Making connections

Airport runway in Japan

I woke up at 3:20 AM from my hot and humid room in Manila in order to make my flight to Japan at 6:25 AM. Getting a taxi just outside Malate Pensione House was easy as they operate all night long. My taxi driver was great and didn’t try to rip me off like my first one.

My itinerary was to go from Manila to Nagoya Japan, and then to Narita Japan. At Manila airport, I went through three security checkpoints which I thought it was a little overkill but its better than too few. My almost 4 hour flight to Japan was painless (after having flown 15 hour flights, 4 hours is nothing). In Nagoya, I was to just connecting to a flight to Narita Japan. Should be straight forward, right?

At the Nagoya airport, I followed the “Domestic Connecting Flights” signs to Immigration where I waited for a good amount of time. Passing Immigration, I was in the baggage claim area. Huh? I asked a person working at the airport where I should go and he immediately told me I’m in the wrong place. I wasn’t supposed to go through Immigration in Nagoya, I should do it in Narita. He quickly did the paper work to correct this but this meant I had to be in the right place. Another worker led me pass customs and told me to go to gate “2”.

Upstairs there were several different sections labeled “2”. I had no clue which she meant as her English wasn’t that good, and having most signage in Japanese didn’t help. I approached a security guard, handed him what paperwork I had, and asked him where I should go. He asked someone else to tell me in better English and pointed at the “International Connecting Flights”. Oh, ok. My thought was that since I am connecting from one city in Japan to another Japanese city, I should go to “Domestic Connecting Flights”. Perhaps I was thinking about it too much.

The guard encouraged me to hurry up, as I only had 20 minutes before my flight departed; boarding had already started. Thankfully there was a small line at the security checkpoint. I heard my name on the paging system telling me to go to gate 2. As much as I wanted to rush through security, I couldn’t. Thankfully, no issues. I then I ran to another checkpoint. Waited in line. My name paged again. Showed my paperwork and went onto the gates. I was greeted by an airline worker asking me if I was Jason Jue. “Yes!” I replied. She radioed into someone but that faded in the distance as I ran towards my gate. At my gate the lady there re-comfirmed my name and seat number quickly scanned my boarding pass. I ran from the gate to the plane with a sense of relief. I was okay, I was going to make my flight.

In the plane, the flight attendant re-confirmed my name and seat number. Embarrassingly, I walked into a packed plane where everyone was already seated and ready to take off. There was only one seat open, 41C, mine. Shortly after I sat down, the pilot announced we can start going. Despite all the rush, we remained on the ground for at least 30 minutes waiting for permission to take off from the control tower.

At Narita airport, getting around and finding what I wanted was no problem. I exchanged the last US currency I had and unfortunately they wouldn’t exchange Philippine pesos. My guidebook suggested I go to the tourist info desk where I was able to obtain maps and even a English to Japanese phrase book. In Japan, they really try to make a foreigners visit as easy as possible.

After I got all my things together, I went outside to the bus stop to catch a bus to the Grand Hyatt in Roppongi where my friend Shawn works. One thing I did know I wasn’t prepared for was the cold weather. And, I did feel the chill waiting outside. The bus arrived punctually and was easy to use as all the instructions and the marquee was also in English. The bus told you where to get off and what stop was next.

Shawn's office building -- Mori tower in Roppongi.

Roppongi has good nightlife for the younger tourist, and the complex Shawn works at is very clean, new, and modern. Seeing Shawn was refreshing as it seems like a while since I’ve seen an old from from back home. He was very busy at work, and told me to hang tight for a few hours. I got his cell phone and walked around the area.

Taxis are notoriously expensive.

After walking for sometime, I stopped at a coffee shop called Excelsior. After looking at the logo and looking around, it became apparent to me I was in a Starbucks knockoff. The quality of the coffee was about the same quality of Starbucks -- nothing spectacular.

Taeko and I at Yakitori restaurant

At about the time I expected a call from Shawn, I got a call. I wasn’t sure if I should answer it because it wasn’t Shawn’s work number. I did, and it was a girl on the other end. I told her I’m not Shawn and just his friend using his phone. The person I was talking to said her name was Taeko. Taeko! It was my other Japanese friend I was going to meet up with.

Jacqueline, Shawn, and I enjoy good food

We met up and at the same time Shawn called me saying he was ready to leave work. We all met up and walked to a small Yakitori restaurant. No tourists were in there and people looked at my a little funny. We ate various skewers including -- quail eggs, vegetables, and seared chicken among other things -- dipped in minced radish with a raw quail egg on it. Everything, including the nice cold beer we had, was delicious. While eating, Shawn’s fiance Jacqueline joined us for dinner.

Seared chicken yakitori. Very tasty, very tender.

We went back to Shawn’s place after dinner. After unpacking a little, I took a nice hot shower. This was my first clean, hot, freshwater shower I’ve had in about two months and it was refreshing to a point that it can’t be described. I felt 100% clean. Something that became so common to me in the US I now cherish like shade in a hot desert.

- jason