Day 1 - Tokyo: Feeling like sushi!
Finding the connecting train from the airport to Shinjuku, our first Tokyo destination was easy. Arriving and dealing with the hundreds of direction signs at the world’s busiest station, Shinjuku was another matter. Our backpacks were like carrying the house, shed and garage around with us plus the fact we’ve been awake for around 21 hours had hampered our efforts. We finally found the hotel and gave up trying to speak Japanese at the reception to check in.
Some lessons learnt today, after being asked in English a question never answer Hai (yes), otherwise they’ll blurt out a rapid five other questions in Japanese.
The Narita Express journey teased us with Japanese countryside and architecture with a lot of concrete blandness with some nice tiled roofs. As Tokyo suburbs came into view we were allowed preview to Shibuya’s smaller district counterparts.
Hotel room was basic but functional. The loo had a sprinkle and bidet system. TV channels all Japanese with half of them reporting on a Burberry hat wearing local celeb being taken ill from an airplane (looked like a Japanese pop princess). Other daytime TV was just as naff as the UK though instead of on-screen computer graphics the presenters had to point and show with cardboard panels – bit of a step back in time.
After a 2 hour kip, we ventured into Starbucks then waited for dusk to witness the city to light up. The 45th floor of the Government building was a rare free tourist trap. We were beaten to the lift by 20 out of town Japanese tourists (you can’t allow manners to get the way around here to get what you want we soon learn). Views were spectacular!
Jumped onto the underground for Shibuya to see the famous crossing. Subway travel was very, very confusing at first. All instructions at Shinjuku station were in Japanese text, Kanji and took a lot of embarrassment with locals just to buy a one way to the next station. Shame it started to rain as we exited the station though the crowds and overwhelming feeling kept us happy. A small trot around the block then back to the Yamanote Line just in time for some rush hour traffic. The train was quite busy anyway but room for us ok. However the locals saw a chance for three times as many people could get on. I’m used to a little nudge to move into the train but this was repeated shoving until my armpits were being sniffed by some short businessmen.
There’s a lot of wasteful employment in Japan. For instance there’s a guy at the end of the escalator checking you get off at the bottom ok. Another instance was a couple of guys guiding you around an electric cable with mega-phones warning pedestrians to cross safely (the cable had adequate industrial sized covers so bit of a waste really).
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Some lessons learnt today, after being asked in English a question never answer Hai (yes), otherwise they’ll blurt out a rapid five other questions in Japanese.
The Narita Express journey teased us with Japanese countryside and architecture with a lot of concrete blandness with some nice tiled roofs. As Tokyo suburbs came into view we were allowed preview to Shibuya’s smaller district counterparts.
Hotel room was basic but functional. The loo had a sprinkle and bidet system. TV channels all Japanese with half of them reporting on a Burberry hat wearing local celeb being taken ill from an airplane (looked like a Japanese pop princess). Other daytime TV was just as naff as the UK though instead of on-screen computer graphics the presenters had to point and show with cardboard panels – bit of a step back in time.
After a 2 hour kip, we ventured into Starbucks then waited for dusk to witness the city to light up. The 45th floor of the Government building was a rare free tourist trap. We were beaten to the lift by 20 out of town Japanese tourists (you can’t allow manners to get the way around here to get what you want we soon learn). Views were spectacular!
Jumped onto the underground for Shibuya to see the famous crossing. Subway travel was very, very confusing at first. All instructions at Shinjuku station were in Japanese text, Kanji and took a lot of embarrassment with locals just to buy a one way to the next station. Shame it started to rain as we exited the station though the crowds and overwhelming feeling kept us happy. A small trot around the block then back to the Yamanote Line just in time for some rush hour traffic. The train was quite busy anyway but room for us ok. However the locals saw a chance for three times as many people could get on. I’m used to a little nudge to move into the train but this was repeated shoving until my armpits were being sniffed by some short businessmen.
There’s a lot of wasteful employment in Japan. For instance there’s a guy at the end of the escalator checking you get off at the bottom ok. Another instance was a couple of guys guiding you around an electric cable with mega-phones warning pedestrians to cross safely (the cable had adequate industrial sized covers so bit of a waste really).
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