Off to Japan

My work is done here in Hong Kong, so I'm going to Japan for about 10 days for a little vacation. Arriving at Narita in the afternoon, I turned my Exchange Order into a JR Rail Pass and used it to take the Narita Express to get to Tokyo station. Hauling a laptop, small suitcase for clothes and a backpack, I sweated through the 31 degree heat in a terminal where more than a half dozen lines intersect. I walked for 10 minutes to hop on a Keiyo line train to Haribocho, then connect to the Hibiya subway line to get to my hotel, Toyoko-inn Nihon-bashi Ningyo-cho.

Right away, the differences with the Hong Kong MTR were apparent. All the stops are numbered and the maps tell you the travel time between stations. Even walking distances from one exit to another are given. Cell phones are discouraged in the train and there is not much English aside from the announcements and scrolling LEDs.

My room is tiny, like a dorm room, no closet or cupboards, but manages to pack quite a lot of things in. Remote control (all in Japanese) for the A/C (which has a swivelling head!), an empty fridge and a trouser press. Washrooms are very cramped, but it's one of those one-piece designs like cruise ships. They pipe in jazz (and not smooth jazz either, the genre is very popular in Japan) in the halls. Complimentary breakfast in the lobby is mochi (molded rice with flavourings), miso soup, tea, coffee and pickles. What I thought was a closet opens to reveal a little kitchenette where several women scurry to keep things moving along, washing dishes, refilling tureens, etc. I like this inn: there's a high-speed Internet jack in all the rooms, and web access and laundry on the ground floor.

I walked around the neighbourhood in search of dinner and eventually dropped into a tiny noodle shop where I used the point-and-pay method of ordering.