Apparently there was an earthquake (and possible oncoming tsunami) about 1000km from Tokyo. I say "apparently" because even though we were in Tokyo all day, we didn't hear a word of it. There are some warnings on the TV here, but they're for the areas much further north than we'll be. It seems to be much more of a story in the US than here.
Bottom line: We're all fine, and everything is still on schedule.
Today we spent about 10 hours in Tokyo. We took the train from Narita to Tokyo, which took about an hour. Our first stop was Asakusa, which is like a giant outdoor market:
We ate lunch in a little cafeteria-type place in the basement of a building just off the main street. Then we went to Ginza, which kind of like the Times Square of Tokyo. High-end stores everywhere:
Then we went to Akihabara, which is the electronics district. There were big (7 stories tall) electronics department stores, as well as little "flea-market type" shops that sell the "raw materials" of computer and audio and video equipment (circuit boards, transistors, plugs, fans, etc):
The selection was way cool, lots of handheld radios and GPS's. But the prices were no good - a GPS that's $500 in the US was $1200 there. Al bought lots of things, but all I bought was a splitter to let us connect more than 1 computer to the Internet at a time. Then we went to dinner:
Erica had onion rings and garlic bread. Paul and I had tacos, chips, and salsa.
After we got the vans and balloon, we went into Narita to eat lunch and see some sites.
We ate our first real meal in Japan at a food court in a mall. I don't know what you call my food, but it was a pile of rice, covered in egg, with cheese on top and brown sauce. Very good:
I ordered by pointing to a picture, but it wasn't very clear what drinks they had. The language barrier was pretty large, but we could agree on the meaning of "Coca-Cola", so that's what I got. It's the first soda I've had in about 3 years. Al got some gray ice cream that looked like concrete:
It had a very unique taste, but we couldn't figure out exactly what it was.
Then we went to the Narita-san temple. Very cool. There's a downtown-type area with lots of little local shops, then many individual temples on the grounds:
Tomorrow we're going to take the train into Tokyo to see the city. After that, the ballooning starts.
We picked up the vans and balloons this morning:
(The first picture in the second row is the envelope)
Here's a list of what was packed in the 42"x52" basket: ZL-56 envelope, four 15-gallon tanks, double burners, inflator fan, case of radios, windreader, tripod, tons of USA flags.
Total weight: 811 pounds
The air cargo operation at Tokyo is very interesting, especially with the language barrier. There are tons of security and customs guards, so by the time you get done looking confused, nodding to them, and handing over various pieces of paper, you finally drive off feeling like you just got away with something that you shouldn't have. At any rate, we're pretty much done with ballooning for the day, so it's off to lunch (no more McDonalds) and some sightseeing at the Narita-san temple.
We woke up at about 5:30am this morning. It felt really good to sleep. Last night we ended up going back to the airport terminal to eat. A cab into the city of Narita was $20 each way, which seemed like a lot just to eat. So we ended up at a McDonalds. I know, 6500 miles to eat at American fast food...
This morning we'll pickup the balloon and the vans.
The hotel is pretty much like any American hotel. We'll be here until Thursday morning.
We just arrived in Tokyo. It was a very strange flight because it was daylight the entire time (flying toward the west). It was also weird because we lost Monday. When we took off from Detroit, it was 1:45pm on Sunday. When we landed in Tokyo 14 hours later, it was 5:00pm Monday. We've been up about 22 straight hours, and will probably stay up another 4 or 5 to try to get acclimated to the local time.
The flight was probably as good as a 14 hour flight gets. The plane (a 747) was about 60%-70% full. Most of the ride was smooth, and we actually arrived a little early. We passed the time by watching some videos (The Jerk and some competitive balloon videos from the '90's) and wondering when the taco bar would be setup. It never was. Beef tips/rice for dinner, ham and cheese sandwich for a snack, and terikayi pork w/ fried rice for breakfast.
We'll be at the Holiday Inn Tobu Narita for the next few days. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we pick up the balloon and vans. On Wednesday we'll hit Tokyo. Then on Thursday we head up to Motegi.
Right now Paul and Erica just returned to the room bearing gifts:
That's cold Suntory Beer brought out of a vending machine. It's not Coors Light, but after a long day, it still tastes good.
Here's the balloon that Paul will be flying in Japan:
For those who are interested, it's a Cameron ZL-56 made in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Joe Heartsill will be flying one that's almost just like it; his is a Lindstrand 56X, and has just 2 rows of checkerboard in each band.
Received in an e-mail from Debbie Spaeth:
We are very sad to inform you that Masashi Kakuda, of Japan, passed away today, November 8, 2006, from complications of a myocardial infarction.
Masashi has been a dynamic force in ballooning for many years. He was the Event Director for two World Hot Air Balloon Championships in Saga, Japan and was scheduled as the Event Director at the 17th World HAB Championship in Tochigi, Japan.
Masashi believed in the power of air sports to bring people together. With that in mind, he formulated the World Grand Prix for Ballooning. Starting in 1998, this was a competition held in three continents/countries - Wisconsin,/USA; Luxembourg/Europe and Japan/Asia. Pilots from the various countries joined as one team, forming friendship across cultures and national boundaries.
Masashi will be greatly missed by his family, his ballooning friends and all who had the privilege to share time with him.
The 17th World Hot Air Balloon Championship will begin in Tochigi, Japan on November 18th. Masashi had assembled a first class team of people to work with him on the Worlds. This team will continue Masashi\'s plans for the event. Mr. Les Purfield has been named the Event Director for the 17th World HAB Championship.
Details of the funeral/memorial services and of Masashi\'s family contact address will follow as soon as it is known.
Some facts on the town of Motegi:
Here's an outline of our itinerary: