Feb 15 - Tokyo - 8:00 AM local time, 3:00 PM Pacific
Feb 15 - Tokyo - 8:00 AM local time, 3:00 PM Pacific
Well, here we are, Tokyo, and the whole thing just seems surreal. I'm suffering from an awful case of jet lag, but I think it's pretty impressive that I've adjusted this much already. Woke up a few times during the night, but it wasn't until about 6AM (1 PM in Vancouver) that I really woke up and coudn't get back to sleep. Finally got out of bed (making sure not to disturb my roommates), got dressed, and went outside to have a smoke... and buy a hot coffee from a vending machine. ^_^ I love vending machine coffee. Especially nice that you can just pay $1.10 for a warm (but not hot, perfect temperature) double-double from 8 out of 10 vending machines in this city. Which are everywhere. Vending machines, I mean. Every block, every corner, all over the place. I keep forgetting all the little things that I used to know, like how they drive on the British system (ie, BACKWARDS), so all foot traffic is opposite as well. Keep to the left, always. Funny how it messes with you.
The flight was hellish. Far, far too long on a plane. After this, there's another 8-hour flight flight to Kuala Lumpur, and then I'm off planes for a little while. Until the last day, where mom and I fly out of Singapore in the morning to go back to KL, then that night I'm on another plane back to Tokyo-Narita, 6 hour layover, and then another flight back to Vancouver. I'm not gonna wanna be off the ground again for quite some time, I'm thinking. Luckily, all the flights on the way back are shorter... tailwind or something, I guess, but I'm not complaining. If I had to endure another 10-hour flight, I'd probably just tranquilize myself into oblivion, and Ed can *drag* me off the plane in the morning. Did meet a pretty nice guy on the line for the flight, though. Name was Jeff, and he plays (or played) Rep Hockey in Delta. Couldn't've been more than 21, but he was heading over for the second time, and we chatted in the boarding room and stuff for a while.
So yea, the flight was agonizing, and even getting here was totally a test of menal endurance. I had gotten to the airport at 9 AM, Vancouver time, and landed about 10 PM vancouver time, so I lost a whole day. Didn't sleep on the plane until the very-very end, for like, an hour (when I finally decided to take a Graval and just drop off), so then I had to navigate my way here to the hostel on like, an hour of sleep, at midnight, while it's broad daylight outside. Some people were very helpful, some not so much.
I hopped the Skyliner (which is like the airport express train) to get into Tokyo itself, 'cause the airport's about 60 km outside. And by hopped, I mean that literally. I went to buy a regular train ticket to get me here, and the ladies at the counter told me that I would be better off getting on the Skyliner. when I went to the Skyliner counter, the guy (without my knowledge) sold me a regular train ticket. The Skyliner is all reserved seating, and about 20 bucks (as opposed to 10), but I didn't know that! I sat down, and a lady came up to me and told me that I was in her seat. Her english was pretty good (she had just come back from a 3-week vacation in Australia), so she explained to me what had happened, but told me that I could stay there. She let me know where I needed to transfer, and that if no-one checked my ticket, I could get away with riding the Skyliner all the way to the end. So yea. I jacked a Skytrain ride, paying half of what I should've.
They have an interesting idea for transit here, as well. There's a base fee, and then you pay per kilometer, like a taxi. So you choose which station you're going to, and then pay that exact amount. There's a machine that checks your tickets on the way in (to avoid train-jumpers), and then they also check your ticket on the way out, to make sure that you paid enough. If you didn't, it won't let you off the platform, and you have to take your ticket to a 'Fare Adjustment' machine to pay the difference. Interesting ideas, and good ones, though in the long run, more expensive than the Skytrain, probably.
Also, when I got to my transfer station, I ran into another backpacker who had been staying at this hostel. Nice guy, from England from the sounds of it, who was heading back to the airport, and gave me his 'Metro Daily' pass, so again I didn't have to pay anything to get to the final station that I needed to get to. I wish that I could've put the pass to better use, but I was exhausted.
It took me about 20-30 minutes of wandering around to find the hostel, due to the fact that I didn't know which way to walk when I got out of the Metro. Headed in the wrong direction for about 4 blocks (on a side note, there really aren't 'blocks' here, per se. The city is built in a wheel-and-hub system, so it's a veritable spiderweb of streets and subways. I've never seen so many train crossings or 5- and 6-way stops in such close proximity before), before realizing that I hadn't hit a bridge yet (which was my landmark), and heading back the other way. Less than a 'block' in the opposite direction from where I went, I hit the brige, and it was pretty smooth sailing from there. Ran into another guest here on the way down, who cleared up a quick direction question for me, and finally arrived at the place.
