I still get nervous before large trips, it’s the weirdest thing, but I can’t help it. I spent this past weekend getting ready to head to Tokyo, Japan, and really procrastinated for reasons I can’t explain. By the time Tuesday rolled around, and it was time to head to the airport, I could feel the nervousness in my stomach. I’d packed the night before, everything was ready (well, except the content I’m going to deliver for training at work, but more on that later), I was just nervous for the trip.
Maybe it was that this was my first solo trip to Tokyo. On the last trip, my boss was here with me, and he handled most of the coordination, got us a taxi from the airport to the hotel, and generally ensured everything was set up and moving. This trip, all those responsibilities were mine and not speaking the local language or comprehending local typeface can be somewhat intimidating. There are only a few times in my life I’ve been in this position, and for all my travels it can still feel a bit harrowing. It gnawed at me all weekend, eased a bit by Monday afternoon, and I almost felt like I had resigned myself to the trip by Tuesday morning. I’m a world-class traveler, dang it! This isn’t my first rodeo, I told myself. I looked online, found the bus I thought I should take, booked a ticket about the time I thought I’d clear customs, and headed out to the airport.
The flight was, for the most part, pleasant. This trip, given all the travel this year, (and a few of my own dollars) would be First Class, and the nearly lay-flat seats in United Polaris Business made for a quick twelve hours of flight time. I wasn’t comfortable (I’m still too tall for the seat), but I wasn’t uncomfortable, and I even slept a bit. I typically try to ensure if I do sleep that I do so on the local time zone where I’m landing, unfortunately with Japan I failed at this entirely and mostly slept in Mountain Time hours.
I landed feeling a little worn out, and left the airplane following the line of people toward immigration and customs.
One thing I love about airports, and honestly something I would try to point out to anyone who travels the world, is that signage is universal even when it’s not in your local language. It’s one of the best global achievements for travelers and something for which I can’t thank airports enough.
Looking for immigration? Just follow the signs. The colors may change but it’s always the guy in the hat: http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/broadbent/pages/6885/meta_images/original/Immigration_sign_thumb.jpeg?1509992190
The same is true for Customs, just look for the man in a hat rummaging through your suitcase: https://www.sflworldwide.com/images/custom-duty-custom.jpg
Planning to make a connection? You won’t get lost if you follow the right path, and yes there’s a sign for that: http://gaijingojapan.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/internationsl-connecting-flights.jpg
Headed to the baggage claim? Just follow the sign that looks like a suitcase. Taxis and busses? Follow the signs: https://us.123rf.com/450wm/nazdravie/nazdravie1705/nazdravie170500248/77825444-airport-baggage-claim-and-ground-transportation-sign-with-suitcase-bus-and-taxi-symbols-sign-is-blue.jpg?ver=6
If you’re a worried traveler, let me put your mind at ease. I can personally attest that these signs are universally the same (well, mostly. They vary slightly but they’re recognizable) in America, Germany, Argentina, Italy, England, Ireland, Japan, India, Spain, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Globally, we’ve made it easy to be a traveler in the airport.
Coming back to my day though, my love of signs aside, I followed my fellow travelers (and the signs) and was surprised when both customs and immigration were a speedy blur. I had been hopeful to clear these stations in an hour or two, and instead I cleared them in a period of fifteen minutes. I was now very early for my bus, it was shortly before 5:00 PM and I had planned on taking a bus at 7:30 PM. I’d need to see if I could move up the bus trip. My hotel was around 90 minutes from the airport, so if I was lucky I might just make some Halloween fun (I had planned the flight in for this! Halloween in Tokyo!). I made it to Arrivals having booked the bus ticket in Terminal 1 “North”, and realized I was in Terminal 1 “South”. On the maps I’d looked at on the plane and online, the North and South parts of the terminal seemed close together, and a brief step outside had me walking from one to the other. I found the bus ticket terminal, showed them my phone (and the time), pointing to the next bus to “Akasaka” (the region in which I am staying), and then showed them the reservation. The attendant nodded vigorously and pointed out to the bus stops outside.
