November 29
Air Asia FD3022 – Phuket to Bangkok Don Mueang Airport – 422 miles – 1
hour
Air Asia XJ600 – Bangkok to Tokyo Narita Airport – 2,855 miles – 5
hours
It was a very chaotic scene when
we arrived at Phuket International Airport.
Two Air Asia agents struggled to handle the check-in of dozens of
Chinese travelers who obviously understood neither the Thai nor the English
language signage directing them either to the baggage drop or to the assisted
check-in counter. We had checked in at
the computer kiosk and only wanted to drop off our bags. Once we realized that most of the travelers
at baggage drop did not belong there, we headed over to the shorter assisted
check-in line, only to find that the European travelers ahead of us were
balking at paying an excess baggage fee!
We watched in dismay as the minutes ticked by. Another baggage drop counter opened up. Do we change lines again?? Over an hour passed before a stressed agent
arrived on the scene to expedite the passengers for our flight through this disorganized
check-in procedure. We just made the
last boarding call for our flight!
When we arrived at Don Mueang,
the Air Asia check-in counters had not yet opened. We joined the snaking line of weary travelers
and from our vantage point we could not even see the ticket counter! Ah, the joys of airline travel! Eventually we completed the check-in process,
grabbed a bite to eat and a glass of wine in the nearly deserted airport, and
boarded our midnight flight to Tokyo.
At 7:30AM local time we landed at
Narita Airport. Tired from too little
sleep, hungry because this was a no-frills flight without regular food service,
intimidated because we spoke no Japanese, but excited about this new adventure,
we found an airport coffee shop and then boldly headed to the train platform to
catch the Narita Express. Within 53
minutes, this comfortable high-speed train deposited us at Tokyo Station. From there, it was just a short walk to the
Courtyard Marriott on Kyobashi, our home base for the next few days. Even though the official check-in time was
not until 3PM, the kindly desk clerk took pity on us and found us an available
room at 10:30AM. Time now for a Power
Nap!
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| Marunouchi side of Tokyo Station |
Three hours later we were feeling
rather refreshed and eager to explore the Ginza area of Tokyo. Ginza (literally
‘Silver Mint’) is Tokyo’s most famous upscale shopping district located on the
most expensive real estate in Japan. The
Ginza Shopping Street, Chou Dori, is lined with high-end brand stores – Chanel,
Gucci, Bulgari, Mikimoto, Rolex – and the huge Japanese department stores –
Matsuya Ginza and Ginza Mitsukoshi. On
Saturday and Sunday, Chou Dori becomes ‘Pedestrian Paradise’ as throngs of
strolling shoppers replace vehicle traffic from noon to 5PM. This Sunday there was a festive atmosphere on
Chou Dori – brightly decorated store windows, Christmas trees and crowds of
holiday shoppers. (Yes, Christmas is a
big celebration in Japan even though a mere 1% of the population is considered
Christian.)
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| Temple atop Matsuya Ginza |
We ventured into Matsuya Ginza,
taking the escalator up to the 9th floor rooftop terrace complete
with a small temple and a golf school and then back down to the basement where
the ‘Gift Foods Salon’ was a sight to behold.
Here the breads, macaroons, chocolates and Japanese confectionaries are
displayed like fine jewelry in sparkling glass cases with smiling well-dressed
clerks at the ready to wrap your purchases for impressive gifting. Down one more level, the ‘Food Stage’ is an
ultra-fancy grocery store with the freshest, most beautiful produce I ever
saw. After perusing two floors of
culinary delights, I realized how hungry I was and, I am embarrassed to admit
this, we found an Italian trattoria where we snagged a quick pizza to tide us
over until dinner time. In our defense,
we were tired and not feeling up to the task of deciphering a Japanese food
menu!
As dusk approached the holiday
lights were illuminated. The beautiful
Mikimoto Christmas tree attracted a crowd of locals and tourists with cameras
at the ready. By far the most impressive
light display was the massive studded necklace wrapping around the corner of
the Bulgari building.
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| Mikimoto Christmas Tree |
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| Bulgari at night |
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| Bulgari by day |
Attracted by the lights of
Sotobori Dori, we veered off the Ginza Shopping Street and found the revolving
Ginza Sky Lounge on the fourteenth floor of Tokyo Kaikan. We admired the great view over the Ginza
shopping district decked out in its holiday finery while feasting on
appetizers, salads and wine.
