Day 16: Tokyo Bound

DID: Up and out early by train to Osaka Kansai airport. Realized that with the amount of time spent getting to the airport, checking-in/waiting for the flight, flying to Tokyo, waiting at baggage claim and train into Tokyo we could easily have gotten there quicker on the bullet train. But the flight was free on our circle asia pass and in fact we would have had to pay a penalty to skip this leg, so the choice was clear!



Flight was on StarFlyer which seems to be a local carrier for ANA. Really impressed with both the service and the plane itself. From small things like they put tops with straws on the cups for the kids, and provided a stroller both at check-in and at the arrival gate so that we could check ours with the rest of the luggage (and also didn’t have to worry about dismantling the stroller at the boarding gate while fumbling around with the passports/boarding passes/etc). An incredible amount of legroom in economy, which (as Jason noted) is even more impressive considering it’s an Asian carrier.



In awe of Tokyo from the sky. The Tokyo Sky Tree truly towers over the city – from the air it looks like triple the height at least of any other structure. City sprawls in high density as far as the eye can see. It’s only water that breaks up the concrete.



Took the Monorail/subway to the hotel. Ticket system the same as elsewhere in Japan so glad we were able to learn it before hitting the crowds of Tokyo.



After checking in we went out in search of lunch and a visit to the Ueno Zoo (about a 5 minute walk from the hotel). Missed last admission at the zoo by about 5 minutes so contented ourselves with a play in the playground just outside. Then had a walk around Ueno Park, notable was an ice sculpture exhibit, which had just ended. Sculptures were melted but ice-bases (about large suitcase size) remained and people were sitting on them/putting their feet & drinks on them to cool off.



Bit of shopping in Ueno area. It’s got a market in the alleys surrounding the train station that apparently are known to be one of the few parts of Tokyo that feel like the rest of Asia (ie crowded, loud, a bit smelly, all sorts of stuff being sold from housewares to fish). Also smells that were notably absent in the other Japanese cities we visited – urine and the homeless.



Ueno does have its fair share of neon but it is not nearly as chaotic or bright as imagined. Eager to see what the rest of our week will reveal.



ATE: Breakfast – stale pastries @ Osaka airport. Lunch – assembled picnic from small grocery store in Ueno station. Edamame, fried chicken, sushi, pineapple slices. Drinks in Marui Department Store at a top-level bar which had bed-like seating. (which of course meant that Rhys just wanted to jump on the bed and resulted in multiple spills of beer and ‘poppie water’ [Rhys’ name for sparkling water]). Luckily the other customers were amused by not made wet by Rhys’ antics (it was pretty much just me who left drenched). Dinner at very lively grill-your-own seafood place in Ueno. Seems like we found the Ueno equivalent of our restaurant street in Kyoto – lots of variety, hard to choose among them, all busy. Very different atmosphere than Kyoto though – there are big windows so you can actually see people inside, and seating is at tables (even some outside!) rather than in private rooms or at the bar. The atmosphere made up for any lack of food quality – our chef (Jason) did his best but most of the seafood was unfamiliar to him.



SLEPT: Mitsui Garden Hotel Ueno. Was hoping for a similar calming scent as in the MGH lobby in Kyoto – and indeed it did have a scent but not quite as nice. I cannot stress enough how clean it is. The whole place looked like they’ve been steam cleaning it every day since it opened in 2010 and we were the first visitors. If I could sponsor one of the housekeeping staff for a visa in Australia and hire them to take care of my home, I would.



Finally in a room which lives up to the hype as far as size of Japanese hotel rooms. Suitcases were stacked in a corner and with Gavin’s sleeping bag and Rhys’ portacot assembled, there was about ½ an inch to move around.