First Day - Sept 12!

Let’s start with me leaving San Francisco. The plane ride was horrible because the seats were tight (so is my budget) and I wasn’t able to find a good position to sleep the whole way while the Japanese couple sitting next to me were dozing off the whole way… I guess Japanese are really good at falling asleep on trains and planes?!?

Arrived around 2pm local time and I took the Narita Express to the Tokyo Station. I’m so exited to be here, but the excitement didn’t start till I got on to the Narita Express and saw the little 2-story houses and the farms along the way. It was like a picture or maybe an imaginary city. Everything was small and neat. The cars are all very small compared to America. Then you see the city with the 10-story houses and all. Still small and looks organized.

When I got to the Tokyo station I was supposed to transfer. I asked one of the guys in a uniform and then got on SOME line and ended up I don’t know where… the station was confusing, with me and my 50 pound roller bags and millions of people dashing by consistently. There were over 10 trains that I can possibly get on that I don’t know where and which one to get on, so I asked guy in a uniform at the station in Japanese and he answered me in Japanese which I had absolutely no clue in what he was saying. But then in some broken English he pointed me in the right direction.

When I finally got on, the trains don’t have a display to show you want station you’re at, the stations don’t have a clear sign at all, I don’t understand the Japanese broadcast in the train, and most importantly I didn’t know whether me and my huge suitcase got on the right train in the first place. Looking at the JR line map gives me a headache.

I just got off the next stop before I drift too far away and wandered around, looked in my Japanese learning book and somehow spit the words out to a passer by and asked him how to get to Kawasaki so I could transfer. I was lucky that I was actually on the right train and I only got off 1 stop early.

I hopped on the next train and got to Kawasaki where I had to run into the same confusing multiple transfer option problem. Again in my broken Japanese I asked someone which line I should transfer on. When I got onto the final train, I still wasn’t sure whether I was on the right one. I asked a nice OL next to me “Korewa Nambu Sen Deska?” (Literally: This-Nambu-Line-is?) and she confirmed that I was on the right train and said, “Hai!”. When I left I was going to thank her again, but she had already drifted off into her dream world…

I got to the station and had to lug my 50 pound suitcase along with my carryon bags up and down many staircases. People just walked by and starred. I waited a few minutes for my friend and we dropped off my things and immediately left to get a couple things and my hairdryer LOL. I can’t sleep with wet hair! Haha… It was already 6pm and I have been up since my 4 hour nap before I got onto the plane, but I was surprisingly energetic!

We took the train to Kawasaki because there was a shopping mall there and I saw one of my favorite stores Loft!! The have one in HK!! We left after a while and took the train back home to pick up his passport so I can get a phone. Keep in mind that I haven’t eaten at this point.

All along we were purchasing these one way tickets and then we decided that we would pick up a “Suica” card. This card is a stored value card and every time you enter the gate, you can hold it over the machine and it takes money off it. You can even leave it in your wallet and not have take it out. It works just like “Octopus” in HK where you can use it on all public transportation and stores and restaurants.

We then took a ½ hour train ride to Shibuya because the store there doesn’t close till 10pm and they had someone who could speak English there. When we arrived about 9pm the counters where they take new accounts were closed. But at least I was able to see ALL the COOL phones they had!!! They came in all different models and colors!

After that we took the train home and went to a restaurant nearby that opened till 1am. When we walked in we saw this vending machine like thing with pictures of food on it. And it looked like people select the meal they want and put money into the machine. However there was no food coming out of the machine. A ticket thing came out though. The waitress was seating a couple people ahead of us and as soon as it was our turn we asked her in sign language whether we were to sit down first or buy food first.

After a minute of confusion she asked us to sit down and showed us the menu. When we were ready to order, she brought us to that machine again and helped us out with our selection. You select what you want, put the money in, and a ticket comes out. You are supposed to then had that ticket to the waitress and when the food was ready, they would bring it to you. Apparently we were not the only ones confused as there were other locals that didn’t realize you buy your food at the machine and this made us feel better.

We went home afterwards as it was a very LLLOOONNNGGG day especially for me… It was overcast and drizzling the whole afternoon… people walk fast and everything is small, feels just like HK!