Day2 Chapter1 : Narita - Haneda - Kushiro

Date : 12th May 2006
Location : Japan (Honshu & Hokkaido)
Weather : Cloudy, 16-19°C

By early dawn (like 430-500 am), oneesan-tachi switched on all the cabin lights. Damn, I hate being woken up by glaring lights. It hadn't been a peaceful sleep, but at least I had some rest. Breakfast was served: I had pasta with chicken sausage, served with bread&butter and orange pudding with a choice of Japanese ocha. Not wanting to miss the inflight entertainment, I watched NANA while eating. nyahahaha. I simply love Nakashima Mika's rendition of "Glamorous Sky". Saikou. I was anticipating Reira Trapnest's performance of "Endless Story" when the captain halted all inflight operations in preparation for landing -_-'''

Although lack of sleep had me feeling a bit crappy, I was feeling very excited as well. Thanks to the pilot's skillful landing, we safely touched down in Narita Airport, Tokyo at 735 am, Japan time. I was already very eager to clear the customs and see Tokyo, but the quarantine and immigration clearance took almost an hour. So THIS is Tokyo. Loads and loads of people. After clearing the customs, we went to the washroom to freshen up before our next leg of journey to Kushiro, Hokkaido. Upon recommendation by Mum's Japanese friend, we rented a keitai (handphone) from a local service provider ABC (that is really the company's name, no kidding). Just in case we get lost in the mountains of Kushiro, we can still call for help......


Sony Ericsson keitai. Very very light! Background is JR East rail map.

Having that done, we also checked out the maps available and the JR train services around Tokyo. I wanted to get hold of their latest route maps and timetable so that we can plan our Tokyo itinerary according to the train schedules.

Since our next flight is a domestic flight, we had to travel to Haneda Airport from Narita. I had found out that there are airport limousines (a.k.a. shuttle buses) that ferry passengers from Narita to Haneda. So approaching the counter, I took a deep breath and put my Japanese into good use. Fortunately for me, I was assisted by a very nice ojisan (uncle), and could get the tickets easily with minimal Japanese conversation -_<. For the rather short distance, it costs 3,000 yen per person. One way. The service was nonetheless pleasant, 2-3 porters immediately received us when we came to the bus queue and took care of our bags so that we can comfortably board the bus. They tagged our bags and gave us the corresponding redemption tag. Initially I was like a bit sua pa (naive in Hokkien). After they tagged my luggage, I took it with me to the 'human' queue. The guy porter was like running after me and waving frantically to leave my luggage with them at the 'luggage queue'. Hazukashii. The bus arrived right on time and the porters efficiently put all our bags in the boot while we boarded the bus. I like the system because it is very efficient and smooth, and the bus is soooo clean and comfy (hint: good for napping :P) When the bus pulled out, all the porters would bow low to the passengers in the moving bus. What refined culture.

During the journey to Haneda Airport, there was not much fascinating view because the bus took the expressway. In the end, I slept thru out most of the 55 mins journey.

We arrived at Terminal 2 of Haneda Airport, but was too early to check. So, we hunted for food. Inside Haneda, there's an atrium of 5 levels occupied solely by restaurants. Japanese restaurants, Western-style taverns, American-style burger outlets, Izakaya, confectionary... you name it. All of which looked terribly delicious - but also terribly expensive. A bowl of soba noodles can cost more than 1,300 yen. Takai sugiru. So, we end up having lunch Japanese-traveler-style: obento from a handy deli. They had all kinds of bento: from the traditional packed bento, to onigiri, to sandwiches and unique local snacks. All the bentos were fresh & cheap. I had a 950 yen bento, consisting of red bean glutinuos-like rice, a few slices of barbequed chicken meat and delicious pickles. Based on what I saw in animes, customers can actually ask the tenin (shop assistant) to heat up the bento box so that the food is warm upon consumption. I wanted to eat warm bento but had a problem -- how do I ask the tenin to warm it up? Obviously the obasan (auntie) doesn't speak a word of English, but I see the microwave behind her.

