• 10:07 exhausted. in Dubai airport. found Oli w/ no problems. EXHAUSTED. #
• 10:13 about to board our final flight, to Muscat. Oman kokusai kukou hehehe #

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The last 24hrs have been an absolute NIGHTMARE. I never ever ever want to travel alone again. Oli and I were together up until Fukuoka airport, where we separated for Oli to go to Seoul, and myself to Kansai. I arrived at Kansai airport a good 6hrs before my flight and 4hrs before I could even check in. I like airports, even by myself I kept entertained parading my cart back and forth infront of shops and using the free wifi. Finally it was time to check in, and the problems began.

International flights allow 30kg of check-in baggage. I had a suitcase, a box and Oli's guitar which added up to 38kg. Every kg over the limit costs 3500yen (aprox. $40CAD) so it would have been a small fortune, something I really can't afford. I say would have been, because in the end I only paid 10,000yen ($120CAD) because after taking out 3 pairs of shoes (which brought it down to 36kg, still too heavy!) and bursting into tears in front of the check-in girl they finally took pity on me, or were just sick of dealing with me, and said 10,000yen was fine.

By the way, I am NOT proud of crying at the airport. That was super embarassing and it didn't even have a very good effect on the check-in staff. They just looked vaguely uncomfortable and slightly irritated that they had a crying gaijin refusing to pay 480573805yen for her excess baggage. Later I found out that even though Oli was 17kg overweight he CHARMED the check-in girl down 10kg and only had to pay for 7kg. Of course. And his flight was Fukuoka-Seoul-Dubai with the first airline being Korean Air, who apparently don't charge a ridiculous amount for excess baggage so in the end he only paid 7000yen. Bastard. I bet he cried too and just didn't tell me.

When I finally met up with Oli in Dubai airport I was cranky, exhausted and overjoyed to see him. As I said, I am NEVER traveling alone again. I need travel support! Our final flight was Dubai-Muscat and I passed out through most of the flight, but woke up in time to see the desert and giant mountains surrounding Oman. Even in my half-asleep state I could appreciate that, it was gorgeous and so...vast. Haha, I'm so observant, yeah?

Anyway, when we arrived at Muscat airport there were a few more kicks in the teeth awaiting us. Oli's guitar didn't arrive (the one that made me CRY before I could check it in) so we have to call the airport every day to see if it comes in... and the company rep who was supposed to pick us up was not there. We waited for half an hour before calling the company, who then took another HOUR before a hotel driver showed up. We arrived at our hotel, the 'Al Bahjah' and passed out for 14hrs.

So now it's 8:17am here, 11:17pm in Ontario, Canada and 12:17pm in Japan. We had a lovely breakfast of pita bread, refried beans, feta cheese, yogurt and salad. Oli's guitar is still MIA and nobody from the company has contacted us. I feel like an alien.

(edit): Oli's guitar has turned up at the airport. It is now 5:23pm and the company has yet to contact us in any way. Is this how things are done here? Or are we stranded in this hotel? ( transit pics )

Update: the company has finally made contact. They want Oli tomorrow morning for a medical examination, and me to do spouse-visa stuff. Oli is terrified because he thinks they're gonna find some hidden fatal disease or something during the exam. I think he's a big baby.

Anyway, it's good to know they hadn't forgotten about us!