Traditional Japanese dining would have to wait ‘til another day. . .
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| Dusk in Ginza |
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| Wako Clock Tower at Ginza Yonchome Intersection Chuo Dori and Harumi Dori |
The Shinjuku area of Tokyo, known
as the skyscraper district, is home to some of Tokyo’s tallest buildings. One of these is the twin-towered Tokyo
Metropolitan Government Building, a popular tourist site because it offers
wonderful panoramic views of the city from its observation decks on the 45th
floors and admission is free of charge.
On a clear day rumor has it that you can see Mount Fuji. But not this day. The clouds were thick and a light misty rain
was falling.
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| A view of Tokyo from Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building |
We headed out to find the
Hanazono Shrine. For over 400 hundred
years this Shintu shrine has been the guardian deity of Shinjuku. Praying here is believed to bring prosperity
in business.
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| Hanazono Shrine in Shinjuku |
Making our way down Meiji Dori,
we passed the Isetan Department Store, a trendy store with a fashion museum
theme.
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| Store window of Isetan Department Store |
Rain, heavy at times, was falling
so we decided to cut our sightseeing jaunt short and returned to Shinjuku
Station. Close to 3.6 million people
pass through this station every day, making it the world’s busiest railway
transportation station. It has 36 platforms, an underground arcade, and a
confusing maze of corridors to navigate.
It took the undivided attention of both of us to get out of the station
and now we had to get back in. Our first
challenge - decoding the ticket machine.
At first (and second and third) glance it appeared to be solely in
Japanese and we were clueless as to how ‘Tokyo Station’ would look written in
Japanese. A young American happened by
and pointed out that the ‘English’ button was cleverly tucked away in the upper
right hand corner of the screen. We
found ‘Tokyo Station’, inserted some yen and grabbed our tiny tickets. We were now free to enter Shinjuku Station
and wander its cavernous corridors in search of the train back to Tokyo
Station. We found it and were back at our hotel just as
the rain came pouring down.
I should mention that we found
the train system in Tokyo to be modern, clean, safe and punctual. While the trains were certainly crowded, the
commuters were extremely polite and the train cars were remarkably quiet. Announcements were made in both Japanese and
English not only alerting passengers to the upcoming stops but also reminding
everyone that cell phones were not to be used on the train.
After a rather disappointing Japanese
style business lunch, we were up for the challenge of having a unique Japanese
dining experience. On the recommendation
of an American tourist we met on the Simba boat tour in Phuket, we set out to
experience Shabu-Shabu, a traditional Japanese dish consisting of paper thin
slices of beef and raw vegetables that you cook yourself at your table in an
elaborate boiling pot. We chose the
Zakuro Restaurant in Ginza. The lesson
in chopstick use that Nancy gave while in Phuket came in handy as we grabbed
our meat and veggies for dipping from the pot to the two sauces (ponzu, a soy
type sauce and gomadare, a sesame sauce with garlic) to our mouths. Fortunately, we were draped in aprons! After the meat and veggies were consumed,
the wait staff cooked noodles in the Shabu-Shabu broth and we are them with
chopsticks, too. We were quite pleased
with our rudimentary chopstick skills. We
declared the evening a most entertaining culinary experience!!
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| Frank and the Shabu-Shabu pot |
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| Preparing noodles in Shabu-Shabu broth |
Opened in 1958, Tokyo Tower is a huge orange and white erector set type structure that serves as a broadcasting tower. At just about 1,100 feet, the tower is taller than the Eiffel Tower. The main observatory offers stunning panoramic views of Tokyo and its environs. This day snow capped Mount Fuji was in clear view 100kilometers to the southwest!
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| Mount Fuji from Tokyo Tower |
Surrounded by moats and massive
stone walls, the Imperial Palace is the main residence of the Emperor and
Empress of Japan. The palace is built on
the site of the former Edo Castle of the Tokugawa Shogunate, rulers of Japan
for 265 years (1603-1867). The castle was destroyed by fire in 1873; construction
of the Imperial Palace was completed in 1888.
