WELCOME TO JAPAN!
I saw a familiar face as soon as we reached the end of the jet bridge. Ms. Mari was there with her usual warm smile. She escorted us to the immigration. Haneda airport is really, really, really nice! After I handed my passport to the immigration officer, I was asked to have my fingers scanned and a photo of me was taken too. We then went to the baggage carousel claim our checked in bags where Ms. Mari was also waiting. While waiting, 2 representative of Cathay Pacific met us and apologized for the delay. They then gave us 3000 Japanese Yen for our transportation.
At the customs clearance, I was asked to open 1 of my bags. I was able to complete my customs clearance by 9:08pm. We met Ms. Mari with Ms. Hanako afterwards. We had to rush to the train station as Ms. Mari wanted us to be able to take the 9:20pm train. Running down the escalator with 2 pieces of luggage and resisting the urge to marvel at the beautiful airport, we were the last people to board the train.
Ms. Mari explained the reason why we had to rush to the train. It turned out that with this trip, we will be able to reach the Narita train station at 11:08pm. If we will be quick enough, we can still take the hotel shuttle from the train station that will leave at 11:15pm. Ms. Mari was so organized that she even had everything printed and explained to Sir Eric. Should we be able to take the free shuttle to the airport, we can keep the 3000Y! She wondered how we were able to get Cathay Pacific to transfer us since it turned out that our original ticket with NH was not transferrable. She was impressed by the fact that we were able to get ourselves transferred and get transportation allowance as well. She lauded my negotiations skills...what more if she learned that I was able to get complimentary call cards as well.
Ms. Mari and Ms. Hanako left the train after a few stations; she then reminded us that we should be arriving at the Narita train station by 11:08. It was only 9:45pm. We still had a very long way to go. After the initial thrill of being in a Japanese train and looking at the famous Japanese fashion, fatigue and boredom was starting to set in. At every station, I keep looking out and wondering if we had missed our stop already. But I remember Ms. Mari specifically saying that we should be at the station at 11:08. At 11:06pm, we had passed by multiple stations and I was a bit worried if we really did miss our stop. Sir Eric asked his seatmate and was told that our stop will be the next stop.
We really did reach the station at 11:08. Talk about Japanese time! It was very cold. We had imagined having enough time to get winter clothes from our bags when we reach the airport. But we have always been rushing; we did not have the chance to do so. We were told to exit through the South exit. We did as we were told. Sir Jovy had a little problem as when he was about to pass by the control gate, the box of dried mango he was carrying for souvenirs fell back and when he returned to pick it up, the control gate has already closed. He had to talk to the guards and he was allowed to leave through another exit.
We saw two Japanese girls and asked for instructions. They were kind enough to accompany us to the bus station. The bus station was 5 floors down. So there we were, not properly clothed for the weather, tired from the trip, bringing at least 20 kilograms of bag and walking down flight after flight of stairs! We were too late for the shuttle. The two Japanese girls even called our hotel and helped us to get a cab. Our 15 minute cab ride cost us 2000Y...that’s around 900 pesos!
We checked in, assigned a room each and proceeded to our rooms immediately. My room turned out bigger than I expected. There was even a bathtub in my bathroom. Cold and tired, I needed to defrost, so a hot water bath will be a sure treat. After soaking in the warm bath, I was ready to retire. I decided to just fix my stuff the next day. For the time being, all I wanted was to crawl under the duvet.
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