Category: Overseas Travel

Yum yum yum! It’s lunch time!
And which one to pick? The “continental” or the “japanese” lunch? Choices, choices!

Check out the instructions on the “sauce for the noodles”. I wouldnt’ve figured it out…
And this being SQ, each big meal ends with the infamous ice cream cup. On today’s flight, our ice cream cup comes from France via Japan.

It’s a Fauchon cup! Verry rich french vanilla bean ice cream! Click between the French and US sites for some interesting insight…
And the fun continues…

Along with redoing the entire South Wing of Tokyo Narita for the Star Alliance, they redid ANA’s outer lounge. It used to be a small, unexciting lounge that you killed time at because you could. Now, it’s new, has a neat design AND has a soba bar!

Yup, that’s soba alrighty…

Wao! Check out the fish cake in the middle of the bowl! Advertising lah!

The usual beverage bar and food aisle. They have snacky treats and sushi. And a beer machine too!
They also have a fully stocked bar but since this was a morning flight, it wasn’t open. Oh well.

Looks like one of those trendy bars that you have to dress up to get into…

I luuuurve the specialty of the house. Too bad it’s morning!!
And this is the front desk, the first and last thing you’ll see when you use this lounge.

They’re just LOOKING busy…they’re really a cheerful bunch
ANA Lounge is highly recommended. I think there’s some other kind of united lounge here but what ANA lacks in size (it’s not as big), it makes up in quality.

One of the seating/lounge-y areas of the ANA South Wing Lounge
Did I mention the free wi-fi?

One ironclad rule I’ve tried to live by when travelling is, “find a crash pad near the train station“. Repeat that five times really loud. “FINDACRASHPADNEARTHETRAINSTATION” X 5. OK, done.
And for the most part, I’ve been pretty good about that. There are several advantages to having a guesthouse/hostel/hotel near the train station. They include:
You have an instant landmark (the train station).
If you find yourself iniebriated, you can simply tell the cab/police car driver, “drop me off at the “blank” train station”.

Convenience.
When you arrive at your destination late in the evening, you don’t want to be scratching your head trying to figure out where your lodging is, especially since everywhere else is closed (because it’s late). Also, since most Japanese towns have the eki in the center of town, all the useful things, such as combini and late night food are close by.
As I wrote about in an earlier entry, my JR Pass was due to expire this evening. If I spent the night in Tokyo and braved the commuter hell the next morning, I would be Y1150 and at least 2.5 hours poorer. Ever try to push your way onto the Yamanote with baggage during the commute? I have and it’s something I don’t want to do. EVER. AGAIN.
I had the brilliant idea of going out to Narita (the town) tonight, crashing in a hostel there and heading out the next morning to Narita (the airport). It sounds good on paper, right? Well, it didn’t turn out quite as painless as much as my Japan travel usually is.
In order to maximize my time in Tokyo, I booked myself on the last N’Ex of the evening which left around 2000. I spent much of the afternoon wandering around Kabuki-Cho and the Golden Gai, two places in Shinjuku i’ve not been to yet.

The last train outta town…or at least to NRT
One piece of advice for riding the N’Ex. When you acquire your ticket, you get a car and seat assignment. That assignment cooresponds with the signage on the platform floor. The N’Ex splits into two sublines upon arrival at Tokyo-eki from NRT. One part continues on to Shinjuku and the other continues on to Yokohama and points south. When you are taking the N’Ex back to NRT, the two parts arrive and combine to form one big train that leaves Tokyo-eki and arrives at NRT.
I watched some Amerika-jin chase the first part of our train to arrive down the platform before having to stagger back to where their seat assignments were when the second part of the train arrived a few minutes later. They did this even though there was a lot of signage saying “don’t do that”. Ha!
Hey, I may have attended the San Francisco Public schools, but at least I can read lah!
Anyway, the ride to Narita (the town) was uneventful aside from meeting a couple from South Africa who came to Japan for their honeymoon. They spent a lot of time in Kyoto and Hakone, as a lot of honeymooners who come to Japan do (heh heh). When the train arrived at Narita (the town), I ran into a couple of other flashpackers who had the same evil plan I did so we decided to get lost together. After a few wrong turns and some confused directions, we found our way to the Azure Guesthouse. It took us a grand total of 45 minutes to find the place, dragging baggage up and down hills. I developed ugly blisters the size of dollar coins (Eisenhower) on at least four parts of my feet. Pain!

