It's that time again - we're on vacation and sharing our trip details with you. We woke up in Calgary at 4 am on Thursday, August 28, 2014 after a two hour nap after we had finished our packing for the 8 day trip of Japan.
Sarim had offered to give us a ride to the airport so after quick showers, we were on our way to the airport at 4:30 am. It was just a 20 minute ride in the wee hours of the morning since there was virtually no traffic on the roads. After checking in with Delta airlines, we passed through US pre-clearance immigration and since I now have a NEXUS card, the usual mandatory secondary inspection because of my Pakistani passport was waived and we were at our gate well ahead of takeoff time. We shared a Tim Horton's bagel and coffee while waiting at the gate. Our first flight was to Minneapolis and it took off on time around 7 am. After a comfortable 2.5 hours of flying time during which we caught up on sleep, we landed in Minneapolis. We had a 4 hour layover before our next flight.
Coming to the US always reminds us of the most significant difference between the US and Canada - the super size effect. Everything in the US is bigger, more spacious and cheaper. We were at the terminal one of the airport which is the hub for Delta airlines. The terminal has a mall and a wide variety of restaurants and food court options. We had Chinese food at Wok n Roll and then walked around the airport. I checked my office email and had to reply to a few emails so did that and then we walked some more. Then we had a spicy chicken burger at Chick Fil-A which used to be our favorite chicken sandwich in California so it brought back some memories.
Then we made our way to the gate where all tables had iPads on them for free use. They were placed there by the adjoining bar/restaurant and you could even order something using the iPad and pay for it too. We browsed the internet till boarding at 2:20 pm and then boarded the plane.
It was a spacious Airbus 330 aircraft and our seats were close to the back of the plane. After settling down, we checked the options on the seat entertainment screens and saw a varied offering that looked promising to keep us occupied during the 12 hour long flight.
The flight took off on time around 2:50 pm. We decided to not sleep too much during the flight since it was night time in Japan and we wanted to avoid jet lag. We were served two meals, one snack and a couple of beverages spaced over the 12 hours and the food was decent. It wasn't as great as the food served on European or Middle Eastern airlines but was more bland like the food served on longer North American flights. We saw 3 complete movies and half of the 4th movie between the meal breaks. The first movie that we saw was "Million Dollar Arm" that is based on the true story of two indian boys' journey of traveling to the US and joining Major League Baseball. The second movie was the acclaimed Bollywood movie "The Lunchbox" that was also thoroughly enjoyable. Then we decided to watch "Memoirs of a Geisha" which is a chronicle of the life of a Japanese Geisha living in Kyoto around the time of the Second World War. It was quite instructive about how these misunderstood artists of an old way of life struggled in a complicated society conflicted between traditions and modern pulls. We'll share more about the Geisha when we visit the ancient Imperial Capital city of Kyoto later in our trip.
It was a relief to touch down in Japan at the Narita International Airport as the long flight took its toll, specially on our legs despite several stretching/walking breaks. The local time was 4:45 pm on Friday. Our disembarkation experience was very smooth and we were quite impressed by all the specially designed electronic machines used for different purposes by the officials. Everything is streamlined and organized. The most striking feature is the cleanliness followed by a close second - politeness/helpfulness of the people. Then we exchanged our pre-paid vouchers that we had purchased in Canada for Japan Rail passes. These unlimited ride passes for a week work on all Japan Rail (JR) high-speed trains throughout Japan and are much cheaper than buying individual train rides. We took the JR Narita Express at 6:15 pm and reached Tokyo at 7:26 pm. Narita Airport is actually on the outskirts of the Tokyo metropolitan area and is technically a different city. We got off at the Shinagawa Station and then walked to our hotel that's connected to the station through overhead walkways. The entire station and the nearby buildings are interconnected and have scores of shops and stores. Since it was a Friday evening, we saw hundreds of people dressed in suits briskly walking to catch their trains home.
Our hotel is very modern and we were lucky to get a high-floor room on the 31st floor that has the view of the tall buildings of Tokyo. The skyline comprising tall lit-up buildings looks very impressive against the dark sky. In size, the room is on the smaller side, specially compared to North American standards but it's very comfortable. There are several electronic features that we haven't seen anywhere else. For instance, the washroom mirror is heated in an oval section in the center so that the steam from a hot shower won't cloud the mirror.
Japan is an interesting country with a rich history and a unique culture. It's the 10th largest nation in the world with about 130 million people. It's the second largest island nation after Indonesia and most people live on the 4 main islands. We'll only visit 3 cities on the most populated island of Honshu during our trip. A 100 million people live on the Honshu island and most of them are located in the Tokyo and Osaka metropolitan areas. With a population of around 38 million, Tokyo is the largest metropolitan area in the world and has around 10 different downtown areas. If Tokyo was a country of the world, it would have a larger population than about 170 countries of the world! We are really excited and look forward to exploring it.
