Karma Returns In Our Favor

18-Jan At the last minute, I decided to bring my laptop with me. This ended up being rather ironic, as Scott and I managed to convince each other to do exactly what neither of us did. Originally, he advocated bringing a laptop. I advocated shipping our computers to Australia so we wouldn't have to carry them through Asia on our backs. I also recommended bringing a sleeping bag in case we needed one.

As it turns out, Scott left his laptop at home and brought a sleeping bag while I brought my laptop and left my sleeping bag. I found my silk sleeping bag liner at the last minute and thought it was a better match for the weather in Asia at the time.

The upside to this is that I'll be able to download pictures off of my camera as needed and keep a blog of the trip. I'm not sure if this will be a positive thing for shocking the tech dependence out of me. We'll see.

Getting up and getting to the airport was no problem. Final weight on my backpack on the airport scale was 29.0 pounds - very reasonable, I think. The American Airlines rep at the counter was very interested in my passport - apparently it is one of the new ones and they're still kind of rare. Colorful and bizarre, just like the new dollar bills were a few years ago. He also gave security passes to our parents so they could come to the gate with us - something which the American call center rep said was just not possible as of last night. Just goes to show that anything is possible if you run into the right people.

Of course there was the obligatory crying by the Moms when it was time to board the plane. But hey - we were going to be gone for seven months, so it was completely expected. Once Scott and I rounded the corner of that boarding tunnel, though, it was a completely different emotion that washed over us: surprise. Neither of us could believe that the trip was really happening. Booking the tickets was one level of commitment, but boarding the plane was the Point of No Return.

We really lucked out on the flight to Tokyo - I guess I built up my karma points yesterday with the snowy truck drive to New Jersey - as our Boeing 777 had about 30 seats full and 140 seats empty when we checked in! With so few people on the plane, everyone got at least a couple of seats to themselves - sometimes a whole center aisle (5 seats) to lay down and sleep. The flight attendants were cheerful and helpful with the low work load and gave Scott and I double meals throughout the flight. We arrived about ten minutes late; baggage and Customs were painless. The money exchange in the airport was the lowest we've seen at Y118 to $1 (we've seen as high as Y125 to $1, not a big difference). There was a tourist information booth in the airport that went over hostel options for us and booked one - the Sakura Hostel in the Asakusa neighborhood - for us at Y2960/night/person.

We had a heck of a time being sure of the right train to take. The language barrier here in Tokyo is horrendous. Almost no one speaks (or admits to speaking) English. Those that do speak it poorly and are very upset when they cannot fully help us. We've had two people leave their family or workplace and walk us several minutes down the road to our destination because they couldn't describe it verbally.

We've spent just under $50 per day so far. We ran out of yen today, which was a problem because it was Sunday and around 6 PM by the time we realized what we had done. Exchanging money or finding an internationally networked ATM in Japan is even harder than communicating! We spent about four hours trying to get some currency; we went to the Akihabara neighborhood, where all the electronics stores are, and tried one of the world's largest camera stores, all the area banks, the only local hotel, two Japan Post Office locations (JPO is also a bank and one of the world's largest), individuals and many street merchants. Some other Westerners were trying to change money too but wondered why we were walking so far - when they found out we didn't even have the Y190 train fare home, they gave it to us! We happened upon a helpful young greeter for one of the electronics boutiques in Akihabara, Laox, who spoke about six languages fluently. She told us to go inside and buy the cheapest item (a box of cookies for Y100) with US dollars and we would get change in Yen. Both Scott and I were able to exchange about $40 at the bank rate by doing this twice. That situation really tired me out and was resolved through sheer luck, though Scott had a couple of potentially workable ideas we were about to try.

Our hostel is apparently as nice as they come and, while not the cheapest, cheaper than most. I am in the lounge right now on my laptop using the free wireless Internet. There's a kitchen, laundry room, copier, large plasma TV and about half a dozen computers in the lounge as well. The room is a dormitory room with eight beds crammed in rather tight, but it is like new and there is only one other person in our room. The bathrooms are sparkling clean, Western-style and have private toilets and showers. The only downside is the location, as the Tokyo subway stops running at 12:30 AM so you can't be in another part of the city past around 11:30 PM.

We have met a lot of people and they have all been great. Because of the language barrier, whenever we see a Westerner or hear someone speaking English, we will start up a conversation with them. Scott will talk to anyone, which is a great trait on a trip like this. Last night we met two Aussie guys, two Welsh girls and a Canadian guy. We ended up singing karaoke, which took some persuading for me to get into. Today we met a German and Austrian couple on the subway and got some good tips from them. Our French roommate is approachable as well.

We are getting up early in the morning (about two hours from now) to see the tuna and seafood auction at the Tsukiji Fish Market. After that, we're going to take an hour train ride down to Kamakura. We're going to spend the day there seeing all the temples and then spend the night at Odawara. In the morning, we're going to make our way to Hakone through a variety of connecting transportation options like a scenic railroad, cable tram and lake ferry. From Hakone, we will apparently get a good view of Fuji and have a variety of things to do in the park itself. We'll be back in Tokyo by the night after tomorrow.

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson US$8.40
Drinks on plane US$15
Train ¥1060, ¥160, ¥260, ¥130
Bar ¥5400
Beer ¥300
Street tip US$1
Dessert ¥50
Food ¥500, ¥480
Museum ¥400
Hostel ¥5,880
Coke ¥100
Lunch ¥1350
Coke ¥120
Sake ¥300
Junk bought to exchange USD ¥205
Subtotal ¥16,695 & US$24.40 (US$164)