It is 4am Michigan time, 5pm Tokyo time and we are waiting, in our seat, at the gate. Flying into Tokyo was beautiful. The shoreline filled with repetitious whitecaps and T shaped sand bars jutting into the water at regular intervals. Passing over the land, the majority looks like wet farmland, we’re curious to know what they farm. 16 hours into our 23 hour journey to Beijing we arrived in Tokyo 30 minutes early, only to sit at the gate waiting. Due to the Swine Flu Scare we had to fill out a two sided quarantine sheet (refusing or giving false information would be punished by imprisonment). We then waited 30 minutes for the quarantine health station officers to come aboard and individually collect the questionnaire. It stated we would be given a “medical exam”: infra-red scanners to determine if we had a temperature, also checking for nasal discharge, coughing and other indicators.
45 minutes later, they had collected forms, “questioned” (by way of the “medical exam”) anyone with symptoms or any noted items on the form, and passed out masks for everyone to wear. The poor gal in the row behind us got the full treatment, all because she has allergies… The sunset from the plane was a nice and it was fun watching the guys in scrubs, hats, goggles (that keep fogging so they have to take them off to read the forms), gloves and masks try to keep the forms in order. It is now 6pm, we’ve been sitting at the gate for 2 hours and maybe they will let us exit soon so we can quick board our connecting flight to Beijing. Good thing we had a 2 hour layover…
15 minutes later…Ok, just kidding, the quarantine officers are now back with an entourage of 6 officers and these guys not only have the previous outfit but they now include blue hair covers and big white space boots. They have sectioned off 4 rows to the front and back of the gal behind us and we have all been “red stickered”, now to wait for testing and whatever else is required… hoping we still make our flight and won’t be quarantined in Tokyo. I can’t imagine what the flights will be like in a week if this Scare turns into a real issue…
2-1/2 hours at the gate…they have taken the gal behind us away (never to return?) and are now deplaning all those without the ominous “red sticker”. The stewardess said they were holding all Northwest flights because each plane had to go thru this but if we have to stay… who knows… 3 hours later… two police officers and 4 guards later to make sure we don't make a run for it… we’re stuck in Tokyo for the night… so much for paying for an extra day of sightseeing in Beijing. Our adventure just got more adventurous… It’s now midnight in Tokyo and we’ve gone thru customs, gotten an “Involuntary Reroute” for tomorrow, checked in to a hotel with hopes of getting to Beijing tomorrow… and the adventure continues.
It is 4am Michigan time, 5pm Tokyo time and we are waiting, in our seat, at the gate. Flying into Tokyo was beautiful. The shoreline filled with repetitious whitecaps and T shaped sand bars jutting into the water at regular intervals. Passing over the land, the majority looks like wet farmland, we’re curious to know what they farm. 16 hours into our 23 hour journey to Beijing we arrived in Tokyo 30 minutes early, only to sit at the gate waiting. Due to the Swine Flu Scare we had to fill out a two sided quarantine sheet (refusing or giving false information would be punished by imprisonment). We then waited 30 minutes for the quarantine health station officers to come aboard and individually collect the questionnaire. It stated we would be given a “medical exam”: infra-red scanners to determine if we had a temperature, also checking for nasal discharge, coughing and other indicators.
45 minutes later, they had collected forms, “questioned” (by way of the “medical exam”) anyone with symptoms or any noted items on the form, and passed out masks for everyone to wear. The poor gal in the row behind us got the full treatment, all because she has allergies… The sunset from the plane was a nice and it was fun watching the guys in scrubs, hats, goggles (that keep fogging so they have to take them off to read the forms), gloves and masks try to keep the forms in order. It is now 6pm, we’ve been sitting at the gate for 2 hours and maybe they will let us exit soon so we can quick board our connecting flight to Beijing. Good thing we had a 2 hour layover…
15 minutes later…Ok, just kidding, the quarantine officers are now back with an entourage of 6 officers and these guys not only have the previous outfit but they now include blue hair covers and big white space boots. They have sectioned off 4 rows to the front and back of the gal behind us and we have all been “red stickered”, now to wait for testing and whatever else is required… hoping we still make our flight and won’t be quarantined in Tokyo. I can’t imagine what the flights will be like in a week if this Scare turns into a real issue…
2-1/2 hours at the gate…they have taken the gal behind us away (never to return?) and are now deplaning all those without the ominous “red sticker”. The stewardess said they were holding all Northwest flights because each plane had to go thru this but if we have to stay… who knows… 3 hours later… two police officers and 4 guards later to make sure we don't make a run for it… we’re stuck in Tokyo for the night… so much for paying for an extra day of sightseeing in Beijing. Our adventure just got more adventurous… It’s now midnight in Tokyo and we’ve gone thru customs, gotten an “Involuntary Reroute” for tomorrow, checked in to a hotel with hopes of getting to Beijing tomorrow… and the adventure continues.
