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.

The ANA Experience - Narita/Taipei (NRT/TPE) Route

My tickets were booked a bit late for my trip to Taiwan, so I ended up with an extra stopover at Tokyo Narita, then continuing on ANA (All Nippon Airways) to and from Taipei. It was my first experience with a Japanese airline, and I was generally impressed with the courteous service and food selection.

ANA Japanese Dinner, NRT to TPE - Clockwise from top left: Firefly squid with crab, beef and vegetable galantine with grilled tofu, Japanese pickles (radish, etc.), kelp cured shrimp and flounder sashimi, fried rockfish and vegetables with rice. There is also miso soup in the black bowl, and a dessert in the paper in the middle of the plate. And notice the bottle of sake in the upper right corner. Nice touch.

Salt-Boiled Firefly Squid (Hotaru Ika) and Swimming Crabmeat with Tosa Vinegar - Firefly squid congregate en masse off the coast of Japan each spring to spawn, creating a spectacular light show due to their natural phosphorescence. They are a sign of spring, and were celebrated on the May business class menu on ANA. Here, they were lightly boiled and served with crabmeat, some kind of sea tasting jelly, and something that reminded me of jellyfish. The taste was light, if not a bit fishy. The crab and sea jelly were pretty tasty, and the jellyfish add texture mostly, not much taste there.

Airplane Sashimi - Pink Shrimp and Kelp Cured Flounder - These were lightly vinegared to help preserve them, as they obviously have to be kept in storage for some time before service. Although not like sitting at a sushi bar, these morsels still were enjoyable, and a nice luxury at 30,000 ft.

ANA Japanese Dinner, TPE to NRT - Clockwise from top left: Soba noodles, Japanese pickles, appatizer dish (tamago omlet, pistachio crusted shrimp, fruit jelly, tiny dried fish), green tea mochi cake, fruit plate, beef and vegetables with rice. Again, there was miso soup, and sake.

Mandarin Lesson... In Japanese - The on demand entertainment system was convenient, so I thought I would pull up a learn Mandarin lesson to stay sharp. Turned out that it was only available in Japanese, which made for interesting viewing. I probably picked up more Japanese than I did Mandarin. For example, did you know that the Japanese word for "credit card" is "ku-re-di-to ka-a-do?" Well, now you do.

One Night at Incheon

My stay in Hong Kong was short lived - literally just enough time to eat dinner and head to the airport. I was heading to Japan on a personal visit, so I had decided to take the redeye in order to maximize my sightseeing time. 12:30am departure time, arriving in Incheon, South Korea at 5:00am. After a 5 hour stopover, I would depart for Osaka at 10am, arriving an hour and a half later at 11:30am.

I was taking Asiana Airlines, the second of South Korea's major airlines. For some reason I had been bumped up to first class, which was so money for an overnight flight like this. But a snack was on the agenda before putting those fold-flat seats through their paces. I had the choice of filet mignon dinner or Korean fare - Bi Bim Bap. Considering that I had just dined on great steak just four hours before, I opted to go local. I haven't really had much Korean food, so it was also an opportunity to try something new (even if it was just the airplane version).

Bi Bim Bap - sticky rice and sauteed vegetables, beef, chilli paste, and sesame oil. Mix it all together, and enjoy. There was also a bowl of kimchi, marinated dried silver anchovies (tiny translucent fish, each with a pair of dark black dots - yup, the eyes), and a soup. I was pretty impressed with the flavors represented. Some of the best airplane food I have eaten in a while, simple as this dish might be.

The Incheon airport is huge, which allows it to support a high volume of international traffic. There is a large transfer area, where continuing passengers like myself are allowed to hang out without having to pass through immigration & customs. The facilities are pretty extensive, including restaurants, an internet café, shopping, and even a transfer hotel where you can rent a small space to sleep during long layovers. There is also a transfer tour desk, where passengers with time to burn can get out of the airport and experience a taste of the local culture (options even include a trip to the DMZ, if that's your thing).

Korean Airlines planes await passengers at South Korea's Incheon International Airport.

