Exciting times: international flight reservation booked

[Giugiaro]

12 hours ago, railsquid said:

As the Squidlet is all curious about what will become of the Big Suitcase, just spent some quality Youtube time demonstrating the baggage handling process, with a follow-up course on turbulence and how it is alarming but not dangerous (as long as you put the seatbelt on).

 

Any chance of spending some quality time with the squidlet flying on Flight Simulator? 🙂

[cteno4]

2 hours ago, Giugiaro said:

Any chance of spending some quality time with the squidlet flying on Flight Simulator? 

Oooh yes and when the attendant comes back to yell “can anyone fly a 747?!” squidlet can jump up and say “I can!”

 

jeff

[maihama eki]

On our recent European Vacation (National Lampoon)...

 

Singapore Airlines required masks at all times except while eating or drinking.

 

Deutsche Bahn required FFP2 (like an N95) or medical type mask on all trains. They weren't enforcing it at that level - a mask of any sort seemed acceptable. Virtually everyone complied.

 

There were no requirements for masks on Swiss Railway trains, and thus almost no one was wearing them.

 

 

 

[railsquid]

On 7/17/2022 at 8:12 AM, cteno4 said:

Oooh yes and when the attendant comes back to yell “can anyone fly a 747?!” squidlet can jump up and say “I can!”

 

 

Been a long time since I've been on a 747, come to think of it.

 

Meanwhile the Squidlet has been busy packing his rucksack, which currently weighs in at 1.1kg. so we should just about squeeze under the cabin baggage limit. Among other items is the cardboard lid from a tubular packet of crisps, which I am informed "might come in useful".

 

Some hasty modification of packing list to include Extreme Hot Weather Gear, as it seems the Feudal Archipelago is apparently a little on the toasty side at the moment, though no doubt by the time we arrive it will be blanketed in snow.

Edited July 18, 2022 by railsquid

[railsquid]

23 hours ago, railsquid said:

Meanwhile the Squidlet has been busy packing his rucksack, which currently weighs in at 1.1kg. so we should just about squeeze under the cabin baggage limit. Among other items is the cardboard lid from a tubular packet of crisps, which I am informed "might come in useful".

 

It has now been decided that the entire empty tube will be taken as it "might be useful to hold pencils and things", only it now no longer fits in his rucksack so Special Arrangements need to be made to put it in the on-board suitcase without squashing it.

[railsquid]

And here's tonight's ride:

[JR East]

have a safe flight !

[chadbag]

On 7/6/2022 at 12:01 AM, railsquid said:

Going by the adventurous routing that was coming up for India, with a bit of "planning" I might be able to "accidentally" work in a long layover somewhere interesting on the way to or from.

 

Prior to C19 my boss would go to India twice a year to visit the team there and he (and his boss when he went) would invite one or two of the US based engineers to go.  I was going to be on one of these times and noticed that sometimes I could come up with an inexpensive round-the-world type trip stopping in Germany on the way (going W -> E instead of over the Pacific), visit a few friends for a couple days, go to India, and on the way home go via Japan and stay with the SIL/BIL.  Using the LCC for some hops etc it was in the same price range as a normal UTAH -- INDIA and return flight on a major and since we booked our own flights through the company's system I was going to try and make a trip out of it.

Alas, C19 came and they have not gone since, and the company was also acquired and merged into a larger company so who knows if they will do this sort of thing again and how the booking and all works...    It was fun to plan and think about at the time though.

 

Edited July 22, 2022 by chadbag

[railsquid]

Made it in one piece with surprisingly little hassle. Full marks to Emirates and their masking policy in particular, which while not rigoursly enforced did seem to result in a surprisingly high masking rate even at Dubai and the onwards flight.

[cteno4]

Did the squidlette enjoy the adventure? 
 

jeff

[railsquid]

Yes, he was very much enthused by the whole process (though "the plane was a bit noisy").

 

[disturbman]

777? They are always so noisy compared to the others.

[JR East]

2 hours ago, disturbman said:

777? They are always so noisy compared to the others.

It's difficult to see if that is a 777 or 78è side door, the picture is too narrow to make the difference with details. Looking to the flight attendant, its Emirates and they have both 777 & 787

 

 

Edited July 29, 2022 by JR East

[railsquid]

Emirates 777-300ER.

