FINALLY

So, we're here again.

Unlike last time, I was not as excited during our first day. Don't misunderstand me. I WAS excited to see Ruther, to see Japan and to embark on another adventure. But last Saturday, I was just a bit too exhausted to be too excited about the trip. Also, Ethan had some weird episodes. First was when he didn't want to get into the NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport). He was screaming and protesting. Then, when we were about to get into the plane, he acted up again. I knew he was sleepy but I still cringed when an attendant asked me, "Ma'am, is this your son?" Sigh. Of course he is. Anyway, we boarded the plane, tried to settle down and before we even took off the boys were asleep. A few minutes after take-off it was snack time and we were served drinks and chips. I ate a bit then went back to sleep. Then a few minutes after that they served lunch. It was quite yummy. But the boys were not interested in the food and I could not finish everything so it was disconcerting to see all the wasted food. Anyway, shortly after that the flight attendants started submitting the immigration and customs forms for passengers with Narita as their final destination. So I was not able to sleep after that because we were told that we were going to land soon. The whole flight took around 4 hours by the way. Anyway, when we finally landed and stopped, we made our way to immigration (of course we still took photos before getting there) and we didn't encounter any problems. Then we claimed our bags (which were a LOT!) and shuffled towards customs. I was a bit nervous about the food I brought with me as pasalubong but the man took one look at our many bags and, perhaps he was overwhelmed or perhaps he just found our many MANY bags hilarious, he simply let us pass. I was quite happy about that. We took more photos and then I went to the limousine bus counter and bought our tickets. I just got 2 seats: one for me and one for Nikki (at half price). I just let Ethan sit on my lap so that he's free. He didn't mind which was a relief. When we got to Yokohama City Air Terminal (YCAT) an hour and around 20 minutes after, Ruther was already there. Since we were seated on the front, the boys saw him immediately and so they went to him and left me to bring down all our handcarries. =P Then after claiming our bags, we got a taxi to take us to Tokaichiba. It was traffic so it took some time for us to get home. When we got home we had just a bit of time to change and then we had dinner at a nearby restaurant. Then we took a little stroll and bought milk for the boys. Then we went home.

It was nice being together again. Actually, it's a whole lot more than "nice" but I'm sure you know what I mean. That night as we were all lying in bed and saying good nights, I couldn't believe that we were all together again . It was such a lovely feeling to fall asleep with the realization that when I open my eyes the next morning, my family will all be there.

Sigh. Finally.