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Old 26 May 17, 02:44 PM  
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hornetgirl
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Tokyo Travels - Day 2

Day two

When we left Heathrow it was Wednesday morning. Thanks to the near 12 hour flight and the eight hour time difference, by the time we landed at Haneda it was already Thursday morning and so officially day two. We had been given a customs declaration to complete on the plane and once we got into the immigration hall it was clear that we also needed to fill in disembarkation cards. There were plenty of these available and we filled them in whilst we were in the queue. The information required was very basic and it didn't take long at all.



Although it was busy there were plenty of staff and we were soon through. Our bags had already appeared and our adventure was underway.
The first task was to pick up the wifi device we had rented from Klook before leaving home. According to our paperwork we couldn't pick it up until 8.30am and it was only just 8 o’clock. We needed that full half hour to figure out where the pick up counter was. There were two shops offering similar devices but we were met with shrugs when we showed them the paperwork. After scouring the arrivals area with no success we asked at an information desk, only to discover that it was also the Klook desk. The helpful young lady gave us a quick demonstration and made sure that we were able to connect our phones to the device.

Next job was to get some tickets for the Limousine bus that would take us to our hotel. We were able to buy these from a machine in the arrivals area. The process was very straightforward as there was an option to set the screen to display in English. We then simply selected our hotel, the Tokyo Hilton Shinjuku, from those displayed, inserted our Clarity card (cash could also be used) and out popped our tickets. The screen also told us which floor and which bus stop number we needed and we found it without difficulty. The cost for two tickets was 2460 yen, less than £20. At the bus stop our tickets were checked by a white-gloved staff member, our bags were tagged and we were shown where to wait in line on the edge of the pavement, alongside another couple. The bus arrived right on time. It made two other stops within the airport and we were amused to see that both times the people queuing for it bowed to it when it arrived.

Including stops at the other terminals, the journey to our hotel took around an hour. There wasn't a great deal to see as a lot of the time we were in a tunnel and for much of the rest of the time we were surrounded by tall office buildings. It was only just 10am when we reached the hotel and check in wasn't until 2pm so the plan was to see if we could leave our luggage until later. However, the desk clerk said that although our room wasn't ready yet, he could give us a different one which we could have now. It was on the 20th floor, which sounded promising, so we accepted.

This was our room



And this was our view!



Mt Fuji only appeared periodically. Another day, another time and we might never even have known it was visible from our room.
The lure of the bed was irresistible and I had a “quick nap” for about four hours. Sean spent a while playing with the boy toy that our room was equipped with, the Toto toilet, before joining me for a rest.




Suitably refreshed, we headed out to begin exploring Tokyo. There was a little park near our hotel, so we had a walk round that first. It was a lovely sunny afternoon and plenty of other people were out too. The rules were clearly displayed



Next up was the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices building, which has a free 202m high observation deck. It took us a while to find our way in as the entrance wasn't very clearly marked. A young Japanese lady who spoke excellent English was having similar difficulties. She asked a couple of passers by and eventually we were pointed in the right direction.

Mt Fuji was no longer visible, but we could see for miles.





As well as panoramic views, there was also a gift shop and a small restaurant.

Once back on terra firma we were in need of refreshment, so took the easy option and went to a nearby Starbucks. It was tiny and we had no chance of a seat. Knowing it is considered rude to eat and drink in the street and not wishing to offend, we headed back to the park and sat down to consume our drinks. Had we not found the Starbucks, there were also drinks available from a vending machine in the park.



These machines were all over the place and as well as accepting cash, at most of them you could pay using your Suica or Pasmo card (train ticket, a bit like an Oyster card)

By now we were also starting to feel quite hungry. After a quick tidy up we took the hotel’s free shuttle bus to nearby Shinjuku station, figuring that as this was enormous there was bound to be somewhere we could get something to eat. We opted for a journeyman’s café.



You ordered and paid at a machine outside, then collected a ticket and took it to the counter inside. The food was delivered really quickly and was delicious. It was also excellent value.



I had soy simmered beef and Sean had chicken tempura. Both meals were "sets" which meant they came with the main dish, plus rice, a bowl of miso soup and pickles, wasabi etc. Drinks were on top.




We then headed back to the Government Building as it is open until 10pm, to see what the views were like at night. Unfortunately the glare from the glass made it difficult to get good photos.



We also remembered to bring along a little notebook with us. We'd seen on the recent Joanna Lumley series about Japan that most tourist attractions have stamps you can collect as souvenirs of your travels, so page one of the book was duly stamped.



Feeling pretty sleepy by now, we walked back to the hotel and fell into bed after a long and tiring day.
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Old 26 May 17, 06:11 PM  
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kevin_cambs_uk
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Fantastic!
You got a stamp in the book!
We will be looking out for these on our second trip later this year

Can't wait for more!
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Old 26 May 17, 06:39 PM  
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Great trip, my work guys do this exact trip regularly so may have been some of your fellow first class passengers and also at the Hilton Shinjuku lol
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Old 26 May 17, 08:04 PM  
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Goldia
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Wow a disappearing and reappearing Mt Fuji. What a great day, and that toilet looks way too complicated
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Old 26 May 17, 09:00 PM  
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hornetgirl
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Originally Posted by kevin_cambs_uk View Post
Fantastic!
You got a stamp in the book!
We will be looking out for these on our second trip later this year

Can't wait for more!
You could get the stamps pretty much everywhere we went. We thought they were a great souvenir.
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Old 26 May 17, 09:02 PM  
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Originally Posted by Clare View Post
Great trip, my work guys do this exact trip regularly so may have been some of your fellow first class passengers and also at the Hilton Shinjuku lol
Wow, how funny would that be
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Old 26 May 17, 09:03 PM  
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Originally Posted by Goldia View Post
Wow a disappearing and reappearing Mt Fuji. What a great day, and that toilet looks way too complicated
Men love these things though. Even the public toilets in a lot of the places we visited had a control panel of some sort
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Old 26 May 17, 09:06 PM  
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Originally Posted by kevin_cambs_uk View Post
Fantastic!
You got a stamp in the book!
We will be looking out for these on our second trip later this year

Can't wait for more!
we got one from Matsumoto castle last month, glad I carry my notebook everywhere!
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Old 29 May 17, 05:23 PM  
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Great start, thanks for sharing
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Old 31 May 17, 02:57 PM  
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Excited to read more as currently got a Tokyo trip in the planning
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