At Narita Airport_2011.03.14

14:56

Boingo

What is Boingo?   The wi-fi network in the Narita Airport.   It’s Bingo slightly off-spelt.  It is Murphy’s law.

Train and subway services were suspended again unexpectedly this morning.  The suspension was supposed to run from  11:00 to 17:00, but the suspension was there right there and then when I arrived at the station at 10:20 a.m.  “Is there going to be a scheduled energy release at the nuclear plant, or is it a practice to conserve energy?” I wondered.  But either way, this was not a good sign.

Got together with a young Chinese couple with two children from Bangkok….took the taxi….then the Airport Bus to Narita Airport.  A 2 hour trip.  I told the couple whether the flights were operating or not, we ARE going to stay out at the Airport, the closest point of exit.   Who knows what is going to happen next?  Roads, not only railways, may be closed too and with no little or no advance notice.  I don’t blame the government in crisis like this.

At the airport…. crowds, lineup’s, blankets (on the floor…must be from last night), panics, food and drinks out (the only food supply was the few Bento boxes on the shelf in the waiting area), people sleeping on the floor.  Strike a conversation with some UA air hostesses.  They are not on duty, but like me, they are finding their way out of the country (for them, it’s to Chicago).   One of them said she is not going to fly this route again….too stressful for her.  We shared our experience … gym…the cold cold gym (they were not fortunate enough to have an alternative like what I had up at Nikko) and the fear of the nuclear plant meltdown that made them decide to go on the dot.

The wi-fi is slow.  Jams again!

No time to buy any seaweed on the way to the train station.  Only have time to reload the phone card since it was a concurrent operation with the check-out at the hotel.  Finding food, let alone seaweed in Narita, is difficult.  Imagine this is an international high traffic airport!  Good that I still have my supply of chocolate, almonds and raisins.

Met more UA air hosts and hostesses again in the waiting area.  None are on duty….all finding their way home…Honolulu, England etc.  And…got a chance to use their wi-fi network which works faster.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *