Bright lights big prefecture
Last night we got into Japan. I forget how long the flight is. We left Tampa at about quarter of six to catch our 8 AM flight to Detroit and then had to pretty much motor over to our next flight, because it boarded about 30 minutes after we came in. But it was pretty much a 12 hour flight to Tokyo from Detroit. 12 hours of pretty much sitting in one place and remaining in sunlight too. The sun didn't set until we landed and were on the 2+ hour bus ride over to Tachikawa. Thankfully the entire trip to the hotel was uneventful. It didn't get weird until we got to the hotel and there was some mix-up about our room and Jose went all wiggy, which made the people at the front desk uncomfortable and it made me uncomfortable as well, because I know Japanese people don't really like the whole conflict thing.
Sigh...
But we got it all sorted out. Our hotel is ok. I don't like it as much as I did The Forest Inn Showakan. That was a very nice hotel. Here the lobby is pretty, but our room is kinda small and we don't have a nice view like we did there. Our view here is of the neon lights of the Takashimaya department store building and the Tama Monorail sky bridge. But if I want to buy stuff there's plenty of stores here. They have a record store I need to go to as well as a Book Off which I haven't been to in about a thousand years.
Side note: For those of you who don't know, Book Off is a bookstore which I discovered in New York City by accident. They had much better prices than Kinokuniya bookstore too.
Then there is the Lumine Mall by the train station and the aforementioned Takashimaya department store. So there's tons to buy over here, a lot of really cool looking eateries too, but no cute forest to wander through. No peaceful and quiet grounds to walk around. It's pretty much all concrete jungle over here.
In a way, this is why I was feeling a little apprehensive about this second trip so soon. I was worried that this trip wouldn't be as amazing at the first time. Grant it, the first time going anywhere is always going to be amazing, because it's the first time, but so far I'm not feeling as attached to things like I was when we stayed in Akishima... Which I guess is ok, but I don't know, I feel like something is missing this trip and it's something I won't have this time around.
I guess I shouldn't make any real judgements because it's only the first full day here, so we'll see how the next 14 days pan out. Besides, I still have yet to return to Harajuku, Akiharaba, or make my trips over to Shibuya, Tokyo, and if I really feel up for adventure Roppongi. I don't know about that last one... There's a part of me that wants to go to Roppongi, but there's another part of me that's like screw that noise, I'm not going over there. I haven't made up my mind about going to Roppongi yet.
I wanted to go to Akiharaba today, but my right ankle is killing me. I noticed when I was taking a shower last night, that ankle was super swollen. I just chalked it up to being on a plane for 12+ hours, but now it hurts really badly. I guess I'll have to break out the Advil and hope for the best.
Sigh...
But we got it all sorted out. Our hotel is ok. I don't like it as much as I did The Forest Inn Showakan. That was a very nice hotel. Here the lobby is pretty, but our room is kinda small and we don't have a nice view like we did there. Our view here is of the neon lights of the Takashimaya department store building and the Tama Monorail sky bridge. But if I want to buy stuff there's plenty of stores here. They have a record store I need to go to as well as a Book Off which I haven't been to in about a thousand years.
Side note: For those of you who don't know, Book Off is a bookstore which I discovered in New York City by accident. They had much better prices than Kinokuniya bookstore too.
Then there is the Lumine Mall by the train station and the aforementioned Takashimaya department store. So there's tons to buy over here, a lot of really cool looking eateries too, but no cute forest to wander through. No peaceful and quiet grounds to walk around. It's pretty much all concrete jungle over here.
In a way, this is why I was feeling a little apprehensive about this second trip so soon. I was worried that this trip wouldn't be as amazing at the first time. Grant it, the first time going anywhere is always going to be amazing, because it's the first time, but so far I'm not feeling as attached to things like I was when we stayed in Akishima... Which I guess is ok, but I don't know, I feel like something is missing this trip and it's something I won't have this time around.
I guess I shouldn't make any real judgements because it's only the first full day here, so we'll see how the next 14 days pan out. Besides, I still have yet to return to Harajuku, Akiharaba, or make my trips over to Shibuya, Tokyo, and if I really feel up for adventure Roppongi. I don't know about that last one... There's a part of me that wants to go to Roppongi, but there's another part of me that's like screw that noise, I'm not going over there. I haven't made up my mind about going to Roppongi yet.
I wanted to go to Akiharaba today, but my right ankle is killing me. I noticed when I was taking a shower last night, that ankle was super swollen. I just chalked it up to being on a plane for 12+ hours, but now it hurts really badly. I guess I'll have to break out the Advil and hope for the best.