Stopover at Tokyo Narita International (NRT)

My extra stop at Tokyo Narita was much more of an adventure than it was a hassle for me. I was psyched at the prospect of getting some sushi on the ground, which despite being "airport sushi," is authentic Japanese sushi nonetheless. As it turned out, there is a sushi bar in the international transfer area, and it is quite good. They offer dine in service as well as take out. Seeing that I had access to the ANA lounge, courtesy of my business class ticket, as well as its complimentary Sake bar, I thought that take out would be the wise choice. Besides, there was a sumo match on TV, and come on, who can resist the sight of large, round Japanese men push each other around the floor? Not me.

Sushi at Tokyo/Narita - This may be airport sushi, but the quality level was first rate. From left to right: Horse mackerel (aji-saba), kanpachi, chu toro, red snapper (tai), otoro. Above the sushi is a fine cup of junmai-shu sake, courtesy of ANA. The prices were quite reasonable for how good this plate was. I look forward to diverting myself through Narita again soon.

Engrish Hello Kitty Toy - It's funny enough that a toy would declare itself "Boring," but it didn't click with me until a month later that this was actually supposed to be a "Bowling" toy (the Japanese reads "bo-ri-n-gu" and "su-to-ra-i-ku"). I just about busted open when it finally hit me. This item was for sale at one of the gift shops in the international terminal.

Japanease Seafood Chips - Made with real fish, shrimp, crab, squid, etc., these crisps are outstanding. Basically, the seafood is ground up and mixed with rice flour, then formed into a crisp and fried. The best way to describe the flavor is to imagine eating fried fish, but in potato chip form. Some chips have whole dried creatures pressed into them (a couple of shrimp and a squid can be seen in the chips in this photo). The black one is flavored with squid ink. The crab ones and the wasabi ones are really good, too. I picked these up at a gift shop at Narita.