Classy & Clean Narita

 

 

 

Here is our view on the way to Tokyo's Narita International Airport. It is gorgeous!
 

I have traveled a lot. And I do mean A LOT! My entire life, I have been on.the.go.  I flew alone as a very young child and am completely comfortable on almost any plane, anywhere. I have moved over 21 times. It is totally crazy to most people, but it is my normal. My brats think it is normal too.

 

Having been mobile my whole life, I have visited seen quite a few airports. I have flown internationally, been delayed hours on end and even had to sleep in an airport or two.  

We, unexpectedly, had to go back to the US. We had to fly commercial out of Narita International Airport in Tokyo. This airport is just such a testament to the quality of the Japanese people.
 

Narita is a massive, sparkling clean, very modern airport. Why would I want to tell you about an airport? Well, because the Japanese do it RIGHT when it comes to shopping at transportation hubs. These are just a few of my bags ---->

I'm here to tell you, Japan knows how to pack in greatness wherever you have to travel. At train stations across the country you will find some of the greatest places to eat, freshest groceries and nicest bathrooms. It is actually a pleasure to travel.

You know what it is like to travel, right? You are stressed and hurried. You are wondering who in the world designed an airport where the bathrooms are miles away from the restaurants.

Helll-lllooo, do people not see the connection between these two places? Then, when you have been stuck in the airport for hours and decide to get a bite to eat, you realize you may need to take out a loan to get a hamburger. It is THAT expensive to eat at an airport. Well, not in Japan.

I'm here to tell you, Japan knows how to pack in greatness wherever you have to travel. At train stations across the country you will find some of the greatest places to eat, freshest groceries and nicest bathrooms. It is actually a pleasure to travel.

The Narita airport is nothing but relaxing. Yes, relaxing.  From chocolate covered potato chips to a Pokemon painted airplane, the kids had a blast in the airport. The prices are shockingly... normal! We bought several fun items, like random KitKat flavors and candy making kits. We even found a few quirky candies for the kids to try. All at the same prices we would pay in town at regular stores. They do not mark up items at the airports here.
 

In the so-clean-you-can-eat-off-the-floor bathrooms, there are 'toddler chairs' in each stall. This chair, which I know looks a tad like a urinal, is a safe and clean place to put that kiddo while you do your business.

There is also a random little sign that ensures you know the "proper posture" to use while using their potty. Umm, I have no comment on this one. Just passing on info.

The Wifi is fast and it is FREE. That is the only way our kids get Wifi because, well, because I am cheap. Oh,  did I mention, that the carts are all FREE and everywhere you look? Plus, they have people to check you in within minutes of going through the door. In the US you have to be at the airport at least two hours earlier than your flight to have enough time to check in, get through the long lines at security and get down to the gates. If you are flying to an international location, you are supposed to be there 4 hours ahead of time. In Japan, you only have to get there early if you want to shop. Seriously, you walk straight through security. There are no lines, no lines at all. Even the small shops in the airport have numerous employees to help keep you from waiting. It is truly refreshing.
 

There are recycling bins all along the way. Typical Japan.  For those of you who have never traveled to Europe or Asia, they do recycling SO much better than we do in the States. I'm not exactly sure why. I doubt you can tell but this recycling is for: Newspaper/Magazine, PET Bottle (plastic bottle), Bottle (glass), and Can. They even have pictures so young kids can recycle too.

What they don't do well, or I guess that depends on how you feel about smoking. Here is the "Smoking Room" at Narita. It is for adults only, and you don't smell or see smoke anywhere. It is this way all over Japan, but it is still fascinating to see it.

A few more gates down from the smoking room you can find the "Nursery". I went inside, because come on you know that is exactly what I would do. I wanted to see what it looked like and... well, I wanted to see all the adorable Japanese babies. (I would so take home a few of those sweet faces if someone wanted to give me a couple!) Well, wouldn't you know it. Inside there was a beautiful, relaxing oasis for moms and dads. There was a private area for breastfeeding, free diapers, a sink, filtered water and samples of formulas. It was awesome!

