Today should be a quick and easy explanation as the majority of the day was aimed for travel to Kyoto.
I woke up at 6:30 got packed and showered and the like and met Brien and Ronni at about 8am. We walked to Hamamatsucho Station and reserved our train tickets to Kyoto at the JR office. It didn't take long. We got the 469 Hikari bound for Okayama. It would be the same train route that we took to Himeji when we were on the last trip. From there we crossed through the station then found Tully's coffee shop to get a coffee for me (I also had a warmed donut with an apple type filling) and hot chocolates for them. It only took a few minutes to do that then we headed back to the rooms and finished packing and I let them have access to the internet through my computer then we checked out. They charged Brien 500 yen to dispose of the suitcase that had been destroyed in the flight.
After that it is a story of transit for several hours. We took the Yamanote line to Tokyo Station then wound our way through to the shinkansen tracks and waited for the train. It obviously turns around at Tokyo Station and we had to wait for the cleaners to get their jobs done and turn all the seats so they were facing in the other direction before they would let us board. Still we left on time. The ride itself was uneventful. The weather for the day overcast but not threatening rain. We did see Fuji a fair bit of the early portions of the ride. It still looks like a big pile of snow. The ride took about 2:45 to complete and we got into Kyoto Station by around 1:45. We got the information office and got a guide map in English and checked where our hotel was in comparison to the station. It turned out to be a 3 stop subway ride from there to here. Unfortunately we need to figure out which end of the train to be on and where to turn inside the station to come out of the local station in the right exit. We pretty much got out the furthest point away then I got twisted in orientation so we walked a few minutes out of our way (but not bad) before we found the hotel.
I am on the 7th floor and they are on the 4th. 711 and 409. Rooms again look similar size. Having difficulty understanding what is a double and what is a single. Anyway the rooms are clean but the hotel is a bit older than the Villa Fontaine. I would not call it run down however. To get to the internet I had to take a modem from the desk up to the room. The modem plugs into a jack on the side of the TV. I suspect it is really a router that has a coax lead but I can't really be sure. In any event it is an odd setup. I am hoping they won't ask for it back until we are leaving. I guess they only have 20. I would think they have more than 20 rooms. If they confiscate it when they clean the room tomorrow I will know. Anyway I have access for the time being and can upload pictures most likley it looks.
After a quick spot of getting settled Brien and I walked around a short bit to discover if there was anyplace to eat locally and also I wanted to make sure of where the Imperial Palace entrances were so we would not be late for our tour tomorrow. The walk is a few minutes but not bad. I few blocks up. The palace is situated in a public gardens and the gardens are deceptively large. We didn't actually walk all the way up to the palace itself but just got the gist of where it was. I didn't want to kill Brien with the extra walking since he came along. In our walk we discovered that the area near our hotel is not exactly loaded with restaurants. We wandered a bit off the main roads but still not a lot. We found a 7-11 and bought some snacks.
I found on the map that I got from the information office where the majority of the restaurants are and presented some ideas based on reasonable walking distance to them. It gave us a general vicinity to visit and we chose pretty much the second restaurant we passed which was very similar in nature to the one we at at on Tuesday except that you purchased and turned in tickets to get your food. I had a burger plate I think. It was mildly tough to tell from the pictures what I was picking. There were two types of hamburgers on it, one stuffed with cheese and the other with some sort of sauce on it. They rounded that out with a couple pieces of potato, something I think was deep fried pork, some green bean, 2 mini hot dogs then soup, salad and rice. It was filling and I had a beer to go with it all. I thought one of the burgers might have been a dumpling of some sort from the pictures but I was obviously wrong. In any event the food was good and they served it very quickly. We got done eating fairly rapidly and headed back to the room before it got dark. I toyed around for a few minutes with the idea of walking around on my own but decided to relax for the night instead.
I had already bought the snacks and beer from the 7-11 and decided that was how I would finish out my night.
I have posted the pictures for day 4 here.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Pictures for Japan 2010 Day 3
The pictures for day 3 can be found here.
By the way I have not been checking to see if Windows 7 has been autorotating the images so sorry if they are not.
By the way I have not been checking to see if Windows 7 has been autorotating the images so sorry if they are not.
