Blogs from Narita, Chiba, Japan, Asia - page 2

I was fortunate enough to have a layover in Japan on my way to Chongqing. I arrived in Narita (Tokyo's main airport) early in the afternoon and didn't have to leave until the next morning. After checking into my hotel (Nikko Narita) I caught a bus into the town of Narita. I made my way to the Naritasan Shinshoji Temple. This temple is super old (founded in 940) and includes a lot of buildings on a large area of land. I walked around the grounds for a while and ended up getting VERY lost. The grounds are very beautiful and full of amazing landscaping! I highly recommend a visit to this temple if you have a layover in Narita. Even if only have a few hours (4 should be enough) you could easily see it! After ... read more

Day 6: Meeting CIEE Program 10:00am: I woke up, took shower, fixed self, went online, fixed bed, packed, wrote letter to Ate Reci & Aimi. 12:00pm: I left to go to the train station with my heavy suitcase, bookbag, and a plastic bag of clothes. 12:05pm: The train I took stopped at Minami-Urawa and changed to RAPID to Kamata. I left the train because Ate Reci said that if I'm unsure, leave the train. I went out of the train, back on, back out, walked to one side of the train platform, walked to the other side, looked at the signs, and finally I admitted I'm confused. I couldn't find the Omiya train. 12:15pm: I asked a stranger and my mind went Japanese blank...I panicked and pointed at the train and said in Japanese, "Excuse me, ... read more

After China trip, I think about airplane meals. Well, I had never taken Japanese Airplane before Beijing trip. Japanese friends often complained airplane meal except ANA or JAL because of the qualities. I remembered Continental Airline provided great meals when I went to Boston from Tokyo (10 years ago!!!) and Swiss Air had a huge choice of drink. I didn't think Japanese airlines did only provide nice meal. When we left for Beijing, it was first time for me to take JAL flight to Tokyo. We waited long time for getting on the plane, so I didn't expect great service this flight. Although it was short trip, they fed us good meal. I could choose the menu which I hadn't had so long time. All Asia trip, there were no choice of meal; you had to ... read more

Life in A traditional Ryokan (Guest House) I am used to taking of shoes in Asian houses but Japan takes it to a whole new level: First you take your shoes off at the front door; then you don green slippers to walk around the ryokan; then you take off your slippers to enter the bedrooms with tatami mat floors; then you don red slippers to enter the toilet; then you don wooden clogs (getas) to go to the restaurant near the front door. You have to be very mindful to make sure you have the right footwear in the right place. But it keeps the place clean and well maintained. Much appreciated after India. The futons a quite comfortable on the floor but I'm not sure about the pillows, basically a beanbag with no bounce ... read more

Quick first post.... touched down after an uneventful flight over. Good flight, JAL was great as always. Had two options of hot food for supper, I went with chicken and rice and washed it down with some not too bad red wine all complimentary of course. Met a guy from Korea who's heading back there for a bit, and watched the movie Iron Man about 2 and a half times. Made one rather large oops.. I ended up booking the wrong hotel here in Narita for my first night, so now I'm stuck in a very typical business class hotel (aka, TINY) in downtown Narita instead of the rather nice place I stayed the last time around. Had a bit of trouble figuring out the train system since I had to apparently use the local line, ... read more