Took my first trip of 2017 and spent five (5) days in Japan and South Korea. Mostly visiting family and checking out all that has changed. I wanted to stay longer, but am budgeting my vacation hours to last me the year.
Day 1 - Narita, Japan (Tokyo)
I've been to this airport several times before and for the most part it seems the same. This is one of my favorite airports in terms of how they logically organized and structured the layout of the various terminals. Once you understand how they setup the whole airport its very easy to navigate and find what you need. However, I think the reason the terminals are so nicely structured has a consequence on how they organized the runways as this is the worst airport in terms of planes taxing to the gates and often can take 15-25 minutes.
Another pet peeve are the storage lockers do not count # of hours, but are on a set time schedule so if you arrive on an evening flight you may need to pay twice to store something, even if you leave it for just a few hours. It was late and after a simple dinner of Pork Tonkatsu, I took an airport shuttle to a local hotel to sleep for a few hours before my next connecting flight.
Day 2 - Nagoya, Japan
In prior trips, I would rush to my final destination, but I decided to try something different and to minimize the affects of jet lag and avoid catching a cold, I am taking two (2) days to reach South Korea. Budgeted a four (4) hour layover and checked out the Nagoya Sky Town. The food was okay and had a tempura/tendon bowl then strolled the various shops drinking my proverbial coffee.
There were some cool shops and they had Platinum & Pilot Pens! Most amazing was the Iroshizuku Inks were just 1500 Yen or about $12. The pens were expensive at 10,000 Yen, but I was mesmerized by the selection of Iroshizuku Inks, however they didn't have the Shikibu Murasaki (Purple). Instead, I spent a good half hour in an electronics store sampling the various headphones from Audio Technica & Sony. I purchased a pair of ATH-MSR7's.
Finally made it to Korea. Ate some Chachamyun for dinner and hung out with family then went to bed (I'm so old....) Had some Coffee @ Paris Baguette while cruising the town.
Day 4 - Busan, South Korea
Hit the Lotte Shopping Center and ate some great food at a restaurant that also included unlimited Starbucks Espressos! I had at least three (3) doubleshots and finished it off with a Cappuccino. For Dinner, ordered some Domino's. Korea has much better pizza, wish they had this in the States.
Day 5 - Gimhae Airport (Busan, South Korea)
And the short trip was over before I knew it and I am back at Gimhae preparing to return home via Narita. I like to arrive at the airports early or on time and spend the 60-90 minutes relaxing with again a cup of coffee. This time around I had a full 90 minutes thanks to the quick security & immigration checkpoints. Spent most of the time auditioning the Audio Technica MSR7's with a Latte from Cafe Pascucci.
Then a Green Tea from 7-Elevens.
Day 5 - Narita, Japan + Flight Home (Upgraded to First!)
Flying for 11 hours, enjoyed three (3) meals while in-flight. Was an awesome return and got some much needed rest.
#1 -- Lunch
#2 -- Dinner
#3 -- Breakfast
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