ANC: Shots of Alaska

Here are some shots of Mount McKinley and its sister mountain to the West. I've been trying to find out the name of the peak. If anyone knows or has a website, please post. You'd think the peak names would be listed on Google Maps, but alas they are not...

The mountains and their glaciers are in the Denali National Park and Wildlife Preserve.

NRT: The Jet Lag Club

Hello folks from Narita, Japan

I'd like to tell you about one of the best layover bars Narita has to offer - the Jet Lag Club!

Its located on
508 Kamicho, Narita
Tel: 080-5504-0340
http://www.jetlagclub.com/

The owner of the JLC, Vincent, was a flight attendant in his previous life, and after settling in Narita, opened up the JLC. What better theme than one that he is personally familiar with - International Air Travel.

I used Photoshop to mark up a map for you. It ought to get you close. The walking distance was a half mile.


(link to original Google Map)

The bus from the Hilton drops you off near the Narita local train station. You go up the stairs to the walkway and walk through the train station. After a few up escalators, it'll dump you out at street level. Bear right and go over the pedestrian overpass, and then when the road comes to a "T", go right onto "Green Streen." It's not the real name of the street, but everyone calls it that because it has green painted sidewalks. Wander on the Green Street until you come to the Jet Lag Club on the left.

Inside you'll be treated to a vast array of interesting airline memorabilia and artifacts. Order a pint of your favorite beer and let your eyes wander around. You'll find yourself spending a lot of time just checking out the photos and posters surrounding you.

Happy hour is from 4 to 8 and The Jet Lag Club has the best prices in town. A popcorn machine will help you forget that you're hungry (and that it's really 6am back home...)

Vincent has been constantly upgrading the pub, and it now sports a dance floor complete with techno lights and such. The DJ spins his magic on Friday and Saturday nights. On the other nights, enjoy a trip back in time to music videos of the 70's, 80's and 90's.

The Jet Lag Club does not serve food, but has made arrangements with Pa Pa's restaurant to have their food delivered. I'll be blogging about Pa Pa's soon. Just ask the bartender for a menu.

Vincent is proud to have made the Jet Lag Club the first non-smoking bar in Japan. As a non-smoker, I can appreciate that. Just step into one of the other smoking bars for a few minutes and the clear air of the JLC will be missed.

Enjoy your visit to Narita and take a minute to soak up the Jet Lag Club! You'll have a great time!

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Some More Photos -->
The Bar

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Rabble rousers, one and all...

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Just a few of the items in Vincent's vast collection:

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Lots of stuff for sale at the JLC. This is a neat bottle opener that you put over the top of the bottle and push down. Magically, the bottle top pops off! A great unique party item!

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More beers! (Notice the shapely stein...)

LHR: Carnival

2008 Carnival Map (pdf)

I can't say enough about prior planning. I visited the Notting Hill Carnival this year, but I was late on Sunday. Somehow, I had the idea of the parade being an afternooon into evening affair. I don't know where I got this idea. The parade ending hours are clearly mentioned in most of the literature that I've now re-read.






So, I showed up at around 8pm on Sunday, about 1 hour after the official festivities ended. Missing all but the jerk chicken and rice... Next year, I'll be sure to go earlier. If I'd been aware that I was missing things, I wouldn't have hung out at the hotel bar for the amount of time that I did...

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The one neat thing that I ran across were the funny men-only urinals. Open air, yet still private.

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On my way back to the hotel, I came across a street rave music party. It was most likely an ordnance/curfew violation, but the cops didn't seem to care too much. Loud, active and young. I only stayed 15 minutes until the monotony of the beat wore me out.

I'd also recommend that you bring your own beers, in a backpack if you have one. There is apparently no open container law that is in affect for Carnival and everybody was openly partaking. There's probably some good money to be made with the recycling aluminum contract, as the beer cans were scattered everywhere. (a testament to the fun perhaps?)




Monday aftrnoon, the 25th, after a quick swim at the Hilton, I ventured back out to see what I could witness before the bus pickup time. I jogged there and back, and it was not too bad a run. About 10 minutes to get there there. Once there, I hung out at the southeast corner of the parade route, and got to see the first couple of floats. I was at a crosswalk that allowed you to get 'inside' the parade route (like the infield of the track). I was tempted to cross, but I'm glad I didn't. Had I gone inside, I'm not sure I would have been allowed back out for the next few hours. Keep that in mind if you're tight on time - stay outside the parade route for a quick exit.


That's it. Really a failed attempt at visiting Carnival this year, but I'll be 1 year wiser for 2009!

