Itinerary:
· SeaTac – Narita airport
· Nishi-Shinjuku
· Shinjuku Kabukicho
· SeaTac – Narita airport
· Nishi-Shinjuku
· Shinjuku Kabukicho
What day was it? July 15 or 16?
Taking United 0876 from Sea-Tac to Narita. The flight was pretty uneventful. I was a bit worry about the mother/infant across the aisle at first, but the baby was pretty calm the whole 10 hours. I haven’t flown coach on international flights in recent years, and I was shocked to find how limited the space on the United! Comparing to Singapore, Eva, and Hawaii Air, United is way on the bottom of my list for coach seats/service. I guess I will pay more next time.
Going through Narita custom was a breeze. The new thing about Japan custom is the photo and finger print gathering. It took place when the officer issuing the visa. I tried to smile for the camera, but the officer was not encouraging. Since I had to wait for my friend Sanjay who arrived ~60 minutes later, I was in no hurry. 30 minutes later I was in the airport lobby looking for the restroom.
Things to do in the airport: Get cash, exchange Japan Rail (JR) voucher to pass, and reserve seat for JR Narita Express (NEX).
There are two Currency Exchange offices and multiple ATM machines in Narita Terminal 1. One Currency Exchange office and two ATM machines at each South and North wing. After Sanjay arrived, we went downstairs to find the JR office. There was no line when we arrived, and it took very little time to reserve seats for NEX train to Tokyo and Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto next morning. The officer spoke enough English and was very helpful. Since we were going to Nishi-Sinjuku, we would have to change from NEX to train/subway anyway. He recommended us to take the next train to Tokyo instead of waiting for the train to Shinjuku. I am not sure it was a good idea because 6:00 PM isn’t the most ideal time to be lost and confused in the Tokyo station.
Getting to Shinjuku from Tokyo station is not difficult. We took the JR Yamanote Line, it took roughly 20 minutes. Then we decided to walk to Hotel Rose Garden in Nishi-Shinjuku. It took less than 10 minutes to find the hotel. The hotel room is quite small by American standard, but it is comfortable and adequate for short stay.
We left the hotel to get dinner around 7:00, and we headed for Shinjuku Kabukicho. It was less than 10 minutes walk from the hotel. There were hundreds of restaurants, shops, and god-knows what. I’ve been there after mid-night on a different trip, and the place looked pretty tame in the early evening. We were both tired and hungry, so we picked the first less crowded restaurant. The first dinner in Japan was pretty uneventful. We ordered sashimi and grill goods. The wait staff tried to explain the stuff on the skew, but I’d rather not know. Since we did not really like one kind of fish in the sashimi platter, we ordered something from the Fried goods menu called Dynamite Explosion. The presentation was definitely an A, but the taste was “D”. It was a whole boiled egg wrapped in flavorless mashed potatoes before it was deep-fried. The egg was still semi frozen, and the mashed potatoes was awful even the ketchup could not help.
Going through Narita custom was a breeze. The new thing about Japan custom is the photo and finger print gathering. It took place when the officer issuing the visa. I tried to smile for the camera, but the officer was not encouraging. Since I had to wait for my friend Sanjay who arrived ~60 minutes later, I was in no hurry. 30 minutes later I was in the airport lobby looking for the restroom.
Things to do in the airport: Get cash, exchange Japan Rail (JR) voucher to pass, and reserve seat for JR Narita Express (NEX).
There are two Currency Exchange offices and multiple ATM machines in Narita Terminal 1. One Currency Exchange office and two ATM machines at each South and North wing. After Sanjay arrived, we went downstairs to find the JR office. There was no line when we arrived, and it took very little time to reserve seats for NEX train to Tokyo and Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto next morning. The officer spoke enough English and was very helpful. Since we were going to Nishi-Sinjuku, we would have to change from NEX to train/subway anyway. He recommended us to take the next train to Tokyo instead of waiting for the train to Shinjuku. I am not sure it was a good idea because 6:00 PM isn’t the most ideal time to be lost and confused in the Tokyo station.
Getting to Shinjuku from Tokyo station is not difficult. We took the JR Yamanote Line, it took roughly 20 minutes. Then we decided to walk to Hotel Rose Garden in Nishi-Shinjuku. It took less than 10 minutes to find the hotel. The hotel room is quite small by American standard, but it is comfortable and adequate for short stay.We left the hotel to get dinner around 7:00, and we headed for Shinjuku Kabukicho. It was less than 10 minutes walk from the hotel. There were hundreds of restaurants, shops, and god-knows what. I’ve been there after mid-night on a different trip, and the place looked pretty tame in the early evening. We were both tired and hungry, so we picked the first less crowded restaurant. The first dinner in Japan was pretty uneventful. We ordered sashimi and grill goods. The wait staff tried to explain the stuff on the skew, but I’d rather not know. Since we did not really like one kind of fish in the sashimi platter, we ordered something from the Fried goods menu called Dynamite Explosion. The presentation was definitely an A, but the taste was “D”. It was a whole boiled egg wrapped in flavorless mashed potatoes before it was deep-fried. The egg was still semi frozen, and the mashed potatoes was awful even the ketchup could not help.
The only R-rated thing I saw in this famous Red Light District was in the restaurant. Toward the end of dinner there was only one other couple sitting two tables away from us. Sanjay could not see them, but I could. They had to have many drinks at that point, because the lady seemed a bit flirtatious and the man was clearly enjoying it. And I saw the lady’s half exposed breast. They lady kept talking and waving her arm like that for a while. Both of them had to be quite intoxicated because neither of them noticed the wardrobe malfunction. I tried not to laugh and not to stare. By the time I could stop giggling and tell Sanjay what happened, the lady went to the bathroom and re-adjust herself. We left quickly at that point to avoid embarrassing the couple further.
First night in Japan, sleepless. Before I hit the pillow, I had been awake for 20 hours. Yet, I was tossing and turning all night. Got up and started reading at 4:00 AM. I hope to catch a little sleep on the train to Kyoto in the morning.
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