Arrival to Tokyo

Sunday, November 20, 2011
Tokyo, Kanto, Japan
Maran and I woke up around 4am today and 45 minutes later we left the capsule hotel. We took the first subway to Osaka station, then changed to a train to Sannomiya station in Kobe, from where we took the Port Liner train to Kobe airport, and then we boarded on our flight a few minutes before its departure (7:20 am), due to huge security lines %) We landed in Tokyo on time (8:30), took our luggage and took a train to Shinjuku station, the world busiest business station and modern hub of shopping, entertainment and business. Unfortunately we failed to find a locker for our luggage, so we ended up dragging the suitcases along. To get the most of Maran's short time in Tokyo, we went to the observation deck of Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office, located on 45th floor. On a clear day you can see Mt. Fuji from there, but that morning was rather hazy. In any case we had a great view of Tokyo, an endless sea of houses, highways and skyscrapers as far as eye could see!
After checking out the view we had lunch in a cafe right in the tower . There was an amazing view of Tokyo from our seats as well :)
After lunch we had to hurry to Narita airport, from which Maran was catching a flight back to Canada. A series of trains took a couple of hours to get there, so we had only 2 hours before the flight when we arrived. Maran checked in and went through security after a short walk around an airport mall.
Then I went to meet Rob and Julia, who were about to land. Their flight was slightly late, so I was hopping around arrival gates, looking at various arrivees pouring out :) When my friends finally emerged, I helped them load luggage onto a cart that I was using, then they exchanged some money and we took a train back to Tokyo. It took us a while to get to the hostel where we were staying and, unfortunately, it wasn't too great, to put it mildly. The room was Japanese-style, meaning it had tatami mats and futons for sleeping. But the futons were so thin that they were barely there. Sleeping on such firm beds was rather uncomfortable and even painful. There was no hot water in sinks, only in the shower and sometimes in kitchen sink (depending on the mood of a heater). Water faucets were too short to use, there was no place to hang a towel when washing, the room was kinda noisy (because of the close proximity to the common room) and many more complaints were issued throughout the stay..
After settling into the hostel we all went out for some late dinner and then fell asleep exhausted.

Comments

smaran
2011-11-25

whoa, that hostel sounds terrible.. hope it was cheap! and at least bothered with toilet slippers :-|

2025-02-14

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