Not another travel Blog

First off i think this could be a long one, so just be ready to skim read. I have 11 and a half hours before touching down in Beijing then another 3 hrs 30 till landing in Tokyo. So if i can`t sleep on the move, which i haven`t been able to since setting off for London then i`ll be writing in this.
Flight screen says 5272 miles till landing and although i`m sat on it we`re not taking off for another 25mins due to air traffic.

Ok where to start, i s`pose i better fill in the gap from Madrid to here.

My mood hadn`t got any better on arrival in Madrid and wasted the first hours strolling around the City. I decided i`d just call it a day and just go relax at the hostel and then start again with a better frame of mind the next day. The hostels kitchen was starting to get a bit busy so i thought i`d go get some food to cook then sit in and hope someone would say hello. The second i sat down with my pasta i got called over to join this table who i think had just started on their second bottle of wine which they poured me a glass as well. It`s funny how we didn`t do any group drinking when the three of us were together and yet when you`re on your own every solo traveller seems to find one another. Like a moth to light, we are to alcohol. Three bottles down and the kitchen had turned into something of a medieval grand hall, every table and chair had been pushed together, and everyone was passing food back and forth with people having conversations all over the show, the 4 had turned to 8 and then 8 into about 12 or so. It was a good cure to the days mood.
A few had decided they were going watching this flamenco dancing at a local bar and Tim, this Australian i`d befriended wouldn`t allow me to bail so in no time at all i was changed and ready to go out. The show was actually really cool, it wasn`t some horrible tourist trap that you get alot of, it was local people watching proper dancing in this tiny, sweaty, downstairs bar. I think with the exception of us i couldn`t point out another tourist which was nice.

One of the people in our group named lael (think it`s spelt like that) started chatting and we decided to go for a quieter drink as everyone else was going getting ruined. I had the flight and a lack of Euros, i wasn`t just going soft. She was from L.A and quickly dispelled all American stereotypes by being more interesting and intelligent than anything i could say. It was a nice way to end the night to a day that a few hours before i had completely written off. So after being chucked out of a few bars for closing time we called it a night and went back to the hostel.

Back to now, Planes about to set off, i`ve never been on a long haul flight so having my own little screen which is showing the take off is amusing me to bits, i`m like a big kid playing with everything that`s able to be messed with....this thing better hurry up though as my adjoining flight is only a hour and a half after this is meant to land and we`re currently running almost an hour late.

Oh and i know it`s off subject but all planes should have soundproofed cubicles that babies can be chucked in as soon as they start crying.

I woke in the morning and grabbed some sugar puffs from the kitchen, hadn`t had sugar puffs since i was a kid... there like the crack of the cereal world so after another 4 bowls i went to get my tube to the airport.... That`s it really, now i`m here. The moodiness from the other day has gone i think and as long as i get that connecting flight to Narita airport i`ll be in Tokyo, checking into my hostel, around 15 hours from now.


Shit, completely forgot, when i was on my travel to get food back in Madrid i walked passed a hairdresser that said "unisex haircut, 7 euros". I thought the day couldn`t get any worse at the time, plus i`d need it cutting in the next 4 weeks and japan would be expensive. So i went in and got seated straight away, no appointment, obviously this place was a quality establishment. I went on the explain as best as i could "this but shorter" she took that as her cue to get the clippers and buzzcut a strip on the side of my head and said "this short?" in a way to suggest i could say "no, could i have it a bit longer on the bit YOU JUST SHAVED OFF" she went around the rest of the sides then took a few chucks out the top with scissors. Then she took me to have it rinsed and while doing so showed me this bottle that i thought was shampoo so i just said yes and she carried on washing. Then after she blow dried it she took this bottle and started applying it into my hair. It was wet look gel, and she was trying to shape it by slicking it back. I came out looking like a Russian mafia mobster, i had to laugh, then obviously wash it out as soon as i possibly could.

Back to the flight, i`m 8 hours in now (no i haven`t been writing constantly) and officially the furthest away from home than i`d ever been, Air China have been amazing, i`ve had 4 beers, a small bottle of wine and 2 meals to no extra cost. I`m guessing that`s the norm for these types of flights but for the price i paid i was expecting to be flying with cattle. So far i`ve watched Bee movie, Meh! Lost in translation which i already loved, Charlie Wilson's war which i really enjoyed and am now watching catch me if u can. I know i`m rambling on but i`m bored out of my tree, someone needs to hurry up with that teleportation technology, wish i had a sleeping pill or even a bottle of vodka, both do the same thing for me


OK another quick update, i`ve really got nothing better to do, but i`m on the japan flight now, Beijings airport is amazing by the way. I hope when i inevitably get stuck at an airport overnight that it`s as clean and nice as there. 1708 miles to go, which sounds a tad far but whatever i`m gonna try and get some sleep as by the time i get to bed in japan it`ll effectively be 2 days since i will of last slept.