So i got about 2 hours sleep last night, i slept from 6am to 8am!and was wide awake with jetlag and had no idea what time or even day it was at one point! i even called my dad thinking it was 3 in the afternoon in Europe but it was 3am! Anyway, I’ve now downloaded an app on my laptop that shows, UK, New York and Tokyo time:) I don’t get how i went around the world backwards but they are 13 hours ahead here, so confusing.
Tokyo is catching the back end of what was a big Typhoon that swept through Japan yesterday, i heard the rain lashing on the windows last night and all early this morning.Looks to be brightening up a bit now though, hopefully it’ll pick up over the next few days.
No tennis today! I hope this isn’t the hotel pool! Airport view from hotel room
I had planned on going to the pool and using the gym at the hotel this morning before leaving to meet Kami at the airport at 3pm but they don’t open till 2pm! So I’m laying on the bed watching the TV and flicking through the channels when flick to some what looks like a 70’s Kung Fu film and i hear a tick, tock, tick, tock sound that sounds strangely familiar! second later i hear the opening bars to Time!! i grab my digital camera and start filming the TV! Only i could come to Japan, lay on my bed surfing TV and find a Kung F film that is playing Roger in the background! ( i later googled this and it appears to be Bruce Lee’s 1st major film role in a film called The Big Boss)
I watch the film and it plays the same piece 3 or 4 times during the next 30 minutes, very odd! i bet they don’t get royalties for it!
Took a shower, checked out the hotel and then caught the 2pm shuttle bus back to terminal 1 where Mark and Kami were due to land at 3pm, I’d checked their flight details online and they were due to land 20 minutes early.I’d told Mark in and e mail that when he comes through customs to take a right out of the exit, I’d be there watching for them and would come up behind surprise Kami.
I found a place in the arrivals that that was in full view of both exits just in case they turned left, i had a clear line of sight on them but they would find it difficult to see me unless they were really looking. I still had half an hour to pass before they landed and headed up to the observation deck and the area with restaurants as i hadn't really eaten since arriving yesterday.
Narita airport outside observation deck.
There were a couple of noodle restaurants and a couple of hole in the wall type take away’s with seating in the front,i wasn't actually that hungry and found a small convenience store that had a few “western” type sandwiches but at $7 each i made my way over to the “local” cuisine and bought a 4 pack of what looked on the picture like real nice white meat chicken nuggets! i also found what a carton of what looked like and turned out to be strawberry milk.
I found a place to eat out on the observation deck, the milk was good but the “chicken” nuggets whilst looking nice on the picture were certainly different once bitten into! i left three and a half of them in the bag and the other half in the bathroom and filled up on my strawberry milk!
After walking round the upstairs level for ten minutes and seeing a hair salon that looked more like a Dr’s surgery including a couch, a small curtained off area for anyone that wanted their hair cutting in private! and hairdressers in white surgical masks i then walked past a window of the most amazing looking desserts that i could eat all day and never put on weight! yup, they were all plastic.
I looked on the arrivals board and flight 890 for Seoul had just landed so i headed downstairs to my lookout point and waited.
In the airport lounge….. Cute kids at the airport each group with colour coded hats and T shirt.
By the time i got to my position the status for flight 890 said “in customs” having gone through this exact same customs hall the day previous i knew exactly where they would be and knew they wouldn't be long at all. By the time that thought was over in my head i saw Kami appear pushing the luggage trolley closely followed by her dad, Mark. i moved a little closer in, trying to hide behind the crowd of people in front of me (which given most Japanese people are shorter than 5 ft and I’m 6ft 2” was a challenge in itself!) I turned my digital camera on, pressed the video button and started to shuffle towards where they were. They had seen the bus ticket counter as they came through and actually turned left but this didn't cause a problem, i circled round them and sneaked up behind Mark without Kami seeing me as she was in front of him still pushing the trolley. I tapped Mark on the back, he turned, saw me and i then made my move to se Kami.
As i walked around in front of her i held the camera p and videos her reaction while says “gotcha”!! She turned, looked, smiled (not realising at first exactly what was going on or who i was for that matter) and a split second later it dawned on her that i wasn't supposed to be there and i was! As you can see from the video below she was pretty much speechless for a few seconds!
I remember her saying “that explains a lot” or something like that and me mumbling that id got on a flight to Toronto and ended up here.
I turned the camera off and went over to give her a hug, it had worked, all the planning and secret keeping, she really had no clue that i would be there, id got her back for the couple of times she had surprised me, especially the time in Omaha in 2010 when she jumped out of the closet on me! As we were walking over to the bus ticket counter she explained to me that her comment of “that explains a lot” wasn't that she had guessed or knew i was coming but more so she had been thinking it was odd that i had been out of touch for 15 hours while on the flight, this was something i couldn't help and I’m glad it didn't give the whole surprise away!
Mark was also taking video and pictures too and I’ll get them off his iphone and update the pictures below when we get back to the US.
Seconds after her shock of seeing me A beautiful sight :)
After getting tickets for our ground transportation and taking the picture below (just for Kami’s sister Kim) we boarded the bus and headed to downtown Tokyo to our Hotel.
There's still a yellow stain on the ground Kim! Reunited and on the bus to Tokyo
It wasn't the most scenic drive in but it was interesting just seeing a different culture on the way into the city. We passed Tokyo Disney World, the huge Ferris wheel and saw the new Tokyo sky tower that’s just been finished(more about this later on)
It took us a good hour to get the hotel and then after arriving it took us another hour at least to sort the room out, long story but by 7pm we were all settled in a nice spacious room in a beautiful hotel, the same hotel that Roger and the band had staying in in 2002!
First port of call was a bar within the hotel an there were at least 6 or 7 to choose from, we ended up in the Oyster bar and Kami and i had a really nice glass of champagne whilst Mark got refreshed with a couple of ice cold beers while watching the waiter mix up cocktails in what can only be described as a form of art!
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