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Published: October 10th 2016
Bus Departing Haneda
The employees bow as the bus departs. I just love service culture in Japan.I traveled to Singapore in September to celebrate my dad's birthday. The cheapest flights this time round required a 15-hour layover in Tokyo on the return trip flying in to Haneda at 6am and departing out of Narita at 9pm. Those of you who know me know that Tokyo is one of my favorite cities and that I do not need an excuse to schedule layover there!
On my prior layovers, I used Tokyo or Ueno Station as my base of operations and traveled by train between Narita and Haneda. This time around, I tried something different; I took the bus and used the Tokyo City Air Terminal (T-CAT) as my base. Departing Singapore on Sunday night, I landed at Haneda early the next day. After clearing immigration, I took the 6.40am bus to T-CAT and arrived there around 7.20am. The bus terminal was quiet and mostly empty. I followed the signs for the left luggage counter and found that they opened at 8am. Crap. Should I wait? Hell no, not with Tokyo beckoning! Fortunately, I found lockers one level below. But... these lockers accepted coins only (and not Suica cards). There were larger 600 yen lockers and smaller 200
My Breakfast at Tsukiji
Two cuts of maguro, uni, ikura, and crab. Served with refreshing cold green tea. Good stuff! yen lockers. I did not have 600 yen on me. I did have 200 yen. I deposited 200 yen in the slot, opened it, and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that my small roller bag could fit in there. I think the left luggage service would have cost 700 yen, so I saved some yen. Score!
With my luggage taken care of, it was now time to make the most of my layover. The one thing I have always wanted to do in Tokyo was watch the show at Robot Restaurant, but, alas, the timing of my flights did not allow me to do this. I had one more objective, though, which was to catch the Pokemon named Farfetch'd. If you read my
last blog entry, you'll know that I started walking everywhere playing Pokemon Go after I got diagnosed with arthritis and I had to stop running and climbing. Well, Farfetch'd is a special Pokemon. He is a duck that carries a leek with him, and he has only been found in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. I was determined to seek him out during my layover in between sightseeing.
My first order of the day
Tsukiji Outer Market
On the left is my favorite logo in Tokyo of a mummy kitty carrying a baby. This logo seems to be everywhere and I can't figure out what it is for. was to get some sushi(!) for breakfast at Tsukiji. T-CAT is linked by an underground tunnel to Suitengomae subway station, and from there it was a quick subway ride with one change of trains to get to Tsukiji. Unfortunately, most of the wholesale seafood action was over by the time I got to Tsukiji and most of the crowds were now milling around the outer market. This is where I committed an amateur traveler fail. I thought the two most popular sushi outlets - Sushi Dai and Daiwa Sushi - would be fairly obvious to spot as they would have the longest lines. Well, there were dozens of sushi outlets but none had long lines by the time I got there. I should have thought to find out the Japanese characters for these two outlets so I could identify them. Well, after some wandering around, I settled on the one that appeared busiest. There, I ordered a rice bowl with maguro (tuna), crab, uni (sea urchin) and ikura (salmon roe). It was odd eating sushi this early in the day but it was good stuff and it hit the spot. While I was eating, the Go Radar app notified me
that a Farfetch'd was in Shibuya, but I assessed I would not be able to get there in time. I did not get any other alerts on Farfetch'd until much later In the day.
After a bit more wandering around Tsukiji (and no Farfetch'd), I took the subway to my next destination. As I was scheduled to have lunch with my UCLA classmate near Tokyo Station, I thought I would wander around the Imperial Palace before meeting her and hopefully find Farfetch'd. I strolled around the palace grounds and around Tokyo Station, but, alas, no Farfetch'd.
After a very pleasant lunch with my classmate, I took the JR line to Komagome, a neighborhood that was once reported to be a Farfetch'd nest. I wandered around for a bit, but, alas, no Farfetch'd. After that, I took the subway to Ueno Park where Farfetch'd had been spotted in the past. Ueno Park turned out to be a very pretty urban park and I had fun exploring the shrines, temples and lake. But, alas, you guessed it. No Farfetch'd.
By now, I was hot, sweaty and demoralized. It was already 4pm and all I wanted to do was find
an onsen, but I knew the two hours I had left before my 6pm bus to Narita would not be enough to justify going to an onsen. So, I decided to go to Tokyo Skytree, where I spent a pleasant hour in airconditioned comfort enjoying panoramic views over Tokyo. Unfortunately, it was hazy that day so I couldn't see Mt Fuji.
From Tokyo Skytree, I took the subway back to T-CAT, retrieved my bag, and boarded by bus to Narita which took about one hour. While on the bus, I got an alert from Go Radar that Farfetch'd was at Odaiba and Ginza - close to where I had just been that morning. Augh. I guess Farfetch'd wasn't meant to happen.
Travel Tips:
• The T-CAT is a cheaper but slightly more time consuming alternative to taking trains between Narita and Haneda. While I enjoyed this new experience, I will stick with the train next time.
• The Tokyo Skytree is snazzier than the Tokyo Tower, but it lacked the old school charm of Tokyo Tower. Entry to the 350 meter platform cost around 2100 yen. Entry to the 450 meter platform costs more. In hindsight, I should
My Favorite Drink in Japan
Pocari Sweat helped me face a hot and humid day in Tokyo. Jeff and I got addicted to the stuff when we climbed Mt Fuji six years ago. have opted for the 450 meter platform as it probably would have been less crowded.
• Showers are available at Narita Terminal 2 for 1100 yen. Tokyo is still quite humid in late September although it wasn't anywhere as bad as my prior trips in July and August. After a day of walking around, this was money well spent!
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RENanDREW
Ren & Andrew
Yum!
That uni looks so fresh! I'm now curious to see how I would enjoy a dish like this for breakfast...loved this layover/transit blog :)