Time to change the scenery. After breakfast I checked out of my hotel and headed up to the Holiday Inn to catch the Vancouver Airport Shuttle. In no time at all I was at Vancouver International Airport checking in for my Japan Airlines flight to Tokyo.
After making my way to gate I settled in for a spot of reading before the flight. I noticed that the JAL staff we coming around to everyone and asking for their travel documents, just being extra secure I assumed.
Once aboard the flight I found interesting that this JAL flight had a live camera on front of the aircraft and it was on during both the take off and landing. I have never seen any other airline do that. Not 100% sure whether it is something I’d always like to see but I acknowledge that it something rather novel.
I have also got to say that service on JAL was excellent, even though I was travelling economy. They come through the cabin at regular intervals offering refreshments and any other assistance. Top marks for service JAL.
After touching down in Tokyo I joined the long immigration queue. As luck would have it, as I rounded a bend an official opened the barrier and ushered us to another entrance location, so I was now second from the front.
After passing immigration I collected my bags and passed through customs with nothing to declare. Outside I was greeted by someone holding a sign with my name. They told me to wait while they obtained my shuttle bus ticket. Next thing I knew I was outside the terminal waiting in line to get on the bus to the city. Within a matter of a few more moments I was on the shuttle bus heading to the city. Amazing! I would have been less than 15 minutes from the moment I touched down until I was on my way to the city. That is efficiency for you.
The ride on bus to the heart of Tokyo takes about 45 minutes and as we approached the city I got a good look at the scenery in the fading light.
The end of the trip was Skinjuku station. I hopped off grabbed my bags and headed down the stairs, following the instructions I had been provided to meet the hotel shuttle bus. I thought that I was going to have walk from Skinjuku station to my hotel (a few hundred metres) but I was glad to not have to.
After locating what I believed to be the correct location to meet the shuttle I had time to stop and look at just how many people were commuting, as it was now afternoon peak hour. Talk about a human sea. As I was standing around, waiting for the hotel shuttle, I was approached by a Japanese person who had been on the bus with me. He had seen me just standing there and simply wanted to ensure that I wasn’t lost (or simply overcome by the crowd). I showed him the documentation about the location to meet the shuttle, which he checked and confirmed I was in the right place. From there he headed on his way. This sort of gesture is typical of what I would find throughout my time in Japan, everyone was so helpful.
My shuttle arrived, I jumped aboard, checked in and was soon relaxing in my room. I was initially worried that I would have trouble getting to the hotel given the language issues but my concerns were unfounded.
The next problem I needed to solve was a lack of local currency. I needed to find an ATM so I could get cash to get something to eat and be ready for my exploring tomorrow. So I set off into the night heading for the bright lights of Shinjuku. As I walked the streets I was amazed at how people there were and the fact that there didn’t appear to be any ATM’s. I walked and walked until I saw a Citibank sign. Ah ha. Sure enough here was a Citibank ATM. I popped in my ANZ Travelcard, and got some Japanese Yen, easy as.
I headed back to the hotel, grabbed dinner at the restaurant attached to the hotel. From there I headed up to my room for an early night ready for my first day in Tokyo tomorrow. I can assure you I had no problems falling asleep.
