Day 2: Sunday, November 23
We arrived in Tokyo around 8pm. Our first challenge: get yen from an ATM then get tickets for the train from the airport into the city. The airport was easy to navigate, and whenever we stopped for a moment, looking confused, someone instantly approached us to help, pointing us in the right direction.
Our second challenge: get from Shinjuku station in Tokyo to our hotel, the Oakwood Apartments Shinjuku. This would be easy in a city that actually had names for the streets; on the copious maps we've accumulated, however, the best have--at most--a few major thoroughfares marked and that's it. Tokyo, for all its cutting-edge modernity, lags a bit behind in the street-naming area. We'd gotten directions from the hotel's website--a four-page document that included photos of what we'd see when we exited the station, made certain turns, etc. The directions included things like "you'll see a BEEF BOWL restaurant" and "on your left will be th JUMBO pachinko parlor." We made it without one wrong turn.
Our room at the Oakwood is cozy and compact; and by "compact" I mean "so small Andrew and I have to suck in our stomachs to let the other person walk past." But it's clean, with great public areas, English-speaking 24-hour front desk staff, and a great bathtub.
By the time we got to the hotel, it was after nine, and we had competing biological desires--eat and sleep. Eating won out, and we embarked on a quest for a bowl of ramen. We past many restaurants; but it wasn't easy to choose on--some looked too crowded, others too uncrowded; some of the menus had no English whatsoever. Finally we were beckoned into one small noodle place and handed a menu with a few English translations. We sat at the counter and ordered ramen with pork and green onions. A delicious choice. We enjoyed the meal fully despite the fact that we stood out ridiculously in the small restaurant, probably doing the wrong things at every turn. When we left, we said "Arigato"--and the counter man laughed. In fact, everyone kind of did. This is the kind of trip where you have to just dive in, seat yourself at a counter, and realize that there's absolutely nothing you can do to make yourself look as though you belong there, or know what you're doing. It's all part of the game.
No pictures to post yet--time for bed. I haven't slept more than 4 hours the entire time we've been here, and I'd like to change that tonight if possible. More soon...
Our second challenge: get from Shinjuku station in Tokyo to our hotel, the Oakwood Apartments Shinjuku. This would be easy in a city that actually had names for the streets; on the copious maps we've accumulated, however, the best have--at most--a few major thoroughfares marked and that's it. Tokyo, for all its cutting-edge modernity, lags a bit behind in the street-naming area. We'd gotten directions from the hotel's website--a four-page document that included photos of what we'd see when we exited the station, made certain turns, etc. The directions included things like "you'll see a BEEF BOWL restaurant" and "on your left will be th JUMBO pachinko parlor." We made it without one wrong turn.
Our room at the Oakwood is cozy and compact; and by "compact" I mean "so small Andrew and I have to suck in our stomachs to let the other person walk past." But it's clean, with great public areas, English-speaking 24-hour front desk staff, and a great bathtub.
By the time we got to the hotel, it was after nine, and we had competing biological desires--eat and sleep. Eating won out, and we embarked on a quest for a bowl of ramen. We past many restaurants; but it wasn't easy to choose on--some looked too crowded, others too uncrowded; some of the menus had no English whatsoever. Finally we were beckoned into one small noodle place and handed a menu with a few English translations. We sat at the counter and ordered ramen with pork and green onions. A delicious choice. We enjoyed the meal fully despite the fact that we stood out ridiculously in the small restaurant, probably doing the wrong things at every turn. When we left, we said "Arigato"--and the counter man laughed. In fact, everyone kind of did. This is the kind of trip where you have to just dive in, seat yourself at a counter, and realize that there's absolutely nothing you can do to make yourself look as though you belong there, or know what you're doing. It's all part of the game.
No pictures to post yet--time for bed. I haven't slept more than 4 hours the entire time we've been here, and I'd like to change that tonight if possible. More soon...
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