Japan 2010 Day 3
We started out the day in search of breakfast originally but I thought maybe we could get breakfast at Tokyo Tower so we decided to march on up there. We probably set out around 8am. The day was very sunny but it was a bit brisk in the morning. We really aren't far from where we were at Shiba Park Hotel so it was not difficult to find our way up there. We passed through the Zojoji Temple and its graveyard on the way up and the signs of Sakura season were really evident in the temple grounds. We took our time through there and by the time we got to the tower there was about minutes before opening. We decided that we should just go in and visit the observatories. We bought our tickets quickly and headed up to the 2nd floor observatory where we took pictures for a few minutes until we were allowed by our ticket numbers to go up to the special observatory which is much higher. I figured I would be very unhappy with the elevator ride up but it turned out I managed it well enough even with the message telling us we may hear a cracking sound and it is perfectly safe. When we got up there though I definitely felt a weird equilibrium shift that made the initial couple steps feel strange and the rest of the time up there had a sort of swaying feeling. The day was indeed so nice though that were were able to see Fuji from the observatory. It was very cool to see. I hope the pictures came out well for that. After a few minutes up there we worked our way down to the lower observatory decks and then into the tower village where we had breakfast at a waffle place that really mainly had dessert waffles. Ronni and I had the triple berry waffle which was a blueberry waffle with blueberry sauce and blueberry icing. It was good. I had an organic coffee to go with that which also wasn't bad. Brien had a berry waffle ice cream bowl thing that was not really legitimate for breakfast at all. After breakfast we hit the shops in the tower for a few minutes.
From the tower it had warmed up fairly nicely and we walked back to Hamamatsucho Station where we took the Yamanote Line to Ueno to visit Ueno Park. The park was incredibly mobbed with people as this is officially Sakura season and the blossoms are starting to really be evident. They had all sorts of picnic areas set up for people and in the main aisle of the cherry trees it was almost tough to get through. Along the upper area there were a lot of food vendors but we opted not to eat there as it was a touch early still. Some of it looked very interesting and very tasty though. Some of it was obviously very Japanese. We wandered around a bit after that and ended up falling outside of the park area for a few minutes before finding our way back in. In front of the National Museum there was a Christian signing group we watched for a couple minutes. They were singing in Japanese but there was no mistaking the music as Christian music. From there we walked back to where the train station was and did a short run up and down the streets in the area mostly in search of a fast food joint but not finding one then headed to Hamatsucho Station again by the Yamanote Line. Back at home we ate at the local Mossburger and then took a couple minutes to reset at the hotel.
Brien had wanted to see the Sengakuji Temple on this trip. It is the temple where the 47 Ronin are buried so in the short stop I researched how to get there and we set out on the Yamanote Line to Shinagawa and walked back towards our hotel for a few minutes where half way between Shinagawa Station and Tamachi Station we turned into the temple itself. We walked around that and looked at the graves but didn't go into the museums. From there we decided that since it is a completely straight shot to the hotel we would just walk all the way back from the temple. It took us maybe about 35 minutes but I wasn't really watching the clock or counting. When we were probably about 5 minutes away from the hotel Marina called me and we agreed to meet her at our hotel to do something for the evening. We got her gifts and met up with her. She is looking well and was very happy to see us. I hope she liked our gifts from America.
We walked with her through a few back streets and the Italian district to Shiodome where we watched the fancy clock that the TV station there has. It is a gigantic mechanical and musical affair and was quite neat. I took a video of it but will probably have to post that from at home. From there we went inside and had dinner at a Japanese restaurant. Everyone had pork of some sort mostly katsu with my sweet and sour pork dish rounding things out. The food was very good though perhaps the sweet and sour was a bit stickier than I typically enjoy. The restaurant didn't serve coffee so we went around the corner to Excelsior to have coffee or hot chocolate. A few minutes later we got over to the monorail and paid for a one stop ticket then rode mostly out to the end and then back to to Shimbashi. The monorail goes through to Odaiba and the islands out in the bay. I think the circuit took probably an hour.
Getting out at Shimbashi we found Brien a replacement suitcase since the one he is borrowing from his niece is broken and then headed back in to Hamatsucho Station where we walked back to the hotel and parted ways with Marina. It was fun to hang out with her and definitely was good to see her again. We should be able to meet up with her a couple more times before the trip is over.
