Well, I made it!
All in all, I can't tell if I'm used to the trip now, or if the improvements in air quality and pressurization made a difference on the Dreamliner, but I didn't feel tired enough to sleep for a long period of time on the plane. Additionally, the newer entertainment system had hours upon hours of movies and TV shows, so I rarely had to rely on outside forms of entertainment.
Once I landed, I took care of the usual:
- Pass through immigration control: fingerprints + picture, temporary visitor visa stamped into the passport
- Pick up luggage: delayed slightly due to mechanical difficulties with the conveyor belt
- Pick up mobile wifi device from post office: took me a while to realize that I was looking for the office in the center building, and I was looking in the south building of Terminal 1.
- Exchange traveler's checks: I took a little bit of time to compare between the 3 major ones available. All of them gave a rate of about $1 = 100Y. I only exchanged a small bit to get me through the week.
- Pick up Keisei Skyliner round trip ticket + 2 Day Metro Pass: Used a little bit of Japanese here. Got directions to look for Track 5. Went completely to the wrong platform, but context cues (and reliable upcoming train signs) let me know to keep looking. The janitor was nice enough to notice that I was looking for it, so he followed to show me the correct way to get to that platform.
With all of that taken care of, compared to the long lines at the JR office, taking in the Keisei Skyliner was a breeze. It looks like they get a wider variety of passengers, since I noticed that the in train announcements were in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean (I think.)
I got off at Nippori Station, and took JR trains to get to Asakusabashi. However, I never picked up a ticket so I had no way to exiting via ticket. My existing Suica/Pasmo card didn't allow me to reload, so I ended up talking with the station agent in simple Japanese to pay up.
I headed off to Toyoko Inn, and the check in process was smooth and easy. I did try to make it out to Ginza to see if the Sony Store was still open (it wasn't). I spent a little time wandering Akiba and had some ramen and called it an early night.
The plan for Day 2? Head over to mass at Yotsuya (hope they still remember me!), activate my JR Pass, and set up my travel to Kyoto later tonight. Depending on timing, we'll take a longer look at the Sony Store and then try to watch the nano.RIPE live at Ebisu/Shibuya. By the end of the day, we'll be kicking off the Tri-City Raid ala Kill La Kill by heading off to Kyoto.
#3dc
-- wake.eat.sleep