Picked up Tokyo Banana @ Narita. 東京バナナクロ。＃HIasia #FB
On our way from Honolulu International Airport to Taipei International Airport, our flight had a brief stop over at Narita International Airport. Everyone proceeding to Taipei as their final destination still was required to disembark the aircraft with all belongings and go through a security check again prior to re-boarding. It was about an hour and a half between the flights. That allowed just enough time to do a little shopping in the Duty Free Shops and use wifi at a free hotspot we found in the terminal.
When we arrive at our hotel in Taipei, we're going to be meeting up with one of my long time friends, James, whom I haven't seen for about 7 years. He used to live in Honolulu but now he lives in Taiwan.
I saw the Tokyo Banana being sold at one of the shops in the terminal so I thought it would be a nice gift (おみやげ) for James. This is the first time I saw the brown chocolate flavored cake that's being called "kuro/クロ" (black) and the sign said it was the top seller so since I am a chocolate lover, I bought 2 of the 8 pack boxes for 1000 yen each. I opened 1 box and snacked/tasted it during the flight to Taipei. It doesn't have a very strong chocolate flavor, but I do prefer it over the regular Tokyo Banana because it's not as sweet. I hope James likes it.
Anyway, if your stuck at Narita Airport in terminal 2 and are searching for wifi, you should be able to find the Narita Wifi Hotspot. The problem with that is that although it's not a secured hotspot, it isn't free! It costs 500 yen for a 24 hour period. I suppose it's not that bad a price to pay if you're stuck in the terminal for several hours, but we were only there for a little over an hour so I wasn't about to splurge 500 yen just to check my email (and check into foursquare of course). As we continued browsing through the shops, we came across an illy espressamante cafe that displayed a "free broadband wifi and computer access" sign. 8^) Just perfect!
I purchased a non required small iced coffee for a little under 300 yen and found out after asking the barista that I needed to see the NT desk that was right next to the espresso bar for the computer use, so that's what I did.
The NT desk requires you to fill out a form with your id and passport numbers, then they give you a tiny little USB wifi nub (I believe). I didn't take a photo of it, but didn't appear large enough to be a modem. Anyway, they have a bunch of fast notebooks all set up and you are assigned to a terminal where you just simply plug in the little USB nub thingy and you're browsing the web instantly at blazing fast speeds! She asked me in the beginning if I wanted to use my own computer, but I answered, "no" because it would have taken forever to start up my computer. Using their computer was so convenient! Also, we realized that our phones were also able to log on to the wifi by just registering on the homepage that pops up after connecting to the hotspot and opening your browser. It's a very simple process that just required your email address inputted twice a selecting "agree" on a couple radio dots. You can be online on your wifi enabled mobile device in under a minute! The registration page is available in Japanese and English.
Well I hope this tip helps those of you who may be searching for free wifi hotspot options at Narita International Airport. I know I had a very difficult time searching for this specific information while planning how I was going to gain access to the internet. I knew there was wifi at the airport, but it didn't say it was free.
There is one draw back to using this free wifi hotspot. That is you need to be near the cafe, but there are plenty of seats and computers in there and it also has a view out to the tarmac!
:)
HTTP://twitter.com/RickNakama
Sent via Nexus One Mobile.
http://RickNakama.com
No comments:
Post a Comment
www.RickNakama.com
Thanks for your comments. I'll need to screen them first to make sure it's a family friendly comment.