Konnichiwa!
I am here in Tokyo on what is technically Day 2 of my trip. I'm been out walking for the last 5 1/2 hours, and it's started to rain, so I thought I'd take a break, eat lunch, and fill you in on my trip.
In case you've never flown long-distance before, it is absolutely the most boring experience you can have. I boarded the flight to Tokyo about 15 minutes late, and for some reason it took a long time to get off the ground. Anyway, to summarize, all the instructions (and there were a lot of them) were given in 3 languages. I watched The Muppets, then ate lunch, then watched Sherlock Holmes 2, then had snack, then watched The Descendants, then had dinner, then watched A Dangerous Method, then 2 episodes of Mad Men, and I still had an hour and a half left to go.
Feeling completely depressed, I got off the plane at about 4:30 p.m. local time, went through customs, got my luggage, went through customs again, and made my way to the train station underneath the airport. That was easy enough, though there was a bit of a line at the Rail station where I got my pass. At 6:15, I got on a train to Tokyo. An hour later, I got to Tokyo station, where I transferred to a second train. I found my stop, got off, and proceeded to walk to my hotel. Which took over an hour. Allow me to explain.
My hotel is only a 13-minute walk from Shimbashi station. Unfortunately the directions Google gave me in English had me going through a bunch of side streets which are difficult to navigate at night, with luggage. I kept getting turned around and heading the wrong way, or going too far before a turn, or not far enough. Every time I stopped to ask someone if I was getting close, they had a different idea of how to get to my hotel. Finally I just decided to take the main streets and only venture away when I was certain of where I was. It worked.
At about 9:15, I checked in. I'd been awake for roughly 25 hours. I was tired and annoyed but still very happy to be in Tokyo. So I called the front desk and arranged an in-room massage. :D I took a shower in the 1/2 hour I had before the lady was supposed to come, which felt nice. When she arrived, she gave me a special robe to put on and told me to lie on my side, facing the wall. She then proceeded to break my neck in at least 3 spots, dislocate my shoulders, use the Vulcan neck pinch a few times, all things which seemed to help me fall asleep apparently. Not quite what I had in mind, but it felt pretty good nonetheless.
I went to bed, eager to replenish my energy for my adventures today.
Today I woke up at 5 a.m. Don't know why, but I did, and I felt well-rested. So I got dressed and went down to the lobby to use the Internet and try to plan my day. And it worked!
I have been blessed with mostly good weather, and somehow found a hotel which is within 15 minutes' walking of a train station in one direction, and a whole lot of temples and parks in the other. I set out from my hotel and walked through park after park, seeing temples, schools, and may wonderful examples of Japanese architecture and city planning. Tokyo is honestly one of the most beautiful, peaceful and well-organized cities I've ever visited. If you go over a kilometre without seeing a vending machine with iced tea, iced coffee, or juice, you're not in Tokyo. There are public restrooms available in quite a few spots, outdoor markets, and an HSBC right near a train station! To describe to you the feelings and sensations of my walk this morning would take forever and still not do the city justice.
With that in mind, I will post pictures on here as soon as I can (read: when I get home. using a tablet is tricky and the wifi here isn't very strong). I'm not sure what do do with my afternoon, I might just lie down for a bit, then go eat. Food-wise, so far so good, as the enormous market near Tokiji proved this morning. I'd go to a museum, but my legs are killing me. Maybe tomorrow.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment