After leaving Sydney at 9:30pm, nine and a half hours later we finally arrived at Narita Aiport, Tokyo!!
It was a fairly uneventful flight (a good thing I guess when you consider the alternative!) but as usual sleep was hard to come by. Scared the crap out of myself when we touched down! We were sitting in the middle set of seats so I couldn’t see out a window. I was quite engrossed in a great magazine and had no idea we were about to hit the runway until I heard (and felt) an almighty BANG!! Just about soiled myself right there…
Narita was a bit of a surprise to be honest. I’ve no idea why, but I expected it to be bright, shiny, new and full of modern technology. I couldn’t have been further from the truth! Although extremely clean (a common thing over here!) it’s obviously seen better times! No complaints, but not quite the introduction to Japan that I was expecting.
To avoid the peak hour rush we decided to delay our trip into Tokyo and freshen up with a shower instead. Very interesting experience! The rooms were very small, but had everything you could want. After freshening up I found myself to be greeted by the first piece of the quirky Japan that I was really looking forward to experiencing…
My teeth aren’t just white…they’re HAPPY WHITE!!!
Not sure why the room key had a bell on it either…perhaps bears are a problem in public showers over here…?? http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/hiking/bear-protection-gear3.htm
Here’s a shot of the room; shower, toilet (I haven’t been brave enough to try any of the bidet buttons yet!) and trough (which Karen later informed me that she had used as storage space for her shampoo and conditioner bottles….let’s just say she won’t be doing that again!!).
Feeling a little perkier, we then managed to successfully navigate our way onto a train that took us through the outer suburbs of Tokyo, without us falling asleep, to our destination in Asakusa!