So yea, I'm staying in a hostel. Besides being *much* less expensive than a hotel (like, under $100 for the 4 nights here), I also thought it would be a good idea to be in a more social atmosphere, especially when it's mostly gonna be other tourists like me, and most of them around my age as well. I mean, a hotel is a place to stash your stuff and to sleep at night, but no-one really talks to each other. At a hostel, 'cause we're all kinda adrift, there's a much easier social interaciton that comes with it, and besides the being able to catch easy reccomendations and drop tips to each other about cool things to see and do, it's also much easier to get to know people and have a conversation, and not feel so terribly alone.
On the plane, I started to freak out about the whole thing. I'd been freaking out for days leading up to this trip, realistically, but this was bad. I was having visions of getting to Narita and asking them to put me on standby for a plane back to Canada, like, right now. I think part of it was just the recycled air and dehydration getting to me (and lack of sleep), and probably a part of it was also the fact that I hadn't had a smoke in almost 12 hours, but I was seriously thinking that this was the stupidest idea I had ever gone through with in my life. I chilled out a lot once I was on the ground again (and dead tired), and once I finally got into Tokyo central, I was feeling a lot more at peace with the whole idea.
I havn't met my 'roommates' yet, per se, but I have met a some other people who are staying at the same place, and it really helped to relax me about the whole thing. One couple is from Ireland, and another from Australia, and I met them last night. We just stayed up and talked for a long time, and it was good fun, easy, and enjoyable (besides my body screaming at me to go to bed), and this morning I met another couple and their son who also escaped from Vancouver, so there's even a touch of home here.
I'm not sure what's on the agenda today. I think I'm going to hit up the area around the Imperial Palace, and see what that's all about. I'll take pictures, and again try and have a post about the whole thing up by tonight (*late* tonight, for you guys), but we'll keep it posted.
Love you all, and despite how cool it is, I do miss Vancouver a little.
And love you, Ed, most of all.
Well, here we are, Tokyo, and the whole thing just seems surreal. I'm suffering from an awful case of jet lag, but I think it's pretty impressive that I've adjusted this much already. Woke up a few times during the night, but it wasn't until about 6AM (1 PM in Vancouver) that I really woke up and coudn't get back to sleep. Finally got out of bed (making sure not to disturb my roommates), got dressed, and went outside to have a smoke... and buy a hot coffee from a vending machine. ^_^ I love vending machine coffee. Especially nice that you can just pay $1.10 for a warm (but not hot, perfect temperature) double-double from 8 out of 10 vending machines in this city. Which are everywhere. Vending machines, I mean. Every block, every corner, all over the place. I keep forgetting all the little things that I used to know, like how they drive on the British system (ie, BACKWARDS), so all foot traffic is opposite as well. Keep to the left, always. Funny how it messes with you.
The flight was hellish. Far, far too long on a plane. After this, there's another 8-hour flight flight to Kuala Lumpur, and then I'm off planes for a little while. Until the last day, where mom and I fly out of Singapore in the morning to go back to KL, then that night I'm on another plane back to Tokyo-Narita, 6 hour layover, and then another flight back to Vancouver. I'm not gonna wanna be off the ground again for quite some time, I'm thinking. Luckily, all the flights on the way back are shorter... tailwind or something, I guess, but I'm not complaining. If I had to endure another 10-hour flight, I'd probably just tranquilize myself into oblivion, and Ed can *drag* me off the plane in the morning. Did meet a pretty nice guy on the line for the flight, though. Name was Jeff, and he plays (or played) Rep Hockey in Delta. Couldn't've been more than 21, but he was heading over for the second time, and we chatted in the boarding room and stuff for a while.
So yea, the flight was agonizing, and even getting here was totally a test of menal endurance. I had gotten to the airport at 9 AM, Vancouver time, and landed about 10 PM vancouver time, so I lost a whole day. Didn't sleep on the plane until the very-very end, for like, an hour (when I finally decided to take a Graval and just drop off), so then I had to navigate my way here to the hostel on like, an hour of sleep, at midnight, while it's broad daylight outside. Some people were very helpful, some not so much.
