ANA v. United

Typically when I travel by plane, I use one airline. This time, however, I flew on two airlines. This turned out to be a bit of an ordeal, but an educational one nonetheless.

First off, I'm not sure I want to use Untied again due to their customer service, or the lack thereof. When I purchased the tickets I went through United's customer service line. It took me an hour to finish the transaction.  It was mainly due to the rep's poor command of the English language (please keep in mind that I was purchasing the tickets while in the United States from an American company, dealing with sensitive and important information). Even though we confirmed spellings and information several times, there were still several mistakes that could have caused major problems/delays on our international flight. Once I discovered the problems, I contacted Untied again and fixed them.  They didn't fix the entire problem.  We had to waste 20 minutes at the airport waiting for the people to fix it again.

The service on United was pretty bad as well.  Due to a paperwork error, we were stuck on the tarmac for about 2 hours while officials sorted it out. We received no real apology or anything for this.  Another irritating thing was the bassinet.  Since we were traveling with out infant son we requested the use of a bassinet.  I had no idea what to really expect, but I figured it would keep the boy off the floor and secure while he slept.  The flight attendant eventually came by and gave us what looked like an old gym bag.  She offered no explanation other than it was the bassinet and if the fasten seat belt sign was on, the boy would have to be held.  She laid it on the floor and that was it.  Not knowing what to do, we would put our son into this bag thingy and let him rest.  We followed directions and held him in our laps during the turbulent segments of our journey, but other than the initial introduction of the device, we were left alone.  I know I could have asked for further instruction, and I'm not sure why I didn't, but I figured at the time that the flight attendants would have gone through everything we needed to know as they gave it to us.

ANA was pretty professional the entire trip.  Although it did start out kind of rocky when they refused to issue my wife a seat.  She had a ticket, but they didn't give her an exact seat.  They kept telling us that United would have to issue her a seat as we bought the tickets from them.  United would tell us that since it was an ANA flight they would have to give us the seat.  We called both airlines multiple times and got the same runaround each time.  At Nagoya airport we asked at the ticketing booth and they said they would call and take care of it, which they did in front of us.  When we got to Tokyo, we discovered that my wife still didn't have a seat and they were still trying to find the customer sitting next to me so that they could ask him or her to change with my wife.  The funny thing is that they never once paged anyone or otherwise made it look like they were trying to work it out.  I was pretty peeved by the time we got on the plane.

After we got on the plane everything changed.  The flight attendants were at once helpful and accommodating.  They could see how I was struggling with the boy, a backpack, a satchel and a couple other things.  They helped clear the way to my seat and were patient as I blocked the aisle, trying to get everything situated.  Soon into our flight an attendant came over and set up our bassinet.  By set up I don't mean putting it on the floor, but she actually attached it to the wall, allowing us easy access to our son.  I was blown away by the fact that it was an actual bassinet and that she had set it up for us.  The courteous service didn't end there.  Each time we needed something they came to help and often offered us assistance when they thought we needed it.  They always smiled and were never rude like the United flight attendants were.

Overall, it was a good trip.  Probably won't use United again, but I highly recommend ANA.  They were very good to us and I am confident that they will be good to you as well.  Stay tuned for more details of our 2013 Japan trip.

Going back to Japan

Well this is the umpteenth time for me to go to Japan.  It's mainly to introduce my son to his Japanese family and for my wife to load up on Japanese goodies that are either hard or impossible to find here.  We'll be gone for a few weeks.  We'll get to see many of our friends and family and will do and see somethings that have been on the bucket list for a long time.  Chief among these will be going to Beppu.  Beppu is on the island of Kyushu and is famous for its sulfuric hot springs.  I've wanted to go there for years, but never got around to it.

This will also be the first time for me to use the Japan Rail Pass.  It's basically a ticket that allows you to use any JR trail as many times as you want within a certain time frame.  There are some restrictions, but that's for another post.  We will be purchasing the week long pass and with it we will go to Kyushu, Kyoto and a few other places.  I certainly intend on getting more than my money's worth from it.  I wish I could convince my wife to let me get the two week pass, but it's not really worth the effort.  Besides if I were to go to more places, I'd be more tempted to spend money that I don't really have.

Another part of the trip that I'm particularly excited about is the food.  I miss Japanese food.  I also look forward to karaoke and just having fun in my old haunts.

The hardest thing about this trip is the inevitable feeling of wanting to stay.  It happens each time I go back there.  I arrive and the nostalgia and good memories of my time in Japan flood back and I begin entertaining thoughts of staying.  I know I can't, but I still feel that way at times.  I've built a life here finally so I'm not going to just toss it away on an impulse.

Anyways, this trip will be fun and we're all excited.  Well excited except for the part of taking a young baby on an international flight...