I took a fairly large number of pictures today and they are currenly uploading. I will post the link after they are done.
From the tower it had warmed up fairly nicely and we walked back to Hamamatsucho Station where we took the Yamanote Line to Ueno to visit Ueno Park. The park was incredibly mobbed with people as this is officially Sakura season and the blossoms are starting to really be evident. They had all sorts of picnic areas set up for people and in the main aisle of the cherry trees it was almost tough to get through. Along the upper area there were a lot of food vendors but we opted not to eat there as it was a touch early still. Some of it looked very interesting and very tasty though. Some of it was obviously very Japanese. We wandered around a bit after that and ended up falling outside of the park area for a few minutes before finding our way back in. In front of the National Museum there was a Christian signing group we watched for a couple minutes. They were singing in Japanese but there was no mistaking the music as Christian music. From there we walked back to where the train station was and did a short run up and down the streets in the area mostly in search of a fast food joint but not finding one then headed to Hamatsucho Station again by the Yamanote Line. Back at home we ate at the local Mossburger and then took a couple minutes to reset at the hotel.
Brien had wanted to see the Sengakuji Temple on this trip. It is the temple where the 47 Ronin are buried so in the short stop I researched how to get there and we set out on the Yamanote Line to Shinagawa and walked back towards our hotel for a few minutes where half way between Shinagawa Station and Tamachi Station we turned into the temple itself. We walked around that and looked at the graves but didn't go into the museums. From there we decided that since it is a completely straight shot to the hotel we would just walk all the way back from the temple. It took us maybe about 35 minutes but I wasn't really watching the clock or counting. When we were probably about 5 minutes away from the hotel Marina called me and we agreed to meet her at our hotel to do something for the evening. We got her gifts and met up with her. She is looking well and was very happy to see us. I hope she liked our gifts from America.
We walked with her through a few back streets and the Italian district to Shiodome where we watched the fancy clock that the TV station there has. It is a gigantic mechanical and musical affair and was quite neat. I took a video of it but will probably have to post that from at home. From there we went inside and had dinner at a Japanese restaurant. Everyone had pork of some sort mostly katsu with my sweet and sour pork dish rounding things out. The food was very good though perhaps the sweet and sour was a bit stickier than I typically enjoy. The restaurant didn't serve coffee so we went around the corner to Excelsior to have coffee or hot chocolate. A few minutes later we got over to the monorail and paid for a one stop ticket then rode mostly out to the end and then back to to Shimbashi. The monorail goes through to Odaiba and the islands out in the bay. I think the circuit took probably an hour.
Getting out at Shimbashi we found Brien a replacement suitcase since the one he is borrowing from his niece is broken and then headed back in to Hamatsucho Station where we walked back to the hotel and parted ways with Marina. It was fun to hang out with her and definitely was good to see her again. We should be able to meet up with her a couple more times before the trip is over.
I took a fairly large number of pictures today and they are currenly uploading. I will post the link after they are done.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Japan 2010 Day 2
I woke up fairly early but managed to reign myself in for the rest of the troops until around 8, maybe just a little bit before. We went downstairs and tried the included breakfast which was really a continental breakfast and then headed out to find the Hato Bus terminal at Hamamatsucho station. The walk really should be about 5 minutes but finding the actual entrances to the terminal we need made it take a few minutes more than that. We managed to gt in and sign up for the Panoramic Tokyo Sunrise tour. It is an all day affair that we took our first Monday last time as well. The tour was mostly full. As we seated it appeared I might have an empty seat next to me until the very last moment before the bus was supposed to depart. At that point a very attractive Chinese woman named "Serena" from Hong Kong sat down next to me. She didn't speak English very well but we chatted as well as could be. She was very interested in all the cherry blossoms to be seen and at one point she showed me the pictures she had already taken on her trip and I swear they were all of food. I was practically in love at that point. In any event, this story ends up typical Tom so we'll get to that later...
The tour starts out by visiting the Meiji Shrine which is a Shinto shrine. Our guide was named Kuno which apparently is a ninja reference. She was a slightly older heavyset woman who was very fluent in English but not quite so funny as Mr Sato from our first time on the tour. She really seemed to be honest about being from a ninja clan that has passed through her family for generations and hundreds of years. It was difficult to tell if she was joking or telling the truth but she had a handful of ninja weapons for the fun of things anyway, including throwing stars and roped hooks. It was interesting either way.