I hopped the Skyliner (which is like the airport express train) to get into Tokyo itself, 'cause the airport's about 60 km outside. And by hopped, I mean that literally. I went to buy a regular train ticket to get me here, and the ladies at the counter told me that I would be better off getting on the Skyliner. when I went to the Skyliner counter, the guy (without my knowledge) sold me a regular train ticket. The Skyliner is all reserved seating, and about 20 bucks (as opposed to 10), but I didn't know that! I sat down, and a lady came up to me and told me that I was in her seat. Her english was pretty good (she had just come back from a 3-week vacation in Australia), so she explained to me what had happened, but told me that I could stay there. She let me know where I needed to transfer, and that if no-one checked my ticket, I could get away with riding the Skyliner all the way to the end. So yea. I jacked a Skytrain ride, paying half of what I should've.
They have an interesting idea for transit here, as well. There's a base fee, and then you pay per kilometer, like a taxi. So you choose which station you're going to, and then pay that exact amount. There's a machine that checks your tickets on the way in (to avoid train-jumpers), and then they also check your ticket on the way out, to make sure that you paid enough. If you didn't, it won't let you off the platform, and you have to take your ticket to a 'Fare Adjustment' machine to pay the difference. Interesting ideas, and good ones, though in the long run, more expensive than the Skytrain, probably.
Also, when I got to my transfer station, I ran into another backpacker who had been staying at this hostel. Nice guy, from England from the sounds of it, who was heading back to the airport, and gave me his 'Metro Daily' pass, so again I didn't have to pay anything to get to the final station that I needed to get to. I wish that I could've put the pass to better use, but I was exhausted.
It took me about 20-30 minutes of wandering around to find the hostel, due to the fact that I didn't know which way to walk when I got out of the Metro. Headed in the wrong direction for about 4 blocks (on a side note, there really aren't 'blocks' here, per se. The city is built in a wheel-and-hub system, so it's a veritable spiderweb of streets and subways. I've never seen so many train crossings or 5- and 6-way stops in such close proximity before), before realizing that I hadn't hit a bridge yet (which was my landmark), and heading back the other way. Less than a 'block' in the opposite direction from where I went, I hit the brige, and it was pretty smooth sailing from there. Ran into another guest here on the way down, who cleared up a quick direction question for me, and finally arrived at the place.
So yea, I'm staying in a hostel. Besides being *much* less expensive than a hotel (like, under $100 for the 4 nights here), I also thought it would be a good idea to be in a more social atmosphere, especially when it's mostly gonna be other tourists like me, and most of them around my age as well. I mean, a hotel is a place to stash your stuff and to sleep at night, but no-one really talks to each other. At a hostel, 'cause we're all kinda adrift, there's a much easier social interaciton that comes with it, and besides the being able to catch easy reccomendations and drop tips to each other about cool things to see and do, it's also much easier to get to know people and have a conversation, and not feel so terribly alone.
On the plane, I started to freak out about the whole thing. I'd been freaking out for days leading up to this trip, realistically, but this was bad. I was having visions of getting to Narita and asking them to put me on standby for a plane back to Canada, like, right now. I think part of it was just the recycled air and dehydration getting to me (and lack of sleep), and probably a part of it was also the fact that I hadn't had a smoke in almost 12 hours, but I was seriously thinking that this was the stupidest idea I had ever gone through with in my life. I chilled out a lot once I was on the ground again (and dead tired), and once I finally got into Tokyo central, I was feeling a lot more at peace with the whole idea.
I havn't met my 'roommates' yet, per se, but I have met a some other people who are staying at the same place, and it really helped to relax me about the whole thing. One couple is from Ireland, and another from Australia, and I met them last night. We just stayed up and talked for a long time, and it was good fun, easy, and enjoyable (besides my body screaming at me to go to bed), and this morning I met another couple and their son who also escaped from Vancouver, so there's even a touch of home here.
I'm not sure what's on the agenda today. I think I'm going to hit up the area around the Imperial Palace, and see what that's all about. I'll take pictures, and again try and have a post about the whole thing up by tonight (*late* tonight, for you guys), but we'll keep it posted.
Love you all, and despite how cool it is, I do miss Vancouver a little.
And love you, Ed, most of all.