DD does Narita

Mile-high blog post from DD, as promised …

I’m flying to Mexico City from Sydney via Tokyo for a 10-day father-daughter holiday to Mexico City and Playa del Carmen.

#city&surf

The back story is that daughter #1 had booked this trip, but at the last minute her travelling companion pulled out … so Dad stepped into the breech. How do you make a holiday all inclusive? Invite your father!

And why the Sydney-Tokyo-Mexico City route? Well, it was the cheapest option I could find given I came to the party late.  And it had the extra bonus of avoiding transiting through the US of A.  

I even managed to surprise my travel agent of 35 years when I suggested the route, which he had NEVER booked in all those years. Glad I can still surprise you Andrew.  

The downside of the fare was that I had to fly into Haneda (central Tokyo) and then “self transfer” to Narita for the onward flight with a 10.5 hour gap.  

A bit like travelling from Kingsford Smith to Western Sydney International Airport, if you will.  

However, as an unabashed Nippon-ophile from spending many days in Japan in a prior work life, the layover was a plus in my books. And I had a Japanese coin collection to use up (before everything goes digital).

Upon arrival to Haneda at 5:45am – and very bleary from a lack of sleep – I caught a train to my old (work) stomping ground of Shinagawa to have a restorative double shot flat white at Dean and Deluca before catching the Narita express to Narita Airport.

Fortunately, I was able to check in my large suitcase at 10am and then put my backpack into a locker before heading out to Narita town.  

Exiting the air-conditioned train, I was shocked to find that the temperature was an unexpected 32C, with high humidity and shade was hard to find.  

With the help of Apple Maps I sweatily navigated my way to the Naritasan Shinsho-Jo Temple and was not disappointed – the crowds were light and the temple was beautiful, including a turtle pond and a magnificent pagoda with intricate decoration featuring many dragons.  

The walk back up to the train station was via a narrow street filled with old wooden-fronted shops, including restaurants serving the local delicacy – BBQ eel – unagi. Not my favourite, so I kept sweatily walking uphill and realised that – rookie error – I did not have any clean clothes in my backpack.   

The thought of travelling another 14 hours in the same sweaty clothes was very unpleasant, so I took a break in a cafe to cool down with a bottle of “Pocari Sweat” (that must have been some marketing meeting) and regain some composure. The “sweat” did its thing and a plan was hatched.  

Back at Narita, for the first time in my life, I was grateful for a shopping mall and headed straight to Uniqlo to acquire a polo shirt and a pair of undies ($30 total). Then I headed straight to the lounge for a much needed shower and a change of clothes. Oh, and two ibuprofen tablets to ease the pain after 16,000 steps and 14 flights of stairs.  There may have also been a beer chaser to help with the hip pain. 

And so now at 35,000 feet and four hours into the flight I’m going to email this guest blog to Ms HGH. Technology is a wonderful thing … or is it? 

Part two to follow tomorrow.

Song of the day: C&C Music Factory “Gonna make you sweat”