Shintoism believes in millions of gods and is basically a very folk religion. The shrine is big and impressive though the original building was destroyed in World War II. The original gate does stand however. We spent about half an hour and then headed on to the Imperial Palace where we came up to the front gate then walked across though some of the outer grounds to a side gate. There we had to wait a few minutes for the bus to arrive because it apparently went to a different parking area. From there we drove to Asakusa which has the Sensoji Temple and is one of the biggest and most important temples in all of Tokyo. We spent a few trips at Asakusa during our last time in Japan and since we knew we'd be going back we started out by visiting the 7-11 to hit an ATM. Unfortunately that took a few minutes and we got separated from the main group, which was to be expected because the stop was considered free time. After the 7-11 we walked through the shops and I found the place that had the bean paste filled deep fried dumplings that we got last time and had a green tea one. Brien tried the Japanese apricot one and Ronni tasted that and decided to get her own. This led up to the idea that we all used our coins and were running tighter on time. We did not try to get our fortunes at the temple this time.
When we got back to the bus most of the crowd was there and we waited until 10 minutes past the designated time. The bus left but the girl from Hong Kong never showed up. So that was it, never saw her again... Anyway from there we went to have lunch at the same place we had the lunch stop last time which was apparently a hotel restaurant owned by the JR line railways. The food was reasonably good and I think Brien and Ronni were starving fom the continental breakfasts so they ate well there. The lunch stop was punctuated by a very brief but severe looking rain storm that ended well before we left.
After lunch we took the 50 minute Symphony cruise in Tokyo Bay. The weather was a bit chilly to sit outside for too long but it was a relaxing ride nonetheless. After the ride we got back on the bus and headed to Daiba for a look at the replica of the Statue of Liberty then some free time shopping where we hit the Toys R Us again for a few minutes. From there they took us back to the station. We asked about where we could get our rail passes and they offered to take us to Shinagawa Station where we could get them. We said sure, we could take the train back to Hamamatsucho after we were done. The guide thought the place closed at 6pm but we should have plenty of time to get there. However there was a lot of traffic and things were looking grim but the woman that was conducting that bus called the office and found out that they actually closed at 7. We made it to the station by 6:25 or so. It was a short matter to get the passes from our vouchers then we took the Yamanote line back to our area. I did however make us get on the train going in the wrong direction for one stop first then found my error and managed to get us righted at the next stop.
After exiting the bus we passed by the Kirin City and I decided we may as well get dinner before heading to the hotel. Not Kirin City this time but our "Shouting Restaurant" from the last trip. It is apparently namd Tengu and the food was excellent again. We did a sampling of things from chicken katsu, sausages, yakitori, octopus sashimi, horsemeat sashimi and omelette. I had 4 beers. Brien had 2 sakes. And Ronni had two lemon soda thingies. Then we had dessert where they both had chocolate ice cream and I had a "Cafe Jelly" which was a coffee flavored gelatin with vanilla bean ice cream on top. All of it was very good. The place was relatively quiet when we got in but it started to get really loud and crowded in almost no time flat. By the time we left we had tasted a strange vegetable drink that tasted like celery from the table next to us who were a bunch of businessmen and one woman, all younger. They were very drunk and continuing to drink. It was very fun to watch.
After dinner we came in. I found the hotel phone had a message for me and after calling the front desk I was told it was Marina that left me the message, so I called her. We chatted for a bit and we should be meeting tomorrow night for dinner. I think it will be fun. It was nice talking to her again. At this point it is past midnight though so I am going to stop. The pics will be posted by Tuesday morning and I will link them then.
The tour starts out by visiting the Meiji Shrine which is a Shinto shrine. Our guide was named Kuno which apparently is a ninja reference. She was a slightly older heavyset woman who was very fluent in English but not quite so funny as Mr Sato from our first time on the tour. She really seemed to be honest about being from a ninja clan that has passed through her family for generations and hundreds of years. It was difficult to tell if she was joking or telling the truth but she had a handful of ninja weapons for the fun of things anyway, including throwing stars and roped hooks. It was interesting either way.
