Narita airport in Japan

This is an all over the fucking place post about international travel because that's my mood at the moment.


I'll start by saying the Japanese are so fucking nice compared to US. I really ♥ the Japanese. They are always so courteous and polite to a gaijin which is a pejorative term to begin with.

My flight into Narita was late. Very late. So I missed my next flight which was one per day. I was Naïve and didn't realize international airports closed at night. Closed?

Those of us who missed our flights were herded into one area. Thankfully near restrooms. And we were guarded all night long to make sure we didn't steal anything. Stealing anything? It was impossible because all the shops had heavy metal grills, but whatever.

This is a note of caution: Please pay attention. I'd checked my suitcase and sweatshirt at a small stall. It seemed like a good idea at the time. How the fuck could I know they would drop the temperature down to about 60°F (15.6°C)? I froze my ass off. My assumption is the temperature was lowered for the sake of the people cleaning the airport and polishing the floors. Just speculation here.

What doesn't kill us makes us stronger? I'll go with comfort.

Of all the airports I've been in only two struck me as sucking. One was in Canada and one was in the US.

I love to collect foreign coins. In Taiwan they are not allowed to give change in Taiwan coins. One girl (really young so she was a girl) took some coins out of her purse for me.

In the Canadian airport I mentioned above, one of the people checking luggage noted the pins/badges on my backpack and gave me a pin/badge to add to my collection which was a limited edition pin/badge only given to employees.

Ah. Then there was the Manila airport (NAIA) where they discovered I'd overstayed my visa by one day. Yeah, one fucking day. I explained I was in the Makati Hospital undergoing tests for potential cancer. They gave me a "yeah, we've heard them all" look and fined me. No harm, no foul.

Now here's a conundrum for ya. Almost every time I'm waiting in an airport for a flight and notice an attractive girl/woman who appears to be traveling alone she ends up seated next to me? If not seated next to me, she will change seats and be next to me. The seat gods? Too fucking spooky.

Another conundrum. Why the fuck do I think of things to post when seated on the toilet only to return to the computer and have no clue what I wanted to say? Then, after going to have another cigarette on the toilet, I immediately remember what I wanted to post?

Probably more travel tales to follow...

I don't travel much anymore and I miss it.