Tokyo – Day 8 & closing thoughts

Well, the end of my whirlwind trip had arrived.  My bags were packed and the check out was almost immediate. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay with the Tokyo Green Ochanomizu Hotel; the service was efficient, friendly, very reasonably priced, and based in a great location.  Consider this place if you’re travelling to Tokyo.

Since I had a suitcase to lug to Shinjuku station, I decided to use Akihabara station since it’s a complete flat walk as opposed to the uphill climb to Ochanomizu station.  Akihabara’s streets were more or less dead as expected for 7:30 in the morning, a stark contrast to how it normally is.  The station was fairly busy though, with all sorts of people using the line; there doesn’t seem to be a day where Tokyo switches off and as such, it’s always full of life.  There weren’t many seats on the express train so I decided to stand since it was only a short hop away.  Getting to Shinjuku, I had to work out where the Narita Limousine Bus station was and took a chance on it being next to the other bus stops and thankfully it was.  After lugging the suitcase up a flight of stairs, I realised there was an elevator to my left…

A coach had just pulled up and had a lengthy queue of people waiting for the service.  I quickly made my way to the counter to buy a ticket, but the guy said that the next two coaches were already fully booked and I’d have to wait until 8:45am for the next available service.  My flight was due to leave at 11am so I considered my options of either waiting or catching a train.  I could always go and have some breakfast and come back since I’d have a space reserved, or risk the trains with a large heavy suitcase.  I decided to go with the coach and bought a ticket.  Somebody up above liked me because there were a few no-shows and they were able to squeeze me on board, so away we went to Narita airport.

It was absolute mayhem trying to leave Tokyo and with it being the weekend, I assume everybody else had the same idea on their minds.  We passed by Roppongi but I didn’t recognise any other locations.  There was a really adorable Indian little girl sat in the seat in front of me, who I was making faces with back and forth for most of the journey.  Sat next to me was a white guy, not really sure of his nationality but he was from somewhere in Europe after I had a brief chat with him regarding Narita security.  We’d just arrived and security personnel boarded the coach, asking to look at everybody’s passports – all very strict.  There are only two terminals at Narita though they’re quite a distance from each other so make sure you’re at the right one and thankfully, I was!  I decided to have a quick smoke before entering since I wasn’t sure whether I’d have another chance until arriving at London Heathrow in Blighty.  Jimbo reassured me that there would be a smoking room of some sort inside the airport, since “it’s Japan, and people would be killing each other if there wasn’t”.  Check-in was largely empty, with two white guys rearranging and dumping luggage to try and get it within the weight limits.  I passed them by and checked myself in (in English) and then came something which threw me completely off.  The lady asked me if I had any lighters packed in my suitcase, and obviously I did, not wanting a repeat of my trip to Vegas with yet another limited edition Zippo.  The lady asked me to remove them and carry them on my person or in my hand luggage instead!  Not wanting to be refused on the flight, I obliged and did as she requested.  I was told I would have a window seat towards the rear of the plane which was nice since I like being able to see the outside world.

Moving on to security, it was very strict with me having to remove my laptop from the bag before x-ray, something I’ve never had to do before.  I always cringe when I have to go through airport security, though I had nothing iffy on me this time so nothing to fear!

On the other side, there was very little in the way of duty free or even places to eat or relax, compared to Britain’s larger airports.  I’ve found this to be a similar situation at most large airports around the world, with Hong Kong’s new one being an exception.  I still had about 30 minutes before the boarding gate opened so I took the opportunity to stock up on some cigarettes for myself and some sake for some people back at home.  It was only 2000 Yen (£10 or so) for 200 Mild Seven 6s, so I now had 600 coming back to the UK with me.  I bought some duty free special sake for 2000 Yen a bottle as well, which sorted me out souvenirs wise for friends and family.  Getting rather peckish, there was a McDonalds in the terminal serving breakfast so I bought myself a bacon & egg McMuffin and do you know what, it’s the best McMuffin I’ve had in years!  The bacon is the old, gammon style that we used to have in Blighty which I find much nicer than the gristley real style bacon they serve now.  Wolfing it down, I quickly made my way to the boarding gate which happened to be one of the last in the terminal.  Boarding had already begun but there was a conveniently located smoking room to the left so I took the chance to have a quick one.  Smoking rooms in Japan are horrible places, with little to no ventilation and it really is like the smoking facilities you see in movies from the 70s.  All stocked up on nicotine, I joined the queue to board where a security guy asked me how long I’d spent in Japan.  It was an odd question to be asked by security I thought and I wasn’t sure if he was making conversation or asking me a deadly serious question.  I told him I’d been in the country for 8 days on holiday and then he ushered me on my way.

