RadioRoryAnother one of my nerdy obsessions (boy…these are adding up!) is airplanes. It’s probably better to say airlines than airplanes. During this trip, I was hoping to catch a ride on Boeing’s new 787, the Dreamliner. Just my luck, one was heading from Hong Kong to Tokyo. This was an Ethiopian Airlines flight that started in Addis Ababa, stopped in Hong Kong, and then continued to Tokyo. It’s a state-run airline and they are trying to step up their game by adding bigger, more efficient planes like the 787.
Gotta say, I was expecting more whiz-bang out of the plane, but it really wasn’t all that different. It also had the ugliest green, orange, and yellow color scheme inside. The push-button tinting windows are cool and the cabin air is more comfortable, but it was equipped with old-school cloth seats that were obviously brought in from another plane. To make it worse, there are no overhead fans. I guess I’m like the dog in the car…I like a cool breeze on my nose. Still, I got my exit row seat and my little video screen so I was happy to settle in for the six-hour flight.
I was so focused on the plane ride that I didn’t really spend enough time on the logistics of landing in Tokyo at night.
This is where my trip went off the rails.
I scouted out the train that runs from Narita Airport to downtown, the N’EX, but I didn’t look at the hours of operation. I learned the hard way that the train stopped running for the day about two-hours before I landed. The lady at the ticket counter tried to help, but this is where the language barrier came into play. She handed me a map and circled a few things and sent me off on the regular subway. At this point in the trip, I’m no subway expert and Tokyo’s extensive, spaghetti-like rail network is not for beginners.
While riding on the train (after first getting on the wrong one) I finally understood that the map I was given isn’t to scale and the distance between train stops is huge. It’s dark, I’m in a foreign country, don’t speak the language, can’t read the signs, understand the conductor, and don’t know when to get off the train. All this while lugging around an enormous bag that screams “TOURIST!!” (aka TARGET!!)
I’m starting to wish I just got that pricey cab from the airport because I’m really getting worried.
Quickly realizing panic helps no one, I took an educated guess and got off the train at a safe-looking stop where a lot of other people also got off. It’s now 10:30, 11-ish and I still don’t know where I am. Add to this…I have no money! At least no Japanese currency.
Turns out, I got off the train at a large retail center, but it was closed for the night. After pulling on a few locked doors, I found both an exit and an ATM and three or four taxis parked outside. *whew!*
It’s always reassuring when your cabbie nods when you tell them the name of the hotel or the address.
Not so lucky this time.
Even the GPS had us all turned around and he had to call the hotel to figure out how to get there. (The hotel is on a major street, but the entrance is on a side street that’s not in the GPS).
I finally get to the hotel just before midnight and all I want is a beer and a chance for my blood pressure to come down.
Of course, it’s late and the bar is closed.
All hope was not lost. Japan is crazy for vending machines and just down the hall from my room a machine sold cans of beer and even beer snacks in beer cans (brilliant, right!?!).