On the Ground
My travel itinerary for getting to Tokyo was convoluted to say the least.Trapped at a conference in San Diego for the week, I departed on the 11pm red-eye to O'Hare. I arrived at 5am, cooled my jets for 6 hours, and hopped aboard another plane for a 13 hour ride to Narita.
My first impressions of Narita are always the same: 1. It takes over 20 freaking minutes for the plane to taxi from the runway to the terminal. I'm not exaggerating. 2. The Narita airport is one of the cleanest buildings I've ever seen. Really. I've seen churches that were dirtier.
If I learned one thing on my last trip to Tokyo, it is that you should not dawdle too much after deplaning. Walk fast or run, because your worries are just beginning. There is one huge, snaking line for immigration. All foreign passengers for all flights coming to Tokyo must go there. It's quite a haul to get there, as well, so walk fast, skip the escalators (run down the stairs), and get to immigration as fast as possible. I figure I passed about 40 people and saved myself 20 minutes in line.
This makes for a smaller crowd at the baggage carousel and a smaller line at customs. In about 20 minutes I was free and clear and boarding the Narita Express to Tokyo station where the fiance was waiting for me.
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