Tokyo

The following post details my time in Tokyo - Oct 20 - 25, 2014:

October 20, 2014:

Today I traveled from Shanghai to Tokyo.

I was up, ready and down for cab just after 6 AM.  I kept telling myself as I went to sleep - have to be up by 5 AM.  I checked out as the bellman got the taxi and had my bags loaded in the car.

The taxi driver was like a race car driver - weaving in/out of traffic....I saw that he exceeded 140 km/hour a few times.  I rarely get frightened in a cab, but this was one of those times, especially since I didn't have a seatbelt.  We got to the airport in about 45 minutes - 15 minutes faster than even the best estimate from the bellman.

I'm finally back on Delta on this flight!  I got checked in...bag was 31.3 kg and a nice sticker for the lounge access on the back of my boarding pass.

There was a long wait at immigration, but no issues.  There was an entire Italian tour group of about 75 people in front of me.  Many issues for them - some had lost their departure cards, one had lost their passport, still other issues that I didn't fully understand from others.  Finally all of them were pulled from the line and taken to a different area.

The security line was next.  No issues here and only took out my iPad.  Such inconsistences among Chinese airports.

I went to a shop just past security and bought post cards and a huge christmas ornament - spent all but 4 CNY of my remaining money.  The Christmas ornament was a series of 4 padded Chinese robes tied together...very excited about it.

I went to Sky Team lounge - was nice, but not spectacular.  Another guy from the USA made a comment to me about how much it had gone down hill.  I had some cheese, a cup of tea and a bottle of OJ.

A few shots from inside the airport:

The ceiling:

I went to gate around boarding time...I was so sweaty by the time I got there...my backpack is so heavy.  I don't think the air was on in the airport.  It was a bit of a wait after arriving and well past boarding time.  Finally we started boarding...and there was a bag check as we entered the plane - I couldn't take on the unopened bottle of water I took from the club, very odd.

I had seat 5A on a 777 - seats were angled oddly - towards the middle of the plane.  The business class section was only about one third full.  It was my first time of flying on a 777, so very excited.

The flight was much too short for such wonderful service and comfort!  I had an egg frittata with peppers for breakfast and watched a Wanda Sykes HBO comedy special...I think I had seen it once before, but still hilarious.

We arrived a few minutes early.  I had no issues at immigration; bag was quick and no issues at customs.  A lovely sign as I exited customs...I forgot that Toyko is hosting the Olympic Games in 2020:

I got cash and saw the desk for the Limousine bus.  The bus was very easy, timely and cheap - 3,100 JPY (less than $30 US).  I had read about possible taxi fares due to traffic, etc, so had already decided on the bus....and will be taking it back to the airport.  It drops off and picks up right at my hotel...is comfortable and cheap....and consistent....and I don't have to worry about the meter, the directions, etc.  I can even blog along the way.

Some country-side views from the bus:

We got to hotel in about 1.5 hours, even making two other stops, arriving around 3:15 PM.

I had to wait in the Lounge for about an hour for my room to be ready.

I never left hotel - I got upgraded to a suite, got unpacked and then back to the lounge.  I stayed from 5:45 PM until they closed at 9.  Had appetizers and wine.  I wanted to have a complete down day!

Hotel from outside:

Day-time view from room:

Night-time view from lounge:

Back in room I published the Hong Kong blog and off to bed around 11:45.  I had got movie from lounge, but never watched it.

October 21, 2014:

Today I slept until around 9 after my alarm going off at 7:30.  I was dressed and to the lounge for breakfast at 10. They had a huge spread and tons of Western options as well as traditional Japanese items.  From the Japanese side, I had pork dumplings and a bowl of miso soup.  But of course I also had scrambled eggs, a sausage link and the best potato hash browns - they more the size of mozzarella sticks.  With my developing cold, then I also had plenty of fresh OJ.

On my way out of the hotel, I asked the concierge about a pharmacy and there was one just off the hotel lobby.  I stopped at the pharmacy for cold drugs..but the over-the-counter drugs are not just on the shelves like in the USA.  You talk with a pharmacist about your symptoms then he/she pulls something off the shelf behind them.  I ended up getting three different things as I really want to end this quickly.  The clerk was very nervous that I was going to take all three at once and she read me the dosage instructions several times.  I walked out and immediately popped back some of all three!