Back outside, I got in line at Bus Stop #2, delighted to see both Akasaka, and “Intercontinental ANA Tokyo” on the bus sign, and awaited the next bus. An attendant came around, looked at my suitcase, and my reservation information on my phone, before pushing my luggage back slightly just as a bus came. This was obviously not the right bus, I told myself, but it did stop at the right stop. I pointed to the bus, “Akasaka?” I asked him, and the attendant looked at me, shook his head “no”, and went about his business. It must be the next bus, then, I figured, and sure enough the next one at the stop flashed the name of the region briefly and the attendant came around again to tag my luggage and let me on the bus. Traffic wasn’t ideal, and about an hour and a half later I had made it to the hotel. I checked in speaking English, feeling ragged, and asked if there was a good restaurant for a bowl of ramen in the hotel complex (it’s truly a complex, something like fifteen restaurants are in this hotel). On the bus, we’d passed a 24-hour ramen shop about a half-mile away from the hotel and I wanted something hearty. One thing I had forgotten, though, was that the hotel is considered an upscale, luxury hotel… and ramen is something you’ll typically find for the “working class”. The check-in agent was polite, but said something that almost made me laugh:
“Sir, if you’re looking for street food… you might want to take to the street to find it.”
I dropped off my luggage in the room, took the elevator to the lobby, and did just that.
I did make it over to the train station (where I’d read online there was a vampire party/bar on Halloween) near the ramen shop, but the shop had a line out the door and the bar wanted to charge me a cover but wouldn’t take the denominations I had picked up at the airport (Denver only offers larger bills of Yen, too big for the bouncer at a bar). I headed back to the hotel feeling a bit defeated, but did get to see a few people in costume with fangs and blood. It was nowhere near the volume of people I expected. I ran into another hotel agent in the elevator on the way to my room, and I asked him about the Halloween crowds. “They will get bigger in the morning”, he told me, “around 1:00 AM.” Already having decided to skip dinner and think about going straight to bed, there was no way I was going to make it to early the next morning. I thanked him, headed to my room and tucked in the for the night. Maybe next year.
I got out of bed the next morning having only slept a few hours and tossing all night. I didn’t feel well, my stomach felt angry, but it was time to try getting on a regular schedule. I headed down to breakfast, and it’s the same fare a last year which for me is an exciting thing. They have dumplings! For breakfast! I grabbed dumplings, some bacon, and settled down to enjoy my first trip to the buffet. I opened my latest e-book (I finished “Endurance”, the telling of an ill-fated Shackleton expedition, on the way here) and read some while I ate absentmindedly. The next trip to the buffet was more dumplings, and as I meandered around the buffet to the fresh fruit counter I couldn’t believe my eyes when they fell upon a whole basket of lychee! Fresh lychee, probably the freshest I have ever enjoyed! I grabbed a few, okay maybe six, and made my way back to the table to eat them.
Dumplings and lychee for breakfast! (and some potatoes)
If you’ve never had lychee, they’re a bit weird because the outer peel is like what you would find on something industrial. To eat the fruit, you must peel away what feels like a rough layer of near-plastic (I promise, it’s not) and avoid the seed inside it. I’d eat them all the time if I could but finding them in the US is hard unless you frequent Asian markets and only when they are in season. Lychee isn’t quite as elusive as passion fruit (my favorite fruit), but it’s close and this was quite a treat. There are some good pictures on Wikipedia showing the outer-skin, fruit, and seed.
I left the hotel again, remembering that if I turned left there is a Starbucks just up the road, and enjoyed a mocha while heading back to the room. Today I had to finish a PowerPoint presentation for the training I am giving tomorrow. I worked hard to put the finishing touches on bits of information from here and there, and by lunchtime I was mostly satisfied with it. I was also, however, beginning to feel tired.
I headed to “The Steakhouse”, hoping that some protein might calm my stomach which was by now not feeling great (probably from all the lychee), and really enjoyed a steak with mashed potatoes. If I couldn’t get out to see Tokyo today, at least I could eat some good food! I headed back to the room, worked on the PowerPoint some more, and realized I was never going to make it without some sleep. I finally gave up at 3:30 PM and set the alarm for one hour. I was asleep almost instantly and didn’t wake until the alarm was blaring in my ear. I woke up, finished the PowerPoint, and now it’s nearly bedtime.
I’m considering dinner, but my stomach is still a bit upset with me and I have a feeling it’s more the travel and sleep schedule than anything specific I’ve eaten. I’m looking forward to a more structured day of work tomorrow, and have a tour booked on Saturday that I am extremely excited for with my own guide for the day! We’re going to tour around Tokyo and I’ll try to talk her into some delicious ramen for lunch. I want something local, and delicious. I’ll let you know how it all pans out!
