My First Day

So I was standing, with all my luggage, in the Arrivals Lounge of Narita Airport. I located the Limousine bus counter, which offers great services from and to Tokyo's two airports, Narita and Haneda (mainly domestic), from and to major stations, hotels and areas. The leaflet I had said that the counter was orange-coloured but it was white, with a bit of orange behind it. Very disappointing! The woman spoke English and I bought a 12.30 ticket to Shinjuku station for Y3,000 (£15). I asked for some small change, I'm sure that was rude but I needed it for the phone!

I found a green-coloured phone (green = international calls are okay) and followed the instructions (written in both English and Japanese) to call home. It was very long number but it worked. It ate my Y100 coins like a hungry child. I ended up spending Y500 (£2.50) on a call that lasted about a minute and a half or so. But it was great to get in touch and know that everything was okay at home (it was about 3am).

My bus left five minutes later so I left the airport and found the bus stop directly to the left of the front door. I joined the orderly queue people were making and made sure I had everything with me. The bus arrived and the screen on the side clearly proclaimed 'Shinjuku Park Hyatt', via Shinjuku station, and then a lot of other hotel names. Great! A man took my suitcase and put it into the bus. They do have restrictions on baggage, see the website in case they change but I was well within them. It was something like two bags, each measuring 120cm x 60cm x 50cm, weighing no more than 30kg each. So it's definitely a good option if you have lots of baggage.

With my luggage receipt in hand, and my rucksack, I found a window seat (it was quite empty, no one sat next to me and the back was basically free of people). As we left, I was struck by how... normal, Japan looked. It looked like a cross-breed between suburban UK and USA. The trees lining the road out of the airport were bare and scary-looking but I'm sure they'd look lovely in spring, summer or autumn.

I almost forgot that I was in Japan so when the top of a pagoda appeared over the trees in a nearby wood, I was taken completely off-guard. From this point on, to about three days later, when I finally ventured out of my room, everything felt completely surreal, like I was in a dream world. I couldn't be in Japan. I couldn't have just flown halfway round the world. It couldn't be 7th January. That's the day after I leave for Japan! So it's impossible that it's that date today.

Then the bus left the rural area and made its way into suburban Tokyo. Narita Airport is about 60km east of central Tokyo because there's more space out there. So even surburban Tokyo (places in Chiba prefecture like Myoden, Funabashi and Ichikawa) are quite far from the centre. There were nice Japanese-style houses, fields and then the more usual tower blocks and the start of the urban sprawl. I wondered why the houses didn't spread further out - surely they need the space? And if it's there, why not use it? I don't think Japan has the same greenfield or greenbelt laws that the UK does - again, Geography geek!

Before I knew it, we were driving over Rainbow Bridge and I could see Tokyo bay and signs to places like Ginza, Shinjuku and Nihonbashi. Am I actually here? It must just be a dream...

We passed Tokyo Disneyland, with its quintessential fairytale castle with lots of towers. Don't think I'll make it there, probably expensive. Besides, if you've seen one, it's probable you've seen them all. Might be fun though.

Then we passed a building saying 'Yokoso' (Welcome) and I knew we were in the Tokyo Metropolitan area. The very first tall buildings I saw over the river put central Birmingham to shame. I thought, is this Shinjuku already? I thought it was an 85 minutes trip? But they were just apartment buildings and tower blocks. Wow.

Sorry I don't have photos by the way. I didn't have a camera, I plan to buy one from Akihabara (discount electronics district) before I do any of the big sights.

Then came Tokyo Tower, and then, far too soon for my liking (I was very nervous), we were passing the Tokyo Park Hyatt's three-tiered skyscraper and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building next to it. Then we were in Shinjuku and outside the station. I collected my suitcase with my receipt and retrieved the map from my pocket. I had to go and check-in with Sakura House, pay my first month's rent and collect the keys. Using the map I'd printed off from their website, and my Tourist Map of Tokyo, I navigated my way up past the huge blocks that claimed to be buildings with people inside, and found the Sunkus building. I felt like a little Lego man staring up at a three-storey house with all the enormous structures around me. That scale may not be too far off reality actually. One of things that struck me, and still strikes me as I walk around, is how clean it is. There's hardly any litter, if there's any at all. I thought that was pretty amazing, considering the state of some of the streets in the UK.
Sakura House's main office was on the second floor so I took the lift up and entered the boiling hot room. I was dehydrated from the flight and then the bus journey, and Japanese buildings are apparently over-heated in winter and over-cooled in summer. The Japanese actually have a word for the sickness caused by fluctuating temperatures between outside and inside - natsubate. Apparently it's healthy to have a difference of 5C at the most, otherwise your body gets confused about what it's meant to be doing.

As I hadn't slept, I signed everything they shoved under my nose, trying to read it but my vision blurring. I got a copy of it so I know it's legitimate. I gave them my debit card to take the Y80,000 (around £400) first month's rent. I don't know how they got the money without me entering my PIN but I've Internet banked and know how much left my account. They gave me a receipt too.
Thankfully they had a water cooler so I helped myself to liberal amounts of that.

Next it was time to make my way back across the city the way I had come to actually get into my room and SLEEEEEP!

So I took the subway Toei Oedo line (the maroon one that goes in a big circle. I think it serves a similar purpose underground to the JR Yamanote train line (green or black and white on maps), linking major stations in the central area) from Shinjuku Nishiguchi. Thankfully, it wasn't crowded at all and I could sit down with my bags. I changed once at Kiyosumi-shirakawa for the Hanzomon line (purple) and got off at my nearest station. It wasn't expensive. Although sometimes the machine swallows your ticket when you change lines if the money on it has been used up on the previous journey so that's annoying. But I'll do a full post on subways and hopefully have pictures up and running.

I left the station via the exit labelled on the map Sakura House gave me (mine is a tiny station, not even on some subway maps and it's 300 metres long and has 9 separate exits!) and followed the route. It only took me two minutes, even with my suitcase constantly knocking my right shoe off. Then I saw the parking sign I had taken note of from the picture on the website and went in. There's parking space at the front of the building, under the shelter, and washing machines and tumble-dryers (I'm gonna have to figure them out soon!) and a lift and stairs up to the rooms at the back.

I took the lift because the stairs were steep and narrow, and my bags were heavy. I went up to my floor and opened the front door to the living room. I took my shoes off and left them in the shoe rack and stepped up into the room (how Japanese!). The living room/ kitchen looked nice, all cramped in but what could I expect? I found my room down the corridor and opened it.

My first thought was "Where's the bed?" but then I realised that I really needed some sleep as it was to the left, whereas most of the other things were to the right. I put my bags down, locked the door behind me and lay on the bed.

I woke up the next evening.