Oliver Sky Oasis in Narita

Every once in a while I come across something truly special in some airport around the world. Most are dull and generic. Many I'm forced to spend time in due to layovers, delays, or long security process. But occasionally there are those airports I wish I could venture into and hang out with no boarding pass. And Tokyo Narita's Terminal 1 is one of them.

It wasn't always like this. I've flown into, out of, or through Narita dozens of times. I can never recall being impressed with it. Honestly the airport felt dated, especially when compared to it's rivals in other Asian hubs like Seoul or Singapore or even Taipei's Taoyuan. But there've been some major changes in Narita recently, and one of the is the addition of Oliver Sky Oasis.

Adjacent to Starbucks, this is a great lounge for anyone to enjoy. Excellent seating, perfect atmosphere, natural lighting, outlets on every chair. I would rather be here than any of the premium lounges that require membership.

My go-to routine at Oliver Sky is to order at Starbucks then take a seat. Then I read off my Kindle or open my laptop to get some work done. Either way, it's one of the best places to be. 

A night in Schiphol Airport

It’s a common travel story: delayed flights, overnights in airports. It’s certainly not the ending I had planned for my two+ week trip to Greece. We were supposed to fly back to Amsterdam, have an overnight in the charming town of Haarlem, and board our flight back to the U.S. the next day…but that’s not how it turned out.

Our flight from Athens to Amsterdam was delayed 12 hours, bringing us in at 2:00am Amsterdam-time. Too late to check into our hotel, and not worth the taxi ride there – everything would be closed and we would have to ride right back at 8:00am for our next flight, so we basically spent the night in the Schiphol Airport.

Now, I have my griefs with Schiphol. The security line is so long and slow that I called it “Shithole Airport” under my breath. But once we were through security in the wee hours of the night, we entered into the newly remodeled and gorgeous international terminal, and I was regretting my comment. Of all the airports to spend six pre-dawn hours, this was one of the best.

Not only was there abundant seating, but they even provided outlets to charge your smartphones and laptops! Also, we founds some lounge chairs overlooking the runways and far from the hustle and bustle of shops, which provided a few hours of rest before our next flight.

main lounge with tons of seating

main lounge

charging station for phone, ipod, laptop, etc. 

clear floor shows conveyer belts moving the luggage

lounge chairs for resting

massage chairs

lots of seating

the clock was an art video of a guy painting the hands each minute

view from the lounge

dawn view from the lounge

Yangon International Airport

Landing in Yangon was one of the  most memorable first impressions I have of any country. This golden structure came into view almost immediately and my eyes were fixated on it the entire time our plane taxied to the gate. Although small and simple, the international terminal of the airport was completed in 2007, and there are plans to expand it further. It has some interesting sights, such as an elaborate wall mural and a tall glass ceilings in the atrium. It was definitely a lot nicer than what I was expecting. 

However, this being Myanmar, the electricity did go out while we were in the process of having our visas stamped. When we left out of this airport to fly back to Bangkok, I realized there was only one restaurant in the entire airport, and it was expensive. $4 for a small glass of orange juice. That’s young capitalism for you.

Saved by Changi Airport

Between the third and fourth legs of an itinerary from hell, Changi Airport saved me from swearing never to travel again. When I landed in Singapore after a 2.5 hour flight to San Francisco, 14 hour flight to Hong Kong, and a 4 hour flight to Singapore, I was wiped out, sweaty, swearing, and nearly puking in the bathroom.

Changi Airport made me smile when I had to electronically rate the restroom cleanliness using a “frequently sanitized” touch screen on the bathroom

Changi airport fed me Coffee Bean, the only thing I miss from my days in southern California. And it fed me delicious street food in the form of Hainanese Chicken Rice, Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup, and Indonesian Mie Goreng.

Changi Airport entertained me with a butterfly garden, a snooze lounge, and a movie theater (they were playing Thor).

Free wifi, tons of seating, and electrical outlets galore.  Between the street food and the butterfly garden, long talks on the moving walkways, the four-hour layover passed by like a breeze. While I thought I would pass those hours in productivity or boredom, neither occurred. I almost didn’t want to leave when it was time to board the plane to Denpasar. Almost. 

Hello Kitty Terminal - Taoyuan Airport

Since I seem to be doing things in duos, (i.e. the themed-restaurant duo) I decided to follow up my Hello Kitty Sweets Cafe post with the Hello Kitty Terminal in the Taoyuan International Airport.

Now, my whole experience leaving Taoyuan was not particularly great, though it did end with me flying home first class on Delta. While I don't wish to reiterate some of the bad parts of my time in that airport, I would be very happy to discuss the Hello Kitty terminal, which I got to see for all of thirty seconds while racing from the security checkpoint to my airplane.

The terminal can be found at gate C3, right next to a large Hello Kitty gift shop. As if they didn't have enough Hello Kitty merchandise floating around Taipei, this shop and terminal offers one final Sanrio experience before departing the country.
Unlike the cafe, this place was crawling with children. As a non-parent / non-child, I felt horribly out of place. Not the type of area I would just like to linger about, though it does make for some good picture-taking.