 

AFAIK Emirates currently only operate 777s and A380s.

[Tony Galiani]

Maybe you will luck out and get an A380 on the return.  Much quieter and more comfortable than a B777.  At least in my opinion.  Glad your travel went well.

Tony

[railsquid]

777s on all segments, I don't imagine that will change at this point given the seating plans still show empty seats.

[JR East]

3 hours ago, railsquid said:

Emirates 777-300ER.

 

AFAIK Emirates currently only operate 777s and A380s.

You're right, my mistake. It's only ordered (with reduction of 777x fleet in compensation). I don't know why I was sure they were already delivered for the first ones

[railsquid]

On 6/11/2022 at 10:35 AM, railsquid said:

• Imperial Ring Main plug adapter (3! Massive! Chunky! Prongs! Has its own fuse!)

 

Also it has a blue light inside to indicate it is active, which is useful as it sometimes emits a spark if you plug in something while switched on.

 

In related news, I have discovered that it is possible to short out the entire Imperial Ring Main by touching a light switch with damp fingers.

 

(Turns out many of the light switches were sourced on The Continent and are evidently not designed with Imperial Ring Main systems in mind).

[railsquid]

Got blue on the MySOS app so back to Japan we can go :).

[railsquid]

And we're on the Skyliner. 30 mins from plane to arrivals hall, which must be a record.

[cteno4]

Glad you are back safe and sound. Great squidlette got to see his family and visa versa. Hope squidlette enjoyed the grand adventure overall.

 

so do you now need to self quarantine at all?

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[railsquid]

5 hours ago, cteno4 said:

so do you now need to self quarantine at all?

 

As I understand, no, as coming from a "blue" country with a negative PCR test and full vaccination and was not handed anything specific at the airport. .OTOH the MySOS  popped up on my phone this morning showing a blank "Quarantine last date", which is mildly confusing. Mind you given the ongoing "7th wave" here I'm not planning going anywhere anyway.

 

Which reminds me, at immigration the usual Queue Direction Busybodies were directing people to the appropriate lines, and just like pre-Covid times were assuming anyone not obviously a Japanese passport holder should go to the normal non-Japanese-passport-holder lines, so I had to go through the usual rigmarole of asserting my "right" to go through the re-entry lines, which kind of give me the impression the majority of non-Japanese-passport-holders are non-resident.

[bikkuri bahn]

Quote

Which reminds me, at immigration the usual Queue Direction Busybodies were directing people to the appropriate lines, and just like pre-Covid times were assuming anyone not obviously a Japanese passport holder should go to the normal non-Japanese-passport-holder lines, so I had to go through the usual rigmarole of asserting my "right" to go through the re-entry lines

Never had a problem with them, just say “sainyukokudesu” (再入国です) and go to the usual line. Alternatively, say 在留カード持ちです。

Edited August 9, 2022 by bikkuri bahn

[railsquid]

Yeah, it's not a problem per-se, I was just mildly amused they seem to be back to the old behaviour, which implies they are already dealing with a lot of incoming foreign non-residents.

[chadbag]

On 8/8/2022 at 4:04 PM, railsquid said:

As I understand, no, as coming from a "blue" country with a negative PCR test and full vaccination and was not handed anything specific at the airport. .OTOH the MySOS  popped up on my phone this morning showing a blank "Quarantine last date", which is mildly confusing. Mind you given the ongoing "7th wave" here I'm not planning going anywhere anyway.

 

That Facebook group about traveling to and from Japan has had many people comment on the spurious app quarantine pop-up and the consensus is you can ignore it.

 

For others who read Squids description:  The MySOS app now pops up a screen in different colors. If you come from a Blue country you basically get in to Japan, as I understand it, with nothing more than the app (and I think proof of your covid test you uploaded to the app before travel ).  No vaccination proof necessary as I understand it. Countries are grouped by the prevalence of Covid, the countries efforts to combat it, general vaccination rates, or whatever.  US and U and many others are Blue, which is the best.

 

I am not an expert on this and have just been reading about it on the FB group dedicated to such things, and I could have misunderstood.