11/6/06 ~ Tokyo Day 1

Happy Birthday V!

On the Rio: Frank Zappa ~ Sy Borg

One of my favorite Frank Zappa quotes: "You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer." Japan qualifies.

I did not fly a Japanese Airline to Tokyo. I did make several observations on differences between the Chinese and Japanese. First, the Japanese are not all on cell phones every second. In fact, the pay phones are used quite extensively. And they are so colorful.
Another immediate observation was the prominance of military and security personnel, which I thought would be quite the opposite as China. Security at the airport was much more rigid (passports are checked even entering the airport grounds), I had my backpack checked at customs, sitting in the airport I was approached for a visa check. I never even see military or security officials in Shanghai, and although airport security is strict, I've never been asked for a customs or bag check.

The bus ride to the city from the airport takes over 90 minutes and costs $30. The train would have been less expensive, but I'm not sure quicker, and to get to my hotel would have taken 3 transfers. A taxi would have cost almost $200. Yes, Tokyo is probably one of the most expensive cities.

I stayed at the Westin Hotel in the Ebisu neighborhood. Although not a super touristy area, I was lucky enough to be only a block away from the Sapporo Beer Station, complete with a beer tasting room and restaurant. So this is where I spent my Friday night. I had an outdoor seat and was able to people watch.

Reportedly the Japanese are now surpassing the Germans in per capita consumption of beer. How can this be? Come on all you Germans! That's as bad as California taking away the Dairy State title. What's that about Cheeseheads?

Here are 2 of the beers I sampled:

A draft beer cost 800 yen (or about $7USD). I ate a marinate octupus and mushroom salad. It was quite tasty. It reminded me of squid salads I've eaten at Japanese restaurants in San Francisco.

For a city with a population of 11 million (Shanghai is 13 million) the streets are a lot less crowded (but the metro is more crowded) and the city is really clean, and people will queue. Recycling is big. Everyone dresses meticulously in designer suits and high fashion (no pajamas here!). Also, it is considered impolite to even blow your nose in public, quite contrary to the goober hacking and spitting on the streets here. But everyone smokes.

Luckily I read in the guidebook that the waitstaff does not come to take money, but you must go to a cashier to pay, otherwise I could have been waiting at my table all night. Here is a picture of some Japanese Yen.

I got back to the hotel, a little buzzed of course, and you would think the easiest thing in the world would be to use the toilet in your hotel room. Well, not so. The bathroom is quite high-tech and the toilet flushes as soon as you sit down, and then there all these dials on the side. It took me a while, but I managed.

Finally, I just put on my kimono and called it a day, as I needed to get up early for my tour to Mt. Fuji.