Thursday, July 18, 2013
Japan July 2013 - Day 10 (Tokyo)
Today, my mum decided that we should not go anywhere that would necessitate a train ride as she did not want to climb stairs anymore than absolutely neccessary, so we decided to just walk around the Asakusa area near Sensoji.
My mum mentioned that she would like to have Mac's breakfast for the bacon, but unfortunately, it was already past the breakfast time (Mac's breakfast ends in Japan at 1030). So we walked on and were ready to eat at KFC (so that my mum can get her hot ceylon tea) when I noticed that there was a BK nearby and asked my mum if she would like to check it out in the hopes that it has a pork burger. My mum agreed and we went over to find that BK offers not one, but two pork burgers! So we both order the grilled pork burgers with hot tea.
After the meal, we went over to Ekimise, which is a shopping centre right where the Asakusa Station is at. We went to a craft shop and also to Uniqlo, where my mum bought stuff at both places. I think she's going with the 'last day in Japan liao must buy stuff!' feel. By the end of the day's walk, she had bought a packet of needles, a Uniqlo sleepwear, some food stuff and a pair of shoes to bring back to Singapore. Do note that my mum came over only with a green check in luggage that was already stuffed full on the way here, so we had to be creative and start stuffing things all over the place and my mum hand carried foodstuff onto the plane as she did not have a hard case luggage and the cookies would all be broken if she checked them in.
Please recall that the green bag is the totality of my mum's check in luggage. She was so happy that she could squeeze everything in one bag that she forgot that she might want to shop.
After all the shopping, we went to Seiyu where we found rather attractive food selections. They have a large array of bento on sale (nut not as cheap as the 250 yen bento!) and so I ended up with a unagi bento (which turned out to have a large number of bones that irritated me to no end) and my mum had a sashimi platter and daifuku.
Afte dinner, we pretty much rested till it was time to go to the airport. It was getting a bit worrying because my friend who was coming over to Tokyo on the 1500 flight informed me that her flight was delayed. This means that 1) our escape from Haneda airport to the hostel would be affected because it was already a tight schedule for us if her flight lands on time at 2300. We were looking at the likelihood that we would have to spend the night in the airport before leaving the airport on the first trains in the morning. 2) My mum's flight would also have it's departure affected since they would still have to turnaround the plane.
I checked the Haneda airport website and it seems that the delayed flight would now arrive at 0015 hours, just 5 mins after the last monorail leaves Haneda. However, even if we had caught that last monorail, it would only have gotten us as far as Akihabara and we would then have to a) take a taxi or b) walk the rest of the way to theb hostel. However, with the last monorail gone, our options are cut down to a) stay in airport till morning to take train or b) spend around 10000 yen to take a taxi to the hostel. Seriously, I wasn't prepared to spend that money.
Nothing to be done but to get going and see how things goes. We reached the airport at 2100 + and I must say that by that time most dining options are closing. So you only have like 2 or 3 options in the International Terminal. By the way, you can take the Keikyu line to the airport but do be sure to get on the line that heads to Haneda (or Narita if that's where you are going).
While checking in for my mum, we were informed that there would be food and drinks served at the boarding gate from 2300hrs, which wa just as well since there was almost nothing to eat at the terminal by that time. So my mum decided to go in earlier to ensure that she would get some food, in case they have designated distribution times.
After sending off my mum, I went to teh arrival hall to wait for my friend. After about an hour and half of waiting, my friend finally appeared and she had good news. SQ gave her a taxi voucher worth up to 10000 yen, so we could get on a taxi back to the hostel! We did not have to camp in the airport after all! We went to get a cab and it was so exciting because I have never taken a cab in Japan before. It's so expensive to take a cab in Japan, and what's more, we are in Tokyo so the cabs are probably the most expensive here.
Back at the airport, we were advised that the fare would be more than 10000 yen. However, with the 10000 yen voucher, we would just have to top up the difference, which was no biggie since that means we could get back to a bed instead of camping out at the airport. So we went off zooming through the highways and streets of Tokyo. I believe this hsall be my first and only experience of travelling on the streets of Tokyo since I cannot believe that I will ever be able to convince myself to pay for a cab.