The lobby of the Azure Guesthouse at 0600. That be early!
The Azure Guesthouse is a bit of a way away from the eki and what passes for downtown Narita. You pass through downtown, pass a hospital and a Chrysler (!) dealership. You also pass a Matsumoto-Kiyoshi (drug store), a used bookstore and a grocery/liquor store before you get to Azure. Once we arrived, we found out that there were a total of five guests (including the three of us who just arrived) in the entire hostel. There was a couple of Koreans who were staying here and commuting into Tokyo each day to play tourist. That’s like staying in Simi Valley and driving into downtown LA each day. Not the smartest use of your limited vacation time.
The hostel is on the small side, but was relatively new and whose interior designer subscribes to the “neo-japanese dark wood” design asthetic. It looks cool. There are three rooms with three bunk beds in each. One shower and one toilet for all. My brief stay here was tempered by some quirks that I normally would have expected in guesthouses in Bangkok. Or mainland China. But not Japan. First off, the guesthouse is on the second floor of the building. That really means the third floor, because here it’s “Ground” then “1st” then “2nd” floor. For much of the US, it’s “Ground” then “2nd” then “3rd”.
That’s to cut off any sort of wise ass remarks that may come because I had to go up ONE flight of stairs…
Then the signage. Signs everywhere. “No shoes past this point”. “Drinks only in the common room”. “Clean up after yourself”. “Make your sheets like this”. The last sign annoyed me to no end. Seems that they want you to fold your sheet into a psuedo-sleeping bag, covering your pillow so that the only thing your gaijin body touches is the sheet. Very uncomfortable and when I tried to comply, it didn’t work. The next AM, I woke up (EARLY!) with the sheet on the floor and the blanket and pillow in some unholy communion under my head. Guess they’ll have to wash the pillowcase! And the sheets! Did I mention that I got charged Y300 for a towel? And Y300 for plugging my MacBook into their (throttled) “broadband ” connection? That’s gotta be the slowest broadband I’ve ever experienced in Japan. On the plus side, they sell beer (Yebisu!) and there’s a combini across the street that sells pretty good kara-age.
Like I said, it felt more like Bangkok or mainland China, except cleaner and with smarter design.
It’s always easier to find your way back then to find your way somewhere. The next morning, I followed the directions posted to get back to the Keisei Narita-eki, which is next to the JR Narita-eki. I left the guesthouse at 0615. I arrived at 0635. And that was with me walking slowly, dragging my roller bag behind me. It’s definitely easier when you know where things are. And when it’s daylight.
The best thing was that Keisei took my Passnet card, which I thought was only good on the Tokyo Metro, because that’s where I bought it. The Passnet card is a stored value card (like a BART ticket or an Octopus/EZ Link) that you can use on all the subway lines in the Tokyo area (EXCEPT JR lines). I purchased one for Y1000 becuase I needed to take the subway for a few trips and I hate having to purchase a ticket each time I go through the wicket. Best of all, if you have to transfer between the Eidan and the Toei, you don’t have to purchase two individual tickets. Using your Passnet card makes the transfer seamless.

This is Keisei Narita-eki at 0646. If this were anywhere in Tokyo, I’d be drowning in commuters right now.
Here ends your Japan travel advice for today…

First off, I need to return here at night. It’s much more interesting then. However, I was put off by some of the signs that say “No Pictures”. Except it was on the street!
Much has been written about the Golden Gai and how it represents how Tokyo used to be before it became “modern”, how the misfits and rebels and gaijin hang out here, yadda yadda. Basically, the Golden Gai is a small area packed full of really small bars and alleys that look very “Shitamachi” in “Yamanote”.

The outer edge of the Golden Gai

This is how it looks inside the Golden Gai. In daytime. When everyone’s closed.

Wonder what’s upstairs?
Most, if not all of these bars have a steady clientele that they make their money from and many of these bars are not friendly, or are even hostile to strangers (gaijin, you AND me) who poke their noses into what many consider their private space. Most times you’ll be able to tell how welcome you are by how the mama-san reacts when you open the door. Other times, you can read it on the wall outside.

If you wanna visit, go with a local! Or take Nihongo lessons!!
Gotta save some money, drag some frens with me and drink here next time!!

A big ol’ billboard (out of three) in JR Shinjuku, the busiest train station in the world.

People have gotten lost in this station. Is it because it’s so big or because people are looking at advertising?

As part of my series on my biannual pilgrimage to the Nissan Gallery Ginza, here’s a van that’s designed for the disabled in Japan. Very progressive!

The arm holding the bucket seat can support even a big Amerika-jin like myself
Aw hell, this is the REAL reason I come to this Ginza landmark! Heh heh.

Konichiwa!

This Tokyo trip has been jam packed! Awaodori dancers, doing some shopping, visiting frens and their kids, there wasn’t almost enough time to do the things I really like to do in Tokyo (besides visit MUJI).
Mmmm rammmmen!! At the first shop where I got hooked on the stuff.

Can anyone out there translate?
Each visit to Tokyo includes a visit here, here being 5 minutes from JR Shinjuku-eki’s South Exit. I’ve written about this place before, so I’ll just cut to the artsy pictures.

One of those bowls is mine…! Gimme gimme gimme…

Itadakimasu!!