Most of those structures were destroyed in the Allied air raids of May
1945; reconstruction was completed in the 1960’s. The palace itself is only open to the public on
January 2nd and on the Emperor’s birthday. However, the gardens around the palace are
open for the public’s enjoyment, all in the center of downtown Tokyo.
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| One of three surviving watch towers - There were once 90 such towers guarding the grounds of the Imperial Palace. |
The Asakusa section of Tokyo is
home to the Sensoji Temple, a Buddhist temple also known as the Asakusa Kannon
Temple. This temple, the oldest in
Tokyo, was founded in 628 to honor Kannon, the goddess of mercy. The iconic
Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate) and its giant lantern are well-known symbols of
Asakusa. This outer gate, destroyed by
fire in 1865, was rebuilt in 1960 with funds donated by Konosuke Matsushita,
the founder of Panasonic. The giant
paper lantern, 13 feet high and weighing 1,543 pounds, is replaced every ten
years. In
front of the temple is a structure resembling a wishing well. It holds a giant cauldron of incense and the
faithful, believing in the healing power of its smoke, waft the incense fumes
over their bodies. Between Kaminarimon and Hozomon
(Treasure House Gate) is the Nakamise Shopping Arcade with dozens of stalls
where vendors sell Japanese souvenirs and local snacks. The history of Nakamise is several centuries old.
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| Kaminarimon |
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| Hozomon with the Sensoji Temple behind it. |
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| Incense Cauldron |
Riding the bus through Tokyo, you
could not help but notice the dazzling yellow gingko trees. The gingko is the official tree of Tokyo and
thousands of them line the streets of the city.
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| Gingko tree |
For the past couple of days the “Pen
Station Museum and Café” just across the street from our hotel had piqued Frank’s
curiosity. Pen Station, not to be
confused with Penn Station, is known as the “sole writing instrument museum in
Japan.” As tourists, we have been known
to visit odd little museums – the Jello Museum in New York, for instance – so why
not the pen museum? And besides, the café
had an English menu with pictures!! (Even
so, we were surprised when our food was delivered to our table. Did we really order this??)
The Pen Station Museum displays “unique,
fascinating pens and stationery from around the world, all of which was
collected by the Pilot Corporation.” J Starting with the creation of the reed pen in
4000 BC (used to scratch words on clay tablets) to the quills of the Middle
Ages to our modern day Pilot pens – it’s all on display here. Unfortunately, aside from the captivating
brochure and the timeline displayed on the staircase risers, the signage of the
entire museum was in Japanese!
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| Staircase timeline |
Our visit to Tokyo was quickly
coming to an end and it was time to pack up, trek back to Tokyo Station, and find
our way to the Monorail that would deposit us at Haneda Airport.
December 2nd – Air Canada AC006 – Tokyo to Toronto – 6,445
miles – 11 hours 28 minutes (Depart Tokyo at 6:50PM
December 2nd arrive Toronto at 4:30PM December 2nd) The mystery of crossing the
International Dateline!
December 2nd – United Airlines 3803 – Toronto to Washington
Dulles – 346 miles – 1 hour 10 minutes
The flight from Tokyo to Toronto
was only about two-thirds full so there was plenty of room to spread out and
get ‘comfortable.’ Eleven hours of
travel time and the on-board TV entertainment system gave me ample opportunity
to catch up on Modern Family and Big Bang Theory episodes that I had
missed while on this three month trip! Watch
TV, drink wine, eat snack, watch TV, eat dinner, drink wine, read, nap, watch
TV, nap, eat breakfast, watch TV, pack up, stumble off plane – so much
excitement packed into those interminable eleven hours of travel!
When we landed in Toronto it was
SNOWING!! And snowing hard! We had a three-hour layover ahead of us and we
hoped that our flight would not be delayed or canceled because of the
weather. Even though our luggage was not
with us because it had been checked through to Dulles, we were hustled through
U.S. Customs in Toronto (??) and then through a more rigorous inspection at a security
checkpoint for passengers traveling to the United States. We boarded our flight as scheduled and then
sat aboard for an hour waiting for additional fuel to be delivered to the plane
in case we had to divert from Dulles to another airport due to fog blanketing
that region. Then it was on to the
de-icing station. Finally, we were
wheels up and on our way.
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