Tag: Narita

  • Last Day in Japan

    LAST DAY IN JAPAN

    Asahi Evening News (English Newspaper)

    Macs in their TV commercial

    09:30 Pick-up & Over to the Akasu’s

    Pictures of the family

    Mrs. Akasu’s family scroll

    • She has an Imperial background which is over 1000 yrs. old
    • The original scroll is in a museum

    Mrs. Akasu offered to me a bowl and (2) cups made by her great grand father over 150 yrs. ago

    Soba lunch with the whole family

    We looked at the pictures of my trip

    Mr. Akasu & Yuri accompanied/drove me to the Bus terminal

    “Normal” traffic for a Sunday

    Under the Overpasses, they have set-up areas where people can play baseball, basketball, etc.

    At the Airport

    The Concierge lounge was as packed as the main terminal

    Mailed my Post Cards via a gate person/women

    17:55 – UA Flt#801 – Tokyo/Narita->Hong Kong (11H)

    On the plane to Hong Kong

    Walter ???, sat in the chair to the left of me. (See Bus. card)

    Hong Kong the First Night

    Stuffed into Buses

    Customs

    Dad and Brian meet me at the airport

    Staying in the Grand Hyatt

    Nightcap

    The waitress was Filipino and I got her to try and teach me some words

    • Shea Shea – Thank you (Mandarin)
    • Doo Chea – Thank you (Cantonese)
    • Salamack – Thank you (Filipino)

    – Andrew
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  • Arrive Tokyo/Narita

    We finally arrived at Narita airport just as the sun was going down. I got to see some of the southern part before it was too dark.

    Getting through the airport was a breeze. My luggage was the first off, and there was no problems with customs.

    Mr. Akasu and another gentleman picked me up, and drove me to the hotel.

    On the way to the hotel, we passed the Indoor Skiing place. I was told that it contained a 300 ft. slope, and was open year round.

    I was also amazed to see children, and single women freely walking or riding bikes around after dark.

    I also noticed many vending machines, that serve food, beer, cigs, etc. They are all over the place!

    We finally arrived at the Dai-Ichi Hotel Hikarigaoka around 20:00 . I was checked into Room 612, and said good night to Mr. Akasu.

    I got to the room, unpacked and crawled into bed.

    While laying in bed, I was channel surfing, and I came across a show that had people sitting in wooden tubs, and they would have liquid poured over them, and I think they had to guess what the mixture was.

    Another scene had the contestants running through corn fields, and strapped to their back was a 6 ft long bamboo shaft attached to the persons back, with a little yellow flag attached. They would then end at a table which had different plates of food covered with tops, and once again they had to guess what it was.

    I think I finally fell asleep around 22:00 P (Local)

  • Start of the Adventure

    10:00 - UA Flt#195 - Philadelphia->Chicago/Ohare (2B)
    12:30 - UA Flt#881 - Chicago/Ohare->Tokyo/Narita (3A)

    Once again, I managed to sleep through my alarm!

    Holly woke me up with her phone call.

    We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare.

    I checked in and went to the First Class lounge, were I had two cups of Cappuccino and then called Brian with a final check in.

    On the plan from Phily to Chicago, I noticed a very tall black man moving through the First Class cabin.

    As he took off his long leather jacket, first I noticed that the jacket was as tall as I was! I also realized that it was Julius Erving!! a.k.a. “Dr. J”!!

    The flight for the most part was uneventful. The gentleman next to me, did have a death grip on his seat during some of the turbulence.

    In Chicago, Dad was waiting for me at the gate, and then we headed to the First Class lounge. We did wait and see “Dr. J”.

    Finally, we got on the plan for Tokyo and we settled in. Your personal area was huge! One could fit another seat in front of you.

    The first meal that was served seemed to me endless. Caviar, smoked salmon, crackers, cheese, fruit, etc.

    For my main meal, I got the Japanese meal which actually turned out to be quite large, and had some beef! After that, there was another round of cheese & fruit, then the desert, which I did not partake in.

    The two movies shown were “Speed” and “The Shadow”. I had already seen “Speed” on my trip to LA last week.

    I was never able to sleep during the plane trip. I tried on several occasions, but I would sleep for 5-10 minutes and then wake up!

    I do remember flying over parts of Alaska. The endless ranges of snow covered mountains. So isolated. Nothing in sight. Just snow and mountains.

    – Andrew
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