Day 4 - Kyoto to Tokyo

Today I saw a man smoking next to his pregnant wife/girlfriend. I was a little angry. Then he passed her the cigarette and she started smoking. I was astounded. Then sad. There are sure some stupid people here in the BR.

It's too hot to do anything. So I chose to melt all day. And buy another fan.

Day 4

Woke up and had breakfast at the buffet. Again, all the food was delicious. We had a little bit more time this morning so I got on the internet and fought with the keyboard, trying to keep it in English. I think I posted from that computer but I can't remember. Then it was back upstairs to watch American baseball on the tv. The yankees, red sox, and mariner games were always on. Japan must really have some dedicated baseball fans (i'm trying my best to convey sarcasm via text but it's just not working!)

We met our transfer agent in the lobby and hopped in a cab to travel the 4 blocks to the train station (the cab doors here open themselves!) I couldn't believe that a company would send a person over whose entire job it was to make sure we got on our train. Back home we would have gotten the tickets and a point in the general direction of our destination. I kind of liked the personal touch better. It was also nice to finally get the chance to spend some one-on-one face time with a local. I got to ask lots of questions and try some of my terrible japanese out. After a brief sit in a waiting room, the bullet train arrived and our guide escorted us to our assigned seats. Away to Tokyo!

A brief word about the weather. A super-typhoon named Man-Yi was bearing down on us. It was pretty windy and very rainy this morning. We had heard rumors of train cancellations but we were lucky enough to get on ahead of the storm. The next day service was suspended and loads of people were stuck. I'm glad this storm didn't ruin our trip!

The train ride was very cool. This was the fastest I've gone on land. I think it was around 165-180 mph. I got a little dizzy looking outside but survived the 2 hour trip to Tokyo. Goodbye Kyoto! Thank you for all the fun and rain!

We got off at Shinagawa station and met our next local guide. She even found out our seat numbers and was waiting outside the window when the train stopped! She was a very energetic woman between 40-50 (I have a very, very hard time telling how old anybody is over here. They usually look younger than they really are) and took us the 5 blocks to our hotel. She was a chatty woman and besieged any hotel staff she could find into giving us all the free maps and directions we could handle. I liked her. She didn't have the crazy politeness thing about her (though she was super nice). She was about getting things done. I wish we could have had more of a tour with her.

(Here's the subway/train map of tokyo. Good luck!)



Armed with a map and train directions we plunged into Tokyo. Talk about a different place than Kyoto. More people and more noticeably, more different looking people. Everyone in Kyoto tended to dress the same. A lot more individual style in Tokyo. Not as dolled up (though there were still plenty of dolled up people). First stop, Akihabara!



We got off the train, found our way to the exit and was swept up in neon, rain, lots of people, and many salespeople in uniform (gotta say I love all the uniforms over there. It's exactly like you see in Japanese cartoons.) It was weird to walk by these people shoving handouts into the local's hands and have them completely ignore us. Obviously, we were just to important to be bothered! We walked around a bit and had lunch at a noodle house under the expressway. Tasty. After lunch, we went up an electronics store directly across from the train station. They had everything from cell phones to toilet seats (see earlier photo). The top floor had the newest in Japanese home stereo magic: tube amps! I guess what's old is new. Oh, and all the vacuum tubes were stamped 'Made in Russia.' I also found the best headphones I've ever heard. Only $400 (and no, I didn't buy them.) We then walked down a close by alley and found what was the coolest camera I've ever seen. It was a panasonic lumix and is only available in Japan. I thought I didn't need this camera. I was crazy and stupid. I want this camera! Sell it in America now!!!










We hopped back on the train and headed to Shinjuku. Someone told me that this stop was the busiest in the world, with about 3 million people a day clocking through the turnstiles. And there were plenty of people. And they were all armed with umbrellas. It made it hard to walk through. The whole thing was a little overwhelming. Lot's of tall buildings and plenty of neon. It's like Times Square and Las Vegas had an illegitimate child. We wandered for a while and then caught the train back to the hotel. It was time to hunker down for the typhoon. Luckily the hotel had a convenience store in the basement stocked with liquor. Kampai!