Shintoism believes in millions of gods and is basically a very folk religion. The shrine is big and impressive though the original building was destroyed in World War II. The original gate does stand however. We spent about half an hour and then headed on to the Imperial Palace where we came up to the front gate then walked across though some of the outer grounds to a side gate. There we had to wait a few minutes for the bus to arrive because it apparently went to a different parking area. From there we drove to Asakusa which has the Sensoji Temple and is one of the biggest and most important temples in all of Tokyo. We spent a few trips at Asakusa during our last time in Japan and since we knew we'd be going back we started out by visiting the 7-11 to hit an ATM. Unfortunately that took a few minutes and we got separated from the main group, which was to be expected because the stop was considered free time. After the 7-11 we walked through the shops and I found the place that had the bean paste filled deep fried dumplings that we got last time and had a green tea one. Brien tried the Japanese apricot one and Ronni tasted that and decided to get her own. This led up to the idea that we all used our coins and were running tighter on time. We did not try to get our fortunes at the temple this time.
When we got back to the bus most of the crowd was there and we waited until 10 minutes past the designated time. The bus left but the girl from Hong Kong never showed up. So that was it, never saw her again... Anyway from there we went to have lunch at the same place we had the lunch stop last time which was apparently a hotel restaurant owned by the JR line railways. The food was reasonably good and I think Brien and Ronni were starving fom the continental breakfasts so they ate well there. The lunch stop was punctuated by a very brief but severe looking rain storm that ended well before we left.
After lunch we took the 50 minute Symphony cruise in Tokyo Bay. The weather was a bit chilly to sit outside for too long but it was a relaxing ride nonetheless. After the ride we got back on the bus and headed to Daiba for a look at the replica of the Statue of Liberty then some free time shopping where we hit the Toys R Us again for a few minutes. From there they took us back to the station. We asked about where we could get our rail passes and they offered to take us to Shinagawa Station where we could get them. We said sure, we could take the train back to Hamamatsucho after we were done. The guide thought the place closed at 6pm but we should have plenty of time to get there. However there was a lot of traffic and things were looking grim but the woman that was conducting that bus called the office and found out that they actually closed at 7. We made it to the station by 6:25 or so. It was a short matter to get the passes from our vouchers then we took the Yamanote line back to our area. I did however make us get on the train going in the wrong direction for one stop first then found my error and managed to get us righted at the next stop.
After exiting the bus we passed by the Kirin City and I decided we may as well get dinner before heading to the hotel. Not Kirin City this time but our "Shouting Restaurant" from the last trip. It is apparently namd Tengu and the food was excellent again. We did a sampling of things from chicken katsu, sausages, yakitori, octopus sashimi, horsemeat sashimi and omelette. I had 4 beers. Brien had 2 sakes. And Ronni had two lemon soda thingies. Then we had dessert where they both had chocolate ice cream and I had a "Cafe Jelly" which was a coffee flavored gelatin with vanilla bean ice cream on top. All of it was very good. The place was relatively quiet when we got in but it started to get really loud and crowded in almost no time flat. By the time we left we had tasted a strange vegetable drink that tasted like celery from the table next to us who were a bunch of businessmen and one woman, all younger. They were very drunk and continuing to drink. It was very fun to watch.
After dinner we came in. I found the hotel phone had a message for me and after calling the front desk I was told it was Marina that left me the message, so I called her. We chatted for a bit and we should be meeting tomorrow night for dinner. I think it will be fun. It was nice talking to her again. At this point it is past midnight though so I am going to stop. The pics will be posted by Tuesday morning and I will link them then.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Japan 2010 Day 1 Addendum
I forgot to mention that Brien damaged his finger on the suitcase he is borrowing from his niece when we were loading onto the Narita Express. Apparently there was a metal hook on the bottom of the case he didn't see and he got caught in it while trying to throw it into the luggage area of the train. He nearly tore the fingernail off and probably bruised himself terribly past the last knuckle. There was not significant swelling but things looked purple. I assume nothing is broken because it would have been worse looking I think but he will probably have pain from it for the first week of the trip. On a side note the woman sitting next to him on the train gave him a band aid when she saw the wound, which was really nice. I'm figuring we'll be bringing Brien home in various boxes and bags by the time the trip is over if this keeps up.
