Arrival in JAPAN

Because I'm still having difficulties with getting online, I redated this back to September because that is actually when I landed in JAPAN. Please be patient and enjoy. The first interview with photos should be up soon. Just finalizing the photos! Also, there was a Sports event and I will be posting that up soon too! More of the TOKYO Photos to come!

~ Charlee

Sept 29th and 30th, 2009

Well on September 29, 2009 I took my last steps on US soil and made my way to JAPAN. The flight was a good one and only lasted 10.5 hours, which was actually shorter than the 11 hours that was written on the ticket. Landed at approximately 16:00 HRS JPN.
It was JAPAN Airlines flight 001 (Which means I was going to JAPAN, JAL 002 is the return to USA), and was a new Boeing 777, which means that I had my own private screen and a little more leg room. I got no sleep on the plane, and watched 2.5 in flight movies. Movies watched were: Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen (I actually watched this 1.5 times because I couldn‘t figure out the controls for the TV and thus saw the ending twice), Summer Wars (An ANIME, and a really good one at that), and then ½ of The Proposal. I also played Tetris against another player on the plane. The food was really good, we had Beef Stroganoff for lunch and Salmon Alfredo for dinner. There was little to no turbulence, a very pleasant flight indeed. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a small camera that nobody would notice to take photos, and thus there are none. The only two cameras that I have with me are: Canon Rebel Xti and Canon 1Ds. So the photos will be nice, but everyone notices when I bust out the camera. I carried this on my back the whole time by the way. Carry on weighed a TON!


After landing in Tokyo, I made my first mistake. Here are a couple of tips, that will also be written later on in the tips section, for the broke traveler. Being a college student with not too much money to be able to work with I figured out the best way to get money in JAPAN, International Postal Money Orders (IPMO). The reason that these are the best way for the average traveler from the USA, is because you only lose about 1 - 2% in the exchange.

Here is an example: I was in the hotel and needed quick cash, thus I gave up Dollars for YEN. The rate was: 82.21 Yen for every 1.00 US Dollar(USD) (Sept. 30, 2009). With YEN in hand I made my way to the Post Office. The rate at the Post was: 89.08 Yen for every 1.00 USD (Sept. 30, 2009).

Now, back to the mistake, I landed in NARITA airport at a decent time and the post office (in the airport) was still open. I had enough money to get a bus or N’EX Train ticket to my hotel: “The SHINAGAWA Prince Hotel”. Instead of going and getting money exchanged at the airport Post Office, I went and got a Limo Bus Ticket for the hotel. Mind you, at the beginning of this post I did say that I didn’t get any sleep on the plane. The mistake was I didn’t have any money once I got to the hotel to eat or make my way around TOKYO once I was there, and I could have gotten the money at the airport easily if I just spent a few more minutes prior getting the bus ticket. Not only that, but I had to walk a good 30 minutes to get to a Post Office that would exchange money.

It was very hard to FIND! The airport one is shoved into your face. Making things worse, because I knew it would be a little distance I didn’t bring my suitcase that I wanted to have shipped to my dorm room. Which means that after getting the money exchanged, I had to walk back to the hotel and get the suitcase and then go to another Post office to have the it shipped. The worst thing was this wasting time. I left at 0800 HRS to start my day, I woke at 0600 HRS and mapped out everything, and I was still going about the process of making my way around TOKYO at 1100 HRS.

Side note: It took me an hour at the post to get everything solved JUST for the money issue. I needed to have PHOTO ID and it needed to have a home address. The cool thing was that I understood everything the gentleman was saying to me when I was filling out the forms for the money. It just took time for the guy to get the money to me.

On the other hand, the lady that I was dealing with when shipping my luggage, at another post office, I didn’t understand anything, until a college student just so happened to pop in and speak enough English to help me out. The way that they do addresses around JAPAN are a little different than back home. I wish I got the college girls name so I could do a proper appreciation notation, but let me just say: “THANKS TO THE PEOPLE OF JAPAN THAT HELP STUPID FOREIGNERS, LIKE MYSELF!”



I’m quite embarrassed that I didn’t know enough of the language to make my way around the post office, and even more so that I had to ask for someone to help me in English. I will remember to do that the next time that I go to another country, and just learn how to say, do you speak English? Just Kidding….

On with the story! I had enough time to spend two nights in TOKYO before I had to make my way down to OKAYAMA (The University that I am going to). My main goal in TOKYO was to go to AKIHABARA, which is pathetic because I have been to TOKYO 3-4 times prior, and have never been there. The reason to hit up AKIHABARA is to get a DENKI JISHOU, or Electronic Kanji Dictionary. I found it at the famous LABI for about $250. It is the CANON WordTank V320 Black, and it is very handy.