A stroll through Hell

The air was heavy with the rotten egg stench of sulfur. The steam from the bubbling cracks in the ground shrouded the area in an eerie, ghostly white. An occasional gurgle also escaped from the yellow earth, almost in a vain attempt to beg forgiveness and a respite from this desolate place.

The path wound through cracked and jagged terrain. With each gust of wind I was assaulted with more of the old, rubbery egg stench. Yellow stained rocks comprised the walkway through these "hells". After I rounded a bend I saw a sign naming one particular hell for a woman who murdered her husband and was later executed. The spring apparently erupted shortly afterwards.

The area was laden with pine trees, bending and twisting like the souls of the condemned. which secluded the area even more, giving it an even more of a dark and scary hell-like quality. I certainly felt an uncomfortable sensation of dread and the lack of desire to spend much time there.

Approaching the top of a hill I could begin to hear a horrid, high pitched yell. A churning, choking, gasping sound that gave the area an even more awful character. That particular hell was aptly named the "Screaming Hell". A violent torrent of steam shoots from a vent in the earth causing a very convincing screaming sound. Perhaps those fated to hell did in fact reside here. Again the ambiance of this place was very dark. A scream of a crow briefly cut through the howling of the damned and another gust of foul air hit me.

As I walked through the hot spring hell I could feel a sense of isolation even though this place was in the midst of a small town. The place was hot and was drenched in the terrible odor of sulfur. The white, sharp, jagged rocks and the turmoil of the steaming water lent itself perfectly to the image of hell and it is certainly a place I would not want to be condemned to for eternity.

This area, although being called Hell, and definitely deserving of the name, is actually a hot springs resort near Nagasaki city. They are so named "Hell" because of the stark and forbidding landscape and of the intensity of the hot springs themselves. It is harsh and forbidding, a perfect picture of the stereotypical Hell.

After a about thirty minutes, my stomach could take no more of the heat and stench. I turned back towards the area I had come from and plunged into the white plumes of steam, returning again to the land of the living.

JAL

So I'm back in Japan. This time I'm visiting my soon to be in laws and the soon to be missus. So far it's been a pretty nice trip. This post is mostly about my initial journey to the country.

As is often the case with traveling to Japan (or other East Asian countries) I left in the early morning hours from Nashville. My first layover was in Chicago. I've been to Chicago's airport a couple times before. In the past, I always felt that it was confusing and overly huge. This time I felt a bit different. I didn't need to take a tram to my departure area and the signs and staff were very helpful in finding my gate. However, make sure you double check where you are departing from because I and a couple others were told by the gate agent to leave the security area and to go to a completely different terminal. I, thinking that I had heard something different on the plane to Chicago, decided to ask a security agent. Good thing I did. Turns out that international flights used to leave from a different terminal. Now, however, they leave from the same terminal (depends on destination and carrier).

After finding my gate, something I always do before doing anything else, I went about finding some food. I ended up at the greasy chopstick in the food court. I learned a long time ago that it's always best to have something in your stomach before boarding your interenational flight just in case their in flight meal doesn't sit well with you. Unfortunately I had passed all the nice places a while back and did not want to wander too far from my gate.

This was the first time for me to fly JAL (Japan Air Lines) from the States to Japan. I must say this experience was awesome! From the moment I checked in to the moment I stepped off the plane in Nagoya, everything was great.

The first bit of sunshine was when I checked in. The gate agent informed me that I had an inner seat (something that I already requested against) and asked if I wanted an aisle. I did. He also said that he could give me a special seating assignment. I could have a business seat, but with economy service. Cool I thought, big seat.

The seat was the greatest I had ever seen. I was huge. I had left over room when I sat down. Also, you could recline the seat back to a laying down position. It was awesome! So comfortable and I was able to relax quite a bit. I still wasn't able to sleep much, but was comfortable nonetheless.

Arriving in Narita was nothing special, however, my experience there has emphasized my dislike for that airport. Everytime I go through Narita I have a different and irritating experience. It also seems that the airport changes configuration each time I go. It looked really different from only a year ago. Nothing really looked the same as when I came back from the Philippines last year. Another frustrating thing was that everyone was telling me a different place to go.

I left customs and was pointed to the left in order to make my connecting flight. Then when I was stopped by airport police the first time for a passport check I was told to go upstairs. Then when I was stopped a second time for a passport check, I was told yet another place. Finally someone pointed me to the "correct" area. However, I had to recheck my bags... Most other airports merely have you load up your bags right after customs. Not in Narita. You have to go to another ticket counter and recheck your stuff. Finally with under an hour left I made it to my gate.

Though I had a few irritations in Tokyo, my trip was great. I also want to say that I was not mad or irritated at getting my passport checked twice. It was just that they took several minutes each time and I was worried about missing my flight. I know the cops were just doing their jobs. So if it happens to you, just go with the flow and cooperate. Use Japanese if you can and be nice.