Back to the Beginning
Trip Start
Dec 16, 2007
1
42
Trip End
Feb 24, 2008
Perth,
Australia
Sunday, February 24, 2008
After a while we were seated in the restaurant and were off loading up our first plates of the day. While not as sophisticated or extensive as the buffet breakfast at Oceano, Chef Mickey had nice food and more children's items, including jelly beans! Chef Mickey is overall a more whimsical restaurant, which suited the character dining breakfast. Whereas my previous character dining experiences have only involved a few characters at a time here one could find Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald and Daisy all walking around at the same time
Daisy
. It is always fun to do the character meals and it beats queuing up to get photos in the parks.The location of the Ambassador Hotel is unfortunate as we had to walk through Ikspiari from one end to the other to get out to Maihama Station. The already painful experience of walking through a shopping centre was not eased by the collection of smelly candle/natural therapy/insence shops down the back end toward the hotel. At the hotel I enquired about purchasing a joint JR/Tokyo Metro/Toei ticket that would allow us to travel on virtually all trains in Tokyo for the day. We could purchase this ticket at Maihama but it is only valid for travel from Tokyo as far as the station before Maihama. As such we also had to buy a ticket to cover the distance to the next stop, where the joint Tokyo ticket would become valid.
Today was Steve's day so beyond getting into Tokyo Station everything was up to his discretion and research. We began with a trip through the southern parts of Tokyo on the circular JR Yamanote Line to Harajuku Station. We managed to exit the station at the closest exit to Takeshita Street, the main shopping street of this eclectic district. The street itself is quite narrow and appears to be a defacto pedestrian mall, with shops spilling out into the street. Each sold a collection of weird and wonderful fashion items, from bo peep outfits to anime character clothes and emo/goth outfits. Of course some of the regular customers were around, parading their crazy purchases proudly
More Than Friends
. In contrast the rest of Harajuku thought it was French. There were crepe vendors every few metres, every second shop had a French name and the main road was referred to as the "Harajuku Champs-Elysees".At the end of our walking loop through this crazy district Steve and I found ourselves back at the station and proceeded across the line, to the adjacent Meiji Shrine. This was another contrast as we walked from the crazy, urban commercial environment into a heavily wooded area, walking along a gravel road. The Shrine itself is nicely insulated from the chaotic outside world by its surrounding mini-forest so we had to walk for a while, under some large wooden arches to arrive at our destination. The idea of having a monument dedicated to a former emperor is a strange one for this little Australian but it was cool all the same and helped to educate and remind people of the ideals behind the changes Meiji implemented during his reign.
With our combined JR and Metro ticket for the day I decided to mix things up a bit, insisting we take the Metro across town to end up at Shimbashi. Here we took the Yurikamome aerial people mover across the Rainbow Bridge to Odaiba. We disembarked from the train on the south eastern side of the island to check out Pallet Town and the Toyota MegaWeb. Although Steve is a Ford person to the core I think he did appreciate a visit to this facility, where all of the current models are on display and there are exhibitions about the brand, its technology and future developments.
From the MegaWeb we walked across the island's central park to the main commercial and entertainment area, facing Tokyo
Minnie
. This was my second visit to Odaiba and since last time Charles was not willing to visit SEGA Joypolis I had to drag Steve along. This facility is Japan's largest indoor theme park, covering 4 stories inside one of the island's large shopping centres. The whole indoor theme park thing doesn't really do it for me; there weren't that many attractions, it was noisy, visually busy and guests had to pay to use each individual facility, many of which were just regular Timezone games. Regardless, I only wanted to visit to ride 1 attracion: Spin Bullet. This bizarre spinning roller coaster was a custom Japanese job that decided to break down just as we entered. Much to Steve's annoyance (he really hated the Joypolis) we procrastinated for about 20 minutes waiting for the ride to open once more. There isn't much that can be said about the ride other than "ouch", "headache" and "wtf?!" Let's just say we won't be rushing back to experience it again, although I'm glad to have ridden it myself. Steve on the other had ended up even more annoyed and was very relieved to be leaving the facility, having "wasted" his money.Yurikamome took us back to Shimbashi, where we descended once more, this time to take JR's Yamanote line back towards Tokyo Station. Here we stayed aboard, travelling just a few more stops to Akihabara, the famous electronics district. The sun was setting as we walked the streets and alleys of the district, perusing the weird and wonderful selection of items
Pluto
. Here one can purchase anything from a light bulb to wiring to USB sticks to porn to LED coasters. I had to purchase one of the latter, it was dirt cheap! The decreasing light levels allowed us to enjoy the transition of the area into full-on lit up neon mode. Dinner was at a small KFC under one of the JR lines. The non smoking dining area was on the top (3rd) floor, which was directly beneath the tracks. Trains came by every minute or so, making for a cool dining experience.The end of the day had come so it was time to return to Maihama and get some good rest in preparation for our travels home the following day. As you, dear reader, may recall our tickets were only valid to the station before Maihama so we either need to take a local train from Tokyo (the only type that stop there), to get out and get another ticket or just one of the other trains to Shin-Kiba the next major station before Maihama. We opted for the Shin-Kiba option because once we'd got our ticket for the little distance onward to Maihama if we were stuck at the local station we'd have to wait another 15-20 minutes for a train. Unfortunately we were unable to just travel to Maihama and do a fare adjustment because our special tickets were not magnetic and thus we were unable to put them into the fare adjustment machines. I guess we could've sorted it out manually with a staff member at the exit but the thought never crossed our minds.
