Running to the City Lights
So the time had came for me to head off on my own. First stop..Tokyo! I navigated my way to Sannomiya station, and easily exchanged my Japan Rail Pass Exchange Order for a real rail pass! This gives me unlimited travel on ALL Japan Rail trains for 2 weeks – that includes the Shinkansen (bullet train).
My first glimpse of the bullet train (they don’t share tracks with other trains) was when one was doing a pass through the station I was in….must have been nearly full speed! They are very long, and very fast. A closer look makes you wonder wether they should be on tracks or in space! Fortunately I didn’t have a long wait until my train. As is common in Japan, more theme tunes, loud buzzers and amusing-at-first-but-soon-become-irritating jingles on the platform. This time, I believe the tune playing was “10 green bottles” – a change from “mary had a little lamb” that you usually hear on local trains.
The difference between Thailand’s trains and Japan’s is huge! This is certainly illustrated by the fact that the Shinkansen is covering a similar distance as we travelled on the night train in Thailand, in approximately a quarter of the time…ever so slightly faster, then. There’s masses of legroom on offer, and naturally the common Japanese cleanliness. Dispite the sheer speed, the ride is incredibly smooth! You get a feeling of the speed when tilting round corners….sky in one window, floor in the other! OK..perhaps a slight exaggeration, but you get the picture.
There is a trolley service that comes through fairly regularly. Eventually I succumbed and bought myself a boxed meal, which are called bentos, which gives a combination of fish, meat, vegetables, rice and bizarre jellied stuff. A stark contrast to the “American Breakfast” on the Thai train! After 3 hours (the timing was exactly as stated on the ticket) or so, I rolled into Tokyo station.
I needed to navigate my way to Asakusa, where my hostel was. Navigating the local trains/subway in Tokyo was a bit more challenging than I had gotten used to back at base camp, but this wasn’t going to phase me. With a little persistance and yet more help from locals, I was on my way in no time and made it to Asakusa.
I managed to put myself in the wrong place on the map, and this took me a little while to realise…it certainly explained why places really wern’t where I was expecting them to be! The hostel isn’t bad, clean room and you do get a little privacy with the curtains you get to cover your bed. The room whiffs a bit…but this is budget travelling so I can hardly expect the Ritz-Carlton. £20 for 3 nights, bargain!
One thing I have noticed in this hostel, which is the ‘Khaosan Tokyo Asakusa Annex’, is that nobody seems to talk to eachother! Even when the common room area is full, it’s almost totally silent. Reminds me of assembly in Junior school. The location isn’t at all bad – about a 10 minute walk to the nearest subway station, and the furthest I need to go is about 30 mins away! This isn’t a problem though…I can easily fill that time engrossed in Lonely Planet and Top 25 Tokyo.
I decided to make for the sights. My first stop was Ginza, which is one of the most upmarket places in Tokyo and apparently home to the most expensive real estate in the world. It’s an impressive place! As it’s a Sunday, the main street was closed to traffic and there were alot of people around! I had a wander around, trying to find where to start! Felt hungry so the obvious choice for a starting point was a restaurant. After a little looking around I found a modest place called New Tokyo – certainly alot cheaper than some of the places I had seen in the preceeding minutes. One good thing about Japan is the non-tipping culture, none of this ’15% of the bill’ nonsense that you get in the States. Another great thing is the picture menus that you get everywhere. Obviously I don’t understand the writing, but a picture is worth 1000 words. That phrase has never rang so true! Amusing English descriptions help too, such as “omelet in the shrimps”
Asking for the bill was amusing – usually you can gesture for the bill by essentially pretending to write on your palm…which I did. However, instead of recieving the bill, I was given a pen! I had a chuckle, and so did the waitress when she realised I meant the bill!
I had just about enough time to visit the Sony centre before places started closing up in Ginza. So from there, I headed to Shibuya. I was utterly gobsmacked by the sight…it really is amazing. Loud music, bright neon signs and thousands of people moving in all directions dressed in a huge range of fashions. I spent ages wandering around here, taking it all in.
After that I decided to head back to the hostel, so i’m spending the remaining minutes of my evening catching up with my journal and replying to emails! Tomorrow i’m getting up at the crack of dawn to go to the famous Tsukiji fish market!
