After flying with Delta for so long (no I DON’T endorse them in any way, as of now that is), Narita Airport Terminal one has been a very familiar ground for me, unfortunately, more than my home’s Changi Airport.
I knew exactly which and where the shops are and what they sell in each shop.

So, during this recent trip, I already had in mind what are the few things I can do during my long transit hours at Narita. However, due to a series of delays [click here to read about it], my transit time in Narita had shorten to about 3 hours.

For many, 3 hours is still a long time. For someone like me who has many experience of waiting and queuing up for things, 3 hours was mere nothingness.

Nevertheless, there is one special reason I was excited after clearing the customary checks at Narita that I took off towards its direction after plonking my cabin trolley and Freddy into an airport cart.

And that special reason is: the EBI BURGER from MacDonald’s!!!
Sounds silly, I guess.
But for the many years I have transited in Narita, I always wanted to eat the Ebi burger but due to rushing transit, or knowing the simple fact that I will soon be fed on board the next flight, I had always walked past and not bought it.

Today, due to the lengthy transit, I was able to have enough stomach to accept that burger.
YESHHHHH~~~~

The initial confusing part would be that the menu is entirely in Japanese.
Seriously? I know restaurants in Japan that has an ENGLISH menu but at the airport and the MacDonald’s menu is entirely in Japanese??
There’s something to be improved here, fellow Japanese.

However, thanks to the pictures, I was able to figure out from the menu that No.08 is the Ebi burger I wanted. So walked to the counter, (unfortunately the staff who took my order doesn’t speak English… sian~) I just pointed No.08 on the menu and say “ko-re~”. That means “this” in Japanese.

‘Ko-re’ turns out to be a very very very very very very useful word, if you are a Japanese language idiot like me; and if you are too slow to pull our your smartphone to get to Google Translate app. I’ll talk about those later.

Besides the word ‘ko-re’, I also replied ‘set-to’ and ‘coke’.
And viola! I’ve just successfully ordered my McD meal.

My very own Ebi burger meal!!!!!
I am unsure if the anticipation of eating this burger actually made the burger more tasty or simply it just because it just taste different.

The Ebi burger

The burger patty is quite thick and when you bite into it, you can see chunks, and I mean like the whole shrimp within the patty. The sauce is a sweet tangy mayo and it goes very well with the shrimp patty. The burger is surprisingly pretty tasty, unlike the taste of the MacDonald’s burger back home in Singapore.

Excuse me on the bite marks (lol~) But you can see the huge round hole where the shrimp is.

Mmmmmmm~ Cravings satified!!
I definitely felt like I am on vacation already!!

So after I had finished my McD meal, I made my way to the unique Japanese store that has the origami displays since I still have like another 2 hours of so.
While the displays were pretty much similar year after year, there are some new exhibits added too.

I spotted one particular origami piece which I thought was fantastic.
It was depicting the scene of Cinderella running away at the stroke of midnight from the Prince’s ball.

The intricate design of the display amazes me.
Every detail were so sophisticated and well done!

The costumes of each figure was already so meticulously made!
The pumpkin carriage and the horses are even more awesome!

I was dumbfounded.
A simple piece of paper can do wonders!

Click on the picture to see it bigger and check out the glass slipper!

I have been dropping by the origami exhibits when i had time whenever I transit at Narita. There were many other beautiful displays and masterpieces, but this time, it was this Cinderella display that captures my attention wholly.

They even have a display which uses the American 1 dollar bill to do different types of origami, but I felt this particular Cinderella piece was much better.

I also managed to see another amazing origami piece in the Cinderella castle in Tokyo Disneyland, but I’ll write about that in another post in the near future.

Besides all the usual Japanese omiyage shops which I had generally browsed through, (cause I usually will only buy them on my way back home to Singapore), I discovered this new store which took me awhile to figure out what they were selling.

You would have never guessed:

The interesting thing about this futuristic looking store is that:
1. I see no shopkeeper in the store.
2. Because there is no shopkeeper I didn’t even dare to step in.

I stood at a distance then I realised what it was selling.
Have you guessed it too?
No? Yes? Yup, they are selling cigarettes.

It took me awhile to figure that out and I thought it was an interesting concept overall as a shop design, but I don’t smoke, so other than aesthetically wise, I have no interest in the product itself.

After filling my stomach and filling my senses, I had an “itch to scratch” — my wallet, that is.
Shopping is also on my agenda while transiting in Narita.

The main feature of that place would be of course, HELLO KITTY!!

Hello Kitties!!

Feast your eyes, kitty lovers!
I must say, the Japanese loves their mascots and are very clever on creating products of them.

They are also very generous with their freebies.
Check out those magazines. Most of them are inclusive of freebies that can range from pretty canvas totes to full size beauty products.

Magazines comes with fabulous freebies

Unfortunately, I can’t read a word of Japanese.

Transiting in Narita has become a norm for me when I travel to the USA.
Even around the world, airports are improving to reducing the boring time of transit with places to feast your eyes, your bellies and also duty-free shops to shop till your hearts content.

So as I board my next flight,

Sayonara~