Japan Day 1 – Shinjuku
April 6, 2009 by hispreciousprincess
Note to self: NEVER EVER again go drinking the night before a morning flight and when i haven’t packed. Separate note: never drink on an empty stomach.
So I had no idea what I managed to chuck into the suitcase and stumble into bed to get 4 hours sleep before the morning flight at 7.10am. Thankfully my sister’s initial D driving skills aint that bad and i was deposited to the airport on time and the flight out was super on time and I reached Gold Coast airport 20 mins early and saw my travel kakis walking down the stairs from their Melbourne-Gold Coast flight. WOOTS!!! here we go!!!
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The check in and everything was fine until we made the boo boo of walking into the departure hall immediately and were stuck there…for the next 3 hours.. without a news agency (no NW crossword puzzles!!!) or any shops.. other than the mini DFO and cafe (which was mini too). But we are pretty pro at entertaining ourselves and out came the Taboo and poker cards…
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Finally boarded the flight at 11am and off we went!!! for the next 9 hours… the iPhone (on flight mode without a doubt), PSP (Over the Fence) and Book (Change of Heart) were my best friends. Plus a guest appearance by Lonely Planet – Japan.
LUCKILY then.. i didn’t get much sleep the night before and had an empty seat beside me. Sorry ah Uncle beside me, let me ta-glamo a bit. No one looks glam on a 9 hour flight anyway.
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9 hours later, we arrived at Narita Airport and it struck me how similar to Singapore Changi Airport it is. except in Japanese of course. Everything was relatively quiet, clean and neat.
Luggage in hand, we then attempt our first challenge – getting from the airport to Tokyo City. Armed with instructions from Denny and all our travel pass info, we managed to get the NEX tickets for cars 1-6…fine. specifically car #2 (thanks Jo). and settled in for another hour’s train ride [are we ever going to get somewhere?] and started travelling with another good transport deal – the Suica card..
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Japan Guide:
By Japan Railways (JR):
The fastest option to get to Tokyo Station is the JR Narita Express (NEX), requiring roughly one hour for the one way journey. All seats are reserved. The one way fare between Narita Airport and Tokyo Station is about 2900 yen. There are departures every 30 to 60 minutes.
Suica is a prepaid card, that can be used instead of regular tickets on virtually all trains and buses in Greater Tokyo, including JR trains and subways.
With the NEX & Suica package, available for 3500 yen to foreign tourists only, you can travel by Narita Express from the airport to Tokyo and receive a Suica card worth 2000 yen (500 yen refundable deposit plus 1500 yen worth in train fares).
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![img_1615 img_1615](https://hispreciousprincess.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/img_1615.jpg?w=300&h=225)
This was also the start of not being contactable on our own mobiles for the rest of the week. A strange feeling that I couldn’t really get used to. You know how you feel like some massive part is missing when you accidently leave your phone at home for a day ? well, times that by 7 and you can imagine how I felt. Fine. i admit – i am my iPhone whore.
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then *drum roll please* we stumble off onto platform 6 at Shinjuku.. luggage and all… and am duly welcomed by Denny himself. TAA-DAAHHHH. hello to our local tour guide who is the only connected one. follow the leader or die.
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Japan Guide:
Handling more than two million passengers each day, Shinjuku Station is Japan’s busiest railway station, served by six railway companies and about a dozen railway and subway lines, including the JR Yamanote Line.
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Now, this is a superb concept that proved to be most useful! They had lockers at the major train stations.. and they are super utilised..not just by tourists but by the local themselves. Our fat ass suitcases (and we had just arrived!) fit into 2 huge lockers @ 500 yen each and off we went in search for some grub (from the east exit to the west exit..but basically it was follow the leader and try not to stare at all the pretty people around).
Went into a quaint little back lane which was filled with little eateries. Charcoal Yakitori here we come! the places were pretty packed despite it being a little late already but we managed to get a table upstairs and i didn’t realise how hungry i actually was until i smelled the Yakitori being cooked.. droolsome!
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Japan Guide:
Omoide Yokocho preserves the feeling of the 1950s, when the area was a black market and food stalls were abundant. This small alley is full of yakitori bars serving beer, sake and chicken. Great atmosphere and food. Opening times vary by vendor.
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The alley was clean and i half expected to see cockroaches scuttling around cos of the restaurants.. but nada!! nil!! not a single one seen!!! *chuckle* i love Japan already!
Ok, bring on the grilled skewers and Asahi beer!! Cheers!!!!!
what a smashing start to the trip, we trudged back to Shinjuku station and picked up our luggage and i had my first-hand experience of the massively confusing train system and connections. It took me a week to remember that we were on the Toei Oedo Line – Shin Egota (E34) station. It took me a day to remember that it was on the rose pink line. What a nice hue.
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Quick orientation of MST’s place and wash up. lights out. early start tomorrow. woots! can’t wait
Lonely Planet, popularly mispronounced as Planet Hollywood :p
For the gruelling 12 hours door to door from Melbourne to Narita, the 1 hour train ride on NEX to get us to Shinjuku requires the most patient! I think it’s because we were already tired and that train wasn’t the most comfortable or nicest smelling part of Japan. I remembered at the end of it, I was tired, hungry and feeling a little pukish. Thank God we manage to meet up with MST, and had a good welcome dinner 🙂
“It took me a week to remember that we were on the Toei Oedo Line – Shin Egota (E34) station. It took me a day to remember that it was on the rose pink line.”
Until today, we can never remember the difference between Shinjuku, Shimbashi and Shibuya 🙂 And, we can never remember which place is which …
Not to mention, we were all so excited about our first night in a ryokan style apartment that we were making so much noise. Shifu had to up play his authority to ‘shhooo’ us for a good part of the night. 🙂
Btw – I noticed for Day 1, majority are photos of me. Now, it seems like this is MY blog.