December 3rd, 2009
06:30 Arrived at Narita Airport
After more than 6 hours of fun flight, finally I arrived at Narita Airport. Narita Airport is located in Chiba prefecture, near Tokyo. People often think that Narita Airport is in Tokyo, like thinking Soekarno-Hatta airport is in Jakarta, which is actually not. Once I thought so too, hehehe. At the airport, there were many people who used masks. Indeed, Japan was very concerned about swine flu epidemic which recently occurred. Besides, it was the beginning of winter, so some people caught a cold.
In Japan, people who wre getting cold or not feeling well, were encouraged to use a mask. Previously, in Indonesia, I took influenza vaccine, because it was a requirement from Japanese government to reduce the transmission of swine flu or influenza virus. In addition, during the program, we were also given a lot of masks.
At the airport, we were guided by Japanese volunteers and tour guides from the Japan Travel Bureau (JTB). These people were really professional. The volunteers used JENESYS coat jackets that were so cool. >o< From the airport, we went to Marroad Narita International Hotel. We would stay a day there, and the next day would go to Kyoto. Otanashimii!! Outside the airport, the cold air immediately hit my face. From Indonesia, there were 66 people that were divided into 2 buses. I got INA bus 2. We were guided by 2 volunteer brothers, named Sudaso-san and Miyuki-san, as well as two tour guides, Yukari-san and I am sorry I forget the other one. Well, there was something exciting! It turned out that Miyuki-san was an AFS participant to Indonesia in 2007. She was placed in Semarang, and her Bahasa Indonesia was soo good. Yokatta! Even she could speak Jawanese a little. Even I was not able to speak Jawanese, haha. On the way to the hotel, I saw many colorful trees like ginkgo and momiji !! Ginko ga suki desu! It turned out that even though it was already the beginning of winter, we could still see the remnants of the autumn … Compare to winter, I prefer autumn. Aki no ai …
Finally, I arrived at Marroad Narita International Hotel. What a magnificent hotel! My room was on the 4th floor. I got a roommate, her name is Fryda. It turned out that the issue of Japanese toilets is true. The toilet had many buttons, there were buttons for the front and back, the water could also be set to heat or cold.
Japanese toilet
Well, Japan really spoiled its guests. But I still didn’t dare to try drinking from tap water, hehe. As I was very thirsty, I bought mineral water at the hotel minimarket. And the price … 105 yen, really expensive! It was around 10 thousand rupiahs. I saw the cheapest price indeed 100 yen. Lotte gum in Indonesia costs a thousand rupiah, here it was 100 yen! Really one of the countries with the most expensive living costs in the world!
After putting my belonging and sleeping for a while, I had to go to the main floor again. Here, we entered the main room to meet children from other countries. Before entering, we had to check our body temperature, then each person was given a 5,000 yen pocket money, jacket, parka, and Jenesys sweater. The model was really cool, similar to what Japanese volunteers used. The color was blue, while the Japanese volunteers’ color was navy.
Here I met students from Australia and Malaysia, while students from other countries had not arrived yet.
During lunch time, we were taken to a Japanese restaurant. The restaurant was really unique. The restaurant consisted of 2 floors. The first floor sold food and cute souvenirs but … it was really expensive. 🙁
Some of my friends started shopping. I would just go shopping in Kyoto, because it was said there were cheap and a lot of cute items there. The restaurant was located on the second floor. We ate with chopsticks. Luckily, Jenesys participants from Indonesia have been trained to use chopstick in Indonesia. And the Japanese people were immediately amazed and said “sugoi”.
After lunch, we were invited to the nearest mall in Narita, Chiba, named Ito-Yokado. On the way, we met several Japanese students who said “hi” and “hello”. I felt like a famous person … hehe. I found lots of cute clothes here. Anyway, I was really fond of the winter clothes. After seeing the price.. I could go bankrupt! Finally, I decided going to Hyaku-en (100 Yen) shop or better known as Daisho. Here everything was one hundred yen or around 10,000 rupiahs. Various items were offered, from food to cute Japanese household items. After shopping few (?) items, we returned to the hotel. In the hotel, students from other countries had arrived, such as from Thailand and the Philippines. However, New Zealand students hadn’t arrived yet.
After dinner with the western style menu at the hotel (the food was really good, buffet again ^^), we were free to go back to our room or the squareroom. I decided to go back to my room, because I wanted to take a nap. Soo tired. However, some of my friends decided to wait for New Zealand students due to curiosity.
Time showed it was almost 10 p.m. On the road and in the elevator, I met students from other countries. They were very friendly and kind. See you tomorrow in Kyoto.
Next : Supermarket Called ‘Pasar’
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