到着した！

I'm blogging from OSAKA :)

I've just checked into Kansai Airport Washington Hotel. It's a short bus ride (free shuttle bus between the hotel and the airport) from the airport. I was going to book the Nikko Hotel, but

my mum told me to look around and find a cheaper alternative. So I did - and

I'm glad I did.

I booked the room via internet, no deposit was required. The internet offer is 7,300 yen for a single room for one night, and the price includes:

• free internet (there's a LAN line provided in the room)
• breakfast
• a 300 yen Family Mart voucher (there's a convenience store on the 2nd floor of the hotel)

The room is small, but enough for one person. There's room to walk around, much better than the Green Hill Hotel Urban in Sannomiya, Kobe (stayed there last summer during the summer programme at Kobe University). The bathroom is quite small, as usual on the Japanese standard. TV, yukata, slippers, towels, fridge etc. the basics of a hotel room. I must mention the funky "kettle" though. It's not actually a kettle, but a hotplate with a metal mug on top of it!

I don't think I'll get much sleep tonight. Don't get me wrong, the room is very quiet even though the hotel is near the airport. I'm getting picked up by the university tomorrow morning at 0935 from the airport, and I have to go to the post office before that (and have breakfast and use the 300 yen convenience store voucher), so I've set my alarm clock for 0600.

I guess I'll have to rely on my adrenalin to get me going tomorrow.

taking off

I'm currently sitting by Gate 66 in the Hong Kong International Airport. The flight departs in less than 2 hours. I know I'm a tad bit early, but I had nothing else to do so I thought I might as well just come and chill at the airport, where there's free wi-fi.

there aren't many people sitting around me. maybe it's still early. or maybe the flight is just not that full. I can see some Japanese people, a few Brits (one old lady reading the Mail) and other caucasian-looking tourists. Sitting opposite me is a businessman (guessing from his suitcase) asleep and wearing a pair gore-tex boots.

Some random Chinese tourist (sounds like Taiwanese, but he could be from a southern province of China - except for Guangdong - I'm guessing from his mandarin accent) just asked me to take a photo for him, in front of the plane. Random. I love how he just assumes that I speak

Mandarin. Luckily my Chinese was adequate to cope with this photo-taking situation. This also happens in many East Asian countries. People have spoken to me in Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Thai, Shanghaiese dialect, and Taiwanese dialect.

But the most annoying thing I find is not being spoken to another language in East Asia, it's when some idiotic people in Britain comes up to me and very enthusiastically say "ni hao!". I'm like "piss off. We're in Britain, and I'm British, just speak English will you?".

this another random Chinese tourist (maybe about 50-60 years old) who is sitting next to me is now curiously staring at my computer screen. he seems fascinated with my computer and the internet. I hope he doesn't understand English and doesn't realise that I'm typing things about him right now. (He's speaking to his friends in a Chinese provincial dialect that I don't recognise) This is sort of creepy.

this is it.

yep. this is it.

I checked-in online yesterday afternoon, the flight CX502 departs from HKG at 1640 tomorrow, and will arrive at KIX at 2105. A three-and-a-half hour flight.

it's getting a bit surreal. I'M GOING TO JAPAN TOMORROW! Yes I've been there a few times already but I'm still excited =)

my departure for Japan also marks the end of my summer holiday, which began in early June (can't believe I've had a four-month summer!). *sigh* I'll have to force myself to get out of the holiday mood and go back to some serious study, especially when my Japanese is not really up-to-scratch right now.

I have a placement test next Wednesday, which happens to be my 21st birthday. Great. Before I knew I was going to Osaka, I had planned to go out to downtown Kyoto with John and Paulina, have some お好み焼き or 百円回転すし before hitting a 居酒屋, but now - I have no idea what to do on my birthday. I would have only known the people on my course for a week, and the university campus is in a suburban residential area, so I doubt there'll be any good place to hang out - by myself. It'll be my loneliest birthday, ever.

P.S. goodbye HK.