Having spent half of my overnight flight eating, I was only able to sleep for about an hour and a half (facilitated, as it was, by those fold flat seats). So when we landed at Incheon at 5am, I was looking for a place to crash. I went to the transfer area and tried finding an empty couch, but legions of passengers like myself were already fast asleep in them. Okay... How about using the internet cafe? Nope, wasn't open yet. Hmmm.... Oh yeah, that's right! I'm in first class! So I headed to the Asiana lounge where they happily let me in.



No couches, but plenty of open seats. And snacks. Like I needed any more food at this point. I sat down and tried to get comfortable so I could nap a little. There was no place to rest my head, so no matter how I tried to contort myself, my neck would get sore within a couple of minutes. Also, as much as I wanted to fall asleep, I didn't want to miss my next flight. So there I was trying to nap with one eye closed, and the other staring at the clock on the wall. I ended up dozing off, but waking up paranoid every 5 minutes or so. Good times.

The boarding gate area was full of sleepy travelers like me.

A couple of long hours later, I had had enough, so I headed down to the gate area to peruse the shops and find my gate. After boarding (finally), I settled in to my spacious seat, turned on some Korean TV, and relaxed. Now, on a 10am flight, you would expect to be served breakfast, right? Once again, I was offered the choice of Korean food or filet mignion. This time, I caved and took the steak. I mean, it had been 14 hours or so since my last steak. I was practically going through withdrawals and needed a fix.

Yup, that steak looks rather grey on the outside. Surprisingly, however, it was cooked perfectly inside. A little smoked salmon, some veggies, potatoes, bread, and a lemon cake were thrown in for good measure. Not bad for breakfast.

The protein had given my energy a lift, but I still sat zombified throughout the remainder of the flight. I still had an hour plus train ride ahead of me, then to the hotel, and straight out to do some sightseeing. Hopefully, my arrival in Japan would just the thing to jumpstart my tired bones.

A Most Unusual Birthday

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that I seem to only have time to blog when I'm overseas?

Yeah.... That's what I thought. Given that, I'll give you one guess where my physical body currently lies.

Monday, November 13th, the anniversery of my entrance into the world, lasted a mere 17 and a half hours for me. You ask how that is possible? The answer is simple. At approximately 7:30pm EST, 39,000 feet above the North Pole, I crossed the international dateline, thereby skipping ahead into the future to November 14th. And who says time travel doesn't exist?

One of my favorite in-flight pastimes is to watch the map channel, where you can be endlessly entertained by watching the plane glide, one pixel at a time, onward towards your destination. All relevant flight stats (speed, altitude, distance, etc.) are, of course, displayed for your viewing pleasure. One of my least favorite in-flight pastimes is heading to the bathroom in my socks and having to maneuver around the puddles of urine left by unscrupulous co-passengers (What's so funny... everyone in Business takes their shoes off during the flight, okay?).

On this particular day, we were taking the polar route. As we neared the North Pole, some funny things started to happen to our plane on the tiny screen. As I watched the plane jerk about on it's axis, I couldn't help but think that I was glad that the on screen choreography did not match the actual flight experience.

Watch magnetic declination at work.

So it was that I was able to witness the approximate precise moment when my birthday ended. 4 and a half hours, sheared away in one brief moment. And thanks to this commemorative photo I snapped, you can follow along with me and share in my pain.

Watch this... Watch this here... Ready... Here it is... And... Bam! Boo yeah! That's what I'm talking about!

By the way, I should take this opportunity to welcome my Chinese friends to the 21st century. The ban on Wikipedia and my very own blog (okay, other blogs too) has been lifted and can now be viewed in the Middle Kingdom. Welcome to the planet.

Back in the U. S. of A.

After a long week of work across the pond, I'm glad to be home with my family again. It was a safe and smooth trip home, but long nonetheless - about 26 hours from hotel to house! Here are a few pics I took along the way.


Bye bye China! Yes, as a matter of fact, I was on a slow boat...


Say good bye to my harbor view room in Hong Kong


That's a big plane!


Sunset over the Sea of Okhotsk


Midnight in June on the Bering Sea (Crossing the International Date Line)


The mountains of eastern Alaska


Boston from the air- Welcome home