It didn't take long to figure out some key differences between Bangkok and Tokyo. First is the airports. While Narita airport (the closest international airport to Tokyo) is not the nicest or newest airport, it at least makes a mild amount of sense, which puts it head and shoulders above Bangkok. Considering all the hard sale techniques we encountered in Thailand, we were sort of under the impression that they like when we give them our money. That being the case, we were quite confused when we discovered that the duty free shops are ALL before the security check heading towards the gates, which means you can:t buy any liquor or perfume because it won't make it through security. Perhaps other airlines allow it to be delivered to the plane, but not United. It was bad enough that Adina lost her nail scissors to the guards (oops), we weren't about to buy some scotch only to lose that, too. The other part we couldn't figure out is why they have two security checks leading up to the gate, and why they are separated by a sterile bathroom free zone with far too few seats. First you go through the standard x-ray and metal detectors, then you wait for 50 minutes on an empty concourse for them to open the ramp to a second checkpoint where they actually empty your bag and check all the contents, then wand you (a bit too thoroughly). They did this for every passenger on the plane. I just don't get it.
Narita, on the other hand, was fast and efficient, just like everything else here. The lines moved quickly, our bags were coming out just as we got there, there were plenty of carts, and transportation to town was simple (though far from fast. You'd think they could build an airport less than 80 minutes away by train.) Our hotel is nice and conveniently located right in front of a train station on the same line as the airport. Sadly, the tracks were washed out today and we had to take a different company's line to a different place. The best contrast to Bangkok was when the woman by the ticket machines of the first company told us the train wasn't running, she sent us to the right place without trying to sell me a suit! I'd forgotten that that could happen sometimes.
One of my favorite things about Bangkok was their fast and clean metro system. But it doesn't compare to the well oiled machine that is the Tokyo Metro. For starters the service here goes everywhere, while in Bangkok they conveniently leave out the touristy areas so suckers like us are forced to take cabs or tuk-tuks. (Speaking of cabs, did you know that in some cities cabs don't honk at every pedestrian they pass by? Brilliant!) After getting off our train from the airport we had to connect to a subway line, which was very reminiscent of the 14th street transfer from the 2-3 to the F. Except replace the smell of urine, pirated CD hawkers, loud banging drummers, and the homeless guys and replace them with some potted plants.
Our hotel is exactly what we were told a Tokyo hotel would be, but that doesn't stop it from being amazing. It's both extremely cramped and luxuriously high tech, sort of giving the impression of a prison cell on a very fancy cruise ship. The TV is flat screen, the bed has a built in alarm clock and light switches for the whole room, and the toilet has a soothing seat warmer and refreshing bidet (calling to mind the age old question of which is worse - a dirty butt or a wet one?). It's a little sad to have a gecko free wall, but we're quite glad to be rid of the goddam mozzies.
Our neighborhood gets a bit deserted at night, as we discovered on our nightly quest for food we can eat. Unlike Bangkok, the people who know English here know it very well. But most people don:t, and almost none of the restaurants around here have English anywhere. We decided to play it safe and have 2 tuna maki rolls and a couple of pieces of salmon nigiri. Safe, but also more expensive than the fanciest meal we ate in all of Thailand. Good thing we still have more Oreos.
Tomorrow we start exploring the city. We'll try our best to fit in, but since we pretty much still just have our Thailand clothes, I don' know how well that is going to work out in this uber trendy town. We plan to go to the big neighborhoods and be wowed by how busy it is, all the while making sure to appreciate how incredibly high tech every little detail is. Like the wireless pdf ordering system the sushi place had. The waitress pressed a couple of buttons on her handheld pad and before she even left the table the grey haired sushi-chef that I'm pretty sure I heard call me Daniel-son had started rolling our tuna. Hopefully we'll manage to take in a national sporting event. There are no sumo tournaments this month, so we're planning on catching their other big ticket here. It's this funny version of cricket I'm pretty sure they call baseball. These countries come up with the darndest ideas. Our first attempts to buy tickets online were thwarted by a lack of an English website, but I'm sure if we just show up at the stadium it'll all work out. There are also a couple of big Buddhist temples in town, which will be a nice new experience for us. Maybe tomorrow night we'll go to the entertainment district and check out some empty orchestras. I hear they are hauntingly beautiful.
Our schedule is filling up fast, we'll be sure to let you know how it all goes.
By the way, is anybody in NY free around noon on Thursday? Dov?
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