When we reached the hostel, I thought that the meter was showing a fare of 9000 + yen, and there was an alternate display that showed the 'total' (or so we thought) as 10270 yen, and I was already trying to pay the cabbie the difference. However, the cabbie signaled that there was no need for the additional cash and asked my friend to write down 8800 yen on the voucher. So... in the end our cab ride was completely free! We did not understand why but at 0200 in the morning, one can hardly argue with a free cab ride, right?
After dropping things off at the hostel we went out for some quick grocery shopping and by the time we got to sleep, it was already breaking dawn. Pun, whether intended or not, I have yet to decide.
0 Adorations
My mum mentioned that she would like to have Mac's breakfast for the bacon, but unfortunately, it was already past the breakfast time (Mac's breakfast ends in Japan at 1030). So we walked on and were ready to eat at KFC (so that my mum can get her hot ceylon tea) when I noticed that there was a BK nearby and asked my mum if she would like to check it out in the hopes that it has a pork burger. My mum agreed and we went over to find that BK offers not one, but two pork burgers! So we both order the grilled pork burgers with hot tea.
After the meal, we went over to Ekimise, which is a shopping centre right where the Asakusa Station is at. We went to a craft shop and also to Uniqlo, where my mum bought stuff at both places. I think she's going with the 'last day in Japan liao must buy stuff!' feel. By the end of the day's walk, she had bought a packet of needles, a Uniqlo sleepwear, some food stuff and a pair of shoes to bring back to Singapore. Do note that my mum came over only with a green check in luggage that was already stuffed full on the way here, so we had to be creative and start stuffing things all over the place and my mum hand carried foodstuff onto the plane as she did not have a hard case luggage and the cookies would all be broken if she checked them in.
After all the shopping, we went to Seiyu where we found rather attractive food selections. They have a large array of bento on sale (nut not as cheap as the 250 yen bento!) and so I ended up with a unagi bento (which turned out to have a large number of bones that irritated me to no end) and my mum had a sashimi platter and daifuku.
I checked the Haneda airport website and it seems that the delayed flight would now arrive at 0015 hours, just 5 mins after the last monorail leaves Haneda. However, even if we had caught that last monorail, it would only have gotten us as far as Akihabara and we would then have to a) take a taxi or b) walk the rest of the way to theb hostel. However, with the last monorail gone, our options are cut down to a) stay in airport till morning to take train or b) spend around 10000 yen to take a taxi to the hostel. Seriously, I wasn't prepared to spend that money.
Nothing to be done but to get going and see how things goes. We reached the airport at 2100 + and I must say that by that time most dining options are closing. So you only have like 2 or 3 options in the International Terminal. By the way, you can take the Keikyu line to the airport but do be sure to get on the line that heads to Haneda (or Narita if that's where you are going).
While checking in for my mum, we were informed that there would be food and drinks served at the boarding gate from 2300hrs, which wa just as well since there was almost nothing to eat at the terminal by that time. So my mum decided to go in earlier to ensure that she would get some food, in case they have designated distribution times.
After sending off my mum, I went to teh arrival hall to wait for my friend. After about an hour and half of waiting, my friend finally appeared and she had good news. SQ gave her a taxi voucher worth up to 10000 yen, so we could get on a taxi back to the hostel! We did not have to camp in the airport after all! We went to get a cab and it was so exciting because I have never taken a cab in Japan before. It's so expensive to take a cab in Japan, and what's more, we are in Tokyo so the cabs are probably the most expensive here.
Back at the airport, we were advised that the fare would be more than 10000 yen. However, with the 10000 yen voucher, we would just have to top up the difference, which was no biggie since that means we could get back to a bed instead of camping out at the airport. So we went off zooming through the highways and streets of Tokyo. I believe this hsall be my first and only experience of travelling on the streets of Tokyo since I cannot believe that I will ever be able to convince myself to pay for a cab.
When we reached the hostel, I thought that the meter was showing a fare of 9000 + yen, and there was an alternate display that showed the 'total' (or so we thought) as 10270 yen, and I was already trying to pay the cabbie the difference. However, the cabbie signaled that there was no need for the additional cash and asked my friend to write down 8800 yen on the voucher. So... in the end our cab ride was completely free! We did not understand why but at 0200 in the morning, one can hardly argue with a free cab ride, right?
After dropping things off at the hostel we went out for some quick grocery shopping and by the time we got to sleep, it was already breaking dawn. Pun, whether intended or not, I have yet to decide.
Comments:
Post a Comment
