I want to apologize that our blog posts lately have been so random and out of order. Robert and I are trying to collect all our memories from our family trip and put it in writing. We’ve got too much to show and too much to tell. So this is the post that should have been the first one to be read.
Everyone who has kids knows, that packing the right quality and quantity of things, when travelling, is half the battle. I do not love packing and thinking what I need for myself, my three children and in terms of food. But I do like the organizing part of it all. I also like to take my time. I write lists, organize everyone’s clothes days in advance, go shopping for random items (especially for kids’ entertainment stuff), have kids pick out what clothes they will were while travelling, and so on. Robert is great helper with packing, but mostly when it comes to physically packing compacting things into our suitcases.
Packing when you go on a trip that takes you to a foreign country, requires a lot of forethought. When you have to go on three trains, two planes and lots of taxis to get to your final destination, it requires you stuffing all your necessities into as few bags as possible. Don’t laugh, but this time we managed to survive with just 2 big suitcases, 2 carry-on size suitcases, 1 backpack and an umbrella stroller (plus Katya and Alex had a small backpack of their own). I decided that Robert’s clothes is what takes the most space. No kidding.
I must admit that once we got on a train in Misawa, everything went as planned. One of the hardest things is a 7-10 minute transfer that we have to do in Hachinohe if you are going to Tokyo. So we have to get on a train in Misawa, ride it for 15 minutes, then get off (with all our suitcases) and run to the Shinkansen. We make it each time, but we have to be fast and careful not to lose one of the kids:)
After our three hour ride on Shinkansen, we had to transfer to another train that took us to the outskirts of Tokyo, where Yokota AFB is located. That took a little over an hour. We had very nice people pick us up at the metro station when we arrived—the Frosts. They visited Misawa last summer, but they live in Yokota. Although they barely knew us, they were willing to help us with whatever we needed. Great family!
We had to stay one night at the Yokota’s lodging (a pretty nice hotel on base). The Frosts let us borrow their van so we could drive to the Space-A terminal in the morning instead of walk with all the luggage. Next morning we had to be up by 3:30 am! We had to be at the terminal by 3:50 am and had a roll call at 4:15 am.
That was our first time travelling Space-A, so we weren’t quite sure what to expect. There were 32 seats available and only about 27 people who wanted to get on. So we had no problem getting on that flight. Yay!:) And the cool part is that the plane inside turned out to be just like a commercial flight—with food, tv and music. Except bathroom water for washing hands was shut off due to quality control issues, so we the anti-bacterial solution had to suffice.
Flight time from Tokyo to Singapore-7 hours. Who would have known? They look so close on the map, compared to how far away the states are. It was a pretty good flight, very labor intensive on my and Robert’s part of entertaining Mark, but we all survived (Mark only slept for the last hour of our trip…sigh). Older kids were super easy! They love to travel:)
We arrived to Singapore at around 2:30 pm Singapore time, breathed in hot and humid air, called a taxi (ended up calling for two, but we could have just fit into one even with our luggage), and proceeded to our hotel looking with amazement at this highly developed Asian country. 
To be continued…
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