After no more than four hours of sleep the previous night, I headed to the airport. The 2:10PM flight worked well. No traffic or lines in Metro Airport. Only took a minute to print out my boarding pass at the machine. I did get one of my liquid containers taken away from me because it was 4oz, over the limit of 3.5oz. I noticed my gate and plane was front and center in the terminal, lined up with the fountain right at the midpoint. Must be one of the most important flights at the airport to have that spot.
After takeoff, I noticed we flew over Walled Lake and White Lake. I took a photo of WL Central High School, Williams Lake Rd, and the Oakland County airport area. It was kind of tough to photograph since we were traveling over 400 miles per hour.
The NWA flight was on time, but long. It seemed like an older plane. There were no individual TV screens in the back of the seat with choices of movies/TV shows, instead just one big screen with no choices. I was hoping to sleep, but wasn’t too easy. The sun followed us the entire time, making it one long day.
Narita Airport seemed empty when I arrived at 4PM. There was no line through customs. I got into the country without any return/onward ticket, despite the travel agency’s warnings. First step was the ATM, and second stop was getting my Rail Pass. There is a train station right in the airport, so I can start using the pass right away. The people at the Travel Service Center were really nice and helpful and I was even able to buy tickets for an exposition this weekend.
The fastest train to the city takes 1 hour. It went past some really nice houses. I thought, oh yeah, Japan sure is a rich country! One guy walks in with a sword on his back, sits down and starts reading a comic book. My first "Only in Japan" moment! I arrive at the central Tokyo station in the height of rush hour, but things weren’t as crowded as I expected. After China, I can’t say it is too bad riding the trains here.
The biggest thing I notice here is how quiet everything is. I left the last station to get to my hotel and could see lots of other people walking around, but it was almost dead silence. For example, compared to China you’d hear a constant honking of horns, sounds of constant construction, and people yelling into their phones. I barely saw anyone actually talk into their phones, but nearly everyone has a phone up to their face texting someone.
I found my hotel, filled in a short form, paid the money, and got my key. I thought that was fast. No instructions or explanation of rules. Well, pretty efficient. It was almost 7PM by the time I got to my room. I was so tired after being awake for 24 hours that I went to sleep right away.
(I’ll get some photos online next time)