Japan 2010 Day 1
As with most Day Ones this was mainly a tail of transit. I picked up Brien from his house at about 2:45am on Saturday morning. I had not bothered to sleep for the night in hopes it would allow me to pass out during the flights thus helping them feel shorter. From Brien's house it was a short drive to Ronni's where we stayed for about 15 more minutes until the Flightline van arrived and we were driven to Logan airport. The lady driving the van was nice and does it part time because she can't bear the idea of actual retirement. We got to the aiport before it was technically open and had to wait a few minutes before we could get through the checkin then wait a few more minutes before getting screened for security. From there we had a bit of a wait until the flight actually started boarding, to the tune of two hours or so. The flight to O'Hare was very quick and there was almost no turbulence. I read a couple chapters of Kafka on the Shore by Murakami then dozed off a bit because I had succeeded in getting myself to that sort of exhaustion state.
Of course we arrived in Chicago a few minutes early and that meant that our layover of over 3 hours was even longer. The gate they choose for flights to Japan on Saturday morning/afternoon appears to be the same each time as we ended up at gate B16 all over again. It was the same gate we took for the 2007 trip. This time, as I said, we had a longer wait though and there was a flight to Hawaii in the gate before our plane would board. We ended up finding a chunk of wall on the main hallway and sitting there for the main portion of the time we had to wait. The plane did board on time and we took off on time. It was still a painfully long flight coming in at over 12 hours long. I managed to sleep through some of it in spurts but I was sitting next to an older Brazlian woman who first tried to steal the aisle seat from me then spent a fair portion of the trip jabbing her elbow into me as much as she could with the pretense of folding and refolding the airplane blanket. At one point I had to get up and walk away from the seat or I was going to hit her. Fortunately she passed out in that duration and I was able to get some sleep. I also watched The Fantastic Mr Fox which was one of the movies they were showing. We had an A320 to Chicago and a 747 to Narita. The 747 did not have individual seat entertainment systems. They also showed a couple other films but I slept through them enough not to try to watch them. I did not read on the long flight though I did listen to a few albums on the iPhone.
The passport line at Narita was huge but it did move fairly quickly. It never felt like it was completely stopped. I think it took us about 45 minutes to get through it. By the time we were done that we got our luggage and went quickly through customs. We took the Narita Express to Tokyo Station then took the JR Yamanote line to Hamamatsucho. We took a few minutes to get disoriented and reoriented and found the Hotel Villa Fontaine where we are staying for our two Tokyo stays. The hotel checkin was quick and had no issues whatsoever. I am in 301 and the other room is 310. The rooms are small but clean and have updated stuff as well as an internet connection. The bed is a full size bed for me. They had the heater on full blast when I got in the room and I had to shut it down. The toilet has a heated seat as well as bidet and other electronics. I cleaned up with a shower and then we got together and walked up the street to visit Kirin City (a favorite from the last trip) for dinner. I had two Kirin Ichiban Blacks and tried their roast duck with horseradish which was very good. Brien had the lamb and a Moscow Mule and Ronni had a fried chicken and potato chips dish along with a mixed drink. After eating dinner we made a quick stop at a convenience store to pick up some stuff and then headed back to the room.
I was excited to find new episodes of Sasuke (Ninja Warrior in America) on TV and started watching that while my computer was borrowed for a few minutes before I started to write this up. I have only a small number of pictures from the travel day but I got pictures of the food from Kirin City without forgetting until I was done eating
The pictures can be found here.
My hope now is to crash for the evening then get the troops to do a city bus tour tomorrow. Tentatively expecting to meet up for breakfast at the hotel tomorrow at 8am.