There are 'priority' chairs in the airport similar to the ones on the trains. The chairs are reserved for elderly, sick, pregnant or those with babies. We have never seen the chairs used by anyone who did not need the chair. That would be dishonest.

When Japanese travel they want to be seen as classy and respectable because they feel like they are representing their homeland. Throughout the airport you see men in suits, women in dresses and even kids dressed up in their "Sunday best".  We were discussing this as we walked through the mall. I am a "typical" American in a quite a few ways. I did not allow the kids to fly in the sweatpants. That's just not a good representation to ours of Americans. I did let the kids wear sweatshirts though, so I thought I was doing well. About the time decided, again, how much we love the cleanliness of Japan we walked to the next gate to this chick.a.dee :

Ugh! Meet "Toe Jam Girl". Not only is she dressed in sweats pulled up to her calves like she is resting at home, but she has her FEET ON THE CHAIR! Nasty! You only have to be in Japan two minutes to see how they how they hate dirty shoes. She is disrespecting their whole culture and could care less. We watched as Japanese keep staring at her, as if they were secretly yelling, "Get your yucky feet off our chairs!". No one said anything to her. That would be rude, and would not happen. Even my 9-year old wanted to go tell her that she was 'being rude' because 'maybe she doesn't know how much she is offending the locals'. And, THAT right there folks is one of the key reasons why we have military around the world. We want to learn each other's cultures, so we can understand and respect our friends. 

After we left "Toe Jam Girl", we kept touring the airport. We love to look at the stores, and study the people. (Yes, we are that nerdy.) We found the coolest inflatable plane that matches the real Pokemon plane. (This plane is used for domestic flights in Japan and is always packed! Last time we checked it was completely booked for the next 18 months!)

All parents think their kids are smart, but I have proof. My kids always know what restaurants in Japan are serving. Cool, huh? They can just check out the name of the place, and study the plastic food in the windows... oh, wait... that's how they are doing it! Outside almost all of the restuarants in Japan there are elaborate displays of food. It is brilliant. It makes people hungry and lets those crazy Americans, I mean non-Japanese, to pick out what they want by simply pointing. I doubt that is why they do it, but it is a bonus for us. We started to walk around the airport's "restaurant row" to find some eats. Look at what we found. The food above is fake. It is a whole new art form.  There are even drinks that look like they have condensation on them. It is clean and intriging for those wandering around trying to decide what to eat.

 

After walking a bit, we found what this crew wanted to eat. The US has Hershey's milk chocolate. Japan have Milky chocolate. This company is about the same quality as Hershey's. It is good, but certainly not the best grade of chocolate. The airport has a Milky restaurant. We have been wanting to try one, but have simply not had the chance. That all changed when we found ourselves with a few hours of freetime at Narita. Off to the Milky Cafe we went! (We went to the airport thinking like Americans think. We thought we had to get there 3-4 hours early. Japan is so efficent that you can easily breeze through the airport for an international flight in less than an hour. It is such a difference!)

 

Milky's was such a hoot. We have been here for 7 months at this point. I know enough Japanese to say 'hello', smile and point to order. I can say 'excuse me' or 'thank you'. I can count, a tiny bit. The kids know way more than I do because they learn Japanese in school (and Spanish). Here is where it gets laughable. We walked into the Milky Cafe and in Japanese told the hostess how many people we had to sit. We also greeted her and said 'thanks' when she handed us the menus. We asked for water. She left until we know what we wanted, we rang the magic bell that called her back and we ordered- mostly in English I would say. Well, a few minutes later an American couple came and sat down near us. The waitress created them in English and got them an English menu. WHAT? Why didn't see greet us in English? Where was our English menu. I giggled and shared my observation with the kids. The waitress came back and overhead me. She smiled, bowed and told me that, "You were trying so hard to fit in I didn't realize you didn't know Japanese." Well, I have heard it all. I was mistaken for a Japanese speaker. (I can clearly never get mistaken for being Japanese with my tall body, blue eyes and light hair.) I blended in, kinda. Wow, I'm impressed. I know it is silly, but I didn't have to have an English menu to survive. I can do it with my Southern stubborness hard-headness.

