At Narita Airport again. I got on the plane at Frankfurt Friday night and flew 10.5 hours to arrive in Japan at 1500 local time. Robbed of about seven chronological hours and only got about 2 hours sleep. Not nearly as interesting a trip as the flight over, due to it being mainly in the dark. A couple of hours after leaving Frankfurt I saw the lights of a large Russian city, St Petersberg I think. The stewardesses play at window police in an effort to let people sleep.
However, I did see some movies on the flight “Hell Boy”, “Bridgette Jones Diary”, “Starsky and Hutch” and a Japanese one about some boys who didn`t want a haircut. I
probably won`t have any left for the Sydney flight now.
Very hot in Tokyo. 30 degrees and very steamy. I was only in the heat for a
little while when getting off the plane. As there is only six hours wait on the ground I can’t do a whole lot, so spend time sending emails. Sadly I lost them twice before I worked out their system. Even in the airconditioned airport it gets quite sticky when moving around, but it is pleasant enough typing at the internet cafe. Also had a curry and rice at one of the restaurants. Not really immersing in the local cuisine this time either. I board again at 20:50 and we are in the air half an hour later.
Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
Sunday, August 15, 2004
Thursday, July 22, 2004
21/7 Leaving Tokyo
Breakfast of miso soup and bean curd. Not too bad. But there was a ginger condiment which was particularly hot, although I usually like ginger I didn't like this one. And an odd blue pickle. The pickle was a little too strong for me and I couldn’t finish it. To waste some time before the aircraft leaves I go up to the hotel shop. I buy some postcards to send back to Australia. 500ml of coke is Y160. The area where the hotel is located appears to be industrial. There aren’t any footpaths to speak of but many carparks. I assume to service the airport.
The bus takes all the transferring passengers back to the airport. I can even check in at the hotel itself, very convenient. Last images are of driving between the concrete buildings in this area. There are little pink paper notes stuck over everything. Even a few stuck on tall grass stems. For a country in the middle of it’s summer, the vegetation is quite green and grows out of almost every conceivable nook and cranny.
We board at about 13:40 local time. There has not been an auspicious start as the aircraft was delayed due to a “water system maintenance”. As we taxi out I can see the airport’s name in a hedge along with a sort of floral clock. Both near the start of runway 16R. There also looks like an aircraft museum or similar off the end of 34L as we take off.
As we climb away, I notice the land around Narita is different to the Australian landscape. There seem to be urban pockets in bright green countryside. Not what I would call rural. I don’t see any patches of clear ground bigger than about 1k long. If the ground is not wooded it is either built on or cultivated. As we leave I can’t see Tokyo. The air is too mucky, even from 6000’ I can only see about 20km. And we enter cloud at 12000’.
The bus takes all the transferring passengers back to the airport. I can even check in at the hotel itself, very convenient. Last images are of driving between the concrete buildings in this area. There are little pink paper notes stuck over everything. Even a few stuck on tall grass stems. For a country in the middle of it’s summer, the vegetation is quite green and grows out of almost every conceivable nook and cranny.
We board at about 13:40 local time. There has not been an auspicious start as the aircraft was delayed due to a “water system maintenance”. As we taxi out I can see the airport’s name in a hedge along with a sort of floral clock. Both near the start of runway 16R. There also looks like an aircraft museum or similar off the end of 34L as we take off.
As we climb away, I notice the land around Narita is different to the Australian landscape. There seem to be urban pockets in bright green countryside. Not what I would call rural. I don’t see any patches of clear ground bigger than about 1k long. If the ground is not wooded it is either built on or cultivated. As we leave I can’t see Tokyo. The air is too mucky, even from 6000’ I can only see about 20km. And we enter cloud at 12000’.
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
20/7/04 Tokyo, Hotel Nikko Narita
Got up early today and caught the red eye special from Adelaide to Sydney. I had to get a bit of a move on at Sydney to catch the connecting flight as there was only about 1.5 hours between flights, luckily there were no hitches, so all went well.
11 hours to Tokyo, it was not as tedious as I thought it was going to be. To while away the time I kept a log of the flight using the passengers navigation system (a good toy).
