Peter's Japan blog

Well well, what a first day ;)

First my flight. First flight to Zurich was a short one of an hour in small plane. Because of this you had to get on board using the old fashioned way using the stairs ;)
Then to Tokyo, for a cheap flight, you get a lot of food: first something to drink, then lunch, at night a little ice cream, 2 hours later a cold sandwich, then breakfast, and a small chocolat (swiss of course, as it Swiss International Airlines) We arrived on time, but there was a very long line at the immigration, and of course the 10 lines for japanese and 5 for others, first the japanese are served on those 10 lines, and then some of those are used also for others. So I got the train to Tokyo of 9h05. Then got off at a wrong station due to misinterpretation of what was said on the train (in english), so I lost 20 minutes. I arrived at Ueno Station at 10h40, so I have a good guess how early I have to take it to get back to the airport.
I got my case in a locker, and just kept my backpack, to go check out Akihabara a bit. But as I step out of Ueno Station and go accross the street, what do I find there, a reseller shop for concert tickets ;p (interesting for next year). That part of Akihabara is really seperated, after a while going on Chuo Dori, you get to the first shop and it all begins. It is just a few seconds later that already waling in front of me, are girls dressed in maid uniforms from the maid cafes. Well, I can tell you now, Akihabara sells everything you can think of related to electronics, manga & anime (and then x2 ;p). From shops selling ventilators, cables, mobile phones, computers, software, anime,manga, doujinshi, figurines, hobby modeling and maid cafes. I'm gonna try one out tomorrow ;p. Also, many shop workers who are yelling things or handing out flyers. Like I came across 3 more maids from 3 different maid cafe. All had little differences in their dresses, like one had cat ears as well ;p *nja*. Afterwards I wanted to go back and take a picture of her, but she was gone, maybe tomorrow.

I'm now on the 7th floor of the HMV store (5 stories for HMV alone), and on the 7th floor a big internet cafe, where you can do whatever you want, because they have a big stock of manga, dvds & games you can watch for free. You just pay for the time. And there should be some free drink (and maybe food) here too somewhere. Gonna look for it in a minute.

I can already say now that, you don't just visit Tokyo, you experience it. Well, now get some food, do some surfing and then go to sleep.
Oh and as I really am sooo tired because of the jetlag, I'm not going to velfarre. I now know, if you come to japan, don't plan a long first day...
Anyway, until the next update, maybe tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.
(now lets see if I can get some picture on here)

Noon (local time). Suffering from a jetlag, I get the feeling that it's almost evening. For quick choice, I went to a MacDonalds today, which is not really my intention of doing that every day. Japanese people are so different. It started at the counter, some crazy girl with a quick voice, who was switching between 2 cash register because the buttons didn't work well. But although I barely understood her, there was a paper on the counter with everything on it, and I just could point every piece. Then having eaten, I see that the bin to put the rest in, is quite different from Belgium. There are seperate bins for plastic, paper, food & cigarettes, so it takes a bit longer, because you have to sort it all out. Like your coke: the lid and straw go in plastic, the cup in paper and the ice in food ;p. And everybody does it.
After wandering some more in Akihabara, I really the feeling that Suzumiya Haruhi is quite popular. And that still new games come out about Evangelion. But I'm starting to think that those bags of Suzumiya Haruhi are sold out, as I think I read that on the site that there was still only a little bit left on the second day of the festival (which was on the 22nd).

Next, find the hotel ;p It took me an hour, but it was just because I didn't go far enough in one street. Because following the map provided by the hotel, it is correct and doable. It really is a traditional one, I can assure you. When you enter, take off your shoes, put them in a compartiment with a label in front of it with your name, and then you put on some slippers. All the doors, are wooden sliding doors, when you get to your room, it has first a sliding door with just bars, with next to it a paper with your name on it, as if you lived there. This is the door that can be locked. Then half a meter behind it, is the actual door to the rooms with tatami floors. You leave your slippers outside of the tatami floor rooms. There are 2 rooms: one to put your clother and with a cupboard for the futons, and then the main room, with a low table, a tv, a lamp, a buddha statue, a little fridge. Oh, and there is also a small kind of closed terrace, which has 2 western type of chairs with a small table. The toilet is outside, and there are 2 types, a western & a japanese toilet.
Then at about 17h, the maid comes to make up your futon on the ground. The futon is doable to sleep on, it's not too thin, but that head pillow... What is that?? Feels like something filled with small beads, and quite hard. So it was very wise to bring along an extra small pillow.

Now I went to have a quick look in Shibuya and for an internet cafe. So now I got my first real experience of the Tokyo metro system, using the Toei Mita Line and then the legendary Yamanote Line, the busiest line in the world. All not very much of a problem, but then I arrived at Shibuya station. That metro station is huge, with several lines, but it's so huge, it took me 10 minutes to find the exit, knowing that there are at least 5 exits... And Shibuya isn't even the biggest station... the biggest one is Shinjuku, that I only passed with the Yamanote line.
But then I got to a window at the first floor of the station with a view on legendary Shibuya crossing. When it turns green there for people to cross, it becomes an ant farm. People coming from everywhere fill the whole cross road. This was another experience I had to go of course, I needed to cross it anyway. But really, when it turns green, it's like there's people everywhere going in every direction. And in the end you always have to run because it's green for cars ;p.