LHR: The Tower of London

The weather coming into London was not too bad, so I decided to try the Tower of London after a short nap. If you decide to go, you'd be wise to visit this sites to get the lay of the land:
• http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerofLondon
• itInerary Planner
• PDF map of the Tower

Regarding Naps
I prefer short naps as opposed to 'hitting the ground running.' I find that I enjoy my sightseeing the best when I have about 2 to 3 hours of solid sleep. The challenge, however, is waking up and quickly departing for your tour. If you're like me, you just want to throw the alarm across the room and go back to sleep. But resisting that urge can be fruitful as the London sights are beautiful if the weather cooperates. The downside to the nap is that you will most likely be pushing daylight and museum closing times. Experiment to find out which nap schedule works best for you.

Reference Map


View Larger Map

Tube Directions
There are many Tube routes to get to the Tower of London "Tower" stop. The easiest would be the Circle line direct, but you could also take the Bakerloo and District lines, depending on which Edgeware Road tube stop was closest. Take the left exit out of the Tower station to take you to the large sundial in Trinity Place.
The sundial park is a nice overlook area to get your bearings and take a photo or two. When you're ready to continue, go through the pedestrian tunnel under Tower Hill Terrace Road, and then follow the signs for Ticketing.

Ticketing
The tickets for the Tower are £16.50, which is a bit steep, especially if you arrive late. You can buy tickets online for £16.50, but be sure the weather will be cooperating. Unfortunately, there are no discounts for late ticket purchases and the museum closes at 5:30. They stop admitting at around 5:00.

If you want to do a guided tour, the last guided tour starts at 3:30pm, so plan accordingly. I regret not getting the last guided tour, as it apparently is very lively and informative, given by one of the uniformed "Yoeman Warders." The lady at the counter said that it takes about 2-3 hours to take in all that the Tower has to offer. I arrived at 4:10, and almost didn't buy a ticket because I was only going to have an hour and a half to look around. I decided to purchase a ticket anyway, and vowed to walk briskly and not waste time with stuff I didn't find interesting.

Sights
The Crown Jewels are located inside the Tower walls in a very secure building. It's worth the look see, if the line is not too long. At first glance, the line snaked 100 feet beyond the entrancewayof the building. Later, the line shortened to inside the building and I decided to give it a go. Once inside, there was still about 10 minutes of Disney-roped line maze action before you see any goods. The jewels and Royal oppulence is quite impressive. Excellent craftmanship.

I did the Fusiliers museum for £1. It has an excellent chronology of the Fusiliers and their place in British Military History. However, there is quite a bit of reading and not as many artifacts as you might find in other similar museums. I'd skip it if you don't have the time, or have kids with you.

I did the Blood Tower self guided tour. The Blood Tower is where two princes were murdered, and it describes circumstances surrounding the incident. This was interesting and worth it, if you don't have to wait too long in line.

I did the Medieval house tour, which takes you through the Royal living quarters of the Tower. It has some neat factoids regarding Kingly accomodations and what life was like for His Highness back in the day. Upon exit from the throne room. you come out on the South terrace and have a nice view of the beautiful Tower bridge.

Exit
At around 5:40, the Yoeman Warders were politely encouraging folks to wrap it up and exit. I departed throught the gate near the Thames, and since I wanted to scope out the War Experience museum on the opposite bank of the river, I hoofed it across the Tower bridge. (The bridge has tours that explains its storied history, but they also end at 5:30.) Anyway, the walk across will give you great photo ops of the Tower and that crazy egg shaped building. Be sure to walk on the northwest side of the bridge, as you can't cross to the otherside once your on it.

Summary
I'm glad I went and the beautiful weather made it enjoyable just wandering around. However, if I had to do it over again, I'd try to arrive there no later than 3:15. This allows time to tag on with that last guided tour, and you'll have a little extra tme for yourself before they shuffle you to the exits at 5:30. Also, a little bit of web study helps to get familiar with the history and stories, which makes the visit much more enjoyable.

If the weather is cold and rainy, I'd skip the Tower and do an indoor museum. For maximum enjoyment, do a little research before you go regarding the Tower's layout and history. That way, you'll have some of the reading done and will be able to skip some of the queues near the placards without missing much.

If you go, post a comment on your experience. Thanks!

More Pictures

The Tower Green

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King's Throneroom

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White Tower

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Tower from the Tower Bridge

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Tower Western Wall and moat (note the trebuchet...)

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Tower Bridge from the south bank of Thames

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