I was finally off to explore around 11.  A few interesting buildings along the walk:

The Government Center:

Another building that really captured my attention:

And from another angle:

I walked to Shinjuku station to take the train - and once inside I was suddenly, completely confused and lost!  It is the busiest train station in the world and certainly lived up that ranking!  The station is enormous and is an interaction point for about 9 different subway lines.  There are many levels, many exits, several shopping malls.  It is a complete maze underground.  I have felt completely confident in using the subway in every other city, but this was a whole new level.  I couldn't even figure out which train I needed let alone which direction to go.  Certain train lines have their own tickets, so you have to buy tickets from the appropriate kiosks.  I had out my subway map, comparing it to various maps around the station, getting more and more frustrated as nothing matched.  After no less than 30 minutes, I finally figured out which train to take.

But it "seemed" so simple (there's a "ring" train that I ended up taking most of the time that's not even shown on this map!):

I headed to the platform...there are about 30 platforms...and finally boarded the train for Shibuya.  This stop was only about 3 stops away...quite the effort for a 6 minute ride.  Shibuya is like the Times Square of Tokyo.  Lots of neon signs, retail shops and is famous for the street crossing.  When the pedestrians are signaled to walk, people move in every direction.  It is quite a sight!  I watched the street crossing numerous times and from various points, even up a level.

The crowd waiting for the light:

I continued to wondered around the area, stopping in several shops.  

I was memerized by the vending machines...which were everywhere!

I successfully got back on the metro to continued traveling to Tokyo Station.  A much longer ride, about 25 minutes.  

About an eighth of the Tokyo Station:

I had debated the Hop-on/Hop-off bus.  It was quite gloomy today and rain looked likely at any moment.  My initial thought in going to Tokyo Station was to visit the Imperial Palace, but this was also the key point for the Hop-on/Hop-off bus.  Ultimately I bought the Hop-on/Hop-off ticket and took the Green line since it was the one waiting when I walked up.

At first, I had a crappy seat, but after the first stop I was able to move to the front seat on the top, so had a prime view for the rest of the route.  Along the way I saw many of the key sights - Tokyo Tower, Imperial Palace, Farris Wheel, Fuji Television Building, Aqual City Odaiba, Venus Fort, Tokyo Bay Ariake and Kabuki-za Theater.

Tokyo Tower:

An interesting sculpture that caught my eye:

The famous Kabuki-za Theater:

The route took about 1.5 hours.  When we arrived back at the starting point, then a bus for the Blue line was waiting, so I immediately got on it for another tour in a different direction.  I got the exact same front row seat from the beginning of this tour.  Along this route, I saw Ueno Station, Tokyo Skytree, Asakusa Hanakawado, Ueno Matsuzakaya, Akihabara and Shin-Nihambashi.  I took several notes of areas I wanted to visit on an upcoming day.  

Tokyo Skytree:

When the Blue line tour ended around 5 PM, then I took metro back to Shinjuku station.  The ride was about 30 minutes.  Initially the train was not crowded and I got a seat, but ultimately it was packed...I got to experience Tokyo rush-hour on the train!

It is funny - in all of the train station, train, standing in line, etc with thousands of people, not once was I bumped, pushed, shoved or even brushed.  The Japanese are very conscious of personal space and will adjust their speed or direction to miss you.  It is so wonderful and I have provided them the same courtesy.

I then walked 10 minutes back to the hotel.  I had no idea where I was in the train station, so no hope of finding the hotel shuttle stop.  I just followed signed to "Hotel District" with hopes that my hotel was included in that broad category.  Luckily I noticed my hotel in the skyline, so used that to guide my way.

Once at the hotel, I went straight to the Executive Lounge.  It was right at 6 PM and I didn't want to miss a minute of the free food and drinks!  I didn't get a window table, but one row over.  The lounge was packed!  I had several appetizers and glasses of wine.

There had been a very loud, annoying, older couple in the lounge last night....they didn't like their table, they wanted the server to just leave them a full bottle of Champagne, etc, etc.  Well, they were back again tonight...and even worse since they sat only a few tables away.  Ultimately they had a huge fight...mostly all the wife.  She said numerous times that they're done, she couldn't take it anymore...listing off all the things that he had done for years that she didn't like.  A week into their month-long trip in Japan is not the best time to be calling your marriage over.  

