the places I had intended to visit were closed by now, thanks to my miscalculations for the buses and ferry’s timing. He gave me some directions, but I couldn’t find it at all!

Came up close to the moat surrounding the Shimabara castle instead, and took some pictures of it since I couldn’t enter it. Continued my search for a convenience store but to no avail. Decided to give it one more try before I would give up and return back to Shimabara station to catch the train to Nagasaki. It was then I chanced upon this old man who was standing outside his shop, and so I decided to ask him for directions. After giving it to me, he asked why I was searching for one, so told him that I was terribly hungry, and had not eaten anything since morning. He then said, please wait here, I’ll bring you to a party!

He popped into his house and came back out with his cap and some rice crackers, which he shoved into my hands. He then asked me to follow him to this small shop, where they appeared to be preparing for a feast, and asked me to go in. I was a little scared at first, you know, about not following random strangers, but there were some old ladies in there too, and they all asked me to come in and join them. Turns out they were having a party to celebrate the reopening of a shop with a new chef. Suddenly I was part of that party too. But they were really terribly nice people, plus there were so much food! Filled myself with sashimi, sushi, fried chicken, and the potato salad was so good! Or maybe I was too hungry. They then introduced themselves one by one, and some of them were actually civil servants, handling day to day issues in this small town. I was the sore thumb sticking out, but it didn’t really matter, and it turned out to be rather fun instead, like something out of a Japanese movie, where everyone just gets drunk and high, with an old uncle who keeps grinning and making corny jokes.

I had originally intended to take the 6.28pm train out, but they insisted that I stay on a little longer and take the next train which comes at 7.41pm instead. 2 of them then sent me off to the station and thanked them profusely for their hospitality and bade them goodbye, because they couldn’t go into the platform without a ticket. After I had settled into a comfy window seat, and the train was pulling out of the station, I heard someone shouting my name, and saw both of them trespassing into the platform to wave me off!

After the train departed, suddenly the conductor came running up to me, informing that the train would be late, and he was checking if I was planning to change to any other trains. Told him that I am heading towards Nagasaki, so he said that he would inform me of the earliest available train. To be honest, I didn’t really bother, and by then, I had given up of reaching anywhere on time after my long day. But the conductor actually took the effort to get me a long list of trains which would bring me to Nagasaki. He was sweating from all that running up and down the carriages, and told me that it might be better to take a later train to Nagasaki from Isohaya, and I said it wasn’t any problem at all, because it wouldn’t make any difference to me.

However when we were nearing the terminal, he came up all drenched in sweat saying that we might be able to make it for the earlier train after all. He then grabbed my bag and we waited at the doors. Once the train pulled up at the stations and the doors opened up, we sprinted for the JR train which was pulling up at the same time at a different platform further down the station. Made the train and when I was about to turn around to thank him he had already vanished back into his train just as its doors were closing.