July 9th // Traveling To Japan & Itinerary

Traveling To Japan

It was early, probably around 4:30 am when we all arrived at RDU. Our flight was scheduled to depart at 7:10 am. The cab drove away after Nolan tipped the driver $20. I grabbed my bag, and when I entered the airport, Rohan was slightly arguing with the United Airlines employee about his seat assignment. We pulled Rohan away and I stepped in. Roughly twenty minutes later, we had our tickets and assigned seats.  Away we go!  We arrived at security about five minutes later and started to go through. Nolan, Malachi, and I all received TSA pre-check status while Rohan and Sirvaad had to go through normal security. :)  Malachi and Nolan went through the pre-check procedures without any problems, but when I went through the alarm started blaring. I checked my pockets and sure enough I had left my wallet in my pocket. I handed it to the TSA agent and tried again. We all met at the end of the walkway and waited for Rohan. All of a sudden, we saw Rohan being pulled away into an office. I looked at Nolan and we shook heads in disbelief. We were waiting for a half hour when Rohan finally came out and met back up with us. Whew!  That was scary!  Now it was 5:45 am and we decided to venture towards Starbucks for something to eat and drink. Our preferences were:

Starbucks

• Malachi: Caramel Macchiato with a White Chooc. Chip Muffin
• Rohan: Unicorn Frappuccino with a Choc. Chip Muffin, 
• Nolan: Caramel Brulee Creme Frappuccino with a Blueberry Muffin
• Sirvaad: Vanilla Frappuccino with a Cake Pop 
• Tristen:  Strawberry Acai Refresher with an Orange Scone

Next, we found our gate which was of course all the way on the other side of the airport. We sat down in the waiting area around 6:15 pm and had some time to kill. Excitement filled the air.  While we enjoyed our drinks and food, we played Go Fish (Rohan's idea). Our plane arrived and the previous passengers deboarded. We waited for ten minutes until the flight attendant announced our boarding numbers. Once onboard we found our seats, which were as followed:

Our Flight

• Tristen: 23 A
• Nolan: 23 B
• Malachi: 23 C
• Rohan: 23 D
• Sirvaad: 35 D

Adios Sirvaad! You are in the back of the plane my friend!

As we waited, I pulled out my earbuds and began listening to music. Around 7:20 am, our plane started to pull away from the gate. I asked if anyone wanted a piece of gum. Nolan and Malachi wanted some, but Rohan didn't. We heard the engines start to roar as we traveled down the runway faster. The plane lifted off. I could tell we had lifted off because Rohan interrupted my "Walk On Water" song by asking for a piece of gum. I gave him a piece, put my earbuds back in and went to sleep. It was around 10 am Eastern Time (7 am Pacific Time) when I woke up. That meant we only had around four more hours to go until San Francisco. I looked over and noticed Nolan wasn't there. I really had to use the bathroom so I asked Malachi to stand up. We were mildly close to the bathroom so I could easily use it. When I arrived at the bathroom, I saw Nolan coming out. It felt good to stand. Returning to my seat, I sat down and took out my phone with the intention to download a movie. The movie was approximately 2.5 hours long. Once I finished, it was around 10:30 am Pacific Time. There was only 30 minutes left in the flight!  I was ready to stretch my legs! Next, I pulled out my drawing pad to sketch out the sights. As we flew into the city, I tried my best to capture the breathtaking San Francisco skyline. We landed and all of us immediately stood up once the captain took the seat belt sign off.

View of San Fransisco

As people began filing out of the plane, the boys and I grabbed our duffel bags and started to move off the plane. Immediately we checked the international departure screens.  We learned that we were at Gate 68 in Terminal B and needed to go all the way to the International Terminal. Sirvaad asked if we should go grab some lunch, but Rohan kept reminding us that he could not eat red meat.As we walked towards the International Terminal of the airport, we passed by a nice restaurant called "The Phoenix". We stopped and sat down for some food. Ten minutes later our waiter, Jeff, introduced himself.

We ordered some drinks and food. Our preferences are posted below:

• Sirvaad: Kids Chicken Fingers, Tomato Soup, and Mountain Dew
• Rohan: Zucchii Parmesan, Tomato Soup, and Water
• Nolan: 1/2 Hawaii Pizza, Pepsi
• Tristen: 1/2 Hawii Pizza, Gatorade
• Malachi: Cheddar Cheeseburger, Root Beer

San Fransisco Airport

We enjoyed our meal, talked, and watched Sports Center. After the meal, we traveled to the Security gate. Rohan, Malachi, and I went through without problems. As we waited for Sirvaad and Nolan to go through, I grabbed my sketch pad and started to sketch the sights of the San Francisco Airport. I put away my sketch pad and told Rohan I was going to the Souvenior shop to buy myself a magnet from the airport (I like collecting things). When I returned, I saw Sirvaad going into an office. I almost fainted from the deja-vu! It took thirty minutes for Sirvaad to reappear. Scary! We left that area and sought out our gate, IA3 (International/Asia). There we waited and played cards again. When our plane arrived at the gate, we jumped onboard. This time we could all sit together since we were flying a Jumbo Jet. On this flight, we had First Class from seats 4A- 4E. It was late, and we were exhausted and stuffed full of food. The last thing I remember was Sirvaad yelling because he lost his Solataire match (against rookie mode). :)  Japan, here we come!

Travel & Tourism Itinerary

Written By Tristen