I asked one of the attendents in the lounge for dinner suggestions - both sushi and noodle places that were nearby.  I picked the Sushi place for dinner.  It was in the building next door to the hotel, but it was still very difficult to find.  I was the only causation there...and they had to hunt for an English menu.  I found the roll section and marked three rolls.  The server questioned me over and over - just these three?  It was after 9:00 and I wasn't exceptionally hungry, so I thought that three rolls were plenty.  Hahaha...I was so wrong.  A "roll" is essentially the size of piece of a roll in the USA.  When my plate arrived, there were just three small pieces.  Needless to say, I had to order much more!

After 6 pieces of sushi, I headed back to the room.  

October 22, 2014:

Today I woke up at 6:30, coughing.  I took more cold pills and headed back to bed.  I was up at 8:30, but looked at e-mails and Facebook.  Finally off to the lounge for breakfast around 10 AM.

It was raining quite heavily and rain was predicted for all day...so I was trying to think of things to do inside for the day.  I took the hotel shuttle to Shanjuku train station.  There are several large department stores there, so I started shopping!  At Keio's department store, I bought several stationary items and pens as well as numerous dried herbs.

I continued to wander around the Shinjuku area.  I looked for a place for lunch, but didn't like the looks of anything.

I found Japan's version of "Everything's a Dollar" Store, but it is "Everything is 100 Yen", with a small sign by the door that says everything is really 108 Yen.  Hahaha.  I bought a few things, mostly stationary.  If I had more space, I would have purchased so much more.  A little know fact about me - I love the Dollar Tree and Everything's a Dollar stores in the US.  I typically only go when I'm visiting my parents in VA, but always leave spending $50 or more.  So much of the floral items on my Christmas trees come from these stores.

I went to the food court in Lumine EST above the train station and found a Japanese buffet that looked great.  I was completely full at the end - between soups, dumplings, rice, fish, chicken, tofu, etc.  They didn't speak English at all - I was showed a laminated sheet to explain that it was a buffet, there was a 70 minute time limit and any drink was additional.  I was the only Caucasian there...seems to be a trend.

After lunch, I took the train to Ueno area - I had trouble with ticket on exit.  The machine kept saying that I had to adjust the fare.  I went to the machine to adjust the fare and it said I had to speak to an agent (all over a ticket worth about $1.80).  I finally found an agent; she asked where I boarded, I pointed to the map and she said my ticket was correct and directed me on to the exit.

From the station, it was 10 minute walk in the rain to the Tokyo History Museum.  The walk was through Ueno park - with lots of signs about mosquitoes and the dengue fever, so I went to the outer wall for the walk. (Side note - I recevied an e-mail from the State Department about 3 weeks ago that there had been an outbreak of dengue fever in Tokyo parks...and to avoid exposure to mosquitoes.  I had sort of forgotten about the warning until seeing these postings at the park.) 

)

After getting a ticket, I had a quick walk through most of the museum - only had 1.5 hours before they closed.  Some of my favorite things from the museum:

I was able to buy postcards of many of the "Japanese Women" works of art in the gift shop.

I took the train back about a 30 minute ride to Shinjuku..and then a 10+ minute walk back to hotel.  Still completely lost in the station, so no hope of finding the hotel shuttle.

After a quick stop in the room, I headed to the Executive Lounge.  The older couple from last night who were going to get a divorce had made up and she had the nerve to tell people around her to be quiet!  

I never went out for dinner...just enjoyed the lounge.  Once the lounge closed at 9 PM, then I went back to the room and worked on the blog.  After a while I started listening to music, sitting on the sofa and enjoying the view and the stillness of the night.

October 23, 2014:

I was up around 8 AM; looked at iPad until around 9.  I showered and dressed, then off to breakfast in the lounge.  

I took the hotel Shuttle to the train station and off to the Sensoji temple, near the Asakusa station.  There was a market for a few blocks leading up to the temple (Nakamisa Shopping Street).  In the market area, I bought several Christmas ornaments, a lantern, and a fan - no haggling here which was initially disappointing and then welcome.

The temple didn't have an entrance fee - plus there was a 5-story pagoda.  Lots of people.  Pretty interesting.  

This really is a different building than the pictures above!  The first one didn't have the big gold things on each side of the red lantern.

I bought a lantern like one of these for a Christmas tree decoration:

After the temple, I walked around the area somewhat, getting lost...again.  I never found the Ave of Stars which was supposedly just a few blocks away.  There had been a sign near the temple that showed all the nearby attractions, but it didn't match up well with the map that I had.  I even stopped and asked a policeman for directions....but that ended in an exhausting exercise of hand movements with no English or street names.

I did find a grocery store and bought several packages of noodles, seaweed, sauces, etc.

