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Tokyo: Too Little, Too Short, Too Broke!

Even though I was exhausted when I reached the hotel, I knew that my time in Tokyo was going to be very limited, and so I needed to take in as much as I could as quick as I could.

First thing on the agenda was to try to get ahold of Billy in Korea and then my kids and parents back in the States so that they wouldn't worry when I didn't check in on time (I was supposed to call as soon as I arrived safely in Incheon, around 9:45pm that night.)

Fortunately, all of the information provided in the hotel room was in English as well as Japanese, so I was able to read the instructions for calling internationally. I had my US calling card, which I used in the States to call Billy's cell phone in Korea, and that had always worked nicely, so I figured I would use that to make my two international calls from Japan.

Except... "the 800-number provided on this card is only toll-free if you call within the United States. If you proceed with this call, you will be charged the applicable connection fee, plus any other applicable fees for your call," the automated voice on the other end of the phone informed me.

Uh oh. Would that 'charge' come off of the balance of my card, or would they expect cash at the front desk when I checked out of the hotel in the morning? I had absolutely no Yen, (and no way of getting any) and only about $14 in cash on me. And furthermore, just how much were these connection fees and "other applicable fees" that I was going to have to pay? Of course, the automated voice didn't offer that information, so I just had to take a gamble and hope that they would accept my debit card at the front desk if it came down to that.

I got ahold of Billy first, but unfortunately, he had already made the two-hour trip to the airport and was there, waiting for me, even though it was still a good two- to three hours before my flight was even scheduled to land there! (Awww... how sweet; he was just as excited as I was!) But now he would have to either pay about $100 for a taxi ride back to the base or spend the night in the airport! Or.... I gave him my confirmation number for the hotel that I had booked for us in Incheon for that night and told him that they would probably still let him stay there with that confirmation, even though I wasn't with him, and he didn't have the credit card that was used to book the reservation.

Imagine the irony... he spent the night in our "Honeymoon Suite" all by himself! LOL

Meanwhile, I was sitting in the lap of luxury at my Hotel Nikko Narita--a hotel that was a good notch or two better than even the honeymoon suite was! (We ended up booking the Honeymoon Suite for a second night, so that we could enjoy it together.)

I usually go for the mid-range hotels--priced affordably for a family-friendly place (not a roach motel or the sleezy motels that can be rented by the hour!) Although I did splurge on the Honeymoon Suite in Incheon for our first night together, the Lodge where I would spend the rest of my time in Korea was half the price of the Honeymoon Suite. Judging by the quality and the beauty of the Hotel Nikko Narita, I think I can safely say that it was by far the nicest, highest-priced hotel I've ever stayed at! Thanks, United, for sparing no expense to keep your customers happy!

After settling things with Billy, and then calling home to Florida to let my parents and my kids know where I was--and how blessed I was!--I jumped in the shower to wake myself up so that I could go look around the hotel and visit the gift shop and the store there... and perhaps pick up some authentic Japanese dinner!

The shower was awesome; incredible water pressure and I just love the shower heads that can be taken off the wall and used manually! The toilet was a European-style bidet--something I had never experienced before, but which I had gotten my first taste of at the airport while I was waiting in the baggage-claim area! (I had prior knowlege of what a bidet was, but had never actually seen or used one.)

Well, since this trip was all about seeing and experiencing new things, I was quick to choose the 'bidet' toilet in the airport, even though there were two other types of toilets available: the typical American-style toilet, and the Japanese-style toilet... very interesting, the Japanese-style toilet (and might I add, a bit 'disturbing,', but I will have to get into that at a later time!

In any event, I used the toilet and then began experimenting with the different buttons on the 'control pad.' It was almost like a little computer game, with all of these different options, each one doing something strange and different. Because this particular matter has the capacity to get somewhat inappropriate, I will have to 'hint' at some of these functions!

The first and most obvious one is what makes a 'bidet' a 'bidet.' It basically gives you a shower on your underside, (minus the shower gel). However, there was an option on the control pad for a 'deodorizing fragrance' to be added--added, I guess, to the water you're being showered with, although I don't know for sure because I didn't experiment with this particular button. I was too busy concerning myself with the physics and the dynamics of this contraption and trying to figure out where in the world this 'shower' of water was coming from, (since I had not noticed any pipe or other type contraption coming up out of the commode itself.)

"Curiosity killed the cat," they say, and it also killed my pride! In my ignorant bliss, I lifted my hiney up and turned my body around in such a way as to get a good view of the toilet bowl--mind you, the "shower" was still going, and now my hiney was not there to catch the flow! So... I 'caught the flow' on the waistband of my pants, my undergarments, my sweater, my boots, and even my carry-on luggage, which had accompanied me into the stall! YIKES!! I quickly sat myself back down, having seen in that instant exactly where the shower of water was coming from. There was a plastic device fitted to the top back underside of the rim of the toilet, which I suppose works much like a showerhead in a typical American shower! By golly, I have been enlightened!

After waiting for some time for the 'shower' to come to completion, I realized that it was not on any kind of timer, and that one would have to stop the water flow for oneself. So, I found the button marked 'Stop,' pushed it, and successfully brought my hygienic shower to an end. (Thank Goodness!)

