Narita International Airport

The miserable rain that had plagued my last few days in Toyko was also present this morning when I went to the airport. It was just a little heavier than the previous few days. I had awoken very early (5am), got out of bed normally (6am), and got myself together to check out without incident (7:15am). The subway ride to the express train terminal was also smooth and problem free. But, when I got to the ticket counter, all tickets were sold out for my train (8am). Standing room only for the hour trip to the airport was the only option available. Well, there was first class at almost twice the price. Forget that. The regular train was expensive enough. I didn't mind standing as the ride was very smooth. I didn't even have to hold on to anything, nor lean against a wall. I just leaned on my suitcase pull handle in a cool looking sorta way and looked out the window for the entire trip. LOL

Everything at the airport went smoothly, too. I even had a bit of time to grab a quick bite before boarding (10:55am). I just had to have some of those wonderful soba noodles just one more time. The place at the airport was not as good as the diner I had been eating at, but it was not bad either. I'm glad I did have the noodles as the lunch on the plane was not good at all; a dry sandwich thingy that was very strange and tasteless. Oh, well.

It seems airports these days look more like high end shopping malls than an airport. Just wandering around Narita was like being in a mall. I guess the epitome of this concept is Heathrow Airport. I've not seen anything yet that comes even close to that one for "mallness". Maybe one day.

Anyways, I'm home and am doing home type things to get ready for work on Tuesday. Luckily Monday is a holiday here. WooHoo!

Thanks for following my latest adventures with me. I'll have some closing thoughts maybe by tomorrow. Or, in a few days otherwise.

My Last Day In Tokyo

For my last full day in Tokyo, I slept in, had fruit and juice for breakfast, read the paper, had lunch at my favorite diner and made two stops. But first, I had to go back to my hotel room and grab my down vest right after lunch. The temperature had dropped quite a bit overnight. I then went to the Imperial Palace and back again to Shinjuku to have a better look around the shopping and stores areas.

The first stop of the day was to the Imperial Palace. Most of the palace was closed off to the public other than the east gardens area. As the Emperor and his family live at the palace, this is understandable. The place is humungous! I have tried to give a sense of scale in some of the pix I shot. And, this public area is only about one fifth (one sixth?) of the whole thing as far I can make out. Inside this area, it was nice and quiet even though the traffic surrounding the palace was steady. I can only imagine that inside the main palace areas, you probably would not hear the cars at all especially behind the big stone walls.

The pix are of the surrounding streets and then of the publicly accessible parts of the palace itself. There is a fountain at one spot, too.

By the time I made it to Shinjuku, it was kind of colder and spitting rain at times. Some big drops began to fall once in a while, too. I have noticed that when it rains here, it's not torrential. You don't get soaked. It seems to be a steady miserable type of rain. Anyways, the area of Shinjuku where I explored had giant billboards and neon everywhere. Food seemed to me the most prominent advertisements. I was not in the mood to shoot pix in this kind of weather and there were fewer awnings to hide under than Ginza offered the day before. I just drank in the atmosphere instead. It was sensory overload throughout my entire time there. The people were everywhere and huge crowds of them to boot. Signs, billboards, music, talk, all blaring from loudspeakers. Sensory overload. It seems like a blur to me even as I write this.

My worst meal/snack of the trip was here, too. I was looking for a French style bakery, and they seem to be everywhere until you specifically look for one. Then, you can't find one! At least I couldn't find one when I needed it. So, I ended up eating a red bean bun and drinking a soy drink from 711 (yes, they are everywhere here). Mistake! Well, at least it picked up my low blood sugar enough for me to continue my journeys.

And, the last disappointment of the trip was getting back to the hotel only to find my favorite diner had closed for the day already (being a Saturday no doubt they close early). I LOVE the food at this place. It is so amazingly AWESOME. The soba noodles are heaven. I found a place that sold box meals and this food was actually pretty good, too. Not as good as the diner, but still quite good.

Well, that was the week. Too short and totally enjoyable. I'll summarize my thoughts on Japan another day when I have had some time to digest them. Suffice to say for now that I will come back again.

Ginza

The second stop of the day was to the Ginza shopping district. Strictly high end stuff all the way here only. From Channel, to Prada, to Henry Winston, to Tiffany and Co., to Mont Blanc, to Omega, to Rolex, to Bvlgari. You have to have money to shop here. It's where all the rich people shop. The rest of us just look!

Rain was now falling steadily although not heavily. I tried to shoot my pix from under cover of awnings and doorways and the like. It didn't matter if I got wet, but the camera would not like it, especially the lens. I missed some good photo ops because of the rain, but it was still alright. When you've seen one Omega sign, you've seen them all. LOL

By the time I was done here (about an hour-see the clock pix), it was rush hour time again. But, based on yesterday's experience, it was not too bad to travel in. It was crowded, but not excessively so. I made it back to Yodobashi Camera in the Akihabara district once again.

I looked for a wi-fi antenna again to no avail and also looked for some RAM. But, they did not carry the brand I was looking for. So, I bought a Canon EF 24-105mm f4 L IS zoom lens instead! I was l originally going to buy (maybe) the Canon EF-S 15-85mm f3.5-f5.6 IS zoom lens, but the build quality of the non-L series (read: consumer grade) lenses does not excite me. I like pro level quality in my lenses, both in terms of build quality and optical quality. So, now I have my kit complete with two f4 L series zooms. If you recall, my first L series zoom was bought when I went to Hong Kong; the Canon EF 70-200mm f4 L IS zoom. Both these lenses are rated at the top of the heap. And, from using them (well, the one so far) I can say that the rating is very well deserved.

And, so, that was my day. Kinda wet and kinda expensive! I'm done. Tomorrow is my last day here and I will take it easy. I've not yet decided where to go yet. We'll see in the morning.

Note: all pix from the Ginza district only. I was on a mission in Akihabara!