Blogs from Narita, Chiba, Japan, Asia - page 6

Arrived in Tokyo at 8.30am and made our way via the train and underground to our hostel, which was about an hour away from the airport but quite central to Tokyo City center. The hostel was great and the people there seemed quite friendly. Our first day (Monday) consisted of checking out what was in the immediate vicinity and planning what else there was to do. After a good nights sleep we headed into the city center to explore. We checked out the Imperial Palace and gardens, which was very pretty. We visited the Diet Building (which is similar to the Houses of Parliament) and then walked through Ginza which is where all the designer shops, the bright lights and the advertisements on buildings are. We also managed to visit Ueno Zoo which wasn't as good ... read more

In ancient Rome, the emperor used to open the gladiator matches or the Christian martyrdoms by saying, “Let the Games Begin”. Easy for him to say—Rome conquered the world without having to deal with the Council for Labor Affairs. Honestly, the bureaucracy has to be experienced to be believed. Caesar quit when he was ahead, and didn’t even try to knock over China. The red tape has to be experienced to be believed! The historical enemies of Rome presented little difficulty by comparison, even though I seem to remember from high school Latin class that the barbarians had a lot of Gaul. So. “Let the Games Begin”. It’s a good thing to stop in Japan on the way here. It keeps the longest leg of the flight to only ten hours or so, and a leg-stretch ... read more

Doing the soft shoe shuffle 31/07/06 We sleep for most of the 6hr flight to Narita but still arrive feeling knackered, we stagger like zombies through immigration and customs and find a space to rebuild the bikes near the bus stops. People keep wandering up to have a look (see the silly Gaijin getting hot and sweaty). Next to us is the pick up point for one of the buses to Tokyo, each time a bus leaves the porters all bow to it which is really weird to see. As we are about to leave they approach us and the best English speaker asks us where we have been and where we are going, she then translates for the others, there follows a short Q and A session about touring with the bikes then they wish ... read more

O'hare has been the best washroom experience ever. Heavenly smell :D The flight to Japan has also been the best airline flight ever. Individual screens to watch movies, tv shows, listen to music, and play games. The food was also quite delicious. Maybe microwave food technology is simply getting better. And so here I am in Narita Airport in Japan waiting to finish the last leg of my journey. the boringness... //// Having slept for most of the layover in Narita Airport (and man was I worried that I overslept and missed my flight!), I boarded the airplane into the business class area (referred to as Executive class :D); I was able to get into business class due to mistake in my flight tickets. The business seats were so roomy, but I was so confused on ... read more