26 May, Friday
We have arrived in Tokyo after an 11 hour flight out of Auckland, left at 8.45am. Four movies (good movies but no time now for full reviews!) later we arrived at Narita around 4pm local time after flying in over rural land, rice plantings along the rivers and a couple of golf courses. Sitting on the left side of the plane the airport seemed to be in the middle of nowhere... but deceiving as all the (very) large terminal buildings were on the right.
A 650m walk to the baggage claim according to signage, no problem getting through immigration etc... the first taste of high efficiency in Japan. Our travel agent had arranged a driver to get us to our hotel, as we thought we would be too tired to navigate a new and strange train system... so nearly 2 hours drive later we arrived at the hotel after winding our way through suburbs as the driver presumably avoided snarled up main highways.
A very nice hotel, compact bedroom with ensuite. Went for a walk up/down what seems a main street nearby, not wanting to get lost we didn't venture far... a Friday night so seemed quite busy with people.
27 May, Saturday
After a mixed Eastern/Western breakfast at hotel we walked, same street as last night but continued on until we reached the parks of the Imperial Palace. Lots of locals walking dogs and/or just admiring the peacefulness of the gardens. Passed a gallery, which had queues of people awaiting opening and every 100m or so there would be a man in a suit directing people where to go... another taster of Japanese efficiency. Makes you wonder what the employment rate is in Japan, there seems to be a lot of people doing the jobs at hand.
The current Palace was built in 1888 on the grounds of the original Edo castle, which had been established in by the Tokugawa shogun empire (1603-1867) …. . The Edo buildings are largely gone but still very impressive stone moats and walls remain. As we walked through the park we encountered more and more foreign tourists. A large part of the Imperial Palace grounds, including the actual palace, is closed to the public due to the Japanese Emperor still remains in residence there... so unsure of what buildings or how elaborate they are within the residential area.
A wander down to the central Tokyo Station area, managed to get some cash out of ATM... another "new and scary" adventure ticked off the list :). Then walked on to Tokyo Tower, an observation structure built in 1958, very similar in style to the Eiffel Tower. Tourists, both foreign and domestic, everywhere!! Plus locals who had dressed up in bizarre costumes to get their photo's taken.
We did the touristy thing and went up to the top of the tower, through a series of floors and tiny lifts with a whole lot of people jammed in.... under the efficient control of multiple uniformed staff. Busy, busy.... but nice to see the expanse of Tokyo. Getting out of the complex was more of a mission, a squishy lift and then trying to find the exit through a maze of gift shops and cafe's. After all that a cuppa of tea at a nearby park tea house was in order...
Navigated the subway to return to our hotel, so another "new and scary" action ticked off the list :)
Saturday night seemed quite quiet in our area of Tokyo with most eateries closed by 9pm. A quick bowl of noodles filled the gap!