"Ano, bento ga atatakakute mo ii desuka?" I asked in my half-baked Japanese. My grammar is like sooo wrong and I sounded sooo gaikokujin (foreigner). The obasan shook her head adamantly, crossed her arms and curtly waved off this gaikokujin. I was like thinking, "So mean, you obasan!! Make me eat cold bento. T_T" Not wanting to give up on warm bento, I resorted to sign language and pointed at the microwave behind her. Yet again, no. Mattaku. I ended up eating cold bento, although delicious but was c.o.l.d. >.<

After each of us had selected & purchased our bento, we sat at a 'secluded' bench overlooking the escalators and itadakimasu! Ok, I said 'secluded' because it seems that in Japan, or at least the Airport, people don't eat packed food in the open. Or so I thought. We were told that Japanese don't walk and eat at the same time, and should refrain from doing so at the streets. They might find it offensive if we eat at the waiting area or something. Very unlike my hometown, where you can eat anywhere you want, nobody cares :P

After filling in on the bento, we went up to the 5th floor observatory point where there is a fantastic view of the Haneda Airport runway and the Tokyo Bay. The vista is simply beautiful. From there, we can see the ANA, JAL planes taking off every 5 mins and using the binoculars provided, we can actually get a closed up view of the Tokyo Bay (and also the pilot!! :P). Totemo kirei deshita. What was most amusing to me was the Pokemon ANA plane. A Pokemon plane!! With red balls as decorations on the engines. I don't know if it was funny or absurd. But that aside, the wind was cool, the sun was out and the view was simply lovely. We hung around at the observatory for a while, enjoying the view before checking in for our flight to Kushiro.


Pokemon plane - so brightly painted. I wonder what the interior is like....

The check-in lobby gave a superb view of the myriad Japanese society. There were students in large throngs queueing (presumably off to some place for school trip), middle school cheerleaders (a game at another prefecture maybe?), old local couples taking their leisurely time to travel around the country (Haneda IS a domestic airport anyway), business travelers, etc and not forgetting gaikokujins like us. And gawd, the things that are checked in... dogs, baby carriages, cats, you name it. The airport service does seem customer-oriented!

Inside the departure hall, we strolled towards our gate, stopping at the shops along the way. Japanese green tea is a staple drink in Japan, and boy, do they sell green tea like mineral water! There are so many brands ranging from Suntory to Kirin to Itoen and the packagings are compact and user-friendly. I like the 350ml bottle ones: they are so cute and easy to carry.

We then wandered to a small mise (shop) selling magazines, snacks and *ahem* Tokyo peach cheese cake. The saleswoman, an obasan, was very friendly and kept convincing us to buy the cheese cake. She kept emphasizing TOKYO PEACH CHEESE cake. She spoke smattering English, so I attempted a Japanese kaiwa (conversation) with her.

Obasan : Sumimasen, eigo dekimasen.
Me : Watashi wa nihongo sukoshi dake wakarimasu kedo...

In the end, we had quite an enjoyable conversation... and we bought the TOKYO PEACH CHEESE cake :P In my defense, it was delicious!!!
Then, Mum realized there's no knife to cut the cake, so told me to ask the obasan for a disposable knife. I confidently opened my mouth to ask... then froze. How should I ask??

Me : Naifu ga arimasuka?
Obasan : Aa, *animatedly saying a whole lot of stuff I don't understand*
Me : .....
Obasan : Katto? (does an exaggerated action of cutting the cake, which I assume means "want to cut the cake into pieces?")
Me : Iie, iie. Ano, nan darou... 'Disposable' naifu ga arimasuka? Hoteru de kirimasu kara.. Hoteru no heya ni naifu ga arimasen kara.... (starts to fluster and say redundant stuff)
Obasan : *blank stare, then enlightenment* Aa! Hoteru ni naifu ga arimasu yo. Uketsuke ni naifu wo karite mo ii yo. *starts to elaborate on it which I only understood like 50%*

A female tenin inside the mise saved the day when she waved a disposable knife towards our direction. She must've probably been thinking "taihen datta ne.. ano gaikokujin wa," Haha. But it was quite fun conversing with the obasan. Thanks to LJ81 Japanese Lvl2, I'm getting somewhere in communicating with the Japanese community! Yoshi.. trial kaiwa passed satisfactorily. Hokkaido, here I come!

(onwards to Chapter2 of Day2...)

～みはる～