Steve's flight was the earliest to depart, requiring we take the train into Tokyo a little before 7am
Gangsta
. We checked out in the relatively empty foyer and I left my bags with bell services as I my flight was not leaving until after 8pm.Our airport travel encountered problems right from the beginning. The only way we knew to access JR Maihama Station from the Ambassador Hotel was through the Ikspiari shopping centre but this was closed, even as a thoroughfare, until 10am. Confronted by this problem, we went for a little explore and ended up being discovered by a very surprised security guard, who then led us out to the road and footpath around Ikspiari to the station. These detours chewed up our time so when we did arrive at Tokyo Station we only had 10 minutes to transfer to the Narita Express.
Unfortunately for us this is the longest transfer possible at Tokyo Station, from the Keiyo Lines all the way through to the opposite end of the station and some other equally detached subterranean platforms. It came as no surprise that despite our rushing we missed the train so we had little choice but to wait 10 minutes for the next service, opting to try our luck in the car on which we were reserved for the previous service. Luckily there were free seats in the equivalent car, even though the Narita Express is a compulsory reservation train. The guard didn't bat an eyelid when we showed our tickets for the previous train so we travelled through to the airport without any further troubles.
Garuda only had a limited number of check in desks at the airport so the queue was long
Mickey
. Once Steve had finally been checked in we had a light breakfast at a French cafe before briefly visiting a viewing area to see the plane. Steve then burned some of his remaining Yen on kitch airport tourist crap for relatives before handing me the rest to burn throughout the day. With 10 minutes before his flight was due to board Steve headed into passport control and began his journey home. I was now left on my own in Tokyo with some 6 hours or so to kill before I had to check-in for my QANTAS flight.On my way out of the airport I visited the Keisei (private railway) counter to purchase a ticket back to the airport on a train around 5:20pm as it was cheaper than the Narita Express. One of the JR ticket machines then issued me with a regular ticket through to Chiba. The next available train was a rapid service in 20 minutes so I relaxed on the platform, watching the passing JR and Keisei trains. The trip to Chiba was nice although things were starting to get a bit crowded by the time I got off. At Chiba it was easy to make the change to the Chiba Urban Monorail as the interchange station was right about the JR platforms. This system is pretty special because its based on the French SAFEGE system, where trains are suspended and the bogies are located within the box track. This makes the track structure larger but keeps operations protected from the weather.
I was only travelling 2 stops on this monorail system, which I enjoyed. It was a bit odd to ride because it was so very quiet and also because the trains were wider at the top, making them look like conventional trains turned upside down! I hope to return to this system one day and ride more of the network, especially when they receive their new trains with sections of glass floor.
The monorail deposited me at the end of its line, Chiba-minato, where there is another change to the JR network
Harajuku
. This station however serves the Keiyo Line (yes, the one past Maihama and the Disney Resort), instead of the lines that run through Chiba Station. From here I purchased a new ticket to get me back into Tokyo and hopped aboard the next Rapid train for the bayside trip. As the train stopped at the now familiar Maihama Station I decided that this journey I had just made from the airport was more, direct, fun and less expensive than the traditional Narita Express option so I would consider it in the future if I travel directly between the airport and Tokyo Disney Resort.Back at Tokyo Station I found myself back on the Yamanote Line, filling my time travelling around the southern side of this circle line to Shibuya Station. The famous Shibuya Crossing sits adjacent the station and this is where I headed, in the middle of a busy Saturday. People were everywhere so when the pedestrian cycle came the intersection flooded with a sea of people. I progressed up one of the many streets of interest coming off the crossing and found it difficult to stay within the footpath space when there were so many other people. Indeed many of the roads had become defacto pedestrian malls due to the crowds. I walked in the general direction of the PARCO building, where I was hoping to find an art gallery showing a large exhibition of LEGO creations. Steve and I had read about this in our complimentary Japan Times newspaper that we received every morning in the Disney hotels.
