Boarding at Kansai

The Kansai Airport was much smaller than expected for an international airport. But the place was certainly geared for high volume I passengers as it showed this morning.

Since I bought a few items in Kyoto which I could get tax reimbursements for, I thought I had to show them to customs. It turned out that I didn't have to. Therefore, I had to do a bit of repackage before I got my luggages checked in. That took a bit of doing, especially taking some of the toys out from the bulky boxes.

The check-in queue was long, and that was not half the story. The next line up was to get through security. There were easily a couple hundred people in front of me, but the arrangement was so tight that there were no queue cutting. And the queue went through very fast. They had six X-ray machine to service us, and the staff on duty was very good at getting the lines moving. The instructions were also very clear.

Once we were through security, immigrations came next. Again another long but efficient queue. I would imagine KLIA would struggle to service such volume of passenger. Certainly these Japanese were very good at managing the traffic.

Next came breakfast. It was either Japanese of Western. Of course it was Japanese ....

I finished the rest of my yen buying sweets and chocolates. Luckily I managed to get everything cramped into my bag, as otherwise I might have to pay some tax at the customs when I reach KLIA as the shopping bags may look rather suspicious ..... More on my Kyoto trip here.

Killing Time

The wait at the airport made me wonder if I should've turn up a bit later to check in. But the truth is, I hate to do things late. I like things to be nice and easy when I travel. I used to enjoy traveling. I guessed I'm now just older and grumpier.

I spent some time at a cafe killing time. Luckily the internet connection there was blazing fast. Time to blog and surf the net. Boarding would start in the next half an hour or so .....

Entries from my Kyoto trip here.

Early for Heathrow

We had a massive tailwind across the Atlantic overnight. My flight was supposed to land at 7.30 am ended up arriving well early. I was already at the terminal by 6, having to wait for another half an hour to receive the connecting boarding pass and to confirm that NY luggage were being rung through straight to KL.

And it was nippy. And foggy. Typical English winter weather. I decided to roam around the duty free - definitely much better than what Atlanta had to offer. The fog cleared up by mid morning, and I passed the time waiting at the lounge having breakfast before roaming out again. The 5 and a half hours of sleep I had flying in certainly helped. I could do with a shower but it was just too much hassle.

I called Anita a couple of times, and bought some gifts for my parents. Next would be to them into my hand carry luggage a I prefer to keep everything straight forward.

More about the Atlanta trip here.

At the Airport

Arriving to the airport early was always a good idea. Especially with me trying to check the luggage straight through to KLIA without needing to check in again in London. I would still need to report at the MAS transit desk at Heathrow however to pick up my boarding pass. Minus the bags, that should be no hassle.

I got through the check in alright. The traffic getting in was also quite straight forward , and today happened to be the coldest day of my stay. The temperature in the morning was around 4 C!

The security was pretty tight. I had to go through the usual affair of being screened and X-rayed. Good thing I actually work a simple show which slipped easily. Everyone had to take their shoes off here.

So, the flight would be at 5.30, and I arrived at the airport well before 2.30. The wait was really boring since the airport terminal here did not offer much. Even the Tommy Hilfiger outlet here was pretty basic. Nothing I saw actually caught my fancy. I planned to get a nice shirt for my Dad actually. Might just have to force myself to do just that.

I had been at the lounge charging my phone for the last 45 minutes. Time to venture out then .....

More on the Atlanta trip here.

In Atlanta

The day went on like a blur as soon as I reached Atlanta. I didn't get into any trouble at the Immigrations when I arrived. In fact, it was more straight forward than I expected also I got news that my old friend who I would be meeting tomorrow - Specky - was taken for extra questioning. He flew via Detroit though. He was already in Atlanta when he SMS me just now. No damage done.

As for me, I had a driver waiting for me at the airport, driving me straight to the hotel. It took 25 minutes in the middle of the afternoon. I checked myself in, took my conference badge and registered. I then hit the shower before taking a can to one of the malls.

Anita had given me strict instructions about what to get her. I went to the store as planned, but the item was not available. I had to order it to be picked up in a couple of days time. Payment sorted out, so off I went for some coffee.

The mall - Lenox Square - was about 6 miles from my hotel, a 20 minutes can ride in the heavy traffic. It was not too big, but it had an Apple Store and many designer boutiques. A comfortable space. I got two items - a Nexus 4 and an Ecco pair of shoes - which were not available back home.

I will blog more about the Nexus 4 and the mall after I have some rest. As for tonight, I will hit the shower again soon, order room service and off to bed. At least the day doesn't start until midday tomorrow as far as the conference was concerned.

More about this Atlanta trip here.