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Published: June 26th 2013
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We're on vacation in Bali! To get here, I cashed in some miles for a Business Class ticket with an 11-hour layover in Tokyo arriving at Narita Airport at 1.30pm and departing from Haneda Airport at 12.30am. For this layover, the first decision we had to make was to choose a base convenient to both Narita and Haneda where we could store our bags. As much as I wanted to try the cheaper and faster Kaisei Skyliner to Ueno, the obvious option that best suited our needs was the Narita Express to Tokyo Station. Our next task was choose fun things to do that we did not do on our trip there three years prior (see this
entry). Researching our options, we settled on Roppongi.
Arriving in Narita on Monday afternoon, we made our way to Tokyo station, a huge Japan Railways-Tokyo Metro-Shinkansen hub with five subterranean levels. It took about an hour to get in - testament to how far away Narita Airport is from Central Tokyo! Our first order of the day was to find lockers. Japan is so high-tech and efficient - we could pay for our lockers using our Suica subway card and there even was
Tokyo Tower
Socks for sale in gift shop. Why is the kitty humping the tower? a touch screen display with step-by-step locker instructions in English. The next order of the day - find the subway line to get us to our first stop - Tokyo Tower.
After a quick subway ride and a short walk, we arrived at Tokyo Tower. Tokyo Tower isn't new and it isn't among the tallest structures in Tokyo, but it possesses a certain quaint charm that I don't think we can find in other places with city views. True enough, Tokyo Tower is a dedicated viewing station, complete with elevator attendants, souvenir shops and a bizarre pink spermatozoa-like mascot. We bought tickets for the main observation deck which was 150 meters high. (The higher observation deck was open but it was under renovation with views obstructed.) The ear-popping elevator ride was quick and the bowing attendant ushered us onto the observation deck in a matter of seconds. Tokyo Tower has a cool 360-degree view of the city, but unfortunately the summer haze obscured some of the more famous landmarks such as Mt Fuji (
which we had climbed three years prior). It was nevertheless an enjoyable vista. I'll let the photos, which I have annotated, speak for themselves.
The good thing about having a bird's
Gonpachi
"Silly Caucasian girl likes to lay with Samurai swords". eye view of the city was that we could identify landmarks and hence plan a walk to our next destination instead of taking the Metro. When we had our fill of the cityscape, we wended our way through Roppongi to our dinner stop - Gonpachi Restaurant, best known as the restaurant that inspired Quentin Tarantino's set for the fight scene between Uma Thurman (aka Black Mamba aka Beatrix Kiddo aka Mom) and Lucy Liu (aka Cottonmouth), Go-Go and the Crazy 88 in Kill Bill Vol 1. Along the way, we enjoyed various Roppongi landmarks. Roppongi has a reputation for being the most gaijin-friendly area of Tokyo. Indeed, we have never seen so many Caucasians in Japan. It was surreal to walk along the streets and hear so much English being spoken by other pedestrians. Gonpachi itself was good fun - it was loud, crowded, atmospheric and the food was decent and surprisingly cheap. For less than US$50, we had a tofu appetizer, cold soba, several yakitori skewers, and dessert.
With our tummies full, we headed back to Tokyo Station on the Metro, had a stroll around the vicinity of Tokyo station, including a fountain park and a quick look
Cute Stuff
Dentist Office at a the Imperial Palace (in the dark), before retrieving our bags and heading to Haneda via the Metro and Monorail. At Haneda, I had a refreshing shower at the ANA Lounge before boarding our flight to Singapore and then Bali. We were both so tired by then as our sojourn in Tokyo pretty much took place during our normal sleeping time at home!
By the way, what is Japan without cute stuff? See the annotated pictures. Some of them were plain disturbing too. Enjoy!
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