Our hotel in Tokyo was great – small, but modern, and cozy. We woke up around 8am, and started getting ready to check-out (although we were in no hurry). We hadn't had internet in the hotel, so we were hoping we could find someplace nearby to use our computers and catch up for a bit. After checking out of our hotel, we stopped at the nearest McDonald's and asked about wifi. The woman at the counter told us that they did in fact have free wifi. We were happy to hear this and decided to get food so we could sit and use the internet. Unfortunately, there was no internet access available. James asked the cashier once more about wifi, but there seemed to be a huge communication gap and he eventually gave up. It was really disappointing because some of the food we had was a touch dissapointing, and the reason we had stopped was primarily to use the internet. Jamed did have a chance to get his last taste of the McDonald's Japan entree: "Shaka Shaka Chicken," a bare chicken patty with a flavor packet that you mix in a bag and shake.
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| The delicious Shaka Shaka Chicken. |
After our somewhat dissapointing breakfast, we hopped aboard the JR train and headed toward Ginza. Ginza is one of the most exclusive shopping areas in Japan, high-end stores line the streets of this area. Of course we didn't have money to buy anything, but looking around was still fun.
We also had the chance to visit (perhaps) the oddest store we've encountered, where we were intrigued and confused by the Tokyo Abercrombie and Fitch – which was about 15 very narrow stories high. Each floor was very dark, with lighting only on the floor, and several of the employees were dancing to the very loud background music. When we finally escaped the store, it took us a few minutes to recover from the strong cologne smell and the experience itself.
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| An Abercrombie statue looks on. |
We left Ginza around 2pm after stopping at a Starbucks that claimed to have free wifi but didn't seem to have any access that we could see (continuing our world-wide search for consistent wifi). We headed back towards our hotel and went to an internet cafe. We ordered a small lunch and were able to use the internet on Erin's computer. So, Erin used it for a bit, and then James took his turn.
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| One of the large Ginza-based malls we passed. |
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| In addition to Abercrombie's David statue, we also saw this Florence-inspired boutique. |
Once we had finished with our lunch and the internet, we walked around Shingawa a little bit before heading back to the hotel and picking up our belongings. We found a really great supermarket in the basement of a nearby mall which we were sad we hadn't discovered earlier as we would have enjoyed some of the food there. From there, we stopped back at the hotel to grab our luggage and took the JR train for the final time. We went to the Tokyo stop, where we used our Japan railpass to get tickets on the Narita Express train to the airport.
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| Our vantage point as we prepared for our last Japanese train ride. |
Our tour guide had suggested we arrive at Japan’s Narita Airport with a couple hours to spare; being the savvy international travelers we now are, we opted for a good cushion of about 3 hours – and were glad we did.
Once at the airport, we had a few issues. When we arrived at the Jetstar counter, the agent asked for our passports as well as our Australian Visas. Erin handed the woman the information she had printed out (before we began the trip) with our Visa application information. The woman excused herself for a few minutes, and returned with bad news. Apparently, Erin's Visa was fine, but James's Visa was not valid. We were confused by this and unfortunately, the ticket agent didn't speak perfect English, so it was frustrating. We were told to go to the gate (at the other end of the airport) and get a new Visa. So, we did just that. We arrived at the desk and asked about getting a new Australian Visa. The agent told us that it would cost about ¥3.100 (3,100 Yen). As any good traveler leaving a country with no plan in the immediate future to return does, we had spent almost all of our Yen.
We tried to take money out of the international ATM machine, but it was not working properly. We had to go to the currency exchange company and change some of our money into Yen. (We don't like doing this because there is a commission fee that ends up costing you more money, but in this situation, we had no choice). Once we obtained enough money, we went back to the Visa desk and James provided his information. The agent seemed a bit confused as to why James's Visa wasn't in working order because according to the printout, everything had been approved. However, after he made a phone call, he was able to tell us that the visa was no longer valid because James had renewed his passport only 2 weeks before the trip and Erin had applied for the Visa before that time. Within 10 minutes, James had a new Visa (at a much higher cost than the original Visa) - but we couldn't complain! At least we were going to make it to Australia! We returned to the check-in agent and a few minutes later, we were on our way to security.
While going through security, James was stopped again. The contents of his bags were emptied and sent through security a few more times. He eventually made it through, but he was a bit worn out after the visa and the security ordeal.
We knew that JetStar is Quantas’s budget carrier, and that no food or drink was included for our ticket price. The flight was also nearly 8 hours long, so we had anticipated stocking up in Narita’s Duty Free section. At this point, we had been delayed for quite some time due to James’s Visa issue, so we hurried through the Duty Free shops, but saw very little in the way of food we could actually eat on the plane. Plus, Narita’s dining options, at least in the terminal we were flying out of, were limited to traditional Japanese “comfort” foods that would not keep well on a long-haul flight. We decided to load up on snacks at the duty-free store before boarding the plane. (There is nothing like Asian rice cakes and pocky sticks for dinner).
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| James and Erin (finally) on the plane to Australia! |
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| Green Tea KitKat - part of every nutritious meal. |
Once aboard the plane, we were as comfortable as we could be on an overnight ride from Tokyo to the Gold Coast of Australia.