After feeling the hot sting of humiliation, I was certainly hesitant to try any of the rest of the buttons on the control pad, but I will list them and what they are purported to accomplish. There were buttons on there for 'sound effects,' which were accompanied by a volume control pad, to adjust the volume of the 'sound effects' softer or louder. (In other restrooms in Korea, I have seen many different types of control boxes in bathroom stalls with similar type contraptions in them--they are called things like "Etiquette Bell" and the like.

I looked at these volume-control buttons and the fake flushing sound effects, and I furrowed my brow in deep thought, tyring in earnest to think of a reason why one would want to play sound effects of toilets flushing or people speaking or any other such thing! What came to mind was the proverbial "courtesy flush" that some Americans will extend for the sake of others in the adjoining stalls, but that would only explain the "deodorizing fragrance" button, not the sound effects button... then it came to me! These people are so genteel that they even cover the 'sounds' of their toilet business. Hmmm... What a novel idea...!

In any event, I'd had enough of the whole 'bidet' experience, so I simply used the toilet in my hotel room the good, old-fashioned way. Then I got dressed and went downstairs for some food. Rather than using my dinner voucher in one of the elegant restaurants, I decided to save it to go toward breakfast in case things were really pricey in this hotel. (I later found out that the 1,000 Yen voucher would translate into about $7.10 ($1 US=71 Yen) Instead, I picked up some hot Japanese food and some red ginger ale from a 24-hour convenience store in the lobby downstairs, along with a chocolate mousse/pudding type dessert. I put that, along with a Japanese newspaper, on my debit card, and went back to the room to eat and do a video diary entry while things were still fresh in my mind. I knew it would still be a few more days before I could get access to a computer to be able to start my blog, so I at least wanted to get things down on video in case I forgot some stuff.

I then videoed everything in my room, including the bidet, the Christmas lights out in the courtyard (from my large picture window), and some of the programming on the TV, (a little international news, which provided me with a story about some US government secrets that have been leaked from a website called "WikiLeaks" and then found a channel which gave information about the hotel and some of the nearby sights. One of these sights was the Naritasan Shinshoji Temple, which was located nearby, and I immediately put it on my agenda to see first thing in the morning. I would have to get up pretty early since I had to be checked out and on the shuttle by 7:40 am!

I finally collapsed into bed and fell instantly to sleep... well, right after setting the alarm for 4:30 am. I'd get almost five hours of sleep... only about half of what my body requires, and about a quarter of what I would need to 'catch up' from all the lost sleep from the past couple of days!

But, hey... Tokyo doesn't come around but about once in a lifetime, sooo.... sacrifices, baby!

The next morning, I woke up on time (4:30am) got dressed, got video from my window, went downstairs and got video of the hotel, went to the gift shop and took a lot of time picking out nice little souvenirs for my kids and for Billy and a couple of other people, including some stuff for the scrap book, but lo and behold, my debit card was rejected! I was embarrassed and feeling a little desperate because I didn't want to leave Japan empty-handed and had just spent a good hour or more picking out 'just the right things' for people, so I decided to try my Mom's credit card, which I had on me for emergency use, and guess what? That was rejected, too! Now I was really humiliated. I apologized profusely and left, upset and dejected about the whole souvenir situation, especially since they had just taken my debit card the night before for my food!

I had wasted so much time at the gift shop that I had to skip breakfast so that I would have time to go see the Temple. I rushed back to my room to pack all of my things back up and make sure I was ready to leave the room when I got back from the Temple. It took me quite some time to pack everything back up, too, and I was paranoid about missing my shuttle, and thereby missing my plane. I figured United wouldn't be so generous the next time around, and I would probably have to pay for that flight myself. I definitely couldn't let that happen, so I decided against going to the Temple and instead just walked around the grounds outside the hotel and shot video of the courtyard and a little gazebo-type mini-temple area on grounds.

Because I still didn't have a real digital camera, I shot lots of video and figured that I could 'capture' still shots out of the video at will, so didn't worry too much about it. HOWEVER, when I downloaded all of my video onto Billy's computer, (and erased everything from the SD card, because I had filled it up, I was much chagrined to find that none of the video will play! Only Audio comes across; no video! That's why I have no real pictures to put on here (at least not yet!) It seems as though there may just be a missing "codec" from Billy's computer and if I can figure out what it is and how to download it from the net, I may be able to salvage all of that video afterall! I sure hope so, because I was in tears when I realized that I had lost everything!!! No joke!

(Oh, and after a coversation with my Mom (and checking my bank account online) I realized that the credit cards were rejected because it was "suspicious activity," being used clear across the globe like that! Mom even got a call from her credit card company, letting her know that there was activity on her card in Tokyo, Japan. I guess we were supposed to notify the bank and the credit card company ahead of time that I would be traveling overseas so that the cards would not be rejected! Oh, well... live and learn, I guess!)

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Photos

Official Checkpoint
Works like a border patrol; these uniformed officers were checking vehicles, and a couple came onto our bus and checked passports of random people... I was one of them! I guess because I'm American! LOL