Middle of the Night in Tokyo

This is actually from Saturday, April 25th.

It is 2:00 am, and I am wide awake in my hotel room in Tokyo. I arrived yesterday at 2:00 pm and it was cold and rainy, not the 70 degrees and sunny that I was expecting. My flight was very nice. I was supposed to be coming with my boss, but he backed out at the last minute and I came alone. But, since he booked the flights in business class, I at least got to keep that benefit! I am now spoiled and won’t be able to enjoy flying coach ever again. The seats were recliner chairs (yes, just like Lazyboy), and I have never been so comfortable on a plane in my life. The 11 hours seemed more like 3 and the frequent and tasty meals kept me busy. So did watching The X-Files movie on the DVD player Roney let me bring, and then watching Revolutionary Road on the individual movie screen provided by United Airlines.

I was driven to the hotel by a nice young man by the name of Obi. He was dressed in a suit and driver’s cap and wore white gloves. He was very polite, and quiet, but I tried to engage him in a little bit of conversation, since the ride was about an hour long. Obi explained to me that the digital speed limit signs that said 80 normally said 100, when it wasn’t raining. He also pointed out Disneyland Japan and told me it was bigger and better than the one in Los Angeles. It was quite stunning looking from the outside. The first part of the ride was just like driving through Oregon, it was so green. And when we got closer to the city, it was interesting to see the office buildings that appeared to be surrounded by water, as if we were in Venice. I am going to find out if that was really what I was seeing or if my eyes were playing tricks on me. As we entered the city, the pavement on our side of the road (the left side) was painted orange, and I asked Obi why that was. He replied that it indicated an area where you are not supposed to stop, because it is a dangerous area. I still don’t know what he meant by that.

After I unpacked I decided to take a walk and see what I could find that would be interesting. It was still pouring rain and the very accommodating hotel personnel provided me with an umbrella for my travels. I saw a few temples on my walk, but since the hotel is not very near restaurants or stores, my shopping was limited to the corner store next to the university, where I browsed a variety of snacks and sundries, and purchased a plastic rain jacket, some potato chips, kaki-peas, Endo-Mame snacks and some safety pins (the zippers on my carry on keep coming unzipped, so I thought I would pin them together). The poor college student at the register did not speak English, and when he told me what the damages were, I couldn’t understand a word he said. I had mentally calculated an approximate total in my head, so I pulled out my four Japanese bills (two-1000 yen and two-10,000 yen) and showed him the 2-1000 yen bills and asked him if that was enough. He of course, did not understand a word I said, but took the two bills and gave me some change and then bowed and smiled.

(By the way, the mattress in the hotel room above me is bouncing and creaking furiously right now – somebody is having a nice night…)

Anyway, after my brief shopping excursion, I went back to my room, got dressed and went downstairs to the very elegant Japanese restaurant in my hotel, and had a nice Sushi dinner. It was interesting trying to get an opinion from the beautiful Japanese woman who served me about which Sushi meal she preferred, and which of the Japanese beers on the menu was a dark beer. We settled on the one that was described as “premium sushi scattered in a bowl” and I crossed my fingers that I had made the right choice. The Sushi and a huge bottle of Sapporo arrived shortly thereafter, and I proceeded to enjoy the lovely variety of fish and vegetables, some of which I recognized and some that I didn’t. The one that really stands out is the little green vegetable that was wound up like a garden hose and in the middle looked like a miniature caterpillar. Someday I will have to find out what that was.

After dinner, I headed back to my room with the heated toilet seat and remote controlled bidet, and tried to stay awake until about 9 pm so I could get on the proper time zone. As you can see, I was not very successful, as I woke up at 1:00 am, ready to go. I took that opportunity to give Roney a call on the cell phone that the woman from our Japan office nicely provided to me, and then decided to check email.

Later this morning I am meeting my old friend Jodi Harris and her two children and we are going to brunch. I worked with Jodi at the Paramount in Seattle, and then she moved to Japan (her husband is in the Navy and is stationed here). She has quite a day planned for us – in fact, this is the itinerary she sent me:

9:45am - meet in the Sheraton lobby, and travel by taxi to
10:00am - brunch at the New Sanno Hotel
11:40am - travel by subway to Asasuka
12:15 - 2:30pm - visit Sensoji Temple and peek at Naki-Sumo contest
2:40pm - Sumida River cruise to Hama-rikyu Gardens
3:15pm - Tour Hama-rikyu Gardens
4:00pm - Subway/train from Shio-dome to Harajuku
4:30pm - Visit Meiji Jingu (Temple), shop 100 yen store, and oriental bazaar, and have dinner at Kappa Sushi
7:00Ppm - take Yamamote Line train to Shinagawa station (approx. 15 minutes) and return to Sheraton Hotel via taxi.

Wow! I am sure I would not be this organized if she were visiting me.

Well, I think I will go back to bed now, and try to get some sleep. I hope I wake up at the appropriate time.