Of course we arrived in Chicago a few minutes early and that meant that our layover of over 3 hours was even longer. The gate they choose for flights to Japan on Saturday morning/afternoon appears to be the same each time as we ended up at gate B16 all over again. It was the same gate we took for the 2007 trip. This time, as I said, we had a longer wait though and there was a flight to Hawaii in the gate before our plane would board. We ended up finding a chunk of wall on the main hallway and sitting there for the main portion of the time we had to wait. The plane did board on time and we took off on time. It was still a painfully long flight coming in at over 12 hours long. I managed to sleep through some of it in spurts but I was sitting next to an older Brazlian woman who first tried to steal the aisle seat from me then spent a fair portion of the trip jabbing her elbow into me as much as she could with the pretense of folding and refolding the airplane blanket. At one point I had to get up and walk away from the seat or I was going to hit her. Fortunately she passed out in that duration and I was able to get some sleep. I also watched The Fantastic Mr Fox which was one of the movies they were showing. We had an A320 to Chicago and a 747 to Narita. The 747 did not have individual seat entertainment systems. They also showed a couple other films but I slept through them enough not to try to watch them. I did not read on the long flight though I did listen to a few albums on the iPhone.
The passport line at Narita was huge but it did move fairly quickly. It never felt like it was completely stopped. I think it took us about 45 minutes to get through it. By the time we were done that we got our luggage and went quickly through customs. We took the Narita Express to Tokyo Station then took the JR Yamanote line to Hamamatsucho. We took a few minutes to get disoriented and reoriented and found the Hotel Villa Fontaine where we are staying for our two Tokyo stays. The hotel checkin was quick and had no issues whatsoever. I am in 301 and the other room is 310. The rooms are small but clean and have updated stuff as well as an internet connection. The bed is a full size bed for me. They had the heater on full blast when I got in the room and I had to shut it down. The toilet has a heated seat as well as bidet and other electronics. I cleaned up with a shower and then we got together and walked up the street to visit Kirin City (a favorite from the last trip) for dinner. I had two Kirin Ichiban Blacks and tried their roast duck with horseradish which was very good. Brien had the lamb and a Moscow Mule and Ronni had a fried chicken and potato chips dish along with a mixed drink. After eating dinner we made a quick stop at a convenience store to pick up some stuff and then headed back to the room.
I was excited to find new episodes of Sasuke (Ninja Warrior in America) on TV and started watching that while my computer was borrowed for a few minutes before I started to write this up. I have only a small number of pictures from the travel day but I got pictures of the food from Kirin City without forgetting until I was done eating
The pictures can be found here.
My hope now is to crash for the evening then get the troops to do a city bus tour tomorrow. Tentatively expecting to meet up for breakfast at the hotel tomorrow at 8am.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Now's the time for Japan
All packed and ready to go. The flightline will pick us up about 3:30am. I am still home but will pick up Brien and get us to Ronni's house before then. From there it's the ride to the airport and then flying out of Logan at supposedly 7:11am to O'Hare. From there we got about 3 hours then on to Narita. I suspect the 3 hours will be moderately welcome as O'Hare was a sprawl to get around. The flight is going to be painfully long but I am staying up overnight tonight in hopes I can force myself to pass out on the second leg. I will try to have something alcoholic to push it along if I can.
Anyway, I will definitely get the post about the transit up as soon as I can on Sunday evening Japan time. I think the room will have internet or at the least I will have a public room with internet at the hotel. I hope it is not filled with horror stories. Still a 13 hour flight is never going to be fun to me.
Anyway, I will definitely get the post about the transit up as soon as I can on Sunday evening Japan time. I think the room will have internet or at the least I will have a public room with internet at the hotel. I hope it is not filled with horror stories. Still a 13 hour flight is never going to be fun to me.
Friday, March 19, 2010
One Week to Go
We are basically one week to go before Japan 2010. The van is picking us up at about 3:30am on Saturday so I am sure we can't count having to wait through Saturday much. I think at this point I am very in need of this vacation. I am looking forward to it very much. I am sure the next week of work is going to be very painful.
I thought I'd link the Japan Times Weather Page just to have it out there for people interested in seeing the weather we are going to get while we are there. It should be a tad warmer than Boston but will be springlike weather so cool to people who aren't from where we come from. I am toying with the idea of bringing a pair of shorts. I am sure they think all gaijin are strange so why not push it to the limit?
I thought I'd link the Japan Times Weather Page just to have it out there for people interested in seeing the weather we are going to get while we are there. It should be a tad warmer than Boston but will be springlike weather so cool to people who aren't from where we come from. I am toying with the idea of bringing a pair of shorts. I am sure they think all gaijin are strange so why not push it to the limit?
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