My journey to the Land of the Rising Sun - Day 6

On our final day in Japan, it wasn't much of a day as we had a plane to catch at 11am and we had to be at the airport at least 2 hours prior to departure time. Buffet breakfast at the hotel was nothing fancy and rather bland. I was hoping to savour my last bowl of Japanese curry in Japan.

We left the hotel at around 8.00am and arrived at Narita International Airport shortly. Prior to entering the airport compound, our bus had to pass through a security checkpoint. Our tour guide informed us that this is because land for the airport was built on land forcibly acquired from farmers and that there are still unhappy people out there who wish to blow up the airport.

Inside the terminal, I found a small Uniqlo outlet near the entrance and popped in while waiting for our tour guide to arrange our tickets. After checking-in and clearing security and immigration, we entered the restricted zone. I noticed the bubbly character of the female security officer at the X-ray machine - what a difference compared to Hong Kong and our local security staff at KLIA.

At the gates, our Cathay Pacific aircraft was being loaded. It was an Airbus A330-300 again and we were to be seated at the back of the plane again. The thing with organised tours is that you get pretty sucky seats. It was a rather bumpy flight over the airspace between Japan and Taiwan. Turbulence kept the seat-belt sign lit up most of the time. Lunch was served on board and I chose stir-fried chicken served with rice topped with black sesame seeds, cold soba and strawberry pudding. I chose white wine to go with the meal and to knock myself out to get some rest after last night's packing. Because the flight was so bumpy and I did not want to risk spilling any liquids on my clothes, I finished the salty soba sauce and alcohol quickly. The turbulence got quite bad and they had to suspend the meal service for a while.

We arrived in Hong Kong on time and only had about an hour's worth of transit time, which was ridiculously short given that Hong Kong International Airport can be a shopping destination by itself. Our flight back to Kuala Lumpur was on a Boeing B777-300. It was a relief to have a different aircraft for a change as I was getting pretty tired of the same Airbus A330-300. Although the aircraft looked a bit older on the inside, the seating arrangement was more comfortable, seating 9 abreast in a 3-3-3 configuration. The seats were roomier and even the windows were larger. This time we weren't seated right at the back of the plane, but at the back of the first section of economy class which wasn't too bad. I even got a window seat so I could see all the hustle and bustle on the tarmac.

Only after take-off did I notice that this aircraft had a video camera mounted on the underbelly which fed live visuals to our personal screens. It's a shame I missed out on the take-off process as I only managed to see blue sky and white clouds as we climbed.

Dinner was served on board and this time, it was either penne with tomato and herb sauce or fish cooked in tangy sauce served with coconut rice. I chose the fish option and it was delicious! For desserts, we had sliced fresh fruit and a flan-type cake topped with pineapple. Not wanting to be drunk any more, I chose orange juice this time.

After dinner, it was time for inflight shopping. I think Cathay must have a record of first time passengers on board their airline and invited me to complete a questionnaire. As a reward for my time, they presented me a USD5 voucher to be used for inflight shopping. After browsing through the catalogue, I chose a 1:400 die-cast aircraft model and a set of Ralph Lauren fragrances.