Anyone know how to speak 日本ese?
(For those who don't know, I am going here)
Being the naive Canadian that I am, I've never flown anywhere significant on anything other than Air Canada. It is a universal truth that Air Canada is garbage, reasons for which include Arm+Leg prices going anywhere East of Toronto, uncomfortable planes, their inability to turn a profit, etc, etc. Even knowing this, it was a little nerve-wracking to find out I wouldn't be flying on our Maple Leaf-branded planes, but instead JAL -- more or less the japanese equivalent of AC, but significantly "bigger" in just about every sense, including the fact that they fly Boeing 747s instead of dinky Airbus A340s (though that is a sweet photo) or Boeing 767s across the pacific.
Well, I just got my tickets today, and I'm not sure this has helped my fears any. Starting out, it seemed pretty good:
Flipping it over, fair enough, I think the most recent Air Canada ticket book had ads as well. Still, a bit intimidating:
But then opening it up, things just get weird:
Why is the luggage so upset about the expensive items? Why is the passenger's chair floating over a dark chasm of insanity? And most importantly, why is one title in English, and one in 日本ese?! Let's hope the flight attendants know a little English!
While we're at it, any suggestions on what to do for the 12 hours of flying each way? The newer JAL 747s apparently have on-demand TVs for each seat, but in case I get an old one, should I just (Crosbie's suggestion) pop sleeping pills? There are also rumours on the internets that some of the planes have wifi, which would also help, but that still won't fill 12 hours! Discuss.
Being the naive Canadian that I am, I've never flown anywhere significant on anything other than Air Canada. It is a universal truth that Air Canada is garbage, reasons for which include Arm+Leg prices going anywhere East of Toronto, uncomfortable planes, their inability to turn a profit, etc, etc. Even knowing this, it was a little nerve-wracking to find out I wouldn't be flying on our Maple Leaf-branded planes, but instead JAL -- more or less the japanese equivalent of AC, but significantly "bigger" in just about every sense, including the fact that they fly Boeing 747s instead of dinky Airbus A340s (though that is a sweet photo) or Boeing 767s across the pacific.
Well, I just got my tickets today, and I'm not sure this has helped my fears any. Starting out, it seemed pretty good:
Flipping it over, fair enough, I think the most recent Air Canada ticket book had ads as well. Still, a bit intimidating:
But then opening it up, things just get weird:
Why is the luggage so upset about the expensive items? Why is the passenger's chair floating over a dark chasm of insanity? And most importantly, why is one title in English, and one in 日本ese?! Let's hope the flight attendants know a little English!
While we're at it, any suggestions on what to do for the 12 hours of flying each way? The newer JAL 747s apparently have on-demand TVs for each seat, but in case I get an old one, should I just (Crosbie's suggestion) pop sleeping pills? There are also rumours on the internets that some of the planes have wifi, which would also help, but that still won't fill 12 hours! Discuss.
posted by Philip at 1:41 AM
5 Comments:
68 % Down! What a deal! (?)
Oh man, you're gonna have such a great time checking out all the Engrish... speaking of which, go check out Engrish.com if you haven't yet.
All I can say is take some piictures for us! It will cause endless laughs. We flew AC up and back, and I would just assume that JAL is ten times better. This is acountry that has rules for politeness!
12 Hours above a dark chasm of insanity:
-sleep? (who needs it!)
-bring DVDs to watch (but what if they already have movies?)
-Nina says you'll have no problem filling up 12 hrs with WiFi, and adds: "haha. ha"
-she also says: bring sudoku, or plan for "world peace" [or "world peas"~!]
-maybe you've got some home-building jobs you could finish up on the way.... I'm sure they'd be allright with bringing the drill along.
okay, that's all I got for now.
Man, the Japanese are wicked! Well being an expert at the art of finding shit to do while awake (an art I have been studying during my two months of unemployment misery) I have a couple of suggestions.
1. HBO series’ on DVD: TV to DVD is one of the greatest inventions since sliced bread itself (and walking in the hall in single file... remember that?!). I have finished three seasons of Sopranos, one season of Entourage, and am halfway through season one of Deadwood (which is pretty wicked) since xmas. These are essential when you are trying to make time fly (or when you are spending time on the fly ***badoom psshh***). They are not only well made and entertaining, but generally you can’t wait to see what happens in the next episode. Another good suggestion is just go to Blockbuster and rent these, it might cost you $20-30 bucks, but no late fees! Lost season one and Gargoyles season 2 are also a good suggestions.
2. Try to do something that will take you WAY longer than 12 hours to do. The key is to try and trick yourself into thinking that 12 hours is too short of a time, and you will find that you were wishing for more! Learn Japanese for example.
3. Get HAMMERED!!! And I mean so drunk that you lose total perception of the passage of time. It'll go by in a sec.
4. Mile High Club Solo…. There’s like what?... 11 seconds taken care of. Maybe you can join it a couple of times?
5. Nintendo DS + MarioKart+ Wifi= Sweeeeet. Just tell me when you’re flight is and we can play together online! That or Metroidzzzzzzz. And it doesn’t matter what time it is here, I’ll probably be up being bored anyways.
p.s. get Mario's autograph for me.
Speaking of world peas, do you remember the awesome shirt I had as a kid on "give peas a chance?" That was sweet.
Things that will have to happen:
- sudoku book purchase
I've really not got much else. I'm not very good on planes (rarely able to sit there and watch the movie), so this will be a real miserable journey. I don't think I'll take any DVDs along (see above), but probably a couple of books that I've been meaning to read. Oh yeah, and I'll definitely join the mile high solo club. Like 30 times.
Yeah, you just make sure that's "solo", mister! >8[
Re. the peas shirt, that was a sweet shoutout by lukis. do you recall me 'im cooler than you' shirt? (it's good to have signiture clothes).
Now Phil, first things first: sleeping pills. you'll sleep like 8 hours without trying, then do some crossword puzzles, walk around, get the stewardess to do what they do best, and you'll be loose as a goose for the Strange Country.
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