We went to sleep early since we were really tired after the long journey. Till the next update, take care and good night!
Sarim had offered to give us a ride to the airport so after quick showers, we were on our way to the airport at 4:30 am. It was just a 20 minute ride in the wee hours of the morning since there was virtually no traffic on the roads. After checking in with Delta airlines, we passed through US pre-clearance immigration and since I now have a NEXUS card, the usual mandatory secondary inspection because of my Pakistani passport was waived and we were at our gate well ahead of takeoff time. We shared a Tim Horton's bagel and coffee while waiting at the gate. Our first flight was to Minneapolis and it took off on time around 7 am. After a comfortable 2.5 hours of flying time during which we caught up on sleep, we landed in Minneapolis. We had a 4 hour layover before our next flight.
Coming to the US always reminds us of the most significant difference between the US and Canada - the super size effect. Everything in the US is bigger, more spacious and cheaper. We were at the terminal one of the airport which is the hub for Delta airlines. The terminal has a mall and a wide variety of restaurants and food court options. We had Chinese food at Wok n Roll and then walked around the airport. I checked my office email and had to reply to a few emails so did that and then we walked some more. Then we had a spicy chicken burger at Chick Fil-A which used to be our favorite chicken sandwich in California so it brought back some memories.
Then we made our way to the gate where all tables had iPads on them for free use. They were placed there by the adjoining bar/restaurant and you could even order something using the iPad and pay for it too. We browsed the internet till boarding at 2:20 pm and then boarded the plane.
It was a spacious Airbus 330 aircraft and our seats were close to the back of the plane. After settling down, we checked the options on the seat entertainment screens and saw a varied offering that looked promising to keep us occupied during the 12 hour long flight.
The flight took off on time around 2:50 pm. We decided to not sleep too much during the flight since it was night time in Japan and we wanted to avoid jet lag. We were served two meals, one snack and a couple of beverages spaced over the 12 hours and the food was decent. It wasn't as great as the food served on European or Middle Eastern airlines but was more bland like the food served on longer North American flights. We saw 3 complete movies and half of the 4th movie between the meal breaks. The first movie that we saw was "Million Dollar Arm" that is based on the true story of two indian boys' journey of traveling to the US and joining Major League Baseball. The second movie was the acclaimed Bollywood movie "The Lunchbox" that was also thoroughly enjoyable. Then we decided to watch "Memoirs of a Geisha" which is a chronicle of the life of a Japanese Geisha living in Kyoto around the time of the Second World War. It was quite instructive about how these misunderstood artists of an old way of life struggled in a complicated society conflicted between traditions and modern pulls. We'll share more about the Geisha when we visit the ancient Imperial Capital city of Kyoto later in our trip.
It was a relief to touch down in Japan at the Narita International Airport as the long flight took its toll, specially on our legs despite several stretching/walking breaks. The local time was 4:45 pm on Friday. Our disembarkation experience was very smooth and we were quite impressed by all the specially designed electronic machines used for different purposes by the officials. Everything is streamlined and organized. The most striking feature is the cleanliness followed by a close second - politeness/helpfulness of the people. Then we exchanged our pre-paid vouchers that we had purchased in Canada for Japan Rail passes. These unlimited ride passes for a week work on all Japan Rail (JR) high-speed trains throughout Japan and are much cheaper than buying individual train rides. We took the JR Narita Express at 6:15 pm and reached Tokyo at 7:26 pm. Narita Airport is actually on the outskirts of the Tokyo metropolitan area and is technically a different city. We got off at the Shinagawa Station and then walked to our hotel that's connected to the station through overhead walkways. The entire station and the nearby buildings are interconnected and have scores of shops and stores. Since it was a Friday evening, we saw hundreds of people dressed in suits briskly walking to catch their trains home.
Our hotel is very modern and we were lucky to get a high-floor room on the 31st floor that has the view of the tall buildings of Tokyo. The skyline comprising tall lit-up buildings looks very impressive against the dark sky. In size, the room is on the smaller side, specially compared to North American standards but it's very comfortable. There are several electronic features that we haven't seen anywhere else. For instance, the washroom mirror is heated in an oval section in the center so that the steam from a hot shower won't cloud the mirror.
Japan is an interesting country with a rich history and a unique culture. It's the 10th largest nation in the world with about 130 million people. It's the second largest island nation after Indonesia and most people live on the 4 main islands. We'll only visit 3 cities on the most populated island of Honshu during our trip. A 100 million people live on the Honshu island and most of them are located in the Tokyo and Osaka metropolitan areas. With a population of around 38 million, Tokyo is the largest metropolitan area in the world and has around 10 different downtown areas. If Tokyo was a country of the world, it would have a larger population than about 170 countries of the world! We are really excited and look forward to exploring it.
We went to sleep early since we were really tired after the long journey. Till the next update, take care and good night!
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