the gateway to the sky: tokyo narita airport experience

the awaited day finally came although i am really not quite sure if awaited is the right term. it is the great excursion to the tokyo narita international airport.

and the trip started witb the "trip", there are many ways on how to get to the airport, i have always gone by the usual fast but expensive skyliner. it is a rapid train ride from one station away, nippori, and takes around 40 minutes before reaching airport terminal 2. but upon further research, there is a much cheaper but still fast way to go which takes around 1 hour from my nearest station, shin mikawashima.

i really did not mind the extra 20 minutes for a savings of 50%, so i found my way to aoto and waited for the narita sky access, another rapid train but with more stops compared to the previously mentioned way. aoto was a quite station but there were lots of passengers with many luggage, all were on their way to the airport. i guess the only downfall for this is the possibility of standing all the way for the entire trip which is what happened for my case on a saturday. weekdays are probably less crowded.

i finally made my exit at the airport terminal 2, which was quite a simple labyrinth. the signs got me confused for a bit, at one point i got distracted by the gacha machines and lost the signs to the departure. the easiest way was to go up 3 floors and ignore the gachas.

i finally lined up for the checkin baggage drop. sadly my aircraft do not offer online boarding passes, although i did online checkin, i had to claim physical boarding passes at the counters. this airport was so wide to explore completely, and i was getting hungry. there were so many distractions but i was keen on finding food.

the expedition ended at a spot with a great view of the sky. with a very simple but so japanese meal, i watched the clouds pass by on this very wide sky. i ate cold soba with beef and egg toppings.

satiated, the immigration gates were next. there was nothing to report in there but the usual boring government checks. but what came after was another maze, the endless maze of duty free shops. there were so many luxury shops, i did not go there, i am here for more food souvenirs. this shop with a nebuta design caught my attention, it has lots of things sold. but there was a long queue, i gave up.

i went down to a location i have never been in before, it was a food court. a collective gathering of some of the best shops of representative japanese food from sushi, to ramen, to tempura, and even gyuukatsu. with such heavy favorite shop names came the hefty prices, good thing i already ate. what was left to do was find another view of that sky, which by this time starting to form rain clouds. oh this trip will be bumpy.

with a slow exploration, my boarding time finally came. i continued this long corridor of resting spots decorated with japanese culture related items. this gilded folding screen caught my eye, but i couldn't stop and look look closely, i was on this horizantal moving pathway. there is still a next time to explore this part. at the end were still more duty free shops, less crowded, i bought nama chocolates. this airport is a great big bait. i was more than happy to finally fly.

this trip has finally reached the skies, the favorable weathered skies would have been well photographed if i were seated by the window. but looking back, i would have passed around 4 times on my way to the toilet, this aisle seat is better. i was content in taking this outside view from afar. no further complaints.

^{here is my entry to #pobphotocontest with "clouds" as this week's topic. up in the sky, where else is it best to take cloud pictures?}

and food finally came, which shut my mouth. no further complaints at all. i downed this with red wine by the way, does pork and red wine even fit? oh well, i enjoyed that. a cocktail or two would have been best but i don't think they offer that on board.

i wonder how drunk people can walk straight on this bumpy ride? yep, that clear blues ended the moment we left japan skies, typhoon has formed near the taiwan-philippine border. bumpy rides can be fun, but not when you are up there. scary! glad nothing happened though.

as always, AMPING KANUNAY!

_{all content is by yours truly unless otherwise specified}

^{all photos are taken with a galaxy s23 ultra}

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