As I sit at the desk here in my 12th floor hotel room somewhere in Tokyo, the best part of my day so far has been my visit to the 'loo' in my room where the Japanese really excel... heated toilet seats! Ahhhh, nice! :-) Having said that, there are too many other options available on my bathroom toilet that I will most likely not use but still, nothing like a warm, soft seat to greet one's behind after a 14hr flight and nearly 2hr bus ride to get to your hotel.
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| Freckles with me on bus ride - he's seeing the world! |
Let me back up a bit.... Started my day early in Long Valley. Rosie was out the door to work at ~0630 and I got picked up by my limo service right at 0730 for my ride to Newark. Did we really just get back from a very nice 6 days in Key West?? Granted, I was fighting illness (head cold/sinus infection) most of the trip but, still had a terrific time with Rosie, Russ and Trish.
My flight on Continental, CO flt#9, wasn't until 1110, but I didn't want to take any chances with traffic and decided on an early start. My driver, Carlos, decided to go the back way down to I-78 versus taking our chances on I-80. Was a very good decision. Although we did hit a couple of pockets of traffic, he still got me to Terminal C in Newark right at 0845. I-80 would have been much worse. During the ride I took a conference call with my Global Initiative teammates to discuss work for the upcoming week and it helped to start getting my head back in the game.
$80+$10tip later, I was checking my 2 bags at the Continental EliteAccess check-in counters. Boarding pass and passport in hand, went up to security - where there was literally almost no one, except for the TSA folks, in line - and went through easily.
For some reason, no automatic upgrades offered on this direct flight to Narita, Japan, on Continental's B777-200... at least not for SilverElite. If you wanted to upgrade, according to the gate attendant, I would have had to purchase the upgrade with miles/money online prior to showing up - oh well, the next time I fly Continental I'll be GoldElite; maybe that will make a difference.
Bought some breakfast and a starbucks while I waited to board. As an Elite traveler with Continental, boarding is now quite easy (at the expense of all other non-Elite travelers, of course) and I went straight back to my aisle seat, 45F, at the rear of the plane. I was hoping for an open row but, unfortunately, a Japanese man was sitting to my left in aisle seat 45D. That would have been OK normally but, he reeked of smoke and was chewing furiously on what I can only assume was nicotine gum.
Took off at ~1115 on our great circle route to Japan. I'll be getting just over 6,700 flight miles of credit on this hop as we chase the sun all the way to Narita. As on other long flights, I did a lot of sitting, standing, stretching, trying to sleep, watched free movies and ate whatever we got served up. The food really wasn't that bad at all. We had dinner first, followed by a chicken 'hot pocket' and ice cream snack at the 1/2 way point, finishing up with breakfast 1+30 before landing.
Touched down at Narita right at 1510 on Friday, 12/10 - 14hrs ahead of New Jersey time. Really uneventful flight - which is just fine with me - with a bit of turbulence here and there but, nothing bad.
After deplaning you follow the yellow signs to Arrivals and get in the immigration lines for initial screening. It's actually not too bad, the people are friendly and, the process is similar to most but, a bit different to what I've encountered so far on my travels. Not only do they stamp your passport and take your photo but, they also make you give fingerprints of your 2 index fingers in devices that scan your fingerprints into their system. From there you head to baggage claim, pick up your luggage and then, head over to queue up in the customs line for more questions about why/what/work for who/how long you staying types of questions before you're finally free and clear.
I wasn't sure what to expect as I walked out of the 'official' terminal area to the 'getting ready to leave' area. My last trip to Japan back in 2004, my cousin Hiro picked me up at the gate and took care of everything for me during the week I was there. This time, I exchanged some e-mails with Hiro asking questions about transportation from Narita to my hotel - he was unavailable to pick me up due to JAL commitments - and he recommended my taking a bus to the hotel as the most convenient, least costly and, most direct means of getting where I wanted to go.
As I exited the customs area, I took pause and scanned my surroundings. Didn't see anyplace to exchange or buy some Yen but, I did see the bus/limo check-in counters (there were quite a few windows) and walked over to them armed with my passport, corp. credit card and hotel name, the Grand Prince New Takanawa.
Turns out they have a very well organized bus service from Narita. When you queue up at whichever bus stop - mine was #13 - with your luggage, an employee of the transportation company sporting red coveralls comes up to you (speaking in Japanese mostly), looks at your purchased ticket, asks how many bags to check, checks those bags for you and passes you the stubs for claim later on. Kinda nice. Once the bus arrives - that same person wearing the red coverall comes to attention and announces the arrival of the bus - they load your bags while you jump on the bus... I have no idea about tipping protocols in Japan right now and will speak to Hiro about it later Saturday.
Bus got to our stop outside the terminal about 5mins late, no worries, every one's bags were loaded underneath the bus and we all boarded. Before the bus leaves the terminal, another person from the company gets on and holds up a sign with Japanese and English writing on it reminding everyone to 'buckle up'. Nice touch. :-)
My hotel was the last in the line of hotels the bus would stop at sequentially. 1+45 later I was checking in to the hotel at the bargain rate of 16,200Yen/night with no breakfast included... not much of a good deal negotiated by Dell. At least the Internet is free, albeit a hardwired connection and not wireless.
I'm tired. I plan on staying up until 2200ish, taking an Ambien, and going to bed. I've never taken a sleeping aide before and do so with some trepidation but, I really want to get back in time sync with Asia as soon as possible. My cousin Hiro will be picking me up tomorrow morning ~0900 and I'll spend the day with him and his family... can't wait! It'll be great seeing him, Reiko, Riko and Makoto (the baby).
More later, bye.
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