I arrived at Narita airport late due to the fact that we were delayed an hour for take-off. Once there, I went through customs very quickly. There was no line at all The first thing I did after getting my luggage was get one of those luggage carts, and it was just a coincidence that I got a cart with the advertisement for ECC Foreign Language Institute on it, which is where I work of course. I then went to the baggage delivery service to get my bags delivered to where I will live and then went down to the train station.
I had to spend the night around the airport and take the train into Tokyo the next morning, so what better place to spend the night than the Japanese bath house I stayed at when I was in Japan a year ago with my friend Josh. I didn’t need a map as my experience last time has given me a clear mental picture on exactly how to get there. I remember perfectly how to get train tickets from the machine as well. I took the train to downtown Narita and took a walk to the bath house only to find this…

Yes, the entire building was closed down and blocked off. Now, since I didn’t make any reservations and my first choice of place to stay was closed, I needed to find an alternative that was also not expensive. On my way back to the train station I noticed a very nice hotel…

Center Hotel Narita.

When I went in it seemed like an expensive place but after talking to the guy at the front desk, who thankfully spoke English as my Japanese is very limited, I realized that it was cheaper than anything I was looking at online the night before. I paid and took the elevator to the top floor to my non-smoking Japanese hotel room…

It was tiny! A bed a dresser and 1 foot of walking space. The bathroom was also tiny…

Although the room was small, I have to say that it was ingeniously designed. The bed was super comfortable and had switches to control the room lights and a clock as well. The view out of the window was great, and the small bath was actually very nice. They also provided me with a Yukata which is a Japanese robe. In the morning when I checked out they had a very nice free breakfast as well. Overall, I enjoyed the stay there more than I would have at an American style hotel.
After that, I took the train back to the airport and got on the first express train to Shinjuku.

You can now see the weather I have to live with in Tokyo