Meiji Shrine
Unfortunately I didn't have an adequate map on my person and gave up searching after I thought I'd walked too far from the station to find the building.Content with my busy Shibuya weekend experience I figured I could make a leisurely trip back to Disney to grab my bags and then return to Tokyo to take the Kesei Skyliner train to the airport. I journeyed back to Tokyo utilising the Yamanote Line to Shinjuku then the Chuo Rapid across town. As I travelled it was clear that the weather was deteriorating and the winds were increasing; it was a good day to leave. At Tokyo I made the transfer to the Keiyo Line for what was planned to be the penultimate time, making no effort to catch a train departing within 2 minutes and instead taking the later service.
The train back (a local service) started its trip normally but when we stopped at the first above ground station it became clear that things were not running as planned. Our train sat up on the viaduct at the station, buffeted by the constant strong winds for a few minutes before the guard made some announcements in Japanese and closed the doors. To cut a long story short, we ended up waiting for almost 2 hours at that station, passengers left and an elderly man came to complain to the guard but eventually we started rolling again. Just rolling, at a leisurely 20km/h or so we completed the journey back to Maihama. I gather the problem was related to the high winds and was affecting other lines in Tokyo as well
Pious Benefactor
. It was unfortunate that my train got stuck at that random local-only station because there were no other transport options available to me there.When I returned to the hotel I figured I wouldn't be able to get myself back to Tokyo Ueno to use my pre-purchased Keisei ticket, especially with all of the trains crawling along the line. The next thought was to take one of the resort's airport shuttle buses, except that the last one had just left and I'd have to wait an hour until the next service, which would take around 90 minutes to reach the airport, landing me there at about 7:30pm, which would be too late. Thus I was stuck with but one option; a dreaded Tokyo taxi.
The hotel ordered it for me and so within 15 minutes I was sitting in the back of a taxi sitting in traffic on the way to the airport, convincing myself that despite the inevitably extortionate price I had made the right decision. The taxi trip took only 40 minutes to get to the airport so I arrived earlier than I needed to be there but any other way would've been too slow. I parted with $200 for the experience, one that I'm not keen to relive anytime soon.
Whilst checking in I overheard other passengers commenting how their airport trains were delayed or cancelled and services were just stopping for extended periods in random locations; basically the train system had gone into meltdown. This helped me justify my taxi trip as, even if I could've made it to Ueno the airport train would've also been affected.
I killed time looking out at the planes while munching down a much needed meal (my first since breakfast) as I started to relax, the relief of actually making it to the airport starting to sink in
Tokyo Trains
. During this break I was approached by a Japanese student who explained that he was going to Australia to study English, asking me heaps of questions and practicing his speach skills. The funniest thing was that he was baffled by the postcode on his host family's address, he wanted to know what it meant in relation to the map of the location, it took a while for me to explain that it was for postal purposes only.A little more time was killed up on the outside observation decks before I headed through security and immigration to the boarding gate. We boarded a tiny bit late but were then delayed because our dodgy old 767 was having trouble locking down one of the cargo doors. I was seated next to a nice girl who, as it turns out, was flying to Perth to study her English. She was very enthusiastic and had lots of questions, which I was happy to answer for her. She was actually from Chiba, the region near Disney where I had ridden the monorail earlier in the day so we had some common things to talk about. It also came out that university holidays had just started the previous week, providing a reason for the abundance of students at Disneyland. Her English was already pretty good but I could always tell when she was gearing up to ask me a question because she would shuffle madly through her English book for a while.
The flight to Perth was a non-event and we arrived about 5 minutes late around 7am in the morning. Steve's Garuda plane was also at the terminal, he had endured an almost 8 hour wait in Bali and arrived about 30 minutes before me. I was reunited with the family after the usual Customs and AQIS rigmarole and thus my trip came to its end.
I'm now ready to return; the usual home cravings have now been satisfied. It seems that I won't have to wait too long because the 4th year planning field trip now looks to be heading for Tokyo, in either February or June 2009.
