03.29.05
Going to Japan
This morning I woke up in Japan after a very long flight and a bit of trouble finding the hotel. I’m very excited. Today I head to Hiroshima.
I am having problems with Gmail, so I am unable to send email (although I can receive it), so I’ll have to phone if it’s really urgent.
I was nervous to get started. Japan Air Lines has big planes. I was seated near the back. My friend Jeannie had said that coach was like business class, but I think she must have had a different plane, or a complementary upgrade. Coach was coach, cramped, small seats and narrow aisles. Fortunately the seat next to me was empty by request. Each seat does have its own TV monitor, and the Magic II system, which was very cool.
Magic II lets you do a lot of things with the monitor, such as view different TV shows and movies, listen to a variety of music, play games, and show the flight path in progress. I don’t know if it’s part of the Magic II system, or something JAL did, but they also had cameras giving you a forward or a below view of the plane, so we watched the plane taxi around and fly over stuff. Very cool, although most of the flight we flew through clouds and over water. But you could see the waves.
The crew was helpful and friendly. We were fed (good food) twice, although the salads were a little limp. They always seemed to be coming down the aisles with a beverage just when you wanted one. It was nice.
It’s too bad I arrived so late that I couldn’t see anything from the Narita Express train as I headed into the city. There were occasional neon-lit pachinko parlors, but mostly it was dark.
I got confused on the subway system, although that was due a little to the police officer who told me to take the wrong train line. I went up and down a lot of stairs and escalators looking for the right train for the hotel.
I also took the wrong exit for the hotel, and couldn’t find my bearings. I walked around where it was, but skipped the street it was on originally because it looked to small and alley-like because it was dark. Don’t half those mugging tales start out, “I tried taking a shortcut though an alley…”? So even though I got to Tokyo at 8:16, I didn’t get to the hotel until almost 10. *sigh*
I stayed at the Sakura Hotel, which cost me less than $70 for a single room. The room is cozy and basic. It’s perhaps 8′x6′ with just a bed, a desk, and a chair. There is also a pay TV, and free internet in the rooms (but $1 for 10 minutes in the lobby). The shower and toilets are shared. Some people would freak out at that, but I’m OK with it.
I had a few problems figuring out the alarm and temperature controls, so my conditions were not ideal, but it was good enough. Also, it turns out the Japanese use the same plugs as ours, so the adaptors that I requested and received for Christmas turned out to be useless. Oh well.
Time for breakfast, and off to Hiroshima!