August 3rd 2024
"Ladies and gentle welcome to the Norman Manley international airport, we do hope you enjoyed your flight, on behalf of the entire crew, we'd like to thank you for making it Caribbean Airlines. Do have a wonderful time in Jamaica....... Unfortunately, the key to unlock the door for the airplane can't be located and we are kindly asking you to sit tight for a few minutes while we wait of the technician who is 5 minutes away. I do hope that 5 minutes isn't Jamaican time."
😆 You can't make this stuff up unless it's for a comedy skit, but this is Caribbean airlines. on top of being late ( which wasn't their fault), they couldn't find the keys for the door to let us out the plane.
Instead of arriving 4:55 PM, we ended up leaving the airport around 7:00-ish. Oh, the door was opened within 20 minutes.
The airport was jam packed, my dad and brothers have never seen so many people at the NMIA. After leaving the port we made our way to the first of 3 Airbnbs which we would stay.
We were supposed to arrive much earlier and meet the property manager but that was not happening. The host left a number for me to call, so I did so on my older brother's phone.
Interestingly, the name appeared when we he dialed it, as it was someone he knew. I gotta give it up to my older bro, he has social skills on lock and has a vast network of good people.
The plan was to grab some jerk chicken and pork at island grill and head to my parent's house but then my younger bro hit me with reality.
"Aren't you gonna buy some stuff for the Airbnb? Breakfast, water, toiletries, you know?
Oh yeah. So to the super market it was. ( My plan was to do that the following day).
I was fucking disoriented; the busy schedule in NYC, jetlag, looking out for the party of 6 travelling with me, trying to hold convo with my family in Jamaica, deciding what we needed for the BNB and seeing the disgustingly expensive prices of everything.
Luckily, the suggestions of what to get kept on flowing, especially from my younger bro, he has a good sense of what a household needs. I was just trying to get my head on straight.
We ended up ordering jerk chicken to go from a new spot ( well new to me). Called Pepper Thyme. It's a jerk spot located on Constant Spring road in Kingston. In all honestly, we should have just had dinner their, but I had no idea this place existed. It was only when I went to pick the food up. More communication with fam was definitely needed. But it isn't easy with busy schedules and a 14hr time difference.
Jerk chicken damage $21,000 JMD
Super Market damage $25,000 JMD
Yikes!
It was surreal being home after 7 years... home ? Or the the land of my birth? Where is home now? Japan? In my mind they are both home.
We ate, talked and took pictures. There was a lot of confusion at first and rightfully so, 11 people all together. I bought my parent's in law some Jamaican soup as I thought they wouldn't like too much of the heavy stuff.
Fish tea and pig's tale soup would be there first foray into real Jamaican food, but unfortunately....., they didn't like it. Aijah, my youngest ate more than they did. Everyone loved the jerk chicken, pork and festivals though.
It was priceless getting this pic, looking at it now I still kinda wonder, is it real or did God just photoshop it?
I can't even remember how long we stayed at my parent's house that night, but it felt really short. But tomorrow was another day. we all needed some rest.
In my mind I was hoping we could all stay at my parent's house and somehow make it work instead of booking an Airbnb. But my Jamaican mom was not having it. looking back now, it was a wise decision. Mama knows best.
It would have been stressful for everyone, 11 people in 1 house? We could all kind of fit but just thinking to host 7 extra people is not a burden you wanna put an anyone. Especially your elder-ish parents. It would have been a great chance to spend more time with each other but... better to avoid the stress.
Total Airbnb cost from August 3rd - 7th,
$158,459 YEN ( $170,542 JMD ) ( $1,086 USD)
Thank God for that crypto money from back in 2021.
Getting back to the Airbnb that night, one scene captivated me, the view from the balcony of three tall apartment buildings. They were new to me but I heard they were popping up all over Kingston. These weren't your everyday Kingston apartment buildings. They were super luxurious apartments with transparent pools on the roofs. "Fuck! How can I get a unit!?" was All I could think about. " I need to get my money up", was the next thing.
Until next time, stay blessed!
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