My new found love is the Heathrow Express. If you book it early enough (90 days in advance) the prices are very reasonable. Plus, it also means that you do not have to sit for what seems like eternity on the Piccadilly line to get to
Heathrow. We soon arrived at Terminal 5, which is like a shopping mall in its own rights. The usual trip to the perfume counter and new perfume, lipstick and and cream purchased (and that was just Andy!). It was time for a quick coffee and a sit down before a 15 hour plus sit down 35,000 feet in the air. As always, the place was so busy and I always sit and wonder where these people are going and why. So many people; so many places to visit.
The first flight to Frankfurt was just that; a flight to Frankfurt. All very nice and no issues. We then had to wait around 90 minutes for our flight to Japan. We
were flying with JAL (Japanese Airlines). Needless to say, we were a minority on the plane. It was all rather fascinating. Firstly the seat numbers A, C, D, E F an G the K and L. Also, before the plan took off and after the safety announcement, the crew stood by their seats and bowed. A very low bow. The rest of the flight was very much as per usual. However, I had ordered a vegetarian meal which turned out to vegan and they could not give me tub of ice cream as I was a vegetarian! I went off to explore the toilets on the plane. I have to say the toilets are something I have been look forward to looking at. I was not disappointed. You can press a few buttons and water is squirted right up your bum! It really is a strange feeling. You press the button and you really do not know when it is going to happen and when it does it makes you jump and in my case giggle. So that amused me greatly throughout the flight. Watched a couple of films (as you do) then as we were coming into land at Tokyo, I started to fall to sleep.
Obviously no time for that! Off the plane, into the toilet to check them out (not disappointed), through immigration, collected bags and then a stop at customs. The guy waved me to the desk and said 'together?' Me being me turned it into a huge relationship thing as in 'well no we are not together, but yes we have travelled together etc' I think I confused him so much he just waved us through. Found the train ticket off and punched our tickets to get us in to the heart of the city, on the train and boom go us!
The journey into the city took around 45 minute and the view outside of the window was not disappointing. Rice fields, beautiful typical Japanese looking houses and interesting people. We reached our destination and then had to find the tube train to the hotel. That was way enough and before you knew I we
were at our destination. Now the check in was an experience. Remember, I have had no sleep for 36 hours and we had to wait ages to check in. When we arrived at the desk I was greeted by a woman who instructed me to type everything on to a huge screen: my name, address, passport etc. I mean, really. That is all I wanted. I was just so tired. We got the keys to the room and we were off. As expected, the room was very small but most hotel rooms in Tokyo are. Small but compact; just like Andy and I. We were just so glad to have arrived. Quick shower and then we went out to explore.
We wandered down the road and round the corner and found a beautiful shrine
and temple and market. It was called Sensoji Temple and it was stunning. Just how I had imagined Japan to be. What also amazed me was how many women and men were in traditional dress, for no apparent reason, just walking around, minding their own business. So beautiful. By now we were tired and hungry. I did not think for one minute eating here would be a problem; it is.
We found a restaurant where there was a menu in English, however it was all meat (beef or pork) and seafood. No tofu. I was expecting tofu. Also, many of the menus have pictures but this does not really help you as the pictures really do not show what you are actually going to be eating. In the end I order a selection of raw fish (as you do), miso soup, rice and pickled vegetables. I had ordered a fish cake for starters with wasabi and was given raw fish and wasabi. It was all very lovely however, but not easy and not much choice. Don't get me wrong, I like fish but I think looking around this might become a bit of an issue.
Back to the hotel room and shower and I fell straight to sleep, only to wakeup again at 1.00am. Grrrr jet lag. The the bloody fire alarm went off. What is it
with me sharing a hotel room with Andy and bloody fire alarms going off. This is the second time it has happened. I made a cup of tea (green tea, had a cereal bar) and promptly fell back to sleep.
So my first thoughts of Japan:
Clean, spotlessly clean. It is very quiet, no planes, helicopters, sirens people talking. No one walking around talking on their phone or carrying a coffee cup. Very few people with headphones and certainly no shouting or screaming. Most of the men still have a thick head of hair. It is a very serene, organised and clean place, especially for a city. It is like being on a different planet: Planet Japan as I call it. There is a dichotomy between tradition and modernism. All very strange, but all rather lovely.
The first flight to Frankfurt was just that; a flight to Frankfurt. All very nice and no issues. We then had to wait around 90 minutes for our flight to Japan. We
Obviously no time for that! Off the plane, into the toilet to check them out (not disappointed), through immigration, collected bags and then a stop at customs. The guy waved me to the desk and said 'together?' Me being me turned it into a huge relationship thing as in 'well no we are not together, but yes we have travelled together etc' I think I confused him so much he just waved us through. Found the train ticket off and punched our tickets to get us in to the heart of the city, on the train and boom go us!
The journey into the city took around 45 minute and the view outside of the window was not disappointing. Rice fields, beautiful typical Japanese looking houses and interesting people. We reached our destination and then had to find the tube train to the hotel. That was way enough and before you knew I we
We wandered down the road and round the corner and found a beautiful shrine
We found a restaurant where there was a menu in English, however it was all meat (beef or pork) and seafood. No tofu. I was expecting tofu. Also, many of the menus have pictures but this does not really help you as the pictures really do not show what you are actually going to be eating. In the end I order a selection of raw fish (as you do), miso soup, rice and pickled vegetables. I had ordered a fish cake for starters with wasabi and was given raw fish and wasabi. It was all very lovely however, but not easy and not much choice. Don't get me wrong, I like fish but I think looking around this might become a bit of an issue.
Back to the hotel room and shower and I fell straight to sleep, only to wakeup again at 1.00am. Grrrr jet lag. The the bloody fire alarm went off. What is it
So my first thoughts of Japan:
Clean, spotlessly clean. It is very quiet, no planes, helicopters, sirens people talking. No one walking around talking on their phone or carrying a coffee cup. Very few people with headphones and certainly no shouting or screaming. Most of the men still have a thick head of hair. It is a very serene, organised and clean place, especially for a city. It is like being on a different planet: Planet Japan as I call it. There is a dichotomy between tradition and modernism. All very strange, but all rather lovely.
As always, with my love x
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