First day in Tokyo

I'm writing this on the train to Tokyo after a rather confusing train hiccup. The morning started off quite nicely with a buffet breakfast of both Japanese and Western style foods. We then caught the free shuttle bus back to the airport where we met a couple from Melbourne doing a similar trip to ourselves. Our next challenge was to get our rail passes validated, a simple enough task once you find the right counter. Thankfully PChii had taken care of everything and we got our rail passes and some tickets to catch the next train to Tokyo.. or at least we might have made it to Tokyo if we had caught the right train. We ended up at the other International Airport Terminal. Luckily we were the only baka gaijin (stupid foreigners) that caught the wrong train. We had our first experience with being talked at by Japanese cleaners on the train, telling us that this was the last stop and we had to get off. We found another ticket place and caught the train that we had planned on catching originally.

The undulating landscape is filled with tightly packed bamboo, small houses and fields that I can only assume are used for farming. As we get closer to Tokyo there are many huge high density housing buildings in the old outer suburbs.

Upon arriving at Tokyo station we changed trains and caught a train to Tamachi station, which is about a 5min walk from our apartment. The directions we were given were easy to follow and we meet up with a representative from Enplus (the business we're renting the apartment from). A quick tour of the apartment and a bunch of forms later we were in our new home for the next 3 weeks. The apartment is very modern and equipped with all the essentials like free internet, cable TV and an IP phone. The bathroom is bigger than I imagined but I'm still too tall for it (will post a pic later). The bed is comfy with a down blanket and pillows. The view from our window looks north to Tokyo where we can see the Tokyo Tower, which is only about 1km away.

We decided to go for a walk around the block, and got lost but found a great little place to have some katsudon for 550yen ($6AUD) each for a huge bowl. We found a map and made our way back to the apartment for a nap. We decided to take a trip into Akihabara for the evening to see the bright lights of Tokyo at night. I got my first taste of feeling like a sardine in a can on the train ride with so many people packed into each train car. It wasn't so bad, you just have to push your way through when you want to get off and apologise a lot.

Once at Akihabara we hadn't walked more than 20m outside the station when we saw a busker. Busker may not be the best term to describe her, but she was singing while playing the keyboard with a mini PA system and a bunch of CDs to sell. I'm regretting not taking a movie of her, but we did get a hand bill with her details on it so we can look her up when we get back. Turning our attention back to the main street, the first thing I could see was SEGA City, a 5 floor gaming maze filled with smoke and young people. I took a couple of photos till an attendant told me I wasn't allowed to. There was an arcade system that caught my eye that uses a card system you place on a table in front of you and move around to control your character or units. I saw a medieval army game using it, as well as a soccer game. But neither could quite compare to the horse racing game. 10 arcade consoles all setup in front of a huge screen that screens a race with the horse of the people at the arcades in front of it. If your horse isn't in the race, its in a field and you level it up by making it run around and eat grass.. what a great game! We also saw lots of Tekken 6 machines but no Street Fighter 4 machines :(

Softmap is a huge electronics store here in Japan. There were at least 3 in sight from the main intersection from the train station. I know a lot of things in Japan are meant to be expensive, but so far a lot of things haven't been, and the range is amazing. I found a tiny tripod for our cameras for 1100yen ($12AUD). The Softmap we went into had 7 floors, we didn't have enough time to check them all out but I intend on coming back. Next door to Softmap was the one and only McDonalds. I just had to try a McTeriyaki (sorry Stick-Arm-Neck), and it was a tasty bargain at 260yen ($2.85)! They also have a bunch of new side snack things for 100yen, I also had a chocolate pie, which was just a chocolate pastry triangle filled with chocolate - oishii! We caught the train home and I bought a warm Boss Coffee from a vending machine and had to make pop into the super market to buy some milk and cereal for breakfast. 1L of milk cost me 200yen ($2.10AUD) and a 410g box of All Bran was about 580yen! So it seems that western things in Japan are expensive.. imagine that.

Tomorrow we're heading up Mt. Haruna to the Hotel Tenbo (www.tenbo.com).