O.K. I will come clean. The thing that impressed me the most about Japan was the heated toilets with the automatic spray, in three speeds, and your choice of cologne spray!! Why the cologne spray?
This probably epitomizes my thoughts on the city itself. Everything is perfect, as Tokyo fulfills all the stereotypes, at least from what I saw on my one day whirlwind tour. Daniel, I did make my way in from the airport with no sweat ( ok, so I got lucky and got a Japanese guy working for Philips who helped me buy the ticket, find my seat and told me what to see). Since I got off at Tokyo station, I decided to visit the Imperial Palace, just north of Marunouche. Ok, so that is where I ended up but at least I found it. I didn’t even realize Japan had an emperor even though he only has a ceremonial role and the gardens,
which were open to the public, were regal as you can see from the pictures. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain on the one day I was in Tokyo but I refused to buy a umbrella for $10 when I could get one for $2 in Bangkok even though I had no hesitation in buying the $3,000 air ticket. I also had no raincoat since my bags were checked through to Canada (or at least LA). Needless to say, I will probably have a cold for the first time in a year, but at least I learned Japan had an emperor, lots of people in Tokyo love to run on the week-ends and the Japanese take a lot of pride in their horticultural and organizational skills. Even though the entrance was free, we still needed to take a plastic ticket and return it when we left. Go figure!
The Japanese are obsessed with cleanliness.
The taxi drivers, garage attendants, foremen on construction sites, wore white gloves and were meticulous with their vehicles. I couldn’t believe watching two different taxi drivers wiping down their steering wheels and dashboards. You would never see that in Asia, that is for sure, or at least in the part of Asia I lived in. I had lunch in the Ginza in a diner with about 10 chairs and the woman took pity on me and gave me a spoon. What shocked me was before she handed me the spoon she washed it in hot water…the water was steaming. I haven’t seen that in two years. In Bangkok, there is a red metallic box on the table in ‘diners’ if there was such a thing in Bangkok and you basically use the fork and spoon that have probably never been washed. Even in bakeries they were aghast when I just picked up a loaf of bread with my hands and went to pay for it. When I looked around I saw everyone else had a tray and was carefully picking up their baked goods with tongs. I also handed her the money directly which shocked her. Then I saw other people who put the money on a tray as if the money is never touched by human hands. God forbid dirty hands might touch the bread.
The business district around the palace and the Ginza were very quiet. I was very tired after my overnight flight so I did consider just going back to the airport but decided to see more and broke down and bought an umbrella. The people of Tokyo should thank me because it stopped raining instantly as soon as I passed the woman my money. By the way, when people walk into malls or stores, there is a machine outside that automatically encases the umbrella in plastic. What a waste of plastic I thought, but then I do not even pick up my clothes from the floor or notice it is there!
Having decided to see more of Tokyo with my new unnecessary umbrella, I took a taxi to Rappongi because I love the sound of the name and it appeared in a book I read in Koh Chang. Thankfully it was busy and fun. There was a beautiful art gallery, coffee houses, museums, fancy grocery stores with one orange for about $3.00 and so on. When I figured it was time to go, I saw a distinguished looking westerner having a coffee and reading a book at Starbucks. I asked him where I could find a train to take me back to the airport. He told me he never took a train to the airport, but offered me an alternative and walked me over to the Hyatt hotel where he put me on the hotel bus. When I asked him why he never took the train to the airport, he told me he was always driven and he put his guests on the bus. When I asked him what he did, he told me he was the ambassador from Switzerland!
This probably epitomizes my thoughts on the city itself. Everything is perfect, as Tokyo fulfills all the stereotypes, at least from what I saw on my one day whirlwind tour. Daniel, I did make my way in from the airport with no sweat ( ok, so I got lucky and got a Japanese guy working for Philips who helped me buy the ticket, find my seat and told me what to see). Since I got off at Tokyo station, I decided to visit the Imperial Palace, just north of Marunouche. Ok, so that is where I ended up but at least I found it. I didn’t even realize Japan had an emperor even though he only has a ceremonial role and the gardens,
which were open to the public, were regal as you can see from the pictures. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain on the one day I was in Tokyo but I refused to buy a umbrella for $10 when I could get one for $2 in Bangkok even though I had no hesitation in buying the $3,000 air ticket. I also had no raincoat since my bags were checked through to Canada (or at least LA). Needless to say, I will probably have a cold for the first time in a year, but at least I learned Japan had an emperor, lots of people in Tokyo love to run on the week-ends and the Japanese take a lot of pride in their horticultural and organizational skills. Even though the entrance was free, we still needed to take a plastic ticket and return it when we left. Go figure!The Japanese are obsessed with cleanliness.
The taxi drivers, garage attendants, foremen on construction sites, wore white gloves and were meticulous with their vehicles. I couldn’t believe watching two different taxi drivers wiping down their steering wheels and dashboards. You would never see that in Asia, that is for sure, or at least in the part of Asia I lived in. I had lunch in the Ginza in a diner with about 10 chairs and the woman took pity on me and gave me a spoon. What shocked me was before she handed me the spoon she washed it in hot water…the water was steaming. I haven’t seen that in two years. In Bangkok, there is a red metallic box on the table in ‘diners’ if there was such a thing in Bangkok and you basically use the fork and spoon that have probably never been washed. Even in bakeries they were aghast when I just picked up a loaf of bread with my hands and went to pay for it. When I looked around I saw everyone else had a tray and was carefully picking up their baked goods with tongs. I also handed her the money directly which shocked her. Then I saw other people who put the money on a tray as if the money is never touched by human hands. God forbid dirty hands might touch the bread.The business district around the palace and the Ginza were very quiet. I was very tired after my overnight flight so I did consider just going back to the airport but decided to see more and broke down and bought an umbrella. The people of Tokyo should thank me because it stopped raining instantly as soon as I passed the woman my money. By the way, when people walk into malls or stores, there is a machine outside that automatically encases the umbrella in plastic. What a waste of plastic I thought, but then I do not even pick up my clothes from the floor or notice it is there!
Having decided to see more of Tokyo with my new unnecessary umbrella, I took a taxi to Rappongi because I love the sound of the name and it appeared in a book I read in Koh Chang. Thankfully it was busy and fun. There was a beautiful art gallery, coffee houses, museums, fancy grocery stores with one orange for about $3.00 and so on. When I figured it was time to go, I saw a distinguished looking westerner having a coffee and reading a book at Starbucks. I asked him where I could find a train to take me back to the airport. He told me he never took a train to the airport, but offered me an alternative and walked me over to the Hyatt hotel where he put me on the hotel bus. When I asked him why he never took the train to the airport, he told me he was always driven and he put his guests on the bus. When I asked him what he did, he told me he was the ambassador from Switzerland!
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