I'm heeeeeeere!

Two good flights and every piece of luggage present and accounted for. Airport navigation to find a bus was simple. Arrived at my hotel around 6:00, dumped my bags and headed out on foot.

Tokyo is famous for it's culinary offerings -- and I had to begin my adventure with some great seafood. I ate at a tiny little place just a few blocks from my hotel. It couldn't have held more than 25 people and was packed with smoking men. Men. All 24 of them. Don't know where the women are in this town -- at home cooking dinner, I guess. :-) The conversations were animated and lively. They seated me at a two-topper table and I went to work studying my maps (not caring that I looked like a tourist -- after alllll... there was no possible way for me to hide that fact!). Then they asked me to move. I couldn't believe it! I wasn't offended -- they moved me to the counter, because they had another party come in that could use BOTH the seats at my two-topper table. Funny, I thought, but it did give me a chance to get closer to the action watching the cooks prepare the meals. My sashimi was fantastic (don't ask, Mom) - complete with the remaining carcasss of a stripped fish carefully wound around a skewer for a garnish on the plate. Dorothy... we are NOT in Kasas, anymore.

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After dinner, I picked up some bananas and bottled water at the local market, and am back in my hotel room to call it a night. Haven't spotted Godzilla yet -- I'm thinking he might be hanging out at the big fish market tomorrow. Those 6' tunas are the perfect "bite size snack" for him. :-)

Already off to a good start.

So I’m a bit intimidated by what little research I’ve done on Tokyo – it’s “gi-normous” as my nephews would say. I know I have very little time - and even less patience - about being lost and losing precious “bloggable” moments trying to interpret train maps around this Goliath of a city.

No worries – one night cruising the Web and (voila!) two full days of touring are scheduled. I’ll land at Narita Airport on Thursday afternoon and make my way to the Shiba Park Hotel. I’ll piddle that afternoon – I have plans to hook up with the concierge to see if he will recommend a place where I can go see an authentic Tea Ceremony. Friday morning, I’ll hop a cab at 5 a.m. (yes, in the morrrrrrrning) and head to the world-famous tuna auction at the Tsukiji Fish Market. From there, I’ll join up with a group tour to see Tokyo highlights – the Tokyo Tower, a ferry ride on the Sumida River, the Imperial Palace… I’ll stop now – don’t want to spoil the surprises! Then Saturday I head to Hakone via motorcoach and up to the fifth station – halfway up Mount Fuji. I’ll return to Tokyo via Shinkansan – Tokyo’s famed bullet train system. (Should be a hit with the nephews – but how do you DESCRIBE going 200kph?!) After a whirlwind two days, I’ll move on to my work over in China.

So the “off to a good start” comment? My tour vouchers indicated I had to call and confirm 24hrs in advance – won’t work with my flight schedules, so I called before I left Tennessee. Here’s the conversation:

Agent: “こんにちは、私はいかに今朝助けてもよいか。”
And I respond the only way I possibly could: “English, please.”
Agent: “Are you United States?”
TJL: “Yessir, I am.”
Agent: “I thought so. You must be south people. South people always say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’.”

Haven’t even left the ground yet and I’m already tagged as a “south people”… My first non-digital exchange, and it was a compliment. (Now ain’t that nice?!)