Boarding, I found I was located near the rear of the plane and there was somebody sat in my seat!  The Japanese girl spoke American English and apologised, moving to her actual seat in front of me.  In hindsight, I regret making her move because the flight departed with quite a few empty seats, with one right next to her (one guy had an entire row of 4 to himself, allowing him to lie down to sleep).  I was sat next to an older lady, who kept herself to herself.  I was thankful for this because as much as I enjoyed Ged’s company on the flight into Japan, it left me absolutely fucked because I couldn’t sleep or get any rest.  The flight left a little late and the quoted time in the air was close to the 12 hours, with an arrival time of 3pm at Heathrow.  The stewardesses on the flight were much prettier compared to the one going into Japan, with one in particular standing out amongst the rest (I think her name was Naoko or something similar).  I didn’t do much on the flight apart from sleep and pen a few blog entries, which actually helped the time pass by very quickly.  The food was decent, but I can only remember the one meal I had which was a meatball pasta.  They had the bento again but I thought I’d mix it up a little.  There was a baby on the flight who was seriously testing out her lungs and did not let up for most of the journey; I can’t really complain because I was apparently a bad traveller as a baby too.  Flying into London afforded some fantastic views of the city, with the landmarks being clearly visible.

We pretty much landed at Heathrow on time but it was absolute chaos getting through passport control and that was with a British one!  Once through, I was officially back and simply had to wait for my luggage and Kiyomi.

Tadaimasu – I am home now.

Closing thoughts

Damn, I miss Tokyo.  I seriously miss Tokyo.

As one of the world’s supercities, it gets so many things right and so few things wrong.  It truly has a romanticised feel to it (for me at least) and feels like a living, breathing city.  Each area has its own flavour and feel and is something that I feel a lot of cities are slowly losing about them; London for example just feels the same everywhere bar a few unique parts like Camden, or Canary Wharf.  It’s very much a place designed for people and doesn’t feel like a rat race where ever you go, with an efficient rail infrastructure connecting it all.  Trains are reliable, clean, and relatively comfortable given the time of day you travel.

The people have to be the stars of the show for me.  Everybody was so accommodating in all aspects, and it was a pleasure to interact with such a gentle society.  Kiyomi and her friend Natsumi both asked me how Tokyo-ites treated me whilst I was out there and I had nothing but praise for them.  They were both quite surprised by this because people of Tokyo are known to be cold and ruthless, much like their counterparts in London or New York.  I never saw any sign of this and people had as much respect for each other as they did for me.  Regarding the English language thing, learn some phrases and words before you go and they will serve you well.  Few people speak decent English and the further you get from tourist areas, the worse it gets but even with that, they were all more than helpful with trying to get me to where I needed to go.  Those that did speak decent English really enjoyed the opportunity and if you want to really make their day, compliment them.  Japan is steeped with tradition and there are loads of societal taboos which you should be concious of.  If you’re ever unsure of what to do in a particular situation, do what others around you do because observation really is key.  Culture shock does exist and I saw so many Western tourists who just couldn’t get their heads around certain customs.  It’s not for everybody and having seen it first hand, it is easier to empathise with Bill Murray in Lost in Translation.

The food in Tokyo was fantastic and quite rightly so for a city which now boasts more Michelin stars than Paris.  I tried as much variety of food as possible, but my two favourite meals were ramen and curry rice.  I’m very much a comfort food kind of guy and these two warm, hearty dishes were like heaven for me.  Portions can err on the small side at times, with few opportunities to increase the size, even at fastfood places.  Tokyo has London beat on eating out for price, quality, and variety.  Try everything because you may never get the opportunity again.  Hygiene in Tokyo is fantastic and never did I once question whether I’d get food poisoning or not, even with the chicken sashimi.  Drinking in Tokyo is a bit of a mixed bag but then I didn’t do much of it to be fair.  It can be expensive and like food, portions tend to be smaller, but if you drink where the locals go then you shouldn’t be stung too badly.

I found shopping to be better in Hong Kong for prices, but you can’t beat Tokyo for variety.  There was too much choice at times, especially for electronics.  Clothes are typically more expensive if you go after the typical Western brands and designers, but there are some great Japanese brands to be had at decent prices and great quality.  With a more powerful Yen, bargain hunting will be a difficult task for the next few months at least.

Since coming back to the UK, I’ve not been able to stop thinking about Japan and Tokyo.  As bizarre as it may sound, my trip there was almost a pilgrimage of sorts, being able to experience all the sights, sounds, and tastes that I’ve only ever received third party accounts for.  People have asked me if I would ever consider going out to Japan alone again and now, it’s the only way I would consider doing it, unless I went with friends who could appreciate it as much as I do.  Yes, I am being an elitist snob but that’s just the way I’ve become about the nation which receives so much fascination from me.  For others, it’s merely an unusual novelty.  Could I ever live and work out there?  Jimothy and Keiko seem to think so.  The way the UK is heading, it would be the saner choice.  I’m not getting any younger either and I have no ties to keep me down right now.  A colleague of mine has always wanted to live and work in France or Italy and he had the chance when he was a lot younger.  He now has a family to look after and regrets not taking the opportunity when it was there.  All I need is one push…

Thank you all for checking my accounts.  I hope you’ve all enjoyed reading them as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them, even if it’s taken nearly a month after returning to complete it all!