18th October 2018 (Thursday)
When the boarding gate for Flight UO 850 was finally announced past midnight, I went to look for Gate 211. Where was Gate 211? There are three wings. First, I went to the wing showing gates "1-36, 201-230,501-530". A few steps away, the signage showed Gate 211 was to the right, but there was no path to the right! I turned back and walked to the wing for gates "40-59" since it was to the right. I walked to the very end and there was no Gate 211. I came back to "1-36, 201-230, 501-530" wing and walked to the very end, ignoring the sign showing gates "201-230" to the right.
There, I saw the signage showing Gate 211 was one level down. By that time, the escalator and the lift to go down were barred and entry was prohibited. It would only open at 6:00 a.m. the following morning. My plane would be departing at 7:05 a.m. and I was worried I had to rush to get to the boarding gate the next morning. I had no choice but to stay close by and find a place to catch a short sleep, but sleep was difficult to come by.
While resting, I found airlines/ airport officials walking around looking for passengers who did not turn up at the boarding gates. They were really going all out to ensure that passengers did not miss their flights. They were probably lost. I had never seen such concerns for passengers at other airports before.
At about 5:15 a.m., I decided to get up. I had to get ready to go to Gate 211. The lift and escalator going down were still blocked off. A little further away, I found one escalator which had opened for passengers to use. It was about 5:40 a.m.
Going down one level, the signage was again confusing. One signage showed that I needed to go another level down, but entry to the escalator was barred. Then I noticed another signage pointing left to go to Gates 201-230. Yet, another notice said that passengers needed to go to Gate 520 and take the shuttle bus to Gates 201-230.
I went to Gate 520 and there was a queue forming already. Shortly after, a shuttle bus arrived and we reached Gates 201-230 after about 12 minutes. I arrived at Gate 211 just after 6:00 a.m. for my onward flight on HK Express to Osaka Airport at 7:05 a.m.
Hong Kong Airport stood out from other airports that I have visited. I love the fact that there were so many USB charging ports for passengers to use. The wifi was fast and registration was unnecessary. In addition, hot water stations were available all over the airports. The only drawbacks were the confusing signage and the absence of reclining chairs for tired passengers to have comfortable rest.
While queuing up for boarding, I realised that most passengers were carrying boarding passes issued by the airline at check-in counters. I was probably the only passenger carrying an A4 size boarding pass printed at home. When I handed my boarding pass to the airline official at the queue, I was brought to the gate counter to have my documents checked. After verification, I was sent back to the queue again. I guess the reason passengers were not printing their own boarding passes was because there no counter check-in fee imposed, unlike Airasia.
Flight UO850 took off at 7:13 a.m. and touched down at Osaka Airport, KIX at about 11:15 a.m. Passengers then have to take a mass people mover (like those in KUL or SIN) to Terminal 1 for Immigration.
At Immigration, passengers first have to have their fingers scanned before proceeding to the Immigration counters. I was asked to remove my spectacles and was asked a few questions by the young female immigration officer. Among the questions asked were, what company I worked for, whether I have an outbound ticket, where I was staying, how many people were in my group, etc. I pulled out my hostel reservations and ticket to show her. After being satisfied, she stuck a visa label on my passport and I was allowed to proceed to the arrival hall.
After exiting to the arrival hall, I noticed that the airport was not very large. My first order of the day was to go to the first floor (or in American English, second floor) to buy an ICOCA card and to go to FamilyMart to buy IIJMIO SIM card. However, I saw a notice at Softbank offering SIM card. I went to check and without realising how expensive it was, I got myself a SIM card for ¥7,000 for 10 GB. My brain was not on auto mode converting Yen to Ringgit. I should not have been so impulsive and should have checked out IIJMIO SIM card first to compare prices.
After getting my SIM card, I went to the first floor (or 2nd floor in American English) to buy ICOCA card, sold at JR ticket office. I could not find the place. I searched north and south and at every conceivable corner and still could not locate it. Then, looking outside the airport, I saw a walkway to another building. Walking out, I saw Kansai-Airport Station sign hanging from the building. Yes, I finally found the JR ticket office.
I went straight to JR ticket office. There were several vending machine. After selecting English on the machine, I followed the instruction to purchase the ICOCA card. It was very easy. I paid ¥5,000, instead of my original intention of buying ¥10,000 worth of credit.
After getting my ICOCA card, I went down to the bus terminal on the ground floor (or in American English, first floor) which was in front of KIX Terminal 1. I went to Zone 8 which I read was where the buses to Kyoto Station picked up passengers.
I went to the ticket counter and told the officer there that I wanted a ticket to Kyoto Station. She asked me how I wanted to pay for the ticket. I said ICOCA card. She replied saying ICOCA card could not be used. When I wanted to pay with cash, she asked me to get the ticket from the ticket vending machine.
Just after getting my ticket, I saw a bus about to leave. I rushed over hollering, "Kyoto Station! Kyoto Station!" at the bus driver. He had just closed the bus door and reopened it for me to board but the parking/ baggage attendant stopped me from doing so. I didn't understand why and what he was saying in Japanese. I had no choice but to wait for the next bus.
Passengers were expected to queue for the bus. On the floor was marked Kyoto Station, Hachijo-guchi Exit so that passengers knew where to queue. The parking/ baggage attendant would take the large baggage from the passengers and arranged them neatly for the bus baggage compartment. They would be given slips as receipts in exchange.
The bus arrived punctually at 12:25 p.m., and departed at 12:30 p.m. on the dot. It arrived at Kyoto Station Hachijo-guchi Exit at 1:54 p.m.
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