Every time I step on a Boeing 747 I can't help but being amazed how they
manage to get the darn thing in the air. It simply defies all laws of gravity.
Found my seat close to the left wing (where I am sitting now, writing this and watching the TV
monitors informing me there are only 104732 kilometers left…). Got a lot of space since no one
is sitting next to me. The plane is bound for Singapore and then later Jakarta where I will
spend a day before taking off for Tokyo.
Travelling via Indonesia to Japan was my own choice of route. Basically another case of Tintin
fanatism. In the adventure "Flight 714" the heroic Belgian reporter and his life-time buddies
Haddock and professor Calculus stop in Jakarta on their way to a space congress in Australia.
In the Indonesian capitol they meet millionaire Laslo Carriedas who, unintentionally, get them
in serious trouble. The peculiar Carriedas even has his own brand of sparkling mineral water,
Sani Cola. A drink they toast in to Haddock's great suspicion before boarding Laslo's hi-tech
aircraft. There probably won't be any traces of Sani-Cola but I sure will try to get some
Tintin vibes during my short stay. A reason okidoki enough for me.
(You might think I am a
strange person who travel around the globe in days when terrorism, bombings, anthrax, you
name it, slowly paralyze us, and generally fill us with a sense of fear and hopelessness.
Well, this is my way to deal with it: to go on, to fight apathy, to stay sane and celebrate
the good things in life. I feel weird about watching the news every day, because it affects
me a damn lot, I, in sheer protest, sometimes got to squeeze a hilarious Steve Martin movie
into the VCR. Or write to you about Tintin. Or sing about My New Haircut. It's not about
escape-ism or backing away from the ugly state of this planet. It's about survival of the
mental health, getting a break to gather strength to keep on going. You know what I'm
talking about. End of parenthesis).
The ticket was booked before the 11:th of September and I might have picked a different route
today. In Jakarta, there have been riots lately and fundamentalist groups promise to go after
Western people if the government refuse to condemn USA and Great Britain's attacks on Afghanistan.
I will probably take on a low profile, having problem hiding my presence formidably screaming
"Look! Western Person! Western Person!" I first thought of making a T-shirt with the sign: "I
am from Sweden. Don't kill me". Perhaps not the best of ideas. (Ops! Got my airplane food while
passing Prague. Be back soon).
Before I ate my (actually quite delicate) fish dish and finished the glass of white wine,
we were flying over Istanbul. When you are touring, busting your ass, driving on endless
roads, it's almost upsetting how super-effective travelling by plane is. Yes. Upsetting!
Read More:
The Amazing Itaru Kanno
