Narita Airport And Almost Missing My Flight

Hello and happy #MarketFriday! I'll be sharing some details about Narita Airport today! And my memorable flight 😅

After taking the Narita Express to Narita Airport Terminal 2 and taking the elevator going to the departure area, I waited for probably almost an hour for checking in. I was early and so were the rest of these early birds, and we were all waiting for the check-in counter to open and accommodate us. I didn't check in online, even when I could because I thought there might be some more things that needed to be done. When I saw the other line which was for the online check in baggage drop, I thought to myself I should probably check in online next time. Lessons.

I was going home for the first time since COVID struck and made us stay in Japan for 3 years. During these years, there were new policies regulated for overseas Filipino workers like me which made going home a hassle. Fortunately, by the time I decided to process my papers, the policies were already stable and clear, and less hassle on the employer side, so even when it was a hassle preparing my documents, I was still able to get the approval from the government office a week before my flight home. It may be different per country, but in Japan, it was kinda a struggle but in an orderly manner.

I checked my boarding time and oh, great, I probably still have an hour to roam around and saw the signs indicating that there were restaurants and shops upstairs so I gave it a go.

No, this is not the shopping area when you pass the Immigration. This is before Immigration. This shopping and restaurant area is located on the 4th floor of Narita Airport. The escalator I took led me to the observation area, I mean the door to the observation deck was just on the way to the shopping area so the curious me went inside.

It was fun to watch the airplanes but I didn't want to stay longer in that place. Besides, some planes weren't taking off yet. I didn't want to wait.

Moving on to the shopping area, I first saw the Pokemon store. As expected, it's flocked with kids and their families but I didn't care if I was the only adult there without any kid. 😆 One kid was looking at me while I was taking a photo of a pokemon, probably judging me or probably wondering what I was doing in this kids-only store. Sorry kid, when you become an adult you will still be a pokemon fan. 😂

I didn't stay long because I was keen on not buying anything.

I was a bit surprised to see Muji in this area. There was apparel but more importantly, there were travel bags and supplies. I didn't see any kitchen utensils here. 😄

There was ABC-Mart too. Back when I was still new in Japan, I would shop in ABC Mart for shoes because sometimes they have massive discounts. For now, window shopping only because I already brought enough shoes in my baggage.

Of course, I saw some souvenir shops. It was kinda expensive but there were some that were affordable and reasonable. I bought some souvenirs here, ref magnets particularly because I liked their design and thought it's a good addition to my collection at home.

I thought of buying more souvenirs so I could give them to people I would be meeting but decided not to buy more. Can you believe that in my 2 medium-sized checked-in luggage, there were more souvenirs than my clothes? 😂

Back in the day, this dancing head figure was pretty popular. I wonder how it is now. These were cute designs so I couldn't help but take a video of them. So Japan!

https://youtube.com/shorts/Id9s2iwIuQk?feature=share

There were some restaurants here too. Some offer a nice view like the observation area but I wasn't that hungry yet and there's food on the plane so no food for me for now.

I found the lounge area where I could stay for free because of my credit card. Thank you credit card LOL. They offer drinks for free too! It's pretty quiet and not all seats were occupied so I chose a working area seat where I could charge my phones and use my laptop. Their wifi was fast so I didn't have any connection problems.

I was so engrossed in writing a blog that I stayed there longer than I planned. I was supposed to leave the lounge at 13:35 but I left at around 13:45. My boarding time is at 13:55 and I didn't know where to go after checking in. I was running around and found people lining up for immigration. The people in front of me were so slow, arggggh I would miss my flight because of me of how slow they were. 😅

When it was my turn, I didn't know I should remove my laptops from my backpack so I had to wait for a bit again because they would scan my laptops and backpack again. Argggh!! I went to the airport early so I would not be having problems like these but in the end, I still ended up with this problem.

Luckily the line to the immigration officer wasn't long because I wasn't a tourist. I was accommodated next after I filled up the papers. I wrote so fast I couldn't even recognize my penmanship. 😆 The immigration officer just confirmed my flight details and when I would be coming back to Japan and I was done!

I remembered the attendant from the plane when I was in the check in counter mentioning the boarding gate was so far so I needed to be there early. When I finished immigration, I saw the boarding gate just a minute's walk and wondered, how come she told me it was far? I was walking so fast to that boarding gate when I decided to confirm again the details of my flight. Arrgggghhh I was walking to the wrong gate! It's in the other direction!

I turned around and walked so fast that I realized the shopping area where nice brands were just here. I was looking for them on the wrong floor! This was my 2nd time in Narita Airport and the first time I was just following my friends so I couldn't remember where to find this duty-free shopping area. My mom asked for a perfume from a certain brand for her birthday but sorry Mom, I would miss my flight if I would still be shopping. 😖

Actually, I would miss my flight now! It's past 13:55!

I was almost sprinting (mind you, I couldn't run fast) and at the same time, praying that I would reach the boarding gate immediately. It was indeed so far! It probably took me 5-10 minutes from the immigration control area. I heard my flight number on the speakers and waaaah last call for boarding, they say.

Luckily I saw a staff from the airline holding the placard with my flight number on it and immediately like a student eager to answer the teacher's question in class, I raised my hand and told her I was on this flight. She said something on the headphone to the other staff on the gate, probably saying I found a lady for that flight, she's heading over your way. At this time, I stopped running and now catching my breath. Everytime I run, I would always faint but at that time, I was inhaling a lot of white flower to prevent myself from fainting and missing the flight. I didn't want to cause a scene. 😂

There were fewer people standing and settling down when I arrived on the plane, looking for my seat. When I was arranging my things, I saw 4 Japanese guys who were in front of me in the line at the check-in counter, they just made it to the flight. They were late than I was. 😅 Whew! I wasn't the last~

I messaged my mom saying I couldn't buy the thing she wanted so I told her to buy anything she want in the mall when we see each other. She was a bit disappointed at first but what's important was I made it to the flight.

A few moments later, I was in the sky and saw the clouds. Whew, I'm finally going home.

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Happy #MarketFriday by @dswigle! Make sure to check out the community!

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Thanks for reading!
See you around! じゃあ、またね！

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With love,

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^{All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.}