Day 12, October 6, 2026 Moving Day…Leaving Japan, On to South Korea
Today was a lighter day of activity as it involved just travel. We slept very well last night, so we awakened feeling refreshed. We did Wordle. We got cleaned and dressed. Patrise had to process a form to register as a volunteer poll work for the upcoming November elections. The last day for registration was getting close. We did some technology work arounds, including getting the front desk to print what she needed to fill out. Once that was done, we headed to breakfast. This morning, we went to the executive suite, rather than the general dining room. It was sufficient for us, plus much quieter.
After breakfast, we returned to the room, gathered our things, called for a valet with luggage cart, then made our way downstairs. We checked out of the hotel, still having 45 minutes for our driver to arrive. So, we sat in a lounge in the hotel lobby area. I pulled out my laptop, to continue working on the previous night’s blog post. Before I finished it, our driver arrived to take us to Osaka Kansai Airport. It was a forty-five-minute drive to the airport. Patrise dozed off and on, while I continued to survey the scenery and take pictures and videos to capture our last fleeting images of Japan.
We arrived at the airport, unloaded our very heavy luggage then proceeded inside. Needless to say, it took a few minutes to orient ourselves to the Japanese airport signage, but we finally did. We got into a line to go to the ticket counter. However, a young lady came through the line and helped us to understand that we were in the line too soon; it would be almost an hour before ticket counters would begin checking in our flight. We were flying Trinity Airways, which was a new experience for us. As we waited, we wondered whether they would except our luggage and allow us to pay a fine: we knew that both pieces exceeded the 22kg (~50 pound) limit. I found a luggage cart to sit on, pulled out my laptop and continued working the blogpost for yesterday. Patrise went to find out whether we would be able to pay a fine, or whether we would be forced to by another piece of luggage to redistribute our contents.
She got into the line, almost as soon as it opened for our flight. She called me, as I was around the corner out of sight. I came to meet her, and we waited until our time to check in. We did check in, having paid a fine for our luggage (about $27), then made our way to security. We made it through security, then Customs & Immigration, then finally arrived to the area for departure gates. Looking for something to eat, we saw a Burger King and headed straight for it. We wanted a “taste of home” for a culinary change of pace. Burger King never tasted so good (LOL).
We went to the gate, then waited an hour and one-half for boarding. When the flight boarded, there was no call for different classes: just everyone filing on at the same time. We boarded, took our seats and settled in for the 1-1/2-hr flight to Busan. The flight was relatively uneventful. When we landed, of course we had to go through immigration then customs. We were confused about the immigration signage, because had submitted the e-arrival forms three days earlier as required. Patrise finally asked someone and we were then diverted from a long, slow-going line to a shorter, faster moving one. We got through immigration, had nothing to declare at Customs, then headed to the exit are to meet our new guide – Mia Moon.
Just before the exit, there were some ATM and money exchange machines. I went to the first one and put my debit card into it, however, it was not working and my card was stuck. I had to call for a technician to help me retrieve it. When he came, he could not figure out how to get it out. Meanwhile, Patrise went to another machine and withdraw about KRW 300,000 (or $225). Then, my resourceful wife, the ultimate problem solver, opened up her luggage, pulled out some tweezers she had packed and gave them to the technician; subsequently, he retrieved the debit card. We repacked, then continued to exit to an awaiting Ms. Moon. She called our driver, Mr. Omb [not sure of spelling], and we were off.
She advised us that it would take about an hour to get to our hotel, because we would be in the middle of Busan’s rush hour. And it was not doubt a rush hour! Weaving our way through the city and its heavy, stop-and-go traffic, we learned several things about Busan itself, the South Korean housing system, the Korean economy, and more. Mia Moon told us that a film festival started today and that hundreds of thousands of people are town for it, adding to the traffic problems. We finally made it to the hotel, the Park Hyatt Busan. We checked in, were given an extraordinary room – a corner room with views of the city and of the harbor – then ordered room service dinner.
After dinner, Patrise changed clothes and crashed. I stayed awake and pressed on to complete the blogpost for YESTERDAY. No thought about trying to complete today’s entry, which I am doing now. I eventually got dressed in pajamas and made it to sleep about 12:15am.
Tomorrow, we will tour some of Busan’s cultural sites during the day, then experience an evening yacht cruise and dinner.
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