We left the heat and chaos of dear Bharat to land in the orderly, quiet environs of Narita in Japan. Flying in, you can tell it's Japan you're landing in - green, clean, and with cute, dense trees that remind you of bonsai gardens. Pretty immediately you see signs of a society that has sensible rules, which it actually follows. Loved the 'no carts beyond this line' marker by the baggage carousels.
We spent some time reconfiguring luggage, storing bags, and otherwise orienting ourselves for our Japanese adventure. A $35 ticket gets you a 2-hr ride on a 'limousine' bus to the Sheraton Miyako, which was on the southern side of Tokyo city. Note to self - Narita is nowhere near Tokyo. Try Haneda next time.
The Sheraton Miyako is a fantastic property to stay at. Great-looking rooms with Western layouts and thoughtful Japanese touches; helpful hotel staff; and excellent happy hour and breakfast service. Thanks to Miss Cara's standing with the fine people at Starwood we were able to drop in to the lobby lounge for some Japanese draft beer on tap, in a very lovely setting. They used an earthen, glazed glass for beer which was so cool. And the propensity for doing things in an orderly fashion extends to the way they laid out toiletries in the bathroom. Just so civilized.
The taxis in Tokyo are fantastic, by the way. They're most old Corollas (think early 1990s), but shiny and unblemished - driven by polite, well dressed cabbies. Not uncommon to see the occasional white glove either. For dinner that night, despite our overly tired state, we ventured out to the Shibuya district. We bumbled our way into a izakaya of sorts, and mimed our way into ordering a couple of Okinawa staples - bitter gourd noodles and some Orion beer.
No comments:
Post a Comment