I have finally returned from Japan. A trip that started well and ended very poorly.
Saturday morning I woke up just before 4am (Tokyo time) to see snow falling on downtown Tokyo. It was very beautiful and prompted me out of bed to get ready for a walk. It took about an hour to wake up, wash, and wait for a little daylight before heading out. My first trip out was a little dark for photos so the camera was left behind. What did come with me were a bunch of stares from the local cab drivers watching the crazy American walking the empty streets of Tokyo in the snow. I soon returned to the hotel for a little breakfast and to check my email.
My second venture out I took my camera. Here are a couple of photos:
Dude...
The Imperial Palace and it's resident swan.
After my leisurely stroll I returned to pack my stuff and head out to the airport. I first checked in with the bellman to make sure by bus was running on time, he said it was.
Bags are packed and I'm heading out the door when one of the other guest's heading home put the first bit of worry in my head with an off handed comment about the Japanese being able to handle snow at the airport.
I was the first one on the bus, got the primo seat, kicked back an relaxed as much as I could. There was a guy up front who talked non stop to another guy the whole drive to the airport, this kept me from napping, he wouldn't shut up. He was a blowhard know-it-all-done-it-all who everyone fears sitting next to on the plane. I winced hard when he said he was on NWA flight #6, my same flight.
Once I arrived at the airport I checked the board to see that everything was on time. Phew. I took my time to return the rented cell phone and to check my bags. All was looking good.
I quickly passed through immigration and was on to the gate for a short wait for my flight. As I neared the gate which was changed from the original, I saw my the guy from the bus, hoping and praying his seat was far from mine. I then saw an old friend of mine who was traveling for Nike. Good to see a familiar face. We actually first saw each other briefly on the way to Tokyo from Portland. Small world.
The announcement came first on the overhead speaker then shortly followed on the flight status board... our flight has been delayed an hour.
This is when things turned bad. At this point of the story I am putting the fast forward button on for the sake of my audience. The next 30+ hours were a lifetime.
After a couple of delays we were put on a bus to get to the plane. This bus ride was an unexpected torture. There was about 100 people with their carry-on's shoved on a bus made for 50. The ride seemed endless, it was almost as long as the ride from the hotel to the airport.
We were finally on the airplane some time after 5pm... it was half empty. This was nice because I was tired and planned to sleep for the flight home. Well, "The Dukes of Hazzard", some beverages and pretzels, and the latest Reese Witherspoon movie later we were told that our flight was cancelled due to weather. Three inches of snow shut down Narita airport, the people in Chicago would just laugh at that. The announcement on the plane was that we were to go to gate 25 for further instructions. It was time to get back on the bus.
There was nothing and no one at gate 25 when we arrived. The rumor circulating was that the whole airport was shut down. We could still see some planes leaving, all cargo planes, but planes nonetheless. The Korean Air desk was full of some angry customers getting their verbal licks in on an employee who obviously didn't have the answers they wanted.
Situations like this show the true nature of people. There were those that immediately jumped to anger and those of us that sat to watch the fireworks show the angry people put on. I guess some people think that yelling and cussing makes things happen. In this situation they soon found out it doesn't work.
After an hour of milling around in confusion with the rest of the passengers we were greeted my Mr. Mak a NWA representative. This was a man I quickly felt sorry for, he was handed 1,000+ tired, confused, and angry passengers with no plan to get them home. He told us that we were to find a place to sleep and call the toll free number in the morning to re-book our flights. Not good. Mr. Mak worked until we left on our flight. I think this experience was harder on him than any other person in the airport.
I got in line to make a call home to Kathi to solicit her help in re-booking me on the next flight. Numerous phone calls home later I was booked on a flight for Tuesday. At the time this was all they could do. I was not satisfied with this so many hours and many lines later I was rescheduled on a flight for that same day at 3:5pm. I had a small celebration with some fellow passengers and consoled those still looking for a way home.
The rest of the time I hung out with some folks from Nike in the NWA business lounge. We celebrated with beer and Kit-Kat bars. I was too tired to do anything else. Sleep was not an option since I feared sleeping through any new developments. We began to plan our version of a reality show about our experience in the airport. We were going to make clothes out of the airline blankets, auction of the food we had, and start a betting scheme on the flight board. It would have been a combination of "Lost", "Survivor", and "Airline" (The Southwest airline reality show). Mr. Burnett are you reading this?
Finally it was flight time... no wait... another two hour delay. No gate listed, no assurance that our flight would leave, I again waited. I was now on at least my 36th hour with our sleep and decent food. Exhaustion was setting in.
I sat at the gate waiting for the infamous bus to take us to a plane we were praying would take off today. Some time later the buses were moving.
Once on the plane I settled in my aisle seat and got set to sleep. I had removed a blanket and pillow from the business lounge since it was nicer than the pathetic little pillow and blanket we get in coach. The jealousy around me was apparent. The announcements of delay started immediately and continued for the first hour on the tarmac. I was not surprised. About an hour or two we finally pulled away from the gate. At this point time was irrelevant, it was a blur.
About 40 hours in with no sleep, I was out, really out, sleep at last. During the first food service I was awaken, probably by my stomach, to eat. I was awake just enough time to get the bad food down and some water in me before sleeping more.
The announcement that we were preparing to land was what got me up for the last time. We landed, finally, in Portland around 11am Sunday.
To cap off the previous 48 hours of pure fun, NWA put my luggage on the wrong plane. Nice, another line of people to wait with and complain with and sympathize with to report our lost luggage to the solo employee working the counter. My kind friend and his wife offered my a ride home. I thank them very much. The MAX ride I planned to have taken may have put me over the edge.
My boss had called Kathi and told her I could take the day off. I did.
13 hours of sleep is a good cure for jet lag.
Today my luggage arrived at about 1pm.
Done.
Many details and the sort have been left out because I know for a fact that I am not the first or last to go through something like this. For those that travel a lot my sympathy is thick and solid.