AKIHABARA definitely had its own feel to it. It was very different. Maids all over the place, and people looking at all sorts of anime related goods. It was a blast looking at all the MANGA/ANIME/figurines/other eccentric items. I found a air soft gun store that had guns that were VERY realistic looking. Too bad the owners would not let me take photos from the inside, but I did get a sneaky photo on my way out. Now being that I didn’t have any internet (yeah I know; I’m in TOKYO with no net…. Weird) I decided to go to a net café in AKIHABARA. I asked a maid that was sitting at a little table with a TON of maps where I could go and get connected.





After she explained to me where to go and also drew it on a map, I decided to ask her about what she was doing. It so happened that she was getting paid to dress like a maid and sit at this little tiny desk in front of an electronics shop and guide people around! What an odd job! When I said desk, I really should have said a 3x3 fold up table and a clear binder with maps in it. I couldn’t comprehend it! She would work from around 1600 hours to 2100 hours. Because I figured it would have been rude to ask what the pay is, I asked if it was good, and it was. So I was happy for her, and then made my way happily to my net café.




Now, one thing that I hate about walking around in TOKYO is the fact that things start to blend together. I figured out where I was trying to get to, but couldn’t find the shop. It is ridiculous because the shop was bright yellow with a camel on it, but I thought that it was a book/MANGA shop. The reason being is that there were only books/MANGA on the floor level of the 5 tiered shop. So after walking around in circles for 30 minutes, and not getting the slightest bit of help from ANYONE, I walked in and to my surprise and anger, that was where I was suppose to be.

I asked for an hour of internet service, and it cost me 700 Yen. But here is the coolest part. You can read all the MANGA/books/magazines you want, and it is all you can drink (non-alcohol). It was AWESOME! Now, because I didn’t really want to spend too much time at this café place, I went to the room immediately and checked my email. I sent out a reply to all the emails that I received and then a mass email to everyone that was listed to let them know that I was alive and kicking. Just doing those two items cost me the hour, and I was back out on the streets.



From AKIHABARA, I made my way via the DENSHA to SHINJUKU and walked my way down to SHIBUYA through YOYOGI and HARAJUKU. Now I remember there being a lot more crazy looking things the last time I went through the area, but I need to remind peoples that I was there on a Wednesday, and it was also doing this crazy down pour and then sprinkle type weather. That is the reason I think that there were barely any bands, kids in weird costumes, and just out of place/unique things to look at. I will have to make my way back down here to see if I can see all those aforementioned items.

Getting lost in HARAJUKU was a pain. I was getting pulled left and right. For some reason people knew that I was a foreigner and would pull me into their shops. It could have been because I had a rain coat on and was carrying around the Canon 1Ds, but people were trying to sell me things left and right and I just wanted to get moving on. After a while, I ended up following this Caucasian man with a green umbrella that said Chrysler on it. Before I go on, let me just say that because a white guy/girl is walking down the streets in JAPAN it doesn’t mean that they are from the USA. Actually, I personally found that most foreigners that were Caucasian here were from EUROPE.

But, being desperate I went and asked if he spoke English. LUCK! He was Robert from Australia. Robert lived in JAPAN for the better part of 2 decades and was well learned in the streets of TOKYO. He actually runs a importing company and has a few shops set up in the TOKYO Metropolitan area. He was happy to help me along and actually walked me around HARAJUKU to SHIBUYA. Along the way he showed me good places to eat/drink and where to meet people. I didn’t really tell him that I was going to be in TOKYO for just a day, but I did mention that I was going to school in OKAYAMA. After arriving in SHIBUYA, we talked some more about what to avoid and where to go. After that he had to make his way to his shop, and we separated.


SHIBUYA was just as I remembered it. It felt unchanged, and for that reason, I didn’t really feel anything special while being there. So, after I looked around in the department stores (SHIBUYA 109) for a little while to see what the new style was like out here, before I made my way back to the hotel. Prior to getting to the hotel I do have to say that I did spot something that struck my fancy.





For those of you who don’t know, my family owns/runs a restaurant in Pleasanton, California USA. Here is a plug for it: it is called Lux Thai Cuisine, and more info can be found at www.luxthaicuisine.com.

Back to the item that struck my fancy, it was a Thai restaurant in the middle of TOKYO and only about a ten minute walk from my hotel. After being told that I would not really be able to eat THAI food in JAPAN, I wanted to have that last THAI meal before going without. It was decent, but not as good as home, when is it ever, eh? More Photos HERE!