Didn’t see Port Moresby as it was slightly off to the left (I was on the RHS). A lot of cloud was over New Guinea (as expected) but I could see the Owen Stanleys sticking through, very impressive and I didnt see the tallest part! I took some pictures but they never turn out as well as the actual view.
There was lots of cloud over the Coral sea/Pacific. We overflew Guam and although very cloudy I had worked out our ETA to within a minute. I couldn’t see anything out the window but there on the entertainment screen we passed smack over the airfield.
On then for about 5 more tedious hours over the water, to make landfall not far from Tokyo. Where we crossed the coast there were a string of wind generators clearly visible (and 2 golf courses). One was located completely on an island in a river.
Then we all got off the plane, after about 40 minutes waiting for a parking spot, into 33 degree 50% humidity. It is very sweaty. So much for being forced to wear a wind cheater this morning. Customs was a bit of a let down:
Customs Man "Where are you from, Sydney?"
SWK "and Adelaide before that"
Customs man "Go through then"
Obviously not much getting smuggled from Australia to Japan at the moment.
Got to the hotel along with about 100 other passengers. After booking in I went for a walk in the very warm and muggy evening. No footpaths to speak of in this part of town (Narita) and I almost fell down a manhole! (well not quite). During the walk I found a storm water manhole (approx 800dia), with a big heavy steel lid, open. So I had a look in. Most unusual to have something like that open. A bit further along found a second one open. Both quite proud of the ground, so really people would have to be very unlucky to fall in. However, further along was a third! open and flush with the ground. Much more of a hazard there.
After that I went to tea in the `cheap` restaurant in the hotel. As well as having their menu out the front they also have a display cabinet with models of their meals. The cabinet in front of the chinese restaurant had five little figurines on display as well. 3 were definitely Monkey, Sandy & Pigsy from Chinese mythology, although it wasn’t really clear who the other 2 were. Anyway, what do you have for tea in Japan. Like the old saying, when in Rome do as the Romans, so I had spaghetti. Well I would have had something a bit more local but they only seemed to have seafood, and I am not a great fan of seafood at the best of times.
11 hours to Tokyo, it was not as tedious as I thought it was going to be. To while away the time I kept a log of the flight using the passengers navigation system (a good toy).
Didn’t see Port Moresby as it was slightly off to the left (I was on the RHS). A lot of cloud was over New Guinea (as expected) but I could see the Owen Stanleys sticking through, very impressive and I didnt see the tallest part! I took some pictures but they never turn out as well as the actual view.
There was lots of cloud over the Coral sea/Pacific. We overflew Guam and although very cloudy I had worked out our ETA to within a minute. I couldn’t see anything out the window but there on the entertainment screen we passed smack over the airfield.
On then for about 5 more tedious hours over the water, to make landfall not far from Tokyo. Where we crossed the coast there were a string of wind generators clearly visible (and 2 golf courses). One was located completely on an island in a river.
Then we all got off the plane, after about 40 minutes waiting for a parking spot, into 33 degree 50% humidity. It is very sweaty. So much for being forced to wear a wind cheater this morning. Customs was a bit of a let down:
Customs Man "Where are you from, Sydney?"
SWK "and Adelaide before that"
Customs man "Go through then"
Obviously not much getting smuggled from Australia to Japan at the moment.
Got to the hotel along with about 100 other passengers. After booking in I went for a walk in the very warm and muggy evening. No footpaths to speak of in this part of town (Narita) and I almost fell down a manhole! (well not quite). During the walk I found a storm water manhole (approx 800dia), with a big heavy steel lid, open. So I had a look in. Most unusual to have something like that open. A bit further along found a second one open. Both quite proud of the ground, so really people would have to be very unlucky to fall in. However, further along was a third! open and flush with the ground. Much more of a hazard there.
After that I went to tea in the `cheap` restaurant in the hotel. As well as having their menu out the front they also have a display cabinet with models of their meals. The cabinet in front of the chinese restaurant had five little figurines on display as well. 3 were definitely Monkey, Sandy & Pigsy from Chinese mythology, although it wasn’t really clear who the other 2 were. Anyway, what do you have for tea in Japan. Like the old saying, when in Rome do as the Romans, so I had spaghetti. Well I would have had something a bit more local but they only seemed to have seafood, and I am not a great fan of seafood at the best of times.
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