The Milky Cafe was great. I had my favorite fried rice and meat combo. Actually, I shared with a boy because we all wanted desserts. The girls had the kids' meals with all sorts of goodies. Carson had a crazy pasta with eel or something slimy. He ate it. I smelled it and decided... not.gonna.happen unless I am on Survior and HAVE to eat that junk-o-la. The desserts were just as good as they look! The strawberry cake is a very popular Christmas time treat, so we knew that was a must have. Our total bill for two large adult meals, two kids meals and four desserts was a whomping $28. See, even this guy was full. That almost never happens!

Our departure time was getting closer. We headed to the gate.  After the family got settled, Momma cracked her whip. This woman made her poor kiddos get out their books and do homework. Yes, I hear that judgement from you. We missed a week of school to go back to the States, so they had a ton of work to do. They were 'bored'- which they knw is like a curse word in my book- so out came the homework.

We watched as our United Dreamliner 787 pulled into the gate. For those of you who don't know me personally, I have a love affair with planes. This was my very first time on the new Dreamliner. I actually booked us on a longer layover, in a way different place because I wanted to fly this plane!

As we got called on the plane my tallest son turned around to me and said, "This plane Rocks!" When youa re over 6' tall like we are you hate that moment when you first step on the plane. You all of sudden realize that you will be bent over for the next... 14 hours! Not on the Dreamliner. The plane is so tall, and there is just so much room. We got to our seats and every seat had this little package: headphones, new blanket and new pillow. I'll take it. Once seated we started enjoying the entertainment package on each and every chair. There are screens with preloaded movies, music and TV shows. There is a map mode of the area we are flying over (not as interesting when we were flying over a w-h-o-l-e lotta ocean). You can push a different map and see how far we have flown, how long we have to go until touchdown, the temperature outside and even how fast the plane is traveling. Can you tell how happy these sweet faces are to be going home to the land of Chick-fil-a, Target and English? They were thrilled until they found out the trip would take us over 30 hours of traveling. Then, well they were still thrilled. And a little weary.

They survived. The slept, and ate more meals that anyone needed just to have something to do. They all watched several movies and napped on and off. We landed and only had five more flights ahead of us in the next 19 days. I told you, we travel. A lot. We flew more than 15,000 miles this trip.

We spent almost three weeks in the US. I wish that I could say that is was easy and fun. Parts of it were. Parts of it weren't. Unfortanetly, part of our mobile lifestyle means that we almost always see our family and friends when we are in the midst of a long trip. We have spent days trying to get to them, built the trip up in our heads and it doesn't always turn out like we expect. We try to fit in and bond with folks when we only see them 5 days a year, if that. It is hard to do. If the kids have a bad day then that is remembered for the next year until we get to the family again and try again. This trip I had some bad days. Traveling is tough on the parents too.

But, in the end, my family is meant to do this. I adore that man of mine and this is his dream. So, it has become my dream. This smiling faces have rough days and tough travels. Still, they get up in the middle of the night to return rental cars, the grab their iPads and shuttle onto another plane. They grab their Passimo train passes and jump on the train to Yokohama. They sit on a bus to Seattle. They last through another road trip in Carolina. They have grown up 'on the road'. These four babies where born in three different countries. They know that the culture may change, their address is temporary and their 'house' is never theirs for very long.

Still, they are brats.  The know sacrifice and strength firsthand. They can adapt and overcome. They are comfortable in their skin. Their parents adore them, even when they have a bad day. They know they can count on their God to stay steady in the midst of the storms of life. They even remind this Momma of that sometimes.

Socking Away those Frequent Flyer Miles,

~Aggie Amy

Tokyo for Ten, Fashion for NO ONE!

It took three trains, two transfers, over an hour and more than a tad of patience, for all ten of us to get into Tokyo. What to see a bit of our journey? Here we go.

From our small base it is only about 25 miles southeast of Tokyo. But, as I have said in previous blogs, it takes quite awhile to go those 25 miles!

Driving that distance wouldn't be too bad. It's about an hour drive. The problem is TRAFFIC.

