New experience in Tokyo...

It's disappointingly rare that I experience something new these days.

So, Saturday at about 3.11PM in Tokyo's Narita airport was a treat for
me.

I'd had a hard week, probably only sleeping something like 3 or 4 hours
a night in the preceding 7 days[1]

My flight had been delayed by two hours and I was kicking my heels in
the lounge trying to read but I was too distracted.

Suddenly I felt as if my thighs were shaking slightly. It felt as if
the room was moving. I looked at the woman sat directly opposite me to
see if she seemed moved at all. I saw no reaction.

I wondered if I was hallucinating slightly because sometimes when I'm
over-tired I do.

The intensity of the vibration increased and paintings hanging on the
wall were moving slightly. I looked around again and noticed (thank
God) that someone else looked slightly questioning.

It was a small earthquake that lasted for a few minutes, maybe 5; 5.5.
on the richter scale.

Well, that was enjoyable.



[1] That's the thing, for me, about business travel. Whilst I get to go
to attractive places I've then got to spend all day in meetings, go out
to dinner and then when I get back to the hotel I've got my 'day job' to
get on with keeping the wheels running smoothly via email. Oh, and I'll
often read a book when traveling- this is generally a mistake because it
almost guarantees I won't sleep properly.

 

No you missed the new features of the departure lounge. Hi-tech sensors
detect weary travellers and alert hidden mechanisms which are employed
to deliver a therapeutic massage. A free service to make your stay in
Japan more memorable.
--
Tim two#21, YGL#3 & BOTAFOT#84

Due to the limitations of current email, the lip movements may be
out of synchronisation as you move your finger under the text while reading.

tim dot ukrm2 at dsl dot pipex dot com

 

I can't sleep on aircraft, unless I'm in biz class with a proper
seat-bed. And I don't get biz class unless I wangle an upgrade.

As well as a fistful of books, I always take a Travel Scrabble set and
play myself, as it were.

 

Well given that Narita is not the world's most exciting airport I can
imagine an earthquake being a pleasant distraction.

Does the airport express train still run to absolute perfect time and do
the cleaners still clean the whole train in 10 minutes while you wait in
the platform [1]?

[1] absolutely amazing train ride - how to understand Japanese
efficiency within 1½ hours of setting foot in the country.

 

I'd love to be in an Earthquake. And a plane crash.

But not a stock-market crash.

So I must be a materialist fatalist, right?

 

I just want to try one.

I rarely make investment decisions without advice from people who know
better than me. I'm currently up about 10% in a market which is down
about <mumble> some % since <mumble> umm. sometime.

 

I was in Japan [1] in '95 when the Kobe earthquake struck (4000 people
died in Kobe). I was about 150 miles away from Kobe and I was woken
by my whole apartment shaking. In this situation what can you do? Run
away? Hide? Luckily it didn't get worse for me but the adrenalin was
such that it took me about half an hour to calm down again. It was an
interesting experience but earthquakes over a certain level are shit
scary, not exciting.

Alex

[1] I was in Japan for a year teaching English. The second best [2]
thing in Japan was beer vending machines. On the street, 24hour
access.
[2] The best thing was, of couse, the pretty Japanese girls ;-)

 

Oh, it's not *that* bad.

I've not used the train; I use the bus. And that leaves *bang* on time,
even though traffic in Japan is a nightmare. I suppose they have extra
buses in case some get stuck in traffic.

I'm using it next time I go.

 

I guess it depends where your hotel is as to whether the train is OK or
not. Most go to Tokyo station but others go to Shinjuku or Ikebukuro.
Still you can catch the Yamanote line and that gets you to almost
anywhere in central Tokyo. The ticket office at the airport will sell
you an airport train ticket and an add on to your destination - you get
a booked seat on the airport train.

There is a little diagram in each carriage that shows you exactly where
you are, what time it is, and what time the train will arrive at the
next stop. The lovely thing with Tokyo's trains is that there is no need
to run if you are catching a line that is frequent - when it says 3 mins
on the display that is when it will arrive. The downside is that if you
are late and going for a specific departure the train will not wait for
you.

 

I think the plan will be to take the train (Keijin Line???) into Tokyo
main station and then take a taxi. I've too much luggage to **** around
with lots of trains.

The delays I experienced were on the whole getting into Tokyo from
Narita. The train will avoid these...