I finally found the Kappabashi Dogugai Street which had been on my list of places to find.  This is about 15 blocks (800 meters and over 100 years old) of stores for restaurant operations - and most interesting is all of the plastic food for restaurant displays.  I had walked about 5 blocks before I ever found the first plastic food store....and the items were VERY expensive.  I thought about getting some small items for Christmas ornaments, but even the very smallest things were over $20 US.  I only found 3 major plastic food stores...so a bit disappointing...especially since the tourist maps have this street covered with pictures of plastic food.  I did find many other supply stores and got appetizer forks and spoons - only $.50 each...so I bought 3 cases.

The plastic food:

I took the subway to Ueno station and walked the big Ameyoko market there, but didn't buy anything.  Prices were quite expensive and mostly clothes and shoes and some food...nothing of interest.  I had been excited to see this area since it was mentioned during the tour on my second day, but it was a little disappointing.

Lots of fish for sale:

From here I took the subway to the Electronics Town area (Akihabara).  In this area there are blocks and blocks of eletronics stores...anything and everything electronic you could think of.  Some stores sold every light bulb possible; another sold every component you'd need for a radio, others were TVs, DVDs, etc, etc.  It was interesting to see, but I didn't buy anything.  

The best part were the aproned ladies standing outside most of the stores, handing out fliers of their merchandise.  They didn't want me to take pictures, so this was my best effort.

I headed back to the metro and a 30 minute ride to the hotel.  I got completely lost inside the Shinjuku train station...again!  The station is enormous and I have yet to exit it without getting lost, looking desperately for a wall map and mentally cursing repeatedly.  Tonight I was hoping to find the hotel shuttle, but that never happened.  Ended up walking the entire way back to the hotel.

I went to the lounge after dropping off my things in the room.  Lots of appetizers as usual.  

More lounging on the sofa enjoying the view tonight and off to bed around 12:30 AM. 

October 24, 2014:

I got up around 7 AM; I looked at iPad until around 9.  

After a quick breakfast in the lounge, I took the shuttle bus to train station around 11 AM.  After much effort and getting lost...I took the train to Harajuku station.  I was planning to go to the Meiji Shrine.

However, when I exited the Harajuku station, I stumbled up on the Takeshita Street.  This street had lots of cartoon type character stores.  I found another Everything's 100 Yen store - got more Christmas tree ornaments...and they were really 108 Yen.  I also found a bag of different flavored Oreos - Matcha Latte - with green filling.

  

After walking the full length of Takeshita Street and back, I found my way to the entrance of the park that included the Meiji Jingu, a Shinto Shrine.  The park was very peaceful.  I enjoyed the quiet, stillness of the large trees as I walked on to Meiji Jingu.  There were several ceremonies in progress and several families dressed in traditional Japanese dress as I walked through the park.  I think I finally saw a geisha girl!!!  

Park Entrance:

This seemed much cooler as I walked under it than the picture shows:

These are all "kegs" of sake that is dedicated each year by every sake house in Japan:

I finally got a picture of this...throughout Asia I saw people sweeping the gravel walkways with these huge brooms.  I was often confused by it since it just moved the gravel around, creating a lot of dust:

My first attempt of being sly to get a picture of this family:

Then they just posed for pictures for all of the tourists:

There was no place to sit in the park and I got a little freaked out with all of the misquote warnings about them carrying dengue fever.  This was one of the main parks in Japan where they had been discovered.

There were huge mum displays...I liked this close-up photo the best:

I bought a wooden pray card that you are supposed to write on and post by the shine.  But I didn't write on it - I kept it to use as a Christmas ornament.  

The pray cards are supposedly removed everyday:

A wedding couple (I think!) as I was leaving:

Beautiful, quiet walk:

In the same area is Yoyoghi park - where all of the young kids hang out, wearing outlandish attire.  I walked through there, but it was rather quiet today, perhaps since it was mid-day on a weekday.

After walking through Yoyoghi Park, then I headed back to the train station and hoped the train to Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden.  It was incredible!  It is one of the largest parks in Japan, perhaps the largest in Tokyo.  Luckily it was reopened after being closed for over a month due to the Duenge fever and infected mositoques in the park.  There is a Green House, a Formal French Garden, an English Landscape Garden and a Traditional Japanese Garden.  I sat in various areas and enjoyed the scenery.  I had time to reflect on the trip, my upcoming time in Hawaii and unfortunately started a list of all the things I need to do the week that I return home.

From the Green House:

I loved all of the following close-up of just leaves of various plants (BBC - I bet you'd have a creative idea of what to do with them):

Near the Traditional Japanese Garden area:

A window inside the structure above:

I had never seen daisy-like flowers in this type of cluster:

The French Formal Gardens:

The English Landscape Garden:

I thought this scaffling in the park was interesting - note it is bamboo and tied together:

I took the metro back to Shinjuku - only one stop - and finally had success in finding the hotel shuttle pick-up stop.

I made a quick stop in the room, then off to the lounge for the evening.  It is so easy and so cheap!  

October 25, 2014:

Note - I didn't take my camera with me today since was just planning to go shopping...so no pictures until late in the day.

I got up around 7 AM and looked at iPad until around 9.  This seems to be a very consistent theme in Tokyo.  I showered, dressed and was to the lounge by 10, just in time before breakfast ended.  My last day of the huge breakfast spread in the lounge.

I took the shuttle to train station area to find Tokyu Hands which according to the map was just south of the Shinjuku station...it looked so simple!

I got completely lost, I think the worst of my entire trip.  I hate the lack of street names, street signs, etc in Tokyo.  Have not been lost in any other city like I have been consistently lost in Tokyo.  A typical address in Tokyo is 2-10-3 Shinjuku where 2 indicates the place is in the 2nd distrist of the Shinjuku area of Tokyo; in the 10th block (but I never once saw a sign to indicate the block number) and then number 3 in that block...again, never saw a sign anywhere near a building to show the number address.  On this adventure, I found other shops or places of note nearby the store that I wanted and were listed on the map...but Tokyu Hands completely eluded me.  I stopped and asked several retail merchants and got drastically different directions each time.  Not sure if they really understood where I was trying to go. 

I finally found a store that may or may not be where I was trying to go.  I'm going to pretend that it was the store, but I'm pretty sure that it wasn't.  The concept was the same - about a 10 story department store.  After shopping for about 1.5 hours, I bought two T-shirts, 3 pairs of socks, colored pens and sticky transparent paper for making Christmas ornaments, but still didn't spend all of my remaining Yen which had been my goal.

Somehow, I found my way back to the shuttle bus pick-up point.  I only had to wait a few minutes for the shuttle.

Back at the hotel I went to the lounge, got a banana, Coke Zero, cookies and water.  I went to room and just relaxed for about an hour, finalized packing and eating my snacks.

I headed down to lobby at 2:50 to check out and get the airport bus at 3:10.  The front desk agent who helped me was working, so I thanked her many times again for such a great room.  She smiled very big.

The bus was about 10 minutes late.  We left and made a stop at the train station...the bus was quite crowded after that stop.  Luckily I got a seat by myself...one of the few.

We arrived at the airport around 5:30.  I easily found Delta and checked in quickly.  I walked around and bought some postcards and ornaments.  I got fries at McDonald's to tide me over for while...was excited about a gourmet meal on the flight!  I exchanged my last bit of Japanese Yen for US $...and got $25.  Lots of paper work to fill out for such a simple transaction.  There was also a "guy in the back" who had to inspect the money and give the money to the guy at the counter.  They had no US coins...nor $5s or $10s...so I still ended up with some Yen as part of my exchange and lots of $1 bills.

I headed off and went thru security - it was very, very easy.  The agent directed me into the crew line, so made it very fast.  After security was customs and immigration...again, no issues.  I'm really hoping that I don't have any issues in HI with the food items I have in my bags!

For my last duty free store of the entire trip, I had to finally buy something...so I got a bottle of colonge. Of course I had to sniff about 60 of them before making a decision.

I then headed off to the Delta Lounge.  It was probably the nicest international club that I've visited on this trip (well, maybe the KLM club in Amsterdam was better).  However, I still think ATL and MSP are better than this one.

Around boarding time, I headed to the gate, got several pictures of the plane.  I was the first person into the upper deck on the 747.  Got several pictures...everyone had their own little cubicle....I loved it. This may have spoiled me for any domestic travel.

On the plane while at the gate, I had two mai tais and reviewed the menu (new suggestion for Delta - serve mai tais on every flight!).  Decided to have the steak for dinner. 

Slippers on...officially ready for the flight:

View, just before pushing back from the gate:

After take-off, I decided not to watch a movie since I was going to sleep most of the flight.  I had a wonderful dinner, then laid the seat down for about 5 hours of sleep.  I didn't even wake up for the breakfast.

Next stop...Hawaii!