Hi! I made it to Tokyo...finally! My direct flight on Virgin was cancelled, but everyone got changed to another flight, going to Shanghai, then to Tokyo. The flight left London at 4 PM (late, of course), then landed in Shanghai at about 11:30. We had to go through immigration, baggage claim, and customs. Go through check-in again for our flight from Shanghai to Tokyo. Rested for a bit, then went right back on another plane. The flight from Shanghai to Tokyo was only 2 hours. We landed in Tokyo around 5-something. Went through immigration, baggage claim, and customs without any problems. Bought a ticket for limousine bus (like a greyhound bus) to get into Tokyo. The ride was about 1 hour. Then I walked about 15-20 minutes and arrived at my hotel/apartment at about 8:30 local time.
I love this place. My room is a little studio with a small kitchenette, frige, bed, flat screen TV, toilet room, and small washer/dryer unit. Oh, yeah, and high speed Internet. I took a walk around to make sure I knew my way to the office tomorrow. I walked pass the Spanish Embassy and a couple others. I don't think I ventured too far since I'm supposedly in the Roppongi area, but I didn't see any TGI Friday's or the expected and obvious American stuff. I'm avoiding it actually and have spotted some little Japanese restaurants that look good near by.
I'm not sure exactly how to put it into words what exactly it is about Tokyo or Japanese that I like... cleanliness? clever and efficient designs in their products? Let's go with that for now.
In case you were wondering, I did get mistaken for Japanese... or perhaps someone who speaks Japanese. Everywhere I went. Even when I was in line checking in for my flight at London Heathrow. The Japanese immigration officials, airline stewardess, Seven-Eleven worker, etc. Arigato!
Looking forward to the weekend!
Enjoy the photos of my room in the mean time...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=95reg1b.1ms5vvzz&x=0&y=-d0ejvr
Word of my day: Mizu. Means water, which is what I normally drink.
Posted by oneray at March 2, 2006 9:29 AM