Arriving in Okinawa

Well my 5am get up was quite reminiscent of my days back in the bakery, not something I wish to repeat. My flight wasn’t until 10am, but I was slightly (majorly) stressing over how I was supposed to get the airport, plus managing my time as to not miss my flight. I’d made sure to pack my suitcase the night before so that was at least one thing that was already checked off the list.

I got ready, went down for my favourite breakfast of toast and coffee (no soup today, too early for that). I’ve found that I quite enjoy blueberry jam; this one at least didn’t seem anywhere near as sweet as the strawberry jam, which tasted like spreading straight sugar over toast.

And then I grabbed my bags and made the walk to the train station, glad that it was only about five minutes down the road and a walk I’d made many times before. I’d made sure to look ahead the night before so I knew where I was supposed to go.

Ikebukuro Station – Nippori Station – Narita Airport.

I was only worried because one, I had never been to Nippori Station. Two, I wasn’t just catching a normal train; I was catching the Narita Airport express which has its own special counter. And three, I was on a time schedule which despite my early rising, I was cutting it close. Oh yeah, and it was peak hour.

But as it turns out Nippori Station is quite easy to navigate, as I got off the train they had clear signs straight away on where to go if you are looking for the Airport Express counter. Only problem was that I had ten minutes until my train arrives and what looked like a million stairs between us. Funny thing about Japan train stations is that you never quite know what to expect when it comes to escalators and stairs. At some they have both up and down, at other only up and at other only down. And sure I could have walked to the elevator but it was over the other side and I did not have time to mess around.

One thing you can always count on is that Japan trains run on time (except for that Shinkansen I caught from Sendai to Tokyo which was fifteen minutes late, not really sure what happened there..) And unlike regular trains the one I was looking to catch didn’t come every three minutes and takes about forty minutes to get to the airport. But anyway I did make it there with some time to spare.

The only thing I was worried about now was navigating Narita Airport.

Turns out once again that I was stressing over nothing and except for the ridiculously long walk from the station to the terminal I had to be at, trying to roll my suitcase over a floor that didn’t seem the best choice, it was very easy.

So I lined up and waited to check in, and once again started freaking out when I saw that they were weighing everyone’s carryon luggage and didn’t seem to be budging on the 7kg weight limit. I had a backpack and a laptop bag with a tablet and I wasn’t positive but I had a hunch that together they weighed over the weight limit. So when I was called over I quickly put the laptop bag at my feet and put my bag on the scale when she asked for it. A cool 4kg. I’m not sure if she noticed what I did, but she didn’t comment and off I went.

When you check in they also tell you to wait about ten minutes before going through security in case they call your name. Of course as luck would have it as I sat in the food court trying to hear over the noise, a crackling ‘Jemma Sugget’ came over the loud speaker and my first thought was ‘oh shit’.

Turns out they’re pretty serious about security in Japan. They scan the bags at the oversized bag check in area for anything inside them. And as I found out as I stood behind a wall next to a female employee with my suitcase open, it was a portable battery pack shoved into one of my shoes that was stopping my luggage from getting on the plane.

Funny thing is the device is something that I would normally keep in my backpack, but since Sapporo and my iPhone decided it didn’t want to be charged by said device, I had tossed it in to my suitcase and forgotten about it. So with the battery now in my backpack I was on my way through security.

This flight is where I learned the meaning of budget airline. My knees were probably less than 2cm away from the seat in front of me and of course the guy sitting in front of me was one of those people who reclines their chair all the way back. Not even putting it up when he was supposed to, except when landing. We also sat on the runway for almost an hour before take off so that was fun..

But whatever, flying, yay.

Three hours later I was arriving at Naha Airport in Okinawa, in a turtle neck, denim jacket, jeans and timberlands. Lucky I took off that extra hoody on the plane…

And once again I had no idea where to go. Collecting my suitcase was quite funny, instead of the carousel I was expecting it was just a door that workers came out of carrying each person’s suitcase, so you just grabbed yours and went. After doing so I tried desperately to find anything on the internet or even an info counter that would tell me where I was supposed to go. I noticed that everyone who just got off my plane were lining up in front of the exit and so I joined them, better than standing around.

Turns out that it was for a shuttle bus that took you to the international airport. Signs in this situation would be nice.

But from there I got onto another bus that runs between the two major sits on the island, Naha in the south which is where I was and Nago in the north. The bus took about an hour and a half to get to my stop. Which was fine, because they had a screen which told you the stops in Japanese, Chinese, Korean and English. (Seriously if you can’t speak either of these four languages, good luck getting around Japan because that’s it.

It’s actually funny how I can read the bus station names better in Korean than I can in Japanese, so it’s actually a good way to practice… my Korean at least…) From my bus stop is was about a ten minute walk towards the ocean until I reached my hotel.

It’s located right across from the ocean, not good for swimming but it’s got nice reefs where you can go diving or snorkeling if that’s what you’re into. My room is simple, just like I expected. Just a simple king single bed with a desk, mini fridge, kettle and bathroom. But unlike my other hotels of the same design I’ve stayed in this one has a large balcony which overlooks the ocean and is the best sport for sunsets. I’m on the second floor from the top, so it’s a good view.

The staff at the hotel are very friendly and it makes it a lot easier when you know people can speak good English. That sounds kind of selfish as my Japanese is also not good enough past a certain point, but it really is a struggle with a constant language barrier. I had to get one of the ladies to help me use the washing machine because everything was in English, but she was happy enough to help.

There’s also a nice café/bar on the first floor which I’ve eaten at a few times, they do delicious pancakes and smoothies. They also sell a variety of donut balls which are also quite good, but I should really share even the smallest size with someone… They don’t do the peanut butter balls that I saw on the menu anymore though, which is disappointing.

When I got up that morning I was sure that as soon as I got to my hotel I would crash, but nope I was wide awake and the weather seemed nice so off I went to explore. I decided to stroll on down to Mihami American Village which is about a 3km return ‘stroll’. (I’ll talk more about that in a different post). I enjoyed a burger and a mojito for all my hard work that day and walked on back to the hotel, though it started raining it wasn’t any less enjoyable.

Until next time,

ごきげんよう!