I went to yet another cultural event here in Tokyo. This Japan leg has been all about culture. Visiting the tombs and temples of Nikko. Climbing Matsumoto-jo. In past trips, I attended the Sanja Matsuri, the biggest event in Asakusa (Tokyo). Now i’m hooked on the rhythmic beat and the visual delight of the Koenji Awaodori.

Awaodori dancers in motion…

More of the same…

Aw heck, here’s THE Awaodori dancers starting the parade!
Roy has been attending various Awaodori for over ten years and this year, he broke in moi and Brad who also works and resides in Tokyo (lucky!).

One of them is really excited!
We got to JR Koenji-eki early and planted ourselves on the street. After several runs to 7-11 for fluids (me) and a run to McD’s for a cup(!) of french fries and a Coke (Brad), the countdown ended and the 50th Koenji Awaodori began!

The crowd across the street from us and the reviewing stand
And then the worst possible thing happened. Battery died! Crap! So when Brand and Roy post pix, I’ll link accordingly in this post.
The dancers were fun, the beat was infectious, my feet hurt and had a great time! Must try to make it next year!

I came to a realization early on this trip. Actually, it was from a copy of the Straits Times that I read on SQ11 (Hey UAL, guess what? You CAN get newspapers and magazines on REAL airlines!) about midway through my flight.
I like the whole idea of staying in clean hostels and mucking about on the ground eating street food. I like going to local festivals and hanging out where locals do. Doing local things. I also luurve Business Class, airport lounges, Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) and the Shinkansen.
But I hate wasting time. I hate waiting. And I like to plan things. My entire itinerary on JR on this trip? Planned to the minute 4 weeks prior. And guess what? It worked! I have a list of HSBC and Citibank locations for every destination on this trip. I can’t travel anywhere withouth my iPod and MacBook and I try to stay in establishments that provide free broadband or wi-fi.
These things sound contradictory? Hostels and Business Class? Not really the traditional backpacker? Guess what? I’m not a backpacker, I’m a flashpacker. Yup, flashpacker, yet another term you get to learn reading this site. At least it ain’t Singlish. Wah Lau!
The latter exclaimation was Singlish, by the way.

I’ve been travelling to different parts of Japan for the past few years. During those trips, I’ve stayed at all kinds of lodging.
I’ve stayed in business hotels, international hotels, ryokan (both semi-fancy and basic), minshuku and hostels. Until tonight, I’ve never stayed in a capsule hotel. Now I’m going to be in one for 2 days.
Now, the question always comes up. “why”? Well, there’s a few good reasons for that.
First, it’s on the Yamanote near JR Akibahara-eki. That means it’s on the loop and will save a lot of time coming and going over the next 48 hours.
Second, the price isn’t too bad. I got charged Y3700. It’s Y500 more than I usually pay for Tokyo lodging, but it’s worth it for the extra hour I save coming and going to the hotel I usually stay at.
Third, I’ve never stayed at a capsule hotel before. And capsule hotels, like them or not, are iconic places of modern Tokyo.
The ritual of staying here is different. First off, you put your shoes in a shoe locker next to the check in desk. You hand the clerk the key to your shoe locker and the night’s room charges and he checks you in. You get your capsule assignment and a matching key for the lockers in the locker room on the second floor. You change out of your street clothes into yukata for lounging about the hotel. The shower room and communal smoking lounge are also on the second floor.

My assigned bunk, #703…

…was on the bottom left of this row.
Each capsule is a self sufficent sleeping space with its own alarm clock, lights, TV, vent and radio controlled by a handy dandy control panel on your right as you lay down inside.

Capsule Control Panel. Also makes a handy shelf.
Contrary to popular belief, there’s enough room for sleeping one person. And that’s about it. The capsule was just longer than 2 meters and a bit over 1 meter in height and width. I could sit up inside the capsule, but that’s about it.

How my capsule looks when I’m sitting up in it
If you want to do anything else besides sleep, you have to leave your capsule and putter about in the common areas of the hotel. Besides the 2nd floor facilities, there’s vending machines for coffee and beverages as well as for neatly pressed dress shirts and underwear (!) in the lobby. There’s also broadband, wired in the common areas and wireless on the capsule floors. The router on my floor was not connecting to the internet, a common theme of this trip. So to get emails, I was forced to drag my MacBook to the common areas to plug in. Once online, it was really fast!
Capsule hotels are generally considered the lodging of last resort, usually for salarymen who missed the last train home after a night of carousing at the local izakaya. Because of this, there aren’t any real facilities for luggage, since who goes to work with a carry on, right? There is one luggage rack in the back of the lobby, but otherwise, luggage is locked and chained under the main staircase that leads to the second floor.
Now despite these drawbacks (and the feeling I was back in the dorm in college), I’d recommend staying at least one night in a capsule hotel. They are clean and safe (this IS Japan, remember?) and although most capsule hotels are men only, the one I stayed at reserved the top floor for women. That top floor had capsules, a common room and bath and shower rooms. Self contained capsule hotel in a capsule hotel.
Just don’t bring a lot of baggage with ya…