Traffic in Japan is unlike anyplace I have ever been. Literally. Traffic in Japan is not only cars, it is people! It's like you are an ant in an ant farm. No, that's not crowded enough. It's like Black Friday at Walmart in a large city. And...They are selling a new car for $1. And... there's only one Walmart in the whole world. It's like THAT.

There are people, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, walker, runners and even more people everywhere you look. I have no idea where they all come from. Or where they are all going. I just want to get out of their way. Plus, most of the time the kids stop to stare at us. So, then we cause more of a crowd. Have mercy, I never-ever wanted to know what it was like being an urban girl. Now, I know.  I don't like it.

 Tokyo is close, technically, but going for a visit is an all day affair. Travel time is totally up to the train traffic of the hour, how many events are occurring that you have no clue about and if there are any accidents along the way. It would probably be safe to say that you are no in control at ALL of how long travel takes you. It is simply easier once you accept that truth.

We are off for the day with loaded down backpacks. Yes, we travel with water & snacks even in a top notch town like Tokyo. If our previous travels have taught us anything, it is that we are whimps! And, by that I mean, I am a whimp! The kids are much better travelers than I am.
My hubby is a traveling machine. He could go all day long... and I do mean A-L-L day without water, snacks or even a potty break. It is just some sort of sick manly soldier thing that I cannot grasp. The kids are pretty great at putting up with the drama of traveling as well. They can go hours without anything but a sip of water. I, on the more spoiled side of the house, really like to sit every now and then. I enjoy a sip of water, or some good ol' Coke Zero, maybe a nibble or two on something you are supposed to eat only on your birthday. That's the kind of girl I am. Sue me.

Hubby hates to buy food while we are out. I live for it. The joy of learning the local food it is almost as much fun as actually visiting the place, for me anyway. We have always had this debate battle.  We work it out, but when we are going to be gone for a long time I try to keep the peace by packing well.

 We set out toward Tokyo at our local train station. It is open, very clean and laid out easily. We quickly found the handicap entrance for the wheelchair. We also discovered the elevators quickly. Our station is always busy, but rarely crowded.

We knew a ton before we left the house.  The fabulous app on our iPhones tells us: which trains to take, how much the tickets would be and the time of each departure. It even warns us if they are accidents on the tracks, and an alternate route to take.



Can you figure out which train you are supposed to take from the picture below? The little girl in the hat can and she is in FIRST grade! She is alone and not worried a bit about getting lost. Smart chick! (A few seconds after this picture the screen changes to a little bit of English, not enough to tell us everything, but it gives us a clue.)

Our goals when we arrived in Tokyo: visit a Hello Kitty for Little Miss A, cross at Shibuya crossing and check out Harajuku.

It sounds simple, but we are still in Japan where nothing is quite so simple.

We wanted to see the statue of Hachiko as well. Never heard of Hachiko? Clearly, you are not a 'dog' person. Hachiko, an Akita dog, was owned by a professor who took the train at the Shibuya station each day to work. The dog would wait at the same place, at the exact time, every day to be there when his owner would get off the train. Then, while at work one day, the Professor had a cerebral hemorrhage and died. He never returned home to the train station where Hachiko waited. Apparently, no one could convince the dog that his owner was not coming home. He came back everyday for NINE years waiting for his owner. He become very popular and well known by the locals, and then all of Japan when a reporter told his story. People would make special trips to pet the dog or offer him food and water. Hachiko died on his way to the train station. Hachiko's stuffed and mounted remains are kept on display at the National Science Museum of Japan. The story of Hachiko is taught in schools and passed on from generation to generation. It is Hachiko's legendary faithfulness are a national symbol of loyaly.

Part of our group is flashing the ever popular peace sign, that Japanese are so known for.  I'll get her for that later. 

Next stop was Shibuya crossing. The famous pedestrian crossing at Shibuya ("sh-boo-ya") forms an "X" on the road. The crosswalks, literally, crisscross the roads allowing hundreds, if not thousands, of people to flood the road for every crossing. At lunch during the week, on average, 3,000 people cross the road EACH time the light changes. Can you imagine crossing the street with 3,000 of your friends? Here's a picture of part of the crossing when it is not crowded.

Here we are crossing. Clearly, we avoided the rush times and had a leisurely stroll across the station.

We found the Hello Kitty store! Hooray for Little Miss A. This is a typical 'store' in a 'mall' here. You walk into a building and walk directly into a 'store'. There are no doors or ways to 'lock up' the merchanidse. Often, shoppers roam around from 'store' to 'store' and then make their way back to pay for the items they want to purchase. I have tried to get pictures to show how the stores are laid out, but not many people let me take the pictures. It is so different from shopping in the US. 

While Little Miss A was thrilled, we were... shocked! Look at these prices! Shoes for $144. Cell Phone covers for a whopping $264!

Miss got a few of the reasonably slightly overpriced items. She couldn't wait to show of her new Hello Kitty goods!

As we walked around Tokyo, we were reminded that smoking and walking are not allowed! These signs are on the ground around crosswalks. Smoking is only allowed in 'hidden' areas. It cracked us up! Seriously, at Disney and all over Tokyo, smokers are hidden away from view and out of the 'public's smell. Awesome protection.  The yellow 'raised dots' on the street tell blind Japanese not to step too close to the road. Just part of the amazing system of accessibility the country of Japan has set up. 

We stopped to get some grub when the snacks were gone. What can I say, I talked hubby into it. I can be very persuasive.  Then, we passed by the 1964 Olympic Park. We saw the Meiji Shrine entrance, but we decided we were all shrined out.  

We wanted to see Harajuku, which is considered a 'birthplace' of Japanese fashion. It is a district in Tokyo where shopping and crazy, wild fashion are a site to behold.  Along the way we hit a snag or two. I convinced the group to go a certain way. It ended up the only option for crossing the street was a very large stairway over the busy street. Luckily, our men and big & strong. They carried Little Miss up and down the stairs. The locals just passed by and watch our crazy actions, not understanding. We are so thankful for their muscles :)

We finally found the way to Harajuku, which most Americans only know about because of Gwen Stefani's line of crazy clothes at Target. Harajuku is such an interesting place. First of all, this is the entrance of an alley-like walkway that has  crazy, fashion stores off of it. Now, we aren't really in to fashion. Still, when in Rome do as the Romans do.

So, off to look at fashion we go???

Check out some of this "fashion".


We saw more Caucasians in Harajuku than we have seen in all of Japan. Apparently, it is a tourist trap. There were a ton of locals as well. And, quite a large group of Africans with a French accent selling shirts? Life is just a little strange.

 Would you want to shop at a store where teddy bear heads had been put on the mannequins? Strange...

 Have you ever seen a creepier shirt than that? The people have three eyes each? What is that about?

We did find some pretty awesome crepes though. And, as you know, I am keen on snacks. The 'sweets' are not nearly as 'sweet' as they are in the States. That is a good thing in my opinion.There were 84 options! We avoided the 'fish' ones and stuck with typical dessert flavors.

 We ate our snacks standing in one place. I did tell you that it is considered rude to walk AND eat, didn't I? You can do one or the other, but walking while eating is a no-no. Even if it is water. It just isn't done. You have to stop and eat or drink, then continue walking. OK, I will follow instructions.

We loved Tokyo, but we were exhausted. Off to the train station to find our way, through three transfers this time to get home. Can't you tell by the map? God Bless that App we use!

It was starting to get crowded. Don't worry, we don't stick out or ANYTHING? Every time we were stared at I started humming, "One of this things is not like the others...." from Sesame Street. The adults rolled there eyes and the kids didn't get it. But, I did and it made me smile.

We, finally, arrived home. I won't tell you about the unfortunate event we came upon by the train in our town. (Kids read this.) Let's just say people got there in time.  Japan has an awesome country, but they still need to work on helping those who suffer with mental health issues.

Our sweet friends left shortly after this. It was a ton of fun showing them around, and learning more about the Land of the Rising Sun. Now, we have to actually plan for our next adventures instead of just asking them what they want to see. 

And, just in case you wondered, we didn't actually buy any crazy fashion. I'm NOT that crazy.... yet!

Living Life